Elena Rainn

Kyrsten Iris

Fede Bonino

_ eshago@uw.edu

Watashi Wa Jigabudesu

Roman Bryzhatiy

Karl Halmos-Westram

Ljsly Bernard

Ruby Brown

Dimitri Nuri

Tim M

George Balaskas

Now available in mass market, the revised, definitive edition of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning classic. In this second book in the saga set 3,000 years after the terrible war, Ender Wiggin is reviled by history as the Xenocide--the destroyer of the alien Buggers. Now, Ender tells the true story of the war and seeks to stop history from repeating itself. ...In the aftermath of his terrible war, Ender Wiggin disappeared, and a powerful voice arose: The Speaker for the Dead, who told the true story of the Bugger War.Now, long years later, a second alien race has been discovered, but again the aliens' ways are strange and frightening...again, humans die. And it is only the Speaker for the Dead, who is also Ender Wiggin the Xenocide, who has the courage to confront the mystery...and the truth.Speaker for the Dead, the second novel in Orson Scott Card's Ender Quintet, is the winner of the 1986 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 1987 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead.There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more.But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks, for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod's family.A deliciously dark masterwork by bestselling author Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by award-winning Dave McKean.

The Fellowship was scattered. Some were bracing hopelessly for war against the ancient evil of Sauron. Some were contending with the treachery of the wizard Saruman. Only Frodo and Sam were left to take the accursed Ring of Power to be destroyed in Mordor–the dark Kingdom where Sauron was supreme. Their guide was Gollum, deceitful and lust-filled, slave to the corruption of the Ring. Thus continues the magnificent, bestselling tale of adventure begun in The Fellowship of the Ring, which reaches its soul-stirring climax in The Return of the King.

Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire. Three separate armies attack. As the siege tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.

I can't remember being this violently conflicted about a book in quite some time. There are some areas where it's just so well done, with the author absolutely nailing it, and then others where I found myself grinding my teeth in frustration. I'm going to abandon my usual practice of writing short, pithy reviews and just drunkenly ramble on a few things here. (Still no spoilers, though.) That OK with y'all?Language. About two and a half chapters into this book, I found myself asking, "Why does this feel like a kids' fantasy book?" It wasn't the subject material or the plot, both of which are much more sophisticated than Harry Potter and his ilk. While I would feel perfectly comfortable having a 12-year old read this PG13-violent and utterly asexual book, I don't feel as though it's necessarily written for tweens. Finally it occurred to me: it's the language. This book is one of the most simply written books I've ever read, using only the most basic vocabulary. That isn't a bad thing, as I'd rather read something direct and simple than something flowery and overwritten, but Sanderson's language is so simple here that it's almost as if he's drawing with the Crayola 16-set when other authors have the big 64. (One notable exception: having apparently become recently enamored of the word, he uses maladroitly at least three times. Maybe he was jamming some Weezer while he wrote.) I haven't read any of his other works (yet; Mistborn #2 is on deck), but I have to assume this simplicity is by conscious choice, and it's an interesting choice at that. I'm just not sure yet how I feel about it.One language choice that I am sure how I feel about is Sanderson's decision to have his characters speak good old American English. The narration is similarly plainspoken, with a fair amount of American slang thrown in, rather than the twee, faux-Elizabethan style of a lot of fantasy authors. I like the approach. One of the most time-honored fantasy tropes is having all the characters thee and thou each other, with a few ne'er did yon stars of Yomama glimmer so resplendently, my suzerain for good measure. And I can handle that stuff, having been weaned on Tolkien and everything that came after, but I found Sanderson's decision to move away from that convention refreshing. I interpreted it as Sanderson saying, "The unspoken assumption here is that this book has been translated from whatever languages they speak on this made-up world, so why translate it to anything other than what is most understandable and comfortable for you to read? To couch this story in funky language is to insult your imagination by implying that you need that in order to realize you're reading a fantasy novel."Setting and Plot. The setting is a typical high fantasy world - feudal-style nobility and peasantry; shadowy, powerful priesthood; mysterious evil lord, etc. - with some odd, almost steampunk flourishes thrown in. There are wristwatches. Men's formal wear is described as something more like Victorian coat and tails than medieval garb. Magic in this world is fueled by elemental and alloyed metals, which are described rather exactly, using percentages. It's a unique and interesting blend.The basic plot is about as stock as it gets. If you're familiar with the Star Wars films, the Harry Potter or Percy Jackson books, Eragon, the Dragonriders of Pern trilogy, Dune, Ender's Game, or any one of about a million other works, please play Mad Libs with me:Dear [kid with weird name], I know you are only a [farmer / orphan / urchin / child of a minor noble], and this will be hard for you to accept, but you [have Great Powers / are the Chosen One / insert name of funky power here]. You are the only one who can [save the world / save the universe / defeat the Empire / restore order to the Force / kill the Big Boss]. Luckily, even though you just learned your destiny fifteen minutes ago, you will make up for lost time by quickly becoming better than anyone in the history of ever at [Quidditch / dragon riding / sandworm riding / Allomancy]. Any questions?Needless to say, the book's plot could have been a ticket to Hack City, but it really isn't. Vin's growth and development are handled well.Exposition. This is a fantasy book for the video game generation. By that, I mean that the book follows the general path of a first person RPG:1) Introduction to the world and the main characters2) A few early levels whose only apparent purpose is to teach the player how to use the buttons3) Quests of increasing difficulty, with progressive reveals of the Big Plot4) Fight with the Main Boss, including the inevitable twist5) Denouement and teaser for the next installment.Not that that's a bad thing! But I was really surprised at the way Allomancy (the main "magic" in this world) was laid out. In the two towering fantasy/sci-fi works of the 20th century, The Lord of the Rings and Dune, the supernatural elements of the story operated behind a sort of curtain or screen. The One Ring in LotR and the spice Melange in Dune both held great, mysterious powers, but the specific effects and extent of those powers were seen only in fits and flashes, and never understood completely by the characters or the reader. In contrast, fairly early in this book, Kelsier takes Vin on a practice run where he explains how her powers work and what their advantages and limitations are, using plain language and real-world physics, and lets her fly and mess around and just generally exult in her magic. It left me, the reader, as well as Vin the character, feeling that even if we didn't understand this magic perfectly right now, we might at some point in the future, which was a very different feel.OK, after enough rambling about things I feel ambivalently about, let's wrap up with one big win and one big fail:WIN: Brandon Sanderson can write the hell out of an action scene. (And since the final quarter of this book is pretty much all action, playing directly into Sanderson's strengths, it kicks all kinds of ass.) The fights in this book are gut-wrenching without being overly gory, and the chases and sneaks are heart-stopping as well. Perfect combination of pace and detail. Amazing. Possibly the best I've ever read from an author in this genre, and if he's able to do that so effortlessly, so early in his career, it gives me hope that he can fix...FAIL: ...the dialogue. In spite of being favorably disposed due to the use of informal American English, I eventually found the dialogue here really clunky. Everyone is too wordy. Everyone says one sentence too many. Over and over again, I found myself going, "Real people don't talk like this" and especially, "Real people who are supposed to be close friends don't talk anything like this to each other." Seriously, think of how you talk to your best friends in private, then compare it to this book. In addition, there was always that odd feeling of unneeded exposition, as if the characters were talking half to each other and half to the reader. It was unfortunate, especially in contrast to how slick and fast-moving and just plain awesome a lot of the other writing was.All in all, this was a fun, kinetic read...with a few holes in it. It builds, it explodes, and the ending is really good. If half-stars were allowed, this would have been a 3 1/2. Good stuff.Also, here are my (spoiler-free, suitable as previews) reviews of the second and third books in the series, if you enjoyed this one!

The war against Voldemort is not going well; even Muggle governments are noticing. Ron scans the obituary pages of the Daily Prophet, looking for familiar names. Dumbledore is absent from Hogwarts for long stretches of time, and the Order of the Phoenix has already suffered losses.And yet . . .As in all wars, life goes on. The Weasley twins expand their business. Sixth-year students learn to Apparate - and lose a few eyebrows in the process. Teenagers flirt and fight and fall in love. Classes are never straightforward, through Harry receives some extraordinary help from the mysterious Half-Blood Prince.So it's the home front that takes center stage in the multilayered sixth installment of the story of Harry Potter. Here at Hogwarts, Harry will search for the full and complete story of the boy who became Lord Voldemort - and thereby find what may be his only vulnerability.

Harry Potter's life is miserable. His parents are dead and he's stuck with his heartless relatives, who force him to live in a tiny closet under the stairs. But his fortune changes when he receives a letter that tells him the truth about himself: he's a wizard. A mysterious visitor rescues him from his relatives and takes him to his new home, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.After a lifetime of bottling up his magical powers, Harry finally feels like a normal kid. But even within the Wizarding community, he is special. He is the boy who lived: the only person to have ever survived a killing curse inflicted by the evil Lord Voldemort, who launched a brutal takeover of the Wizarding world, only to vanish after failing to kill Harry.Though Harry's first year at Hogwarts is the best of his life, not everything is perfect. There is a dangerous secret object hidden within the castle walls, and Harry believes it's his responsibility to prevent it from falling into evil hands. But doing so will bring him into contact with forces more terrifying than he ever could have imagined.Full of sympathetic characters, wildly imaginative situations, and countless exciting details, the first installment in the series assembles an unforgettable magical world and sets the stage for many high-stakes adventures to come.

CONCEPT: A group of adventurers are chosen to help drive back the Evil from another world led by the Dark Queen.MARKETING APPEAL: The DRAGONLANCE chronicles had the whole AD&amp;D industry behind them; TSR used this tale as a marketing ploy, using their fans and game designers (to set up the world); then, they took some above average writers to do the first trilogy; Set up in a typical AD&amp;D adventure (rag tag group of mixed adventurers off to save the world with promise of great magic, great evil, great good and an epic scale) the series took off as a bestseller; royalties were probably astounding.SCORING: Superb (A), Excellent (A-), Very good (B+), Good (B) Fairly Good (B-) Above Average (C+), Mediocre (C ), Barely Passable (C-) Pretty Bad (D+), Dismal (D), Waste of Time (D-), Into the Trash (F)DIALOGUE: B/B-/C/D (C ) STRUCTURE: B+ HISTORY SETTING: B (A to game designers) CHARACTERS: B+/B/B-/C/C- (C+) EVIL SETUP/ANTAGONISTS: B- EMOTIONAL IMPACT: B SURPRISES: A- LITTLE THINGS: A- MONSTERS: B (A- to game designers) PACING: B+ OVERALL STYLE: B FLOW OF WORDS: B+/C+ CHOICE OF FOCUS: B+ TRANSITIONS/FLASHBACKS/POV: B COMPLEXITY OF WORDS/SYMBOLISM/THEMES: B-OVERALL GRADE: BHISTORY SETTING: Absolutely brilliant. Only problem is: the authors didn't do it. A host of game designers, who set it up for their RPG system, ran it countless times and then hired the writers to do it. So, the best I can give is a B to them.OPPOSITION/MONSTERS: Done very well. The Dragonlords are all formidable and the dragons seem nearly invincible. For the most part, the adventurers must flee from them and it is only through other means that the dragons are driven off or slain. The means of escaping from the dragons was done quite well, for the most part, except where (CENSORED)DIALOGUE: I have to say this is where the DRAGONLANCE TRILOGY is weak. Most of it is above average or even pretty good. But some of it is mediocre and a few parts are downright horrible. Too many 20th century phrases used like "sure" and some are overusedPACING: Done very well. These writers know their structure and keep a lot of surprises tossing about. For the most part, the story never lets up. Weis and Hickman are very good at being sure to constantly place lots of surprises, as well as wonders in this tantalizing world.EMOTIONAL IMPACT: I have to say that even though some of the characters were cheesy or stilted, the story made up for it with its structure, sense of wonder and pacing. As I said above, a richly textured tapestry.CHARACTERS: Okay, this is where the trilogy gets slammed and good. (CENSORED)CONCEPT: The concept was already marketed in DRAGON magazine a couple of years before the trilogy came out. So, in a sense, part of their customer basis was primmed up for this series. Book trilogy does an excellent job of incorporating the Krynn milieu into an AD&amp;D world. Characters are not complex and some of them are stilted or stodgy. However, most of the latter are typical stereotypes that we are sometimes willing to accept. Also, this writing style seems to have been centered on high school ages; fairly simple with some complexities. Simple humor that sometimes got a chuckle out of me. Overall, this series did very well. Main reasons I can see for this is: (1) DRAGON, DUNGEON and TSR fanbase; (2) a superb design of the setting and History by the game creators; (3) lots of surprises and twists; (4) a well encompassed adventuring group (quite a challenge for any writer and I believe these two were just starting out) in which there were at least a few who any reader would love; (5) big epic scale with wonder and magic; (6) focused marketing by TSR (in other words, they did the marketing, not some other publisher who wouldn't have been as passionate).GRADE REASON: Mostly shown above. But to reiterate, the story did a very good to great job on its History, pacing, surprises and narrative structure. Story was lacking in character and dialogue, as well as with the emotional feeling of the antagonists, so that brought it down to a B grade at the cusp. Overall, I'd recommend this book but warn that it's written at a sophomoric level.

For the first time, all five novels in the epic fantasy series that inspired HBO's "Game of Thrones "are together in one boxed set. An immersive entertainment experience unlike any other, A Song of Ice and Fire has earned George R. R. Martin--dubbed "the American Tolkien" by "Time" magazine--international acclaim and millions of loyal readers. Now here is the entire monumental cycle: A GAME OF THRONESA CLASH OF KINGSA STORM OF SWORDSA FEAST OF CROWSA DANCE WITH DRAGONS Winter is coming. Such is the stern motto of House Stark, the northernmost of the fiefdoms that owe allegiance to King Robert Baratheon in far-off King's Landing. There Eddard Stark of Winterfell rules in Robert's name. There his family dwells in peace and comfort: his proud wife, Catelyn; his sons Robb, Brandon, and Rickon; his daughters Sansa and Arya; and his bastard son, Jon Snow. Far to the north, behind the towering Wall, lie savage Wildings and worse--unnatural things relegated to myth during the centuries-long summer, but proving all too real and all too deadly in the turning of the season.  Yet a more immediate threat lurks to the south, where Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, has died under mysterious circumstances. Now Robert is riding north to Winterfell, bringing his queen, the lovely but cold Cersei, his son, the cruel, vainglorious Prince Joffrey, and the queen's brothers Jaime and Tyrion of the powerful and wealthy House Lannister--the first a swordsman without equal, the second a dwarf whose stunted stature belies a brilliant mind. All are heading for Winterfell and a fateful encounter that will change the course of kingdoms.  Meanwhile, across the Narrow Sea, Prince Viserys, heir of the fallen House Targaryen, which once ruled all of Westeros, schemes to reclaim the throne with an army of barbarian Dothraki--whose loyalty he will purchase in the only coin left to him: his beautiful yet innocent sister, Daenerys."

Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will—a boy on the run, a murderer—a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.Each is searching—Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father—but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, and their destinies are bound together... until they are split apart.

Will is the bearer of the knife. Now, accompanied by angels, his task is to deliver that powerful, dangerous weapon to Lord Asriel - by the command of his dying father.But how can he go looking for Lord Asriel when Lyra is gone? Only with her help can he fathom the myriad plots and intrigues that beset him. The two great powers of the many worlds are lining up for war, and Will must find Lyra, for together they are on their way to battle, an inevitable journey that will even take them to the world of the dead...

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in position and was about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes." With it's startling, bizarre, yet surprisingly funny first opening, Kafka begins his masterpiece, The Metamorphosis. It is the story of a young man who, transformed overnight into a giant beetle-like insect, becomes an object of disgrace to his family, an outsider in his own home, a quintessentially alienated man. A harrowing—though absurdly comic—meditation on human feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and isolation, The Metamorphosis has taken its place as one of the most widely read and influential works of twentieth-century fiction. As W.H. Auden wrote, "Kafka is important to us because his predicament is the predicament of modern man."

To her, to her dying breath, you were the untouchable one, the one whose flesh her dagger could not penetrate.THE ASSASSINA cold and emotionless killer for whom every soul has a price, even his own, embarks on a path to find out just how high that price can be.THE MERCENARYA dark elf of limitless guile dares to challenge a king, and carve for himself a place in the inhospitable World Above.ILNEZHARA and TAZMIKELLA are ancient dragons of great power, accustomed to easily manipulating the humans around them. But not all humans are so easily led. When they pushed Entreri and Jarlaxle into the heart of the Bloodstone Lands, not even they could have imagined the strength of the human assassin’s resolve, or the limitless expanse of the drow mercenary’s ambition.

The book was hidden well.It's pages promised the power of the Witch-King himself.And now that it's been found, even the fact that it kills anyone foolish enough to crack its cover won't stop people from fighting over it.Welcome to the Bloodstone Lands!Human assassin Artemis Entreri and his dark elf companion Jarlaxle have come to the demon-haunted wastelands of the frozen north at the request of their dragon patron. It doesn't take long for them to find themselves caught in the middle of a struggle between powerful forces that would like nothing more than to see them both dead -- or worse.But Entreri and Jarlaxle aren't just any wandering sellswords, and the ancient evils and bitter blood-feuds of the wild Bloodstone Lands may have finally met their match.

Servant of the Shard is the latest offering from New York Times bestselling author R. A. Salvatore, best known for his immensely popular Forgotten Realms novels. Join a cunning drow mercenary to the Crystal Shard, the evil sentient artifact of Icewind Dale, and all the land should tremble. Artemis Entreri, best assassin in all the Realms, watches with trepidation, knowing his position among the hated drow rests on the fate of the one dark elf he has come to trust. His fortunes rest upon a knife edge.

It is good to be home.It is good to hear the wind of Icewind Dale, to feel its invigorating bite, like some reminder that I am alive.Drizzt Do'Urden and his companions take to the road and sea in a search for their missing friend Wulfgar. Their only clue in this life-and-death hunt is the mark of the barbarian's lost warhammer Aegis-fang, found branded on the back of a vicious outlaw. As they travel along the reaches of the Sword Coast, the companions grapple with the puzzle Wulfgar's life has become, and they slowly uncover the terrible pain that lies at its center.

Well, would you look at that?The Spine of the World is solidly one of the best books that I have read in the Legend of Drizzt. Which is almost absurd, considering that Drizzt is not part of it. Nor are most of the other major characters. It mostly serves as an interlude depicting the life of Wulfgar during the lowest parts of his life, and as attempts to cope with his pains, sorrows and failures. Another POV is provided by a poor peasant girl whose life is turned upside down in all the worst ways possible.Unlike the previous books in the series, this one is practically a grimdark story set in the Forgotten Realms. There's all kinds of doom and gloom, not as much emphasising evil villains as much as the horrors and hardships of everyday existence.It overall reads as a depiction of the dark side of life in the rather feudal Realms. And it's a fantastic change of pace from the standard course of the series.Original "review": (view spoiler)[A question for my Drizzt enthusiast friends: do I have to read every book in the series to understand later events?There have always been issues with the series for me, but Paths of Darkness is a clear low point where it seems I am too fed up to motivate myself to keep going. However, there are later books I really do want to read because of their geographical settings (Neverwinter saga in particular).Wondering if I should skip ahead or suffer through... (hide spoiler)]

Breath of the Wild game and experience the events of the Great Calamity. Join the struggle that brought Hyrule...

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Unleash the power of the Gods and embark on a merciless quest as Kratos, an ex-Spartan warrior driven to destroy Ares, the God of War. Armed with lethal double...

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A young couple travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises.

After his death sometime in his 43rd year, suburbanite Lester Burnham tells of the last few weeks of his life, during which he had no idea of his imminent passing. He is a husband to real estate agent Carolyn Burnham and father to high school student Jane Burnham. Although Lester and Carolyn once loved each other, they now merely tolerate each other. Typical wallflower Jane also hates both her parents; the three suffer individually in silence in their home life. Jane tries to steer clear of both her parents. Carolyn, relatively new to the real estate business, wants to create the persona of success to further her career, aspiring to the professional life of Buddy Kane, the king of the real estate business in their neighborhood. Lester merely walks mindlessly through life, including at his job in advertising. His company is downsizing, and he, like all the other employees, has to justify his position to the newly hired efficiency expert to keep his job. Things change for Lester when he falls in love at first sight with Jane's more experienced classmate, Angela Hayes. Both Janie and Angela can see Lester's sexual infatuation with Angela, who courts such attention from any man as a sign that she is model material, she having once appeared in Seventeen and is a career to which she aspires. Lester's infatuation with Angela gives him a reenergized view on life, where he openly doesn't care anymore what anyone thinks about what he does, anyone except Angela. This infatuation coincides with the Fittses moving in next door: homophobic disciplinarian US Marine Colonel Frank Fitts who rules the house with a military fist (that fist being both figurative and literal), his semi-comatose wife Barbara Fitts, and their bright and quietly subversive 18-year-old son Ricky Fitts, who openly abides by his father's rules while behind the scenes lives by his own quite different perspective. Much like Lester's infatuation, Ricky immediately becomes infatuated with Jane; he considers girls like Angela as ordinary. The entry of Angela and the Fittses into the Burnhams' lives ultimately leads to each of the players confronting what is truly in his or her heart.

Following a truck hijack in New York, five criminals are arrested and brought together for questioning. As none of them are guilty, they plan a revenge operation against the police. The operation goes well, but then the influence of a legendary mastermind criminal called Keyser Söze is felt. It becomes clear that each one of them has wronged Söze at some point and must pay back now. The payback job leaves 27 men dead in a boat explosion, but the real question arises now: Who actually is Keyser Söze?

Teenager Sarah is forced by her father and her stepmother to babysit her baby brother Toby while they are outside home. Toby does not stop crying and Sarah wishes that her stepbrother be taken by the Goblin King Jareth. Out of the blue, Toby stops crying and when Sarah looks for him in the cradle, she learns that her wish was granted and the Goblin King Jareth has taken him to his castle in the Goblin City in the middle of a labyrinth. Sarah repents and asks Jareth to give Toby back; but the Goblin King tells her that she has to rescue her brother before midnight. Soon Sarah teams up with some allies. Will they rescue Toby in time?

On July 2nd, communications systems worldwide are sent into chaos by a strange atmospheric interference. It is soon learned by the military that a number of enormous objects are on a collision course with Earth. At first thought to be meteors, they are later revealed to be gigantic spacecraft, piloted by a mysterious alien species. After attempts to communicate with the aliens go nowhere, David Levinson, an ex-scientist turned cable technician, discovers that the aliens are going to attack major points around the globe in less than a day. On July 3rd, the aliens all but obliterate New York, Los Angeles and Washington, as well as Paris, London, Houston and Moscow. The survivors set out in convoys towards Area 51, a strange government testing ground where it is rumored the military has a captured alien spacecraft of their own. The survivors devise a plan to fight back against the enslaving aliens, and July 4th becomes the day humanity will fight for its freedom. July 4th is their Independence Day...

After young Katniss Everdeen agrees to be the symbol of rebellion, the Mockingjay, she tries to return Peeta to his normal state, tries to get to the Capitol, and tries to deal with the battles coming her way...but all for her main goal: assassinating President Snow and returning peace to the Districts of Panem. As her squad starts to get smaller and smaller, will she make it to the Capitol? Will she get revenge on Snow or will her target change? Will she be with her "Star-Crossed Lover," Peeta, or her long-time friend, Gale? Deaths, bombs, bow and arrows, a love triangle, hope... What will happen?

All looks lost for the Rebellion against the Empire as they learn of the existence of a new super weapon, the Death Star. Once a possible weakness in its construction is uncovered, the Rebel Alliance must set out on a desperate mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. The future of the entire galaxy now rests upon its success.

2016 American epic space opera film in the Star Wars franchise directed by Gareth Edwards

With the Games destroyed, Katniss Everdeen, along with Gale, Finnick and Beetee, end up in the so thought "destroyed" District 13. Under the leadership of President Coin and the advice of her friends, Katniss becomes the "Mockingjay", the symbol of rebellion for the districts of Panem.

The lead character, called 'The Bride,' was a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, led by her lover 'Bill.' Upon realizing she was pregnant with Bill's child, 'The Bride' decided to escape her life as a killer. She fled to Texas, met a young man, who, on the day of their wedding rehearsal was gunned down by an angry and jealous Bill (with the assistance of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad). Four years later, 'The Bride' wakes from a coma, and discovers her baby is gone. She, then, decides to seek revenge upon the five people who destroyed her life and killed her baby. The saga of Kill Bill Volume I begins.

A young boy is arrested by the U.S. Secret Service for writing a computer virus and is banned from using a computer until his 18th birthday. Years later, he and his new-found friends discover a plot to unleash a dangerous computer virus, but they must use their computer skills to find the evidence while being pursued by the Secret Service and the evil computer genius behind the virus.

A day in the life of the employees of Empire Records. Except this is a day where everything comes to a head for a number of them facing personal crises - can they pull through together? And more importantly, can they keep their record store independent and not swallowed up by corporate greed?

Brodie Bruce, a Sega and comic book obsessed college student, and his best friend, TS Quint, are both dumped by their girlfriends on the same day, and to deal with their loss, they both go to the local mall. Along the way, they meet up with some friends, including Willam, a guy who stares at Magic Eye pictures, desprately trying to see the hidden image; Gwen, one of TS's ex-girlfriends; and Jay & Silent Bob, of Clerks fame. Eventually, they decide to try and win back their significant others, and take care of their respective nemesises (TS's girlfriend's father, and a store clerk who hates the two for not having any shopping agenda).

Return of the mythic guitar-slinging hero, El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas), in the final installment of the Mariachi/Desperado trilogy. The saga continues as El Mariachi makes his way across a rugged landscape on the blood trail of Barrillo (Willem Dafoe), a cartel kingpin with one last score to settle who is planning a coup d'etat against the president of Mexico. Enlisted by Sands (Johnny Depp), a corrupt CIA agent, El Mariachi demands retribution.

Dante Hicks is not having a good day. He clerks in a small convenience store and is told to come into work on his day off. Dante thinks life is a series of down endings and this day proves to be no different. He reads in the newspaper that his ex-girlfriend Caitlin is getting married. His present girlfriend reveals to have somewhat more experience with sex that he thought. His principal concerns are the hockey game he has that afternoon and the wake for a friend who died. His buddy Randal Graves works as a clerk in the video store next door and he hates his job as much as Dante hates his.

Mickey Knox and Mallory Wilson aren't your typical lovers - after killing her abusive father, they go on a road trip where, every time they stop somewhere, they kill pretty well everyone around them. They do however leave one person alive at every shootout to tell the story and they soon become a media sensation thanks to sensationalized reporting. Told in a highly visual style.

Seth and Evan are best friends, inseparable, navigating the last weeks of high school. Usually shunned by the popular kids, Seth and Evan luck into an invitation to a party, and spend a long day, with the help of their nerdy friend Fogell, trying to score enough alcohol to lubricate the party and inebriate two girls, Jules and Becca, so they can kick-start their sex lives and go off to college with a summer full of experience and new skills. Their quest is complicated by Fogell's falling in with two inept cops who both slow and assist the plan. If they do get the liquor to the party, what then? Is sex the only rite of passage at hand?

English singer and songwriter (born 1945)

Antoni Gaudí's renowned unfinished church, started in the 1880s, with museum and city views.

Horta-Guinardo

High-end option with 40-acre gardens, plus multiple restaurants, 9 pools & a plush spa.

Kihei

Posh riverside lodging with a spa, restaurants & a 19-story glass atrium, plus event space & a pool.

Forest Heights

Popular ski resort provides trails for all levels & a family-friendly park for tubing & skating.

Cairo

Ski resort with 2 mountains & more than 100 trails, plus shops, eateries, golf & lodging.

Johnson

Modern condo units in a scenic mountain setting with casual dining & year-round activities.

Dense, nearly pristine forest & small lakes over 21,935 acres, a wildlife habitat with recreation.

Greenwood Lake

Waterfalls, 3 sky lakes & 25 mi. of footpaths for hiking & biking, plus rock climbing.

Kerhonkson

New Paltz

Woodstock

Palenville

Sprawling area of nature reserve with 75 mi. of carriage trails, cliffs, fields & forests.

Neighborhood Italian spot serving reinvented Italian-American classics & pizzas in a dark space.

New York City

Large park featuring 5 golf courses, hiking & biking trails & picnic facilities.

Farmingdale

Authentic German cuisine, live music & festivals draw crowds to this historic eatery & beer garden.

Franklin Square

Expansive, 259-acre park featuring tennis & basketball courts, athletic fields & a dog run.

Seaford

Greenhouses, gardens & summer concerts on a 409-acre estate with an original Tudor Revival mansion.

Oyster Bay

Contemporary extended-stay hotel featuring a bar & an indoor pool, plus free breakfast & Wi-Fi.

Chelsea

Trendy lodging offering a 24-hour fitness room, plus a rooftop restaurant/bar with city views.

Boston

Lines form for innovative, tailor-made drinks at this stylish, menu-less cocktail landmark.

The FBI teams up with a formerly-institutionalized scientist - who was performing experiments on the fringe of real science - and his son to investigate weird crimes that are seemingly part of a larger pattern, and may be connected with a global company called Massive Dynamic.

American science fiction television series

In this sitcom, the suddenly risen film star Vince Chase, a 'jeune premiere' of humble origins, learns the ropes of the business and the high-profile world of the wealthy happy few in and around Hollywood, but not alone: he brings from his native New York his atypical 'entourage (hence the title), not glitterati or professionals but a close circle of friends since childhood, and his professional agent finds they often make his job harder as the Queens boys not only sponge on the star but also have his ear, so Vince is much harder to counsel. Vince chooses his friend from home Eric as his manager, and LA professional Ari Gold as his agent. Over the course of the Series, they progress from kids from Queens, to actors, to producers and chase the funding and support to try to make the perfect movie for Vincent.

Taking place 70 years after the events of "Avatar: The Last Airbender," this story follows the adventures of the Avatar after Aang - a passionate, rebellious, and fearless teenage girl from the Southern Water Tribe named Korra. With three of the four elements under her belt (Earth, Water, and Fire), Korra seeks to master the final element, Air. Her quest leads her to the epicenter of the modern "Avatar" world, Republic City - a metropolis that is fueled by steampunk technology. It is a virtual melting pot where benders and non-benders from all nations live and thrive. However, Korra discovers that Republic City is plagued by crime as well as a growing anti-bending revolution that threatens to rip it apart. Under the tutelage of Aang's son, Tenzin, Korra begins her airbending training while dealing with the dangers at large.

On the planet Etheria, Adora is an up and coming soldier for the Horde eager to defend her home from the menace of the Princesses she has been taught all her life to fear. Everything changes when a chance encounter with the mystic Sword of Protection in the Whispering Woods calls to her. Discovering to her horror the true evil of the Horde, Adora defects to the Rebellion as its foretold champion, She-Ra Princess of Power. Now, Adora and her new friends must rebuild the shattered Princess Alliance to defeat the Evil Horde. Meanwhile, Adora's former best friend in the Horde, Catra, is tasked to reclaim Adora, but her own feelings of jealousy, betrayal, and vindictive ambition lead her down a path darker still set by Lord Hordak that will hold all of Etheria in the balance.

A girl explores the possibilities in a post-apocalyptic world.

Providing comedy/news in the tradition of TV Nation and SNL's Weekend Update, Comedy Central's Daily Show reports on the foibles and of the real world with a satirical edge. In addition to news stories, the Daily Show also has celebrities (and semi-celebrities) on for interviews with the host, Trevor Noah. Lampooning everything from televangelists to Charlton Heston ("I did not play a homo in Ben-Hur"), and shamelessly assigning faux-news epithets ("Newt Gingrich: Giant Toddler") Kilborn, Winstead, and the crew actually manage to report some real news from time to time.

US late-night satirical television program

Stephen Colbert took over as host, executive producer and writer of THE LATE SHOW on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015. The comedy-variety-talk show is broadcast five nights a week from the Ed Sullivan theater in New York.

Leonard Hofstadter and Sheldon Cooper are both brilliant physicists working at Cal Tech in Pasadena, California. They are colleagues, best friends, and roommates, although in all capacities their relationship is always tested primarily by Sheldon's regimented, deeply eccentric, and non-conventional ways. They are also friends with their Cal Tech colleagues mechanical engineer Howard Wolowitz and astrophysicist Rajesh Koothrappali. The foursome spend their time working on their individual work projects, playing video games, watching science-fiction movies, or reading comic books. As they are self-professed nerds, all have little or no luck with women. When Penny, a pretty woman and an aspiring actress from Omaha, moves into the apartment across the hall from Leonard and Sheldon's, Leonard has another aspiration in life, namely to get Penny to be his girlfriend.

The Harper brothers Charlie and Alan are almost opposites but form a great team. They have little in common except their dislike for their mundane, maternally cold and domineering mother, Evelyn. Alan, a compulsively neat chiropractor and control-freak, is thrown out by his manipulative wife Judith who nevertheless gets him to pay for everything and do most jobs in the house. Charlie is a freelance jingle composer and irresistible Cassanova who lives in a luxurious beach-house and rarely gets up before noon. Charlie "temporarily" allows Alan and his son Jake, a food-obsessed, lazy kid who shuttles between his parents, to move in with them after Alan's separation/divorce. The sitcom revolves around their conflicting lifestyles, raising Jake (who has the efficient, caring dad while having a ball with his fun-loving sugar uncle who teaches him boyish things), and bantering with Evelyn and various other friends and family. Other fairly regular characters include Charlie's cleaning lady Berta and his rich, self-confessed stalker neighbor Rose who often sneaks in to spy on Charlie.

Anthony Bourdain, chef, writer, traveler, visits places all around the world sampling various foods.

food and travel television program by Anthony Bourdain

Iconoclastic Adam Conover from CollegeHumor turns life as we know it on its ear by showing us how unnecessary, and sometimes horrible, things we think we know to be real and true really are.

David Attenborough returns with a new wildlife documentary that shows life in a variety of habitats.

Each 50 minute episode features a global overview of a different biome or habitat on Earth (Polar, Mountain, Cave, Desert, Plains, Fresh Water, Seas, Ocean, Forest), followed by a ten-minute featurette which takes a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges of filming the episode.

The irreverent Monty Python comedy troupe present a series of skits which are often surreal, bawdy, uncompromising and/or tasteless, but nearly always hilarious.

Two New Zealander friends experience life, love, friendship, all the usual stuff, while trying to make their lives as a rock band. A rock band that can only schedule a performance at the local aquarium, is run by an eager and overambitious New Zealand buddy, and has only one fan.

Elizabeth "Liz" Lemon (Tina Fey) is the executive show runner for a late night sketch comedy show called "The Girlie Show", that stars her close friend and major drama queen Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski). When GE hires a new Executive Vice President for NBC named Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin), he decides to take Liz Lemon under his wing and turn around TGS, which for years has been unable to find the proper audience it deserves. So to do so, he brings on unhinged, wildly unpredictable star Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) to turn the series into a ratings hit. But Liz soon finds out that controlling her oddball writing staff, the NBC page program, keeping Tracy on a short leash, and getting him to get along with Jenna proves to be one disaster after another. Will TGS ever see true success? And will Liz find the right partner to get married and start a family?

Goes behind the scenes to show us how our favorite foods were developed and are manufactured. Each show is usually grouped around a theme (Halloween, snack foods, candy, etc.), and tours of the factories that produce Twinkies, Lemonheads, beef jerky, and so on are shown.

Somewhere, lost in the clouded annals of history, lies a place that few have seen. A mysterious place called The Unknown... Two Brothers, Wirt and Greg find themselves lost in the strange woods, adrift in a time. With the help of a shadowy Woodsmen and a foul-tempered bluebird named Beatrice, they travel through the foggy land in Hope of finding a way home.

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Stationary Podcasts I'm Interested in Listening To

podcast

Here is a list of some of my absolutely favorite podcasts about pens, pencils, and notebooks!

Favorite Stationary Podcasts

A list of games that I'm most interested in after going to PAX East 2020. The show felt a bit underwhelming this year; maybe because of the new generation of consoles coming out this year?

Kentucky Route Zero is a magical realistic adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it....

A cozy management game about dying. What will you leave behind? Play as Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, a Spiritfarer. Build a boat to explore the world,...

In Carrion you’ll assume the role of an amorphous creature of unknown origin. Players will stalk and consume those that have imprisoned it to spread fear and...

Children of Morta is a narrative-based roguelike hack’n slash game for PC, Mac and Linux which will involve you in the adventures of a family....

PAX East 2020 Favorites

game

Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure story set in Night City, a megalopolis obsessed with power, glamour and body modification. Assume the role of...

With the Empire attacking the Kingdoms of the North and the Wild Hunt, a cavalcade of ghastly riders, breathing down your neck, the only way to survive is to f...

Long ago, we looked upon a foreboding sky. The memory of the star that threatened all burns eternal in our hearts. In its wake came an age of silence. Yet with...

E3 2019 Favorites

Enjoy precisely handcrafted levels and exclusively created electronic dance music, all embedded in an appealing futuristic world. Swing your sabers, match the c...

Enter an era of war within the world of Ivalice. The small kingdom of Dalmasca, conquered by the Archadian Empire, is left in ruin and uncertainty. Princess Ash...

Video Games in Rotation

All the games I was most excited about at PAX East 2019

Faeria combines the core values of Strategy Card Games together with a Living Board, giving you the ability to shape the board as you play to create mind-blowin...

Discover a shattered world, forge powerful weapons, and hunt the ferocious behemoths threatening our survival....

Pursue a rogue god over land and sea in the sequel to the multi-award-winning RPG Pillars of eternity. Captain your ship on a dangerous voyage of discovery acro...

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