Read Or Die: Everything I Never Told You

May’s bookclub was a special one and marked the end of an era for the Read or Die bookclub. One of the founding members Erin is moving to California for an exciting new adventure with her family. I’m so happy for Erin and her next chapter in her life, but I’m so sad to see her go. She is truly a wonderful person with a warm personality and a caring heart. She’s smart, funny, and kind and brings a lot of wonderful and unique perspective to our little bookclub. She’s also a wonderful mother and a talented baker (there are a lot of really talented people in my bookclub). While I’m sure our paths will cross again, it definitely won’t be the same without her. Maybe she will start a California chapter of our bookclub ;). 

Me, Rachel, and Erin... We made shirts!

For our book this month, we let Erin have one last pick, and she chose Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. This was a fantastic read! The writing was brilliant, and the characters felt very real and authentic. They were so dynamic and multi-faceted. The book started with the death of their daughter and the subsequent reactions of the family. It also looked back upon the mother and father’s lives as an interracial couple, and no matter how hard you try, you may be doomed to repeat the mistakes of your parents. While I don’t believe this personally, the book did make some strong logic as to why that might be true. This book was beautifully written and took on a lot of heavy issues. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, and I look forward to reading other books by this author. 

Rachel provided and extra special dinner with Shrimp Fried Rice, Pork Hum Bao, BBQ Pork, PB&J Cake, and Rosemary Limeade.  The PB&J cake is one of my favorite cakes ever, it is seriously delicious! If you haven’t already checked out the recipe for the Rosemary Limeade, do yourself a favor, and make a batch right now, with or without alcohol it is divine! 

Our next months book is Moonglow by Michael Chabon, and you can find all of the books we’ve read here. 

Have any of you ever read Everything I Never Told You? Let me know in the comments. 

Read or Die: The Luckiest Girl Alive

This month’s book club was The Luckiest Girl Alive. Not surprising this was my pick. I’m not going to lie this book was a little disappointing. What originally made me want to read this book was an article I read in the Lenny letter. Jessica Knoll’s piece was so powerful and well written, and I knew that i wanted to read this book. I felt like the book was slightly disappointing. There was a lot of incredibly heavy topics. Somethings that define our generation. I thought there were so many heavy things that happened it almost felt like it was a little sensational for the sake of being sensational. The things that I think it did do well, was portraying a panic attack and PTSD. Also I thought she did a good job showing a survivors story, I think sometimes the narrative in society is that there is one way to be a survivor. I especially think that society wants us to believe that there is a “right” way to be a survivor. I think the author did a good job of giving us another portrayal of what a survivor can look like. The book is a work of fiction, but is semi-autobiographical. 

This book is definitely a page turner, but it just didn’t grip me the way I thought it would. The other ladies agreed, that the book was a quick read, but something just didn’t land quite right. It might be a good beach read if you like dark subject matter and books like Gone Girl. Ultimately we felt the book fell a little flat, and I didn’t think it lived up to what I thought. I would definitely read another book by this author, she is a very talented writer. 

Before

Rachel at By the Pounds hosted and created a wonderful spread for us. For most of the book the main character is on a diet. Rachel created a diet friendly meal that was delicious! We had chicken, farro salad with mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes, rosemary shortbread (that was so delicious), and Rose from Sofia Coppola. Stay tuned for Rachel’s recipe for the rosemary shortbread! 

After :) 

Our next book is Everything I Never Told You by Celeste NG. This will also be our last book club with one of the founding members. She is movie to California, and I’m incredibly sad about it. It’s sure to be a bittersweet month. 

5 Fandom Friday: Favorite Retro Video Games

I’ll be totally honest, I’m not sure what constitutes “retro” here, so I’m just going to list my 5 favorite old games. Plus these things are all subjective anyway. 

1.) Crash Bandicoot. I loved this game so so much. One New Years Eve I stayed up until 5am and tried to beat the game. I was unsuccessful. I am super pumped for the re-boot. Does anyone have a PS4 I can borrow? 

2.) Super Mario Party. When I was growing up we had an old tube TV and a beat up couch out in the garage that we used to play Super Mario Party on for hours and it was so much fun. Sometimes I miss those days. 

3.) Spyro the Dragon. I never quite got the hang of this game, but it still brought me a lot of joy to play. 

4.) Ms. Pacman. I consider this retro, even though you can find it anywhere. But its simple graphics make it a fun throwback. 

5.) Sonic the Hedgehog. This was probably the first game that I would obsess over and play for hours and hours. Such a fun game, I even found an app recently that semi simulates it, and I got obsessed all over again. 

What are your favorite Retro Video Games? 

28 Things I Geek Out About

Today is my Birthday!!!!! While this is plenty exciting all on its own, but I’m not doing anything terribly exciting to celebrate. On Saturday I’m going to go see Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and go to dinner at The Whisky Bar in Seattle. Its going to be awesome. At first I thought I might write down 28 pieces of wisdom that I’ve learned from being alive for 28 years. I don’t think I’m qualified for that type of thing, the only real wisdom I can impart is don’t be an asshole, oh and check the toilet paper in public places before you sit down. Instead I thought it would be appropriate to share 28 things I geek out about! Without further ado, in no particular order:  

1. Harry Potter
2. Dungeons & Dragons
3. Star Wars
4. Dominion
5. Parks & Recreation
6. Feminism
7. Scotch
8. Paul F. Tompkins
9. Makeup 
10. The Dresden Files
11. Game of Thrones
12. Silicon Valley
13. Bullet Journaling
14. New Notebooks
15. 7 Wonders
16. Well written female characters
17. Concepts 
18. Youtube Lifestyle bloggers (Pixiwoo and Whitney Simmons) 
19. Instagram
20. Booties
21. Hand Lettering
22. Plants
23. Reading
24. Traveling
25. Sword fighting
26. Wonder Woman
27. Iced Coffee
28. Learning New Things

Do any of you make Birthday lists? What are things you geek out on?  

5 Fandom Friday: 5 Fantasy Creatures I would want as Pets

Life has been a bit crazy lately. I started a new job! It is awesome, but also requires a lot more of my mental energy than I was expecting. I did a little bit of traveling and dog sitting away from my own apartment. This stuff has been really exciting and a lot fun, but my schedule is totally out of whack. All this to say, the blog has had to take a bit of a back seat. I’m working on being better about it, because I’ve missed writing a lot!  On that note, there haven’t been any official 5 Fandom Friday posts from The Nerdy Girlie, but I saw this one floating around and wanted to do it. Without further ado the 5 fantasy creatures I want as pets. 

1.) Dragon. Probably like a dragon from the Eragon series, so we could have a bond and I could ride the dragon. Dragons are awesome, even when they are raining down destruction they are majestic beings, no arguing with that. 

2.) Niffler. From the Harry Potter universe. Seeing these adorable creatures come to life in the Fantastic beasts movie was truly magical. Yes they would destroy a home, but they are just so stinking adorable. 

3.) Pegasus. Flying horse, need I say more. My character in my very first RPG had a pegasus, and he was hella awesome!

4.) Sphinx. There is something so awesome about these mysterious animals. 

5.) Giant Otter. Technically these animals exist. I want like a horse sized otter. This may or may not be something another RPG character had. Otters are so cute and they are vicious, really making them the best animal to ride into battle IMO. 

Do you have any fantastical animals you would want as pets? Let me know in the comments. 

D&D Group Photo

Our awesome GM commissioned a group photo of our D&D group, and it is fantastic! This is the game that is set in the Eberron world. A floating city with sky ships. Similar to Jim Butcher’s Aeronauts Windlass world IMO. This is the game where we are employees of the University and one broody university student. 

My character is a female version of Indiana Jones, but way cooler. She does carry a whip and a hat. Whenever I create my D&D characters I always have such a vivid image of what they look like in my head. Usually I can find either a movie character or some illustration on the internet to serve my purposes and show to the rest of the group, but it is never quite as perfect as I imagine the character in my head. This photo totally solved that problem and my character is exactly how I imagined her in my head! When I saw the final product, I swear my face looked like the actual heart eye emoji.  

L-R: Warlock, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and a new character who hasn't told us his class yet. 

Derek, our GM, worked with the artist Glen Holman on Fiverr. He said that the artist was delightful to work with, and based off the quality of our picture and the other work he has on his site, his work is definitely superb. 

I actually might get my first RPG character I ever created drawn, just so I can have her in my memory forever, even though we don’t play the game anymore. If you are looking to get one of your own D&D characters or your group immortalized in design, I would recommend checking this guy out at least. It’s bringing me a lot of Joy TBH. 

Do any of you draw/illustrate your own characters? Let me know in the comments, because I would love to see them. 

Book Club: Milagro Beanfield War

This months bookclub we read the Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols. This novel falls into the magical realism genre and is the first book in a series of 3. Everyone in our group liked this book. Some more so than others. I personally fell in the median of the group, I enjoyed the plot of the book, and at first the characters. I will say about half way through the book the authors several page long back story on minor characters that we would never hear from again, became quite cumbersome and for me really detracted from the book. I totally understood that the author was trying to create this very detailed picture of life in a small New Mexico town, but I just felt like it detracted from the story, instead of add to it. The writing style was excellent and reminded me a lot of Gabriel García Márquez, but unfortunately there was no family tree. Honestly in retrospect a family tree might have helped me a lot with my understanding of this book. 

This pig was one of my favorite parts of the book. 

If you enjoy the works of Gabriel García Márquez you would probably really enjoy this book.  I would also definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the magical realism genre. I felt like there was definitely more magical realism sprinkled throughout the whole story that I really loved. The main characters were vibrant and rich and I love all their backstories. Everyone had a certain story and mythos about their family that you really only get when you grown up in a very small town or neighborhood.  

Rachel at By The Pounds hosted our book club and of course made a delicious dinner for us. She made pork carnitas that were OMG good. She also made homemade Soapapillas that were better than the ones that were made at the Mexican restaurant I used to work at. Seriously delicious. She also made Horchata for us to drink. This was my first time having Horchata and I was immensely delighted. It’s a rice based drink with cinnamon and Rum. You can find Rachel’s recipe here.

Have any of you read this book before? Let me know what you thought in the comments. Our next book is The Luckiest Girl alive by Jessica Knoll if you want to follow along.  You can also find all of the books we have ever read on Pinterest . 

Game Review: T.I.M.E. Stories

Have you heard about the game T.I.M.E. Stories (TS) before? It’s a fairly new game, it was published in 2015 and it is a Legacy game. Meaning that you have to have the same people together to play the game over and over (although I don't think this would be strictly necessary, but I’ll get to that later). The game supports 2-4 people and it is a community dice and puzzle board game. 

The premise is neat, you play Time agents who travel through time and inhabit different “receptacles” in their respective time periods. Each receptacle gives you a different skill set, and everyone uses their players to fight various things and solve problems. Once you solve whatever problem that was happening in the time period you are sent back to you then you are officially done with that edition of the game. In that respect its not great. With the exception of the last expansion we played it took us more than once to defeat each of the editions. In this sense it is not a game to play over and over forever. 

The latest expansion we played. 

The problems are usually pretty complicated and require more than one play through so you definitely get your money’s worth out of it. However it is rather pricey the base game costs $50 and the expansions will set you back about $25. The quality of game design is excellent! The board is well designed and made from a really nice thick material. The art on the cards is unique and high quality.

some of the art. 

I don’t want to give away any spoilers for the actual game play. It is a lot of fun to play and I enjoy the legacy aspect of it. I would rate this game 3.5/5 stars. Mostly because I think the cost is high based on a per play value. If the budget is tight i would skip it. You could always borrow your friends board if they have one to see if its worth investing in the expansions.

Have any of you play TS yet? Let me know what you thought in the comments! 

5 Fandom Fridays: Favorite Droids

This weeks 5 Fandom Friday prompt is your favorite droids, this should be interesting. Off the top of my head I can only think of like 4 droids from the Star Wars (SW) universe. A quick google search made me realize there were a lot more droids that did some really impactful stuff in the SW universe.  

1.) R2-D2- One of my favorite heroes of the SW universe to me. I mean he is the one who keeps Luke’s ship in the air for most of the combat missions. I like his little beeps and boops. I even at one point had an R2-D2 cell phone charger that whirred and beeped like crazy when you had a phone plugged into him. Anyway R2 definitely tops my favorite droids list. 

2.) BB-8- I fell head over heels for BB in the Force Awakens. What can I say I am a sucker for those adorable beeps and boops. Honestly they remind me a bit of dogs. Anyway when bb give Finn the thumbs up with his lighter that was one of my favorite moments. The way he is so faithful to Po. It’s just so freaking adorable. 

3.) K-2SO- I really enjoyed one of the newest droids introduced into the Star Wars fandom. His quick wit and moment stealing humor really added some much needed comedic relief to Rogue One. Plus he was voiced by Alan Tudyck, so automatically he is a winner. I love much he back talked, kind of like C-3PO, but he was not so easy to bully around. 

4.) C-3PO- I have to admire his persistence and I can level with his anxious pessimism. Lets be honest sometimes heroes ideas need to be tempered with a little reality. While 3PO was kind of annoying, I really respect someone who will give you the statistical facts in order to persuade you to not do anything. When it came down to it, he really came through, plus where would our heroes be if they didn’t have a translator! 

5.) IG-88- He appeared in the Empire Strikes back. Originally he was an assassin droid, but he struck out on his own to become an independent bounty hunter. It is rare to see an independent droid, bounty hunter or not you have to respect the will power that must take. Also he just looks pretty cool. 

Do you have any favorite droids? Let me know in the comments! 

Makeup Review: Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics Palette

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a makeup review, and I just got the UD Naked Ultimate Basics Palette for Christmas. My parents surprised me with this palette, I didn’t even think to ask for it, but boy I’m glad I have it. I have the Naked 2 and Naked 3 palettes from Urban Decay and between those two palettes there are numerous combinations and pretty much any color that you could want. I didn’t think I needed another palette, but I was wrong, because I have been using my UD Ultimate Basics Palette almost everyday since christmas. 

The packaging for this palette. 

The Naked 3 Palette is on top. 

Like the other Naked palettes the Ultimate Basics Palette (UBP) comes with 12 different colors. Unlike the other Naked palettes these shades are all matte. They range from light shades that can be used to highlight your eyebrow arches, the inner corners of your eyes, or your cupids bow on the top of your lip. All the way up to a matte black which can be used as an eyeliner or for a nice smokey eye look. There are a couple of beautiful brown shades that I use for my everyday look. If you have hazel or blue eyes I think these browns are especially eye enhancing. One of my favorite colors in the Palette is this dark purple that I use to do a purple smokey eye, which has been one of my favorite looks since I have received the palette. 

This palette costs $54, which is the same as the other Naked palettes. The quality of these palettes is unrivaled in my opinion. The color pay off is great and the colors are true to life. I’ve found even with my oily eyelids I can wear these shadows without a primer and they are matte enough to stay put all day without gathering in my crease. I still prefer to wear them with primer, but if i’m running late and have to make sacrifices, primer is the first to get cut. The colors do have a bit of powdery excess when you are applying them, but its easy to solve that problem by just blowing on the brush before applying it to the lid.  

I would rate this palette about 4.5/5 stars. If you are looking for a versatile matte palette with a lot of different colors, I would recommend this palette for you, but if you already have a matte palette you enjoy then you can probably skip this one. 

Do any of you own this palette? let me know what you think of it. 

5 Fandom Friday: Green Photo Challenge

This 5 Fandom Friday is the Green Photo Challenge. So I am posting 5 photos with a green theme. I will do my best to keep them nerdy, but they don’t necessarily have to be. It just so happens that green is my favorite color so I can find green things everywhere. 

1.) My backpack. I just bought this, and i debated heavily between this green and the black. I decided that everything I own is mostly black, so I decided to take a chance and get the green one. I couldn't be happier about it. 

2.) My plants! I'm just honestly impressed I've kept them alive this long, but they bring me a lot of joy when i look at them. 

3.) My power drill! I love crafting and using power tools so this is one of my favorite things. 

4.) My dog in a green blanket. Okay this is an opportunity to show you all my adorable dog and to showcase my favorite blanket which happens to be green. 

5.) This is a little corny but its a picture from my balcony. I don't know if you all know this but Washington is called The Evergreen State. I love my adopted home so very much and I love how green it is, even the grey adds to the green. 

Post Luke Cage Thoughts

If you haven’t seen Luke Cage yet go check out my first Luke Cage post, watch the show, then read this post :). 

*Spoilers* 

How amazing was Luke Cage?! The only real qualm I had with it was that the time line wasn’t explicit, even though the shows creators and writers said that it took place after Jessica Jones (JJ). This does become clearer after the first few episodes, and when Claire Temple (Rosario Dawson’s character) is introduced. The only other thing that I was sad about was that JJ didn’t make an appearance. On the whole it was a fantastic series, one that I want to watch again, hopefully soon! 

The standouts for me were the acting, the music, and the cinematography. The performances from all the actors were really nuanced and compelling. Half the time I felt like I was rooting for the bad guy and the other half I didn’t know who the bad guy was. 

A big chunk of the show takes place in a nightclub owned by one of the villains, Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes, who is played by Mahershala Ali. Mahershala just won the Oscar for best Actor! .Every night they have a different band singing, and then they usually wrap each episode with the band’s performance of the song. It’s really neat, the songs are Ah-mazing! Spotify has the entire Luke Cage playlist up (most Netflix shows are up there) and I highly recommend you check it out.  

The Villains: Cottonmouth, Mariah (a local councilwoman), Shades Alvarez, and Stryker (Luke’s half brother) who is the only one that seems to know the secret to taking down Luke. With the exception of Stryker, all the other villains are “bad guys” but they also do a lot of good in the community. They definitely have a “look out for our own” mentality, but you also wouldn’t want to get on their bad side or steal their money. One of the most Iconic moments in the season was when Cottonmouth talks to one of his victims about how he rose to the top and got to be the best in his business. The filming and acting were so good and so subtle. By the time Cottonmouth is standing in front of his Biggie painting and the crown is lined up perfectly with his head, it is chilling and awe striking. That moment sent a shiver down my spine. The whole series is filled with moments like this. Instances where the acting and camera work just line up so perfectly for these impactful moments where you question everything you thought you knew about the show. The villains really push this superhero show from good to amazing. 

How did Luke get his powers? When he goes to prison he is just a regular guy. Albeit one with huge muscles and a pretty good fighting instinct, but no superpowers that we know of. Eventually Luke attracts the attention of one of the prison guards who runs an illegal underground fighting ring in the prison. He wants Luke to fight and offers him perks while being in prison. This underground fighting ring is also where we are introduced to the consummate survivor Shades Alvarez. Luke ends up fighting and doing really well.  However, when he wants to quit fighting, the crooked guard won’t let him and threatens his only friend in prison. So Luke has to keep fighting, but eventually gets jumped by Shades and another bad guy. They beat him viciously and he has life ending injuries and ends up in the prison hospital. Luke’s future wife Reva is a prison therapist and begs the doctor to give Luke the experimental medicine that could save his life. Finally the doctor agrees even though he thinks it will be a waste of time because Luke is beyond saving. Meanwhile the guard does not want Luke to survive (hence the reason he had him beaten within an inch of his life). Luke gets put into the tank, reminiscent of the one Wolverine goes into when he gets his claws replaced by adamantium. Then there is a combination of an electrical storm and the guard turning up the heat to insane levels so that Luke will die in the tank. Well that has the opposite effect and Luke ends up with impenetrable skin and super strength. 

Luke Cage comes out of the superhero closet so to speak. For better or worse he reveals himself to the Harlem community as a superhero and vows to help rid it of the criminals and corrupt politicians, who want to destroy Harlem from the inside out. This is pretty unique in the marvel Netflix series as most of the “gifted” heroes prefer to stay hidden (for some good reasons). Not everyone is ecstatic that Luke is out in the open. Mariah tries to turn him into a public enemy by painting him as a thug and a terrorist to the community. Despite all that he still stands up and fights (even when the cops are against him and at first most of the public too). Slowly and surely he wins back the popular opinion. When the cops continue shooting at him, and fail against his bullet proof skin, his hoodie is riddled with bullet holes (also a commentary on how police treat men and women of color in America). The bodegas start selling hoodies with bullet holes in them to both confuse the police and as a show of solidarity with Luke. Coming out like Luke did, took a lot of courage especially when he knew people would be against him. Ultimately it was the right choice because he is an inspiration for kids in his neighborhood to stand up and do the right thing even when it’s not popular. 

the bad ass women. 

I really loved everything about Luke Cage, I think it is a much needed show especially in the Marvel world. The diversity it brings to the table is unique and refreshing. I thought there was a lot of really smart commentary on the current climate in America. The music, villains, Luke were all amazing and added to the Marvel universe in different and interesting ways. I can’t wait to see how Luke teams up with the other defenders later this year, and I especially cannot wait for season 2 of Luke Cage. I only scraped the surface on Luke cage, but you should go check it out right now if you haven’t seen it. 

Let me know what you thought of Luke Cage in the comments! 

5 Fandom Friday: Favorite Sequels

This 5 Fandom Friday prompt is Favorite Sequels. Seems like a cool prompt, for my purposes I think I will group some of the sequels together, instead of taking up the whole list with Harry Potter films. 

1.) The Harry Potter sequels. They really only get better with age. The actors get better the stories get more interesting and complicated. Harry Potter is probably my favorite fandom so this was definitely making it onto the list. 

2.) Avengers: Age of Ultron. I think the ensemble movies are the best of the series, and I thought Ultron was just as good as good as the first Avengers. Arguable Captain America: Civil War can be included as apart of the Avengers ensemble films because it was basically Avengers light. Side note I am pumped for the Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2. 

3.) The Shrek sequels. I genuinely enjoyed all of the Shrek movies (not including the spinoffs or straight to DVD movies). The core lineup was good, and continued to be funny and introduce new and interesting characters. I really enjoy interesting takes on fairy tales, so I’m always a bit of a sucker for those movies. 

4.) Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. This is probably my favorite film in the original franchise, followed by the Force Awakens, A New Hope, and the Empire Strikes back. I do not care for episodes 1-3. But I thought Return of the Jedi is just a fantastic film, Luke kind of stops being a whiny baby and actually does some really cool stuff and watching Princess Leia strangle Jabba is one of my favorite scenes ever. 

5.) Mad Max: Fury Road. Easily in my top 5 movies of all time. I thought this movie was an awesome new advancement in the Mad Max universe. Fantastic story and action scenes. Plus you know there are some great tips for when the inevitable water wars come to America. I love a movie that is both entertaining and informative. 

Let me know what your favorite sequels are in the comments!

Read or Die: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

This month Read or Die read Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. This book is considered a classic. I haven’t read a ton of classics to be honest. Mostly because I prefer my sci-fi/fantasy books. This book starts out very slowly. I didn’t give myself a ton of time to read it, and I was a little concerned when it took me 5 minutes to get through 2 pages. Then things picked up rather quickly and this book proved that it is a classic for a reason. It has suspense, drama, intrigue, and warped love. What more do you want? 

It starts with our heroine (her name is never used) reflecting on her youth. We cut to her as a young woman working for an old gossipy lady as her companion for $90/year. A simpler time. This lady kind of makes a fool of herself all over, but she is still respected with other socialites. They are staying at a hotel in Monte Carlo, and our heroine is embarrassed by her companions behavior. Then everything changes when Maxim de Winter comes to stay at Monte Carlo. Despite being twice her age they still hit it off quickly and have a bit of a whirlwind romance. When her employer wants to leave rather suddenly to go back to New York to be with her daughter our heroine is faced with a choice, go with her employer or stay with Max. She being quite young and having very low self esteem doesn’t realize that Max is interested in her, even though in her mind she is already in Love with him. She goes to say goodbye and then he proposes to her and she says yes. In a rather quick turn of events he marries her and then whisks her away to his mansion called Manderley. 

After they get to Manderley is when things get interesting. This big creepy house is now her home, and she has no idea what she is doing. Max who seemed like an attentive husband while they are abroad, now is kind of withdrawn and distant. Our heroine, who grew up rather poor, now has to figure out how to run an old english mansion without much help. Also some of the staff are actively working against her. The house is presented as a character in the novel itself which is really interesting. Some of my favorite parts of the book were when the author was describing the house and the rooms within it. While at Manderley there are a couple of twists during the book. I won’t spoil them for you, because I genuinely think this is a classic worth reading, and i was totally taken off guard by the twists.

While none of the characters were really likable, they were definitely interesting. Which are my favorite kind of characters anyway. What I really enjoyed the authors depiction of our heroine being in her own head. Often our heroine is in her own head and creating this delusional scenarios and instances that are pretty far away from the actual real world. I can totally relate to this, because I am pretty much always imagining scenarios that will never happen in real life. I thought it was a pretty accurate depiction about how that is in my own life.  Everyone in the book club enjoyed this book despite its rather slow start, we all thought it picked up and was interesting until the end. 

As always at our book club Rachel at By the Pounds totally spoiled us with an awesome Tea Party theme. She made beet toast, watercress sandwiches, chocolate and coconut scones (recipe coming soon), and a drink called the Manderley Fog which is her take on a London Fog and it has brandy in it! Needless to say it was delicious and I highly recommend you go check it out right now. Seriously Rachel is amazing and all of her recipes and cocktails are worth checking out, not to mention she always makes the best stuff for bookclub #ourbookclubisbetterthanyours. 

Rachels amazing beet toast and table setting. The china was her grandmothers. 

Our next book is The Milagro Beanfield Wars by John Nichols and Rini Templeton. If you want to read along with us. 

Let me know if you’ve read Rebecca and what you thought in the comments!  

5 Fandom Fridays: Fictional Spouses I'd Totally Marry

This 5 fandom Friday brought to you by The Nerdy Girlie, is all about the fictional husbands/wives that we would marry. I have a feeling this list will be hard to keep to 5. Okay I’m going to start daydreaming now…

1.) Ben Wyatt- Parks and Recreation

He is smart, kind, incredibly nerdy, and has a cute butt. Leslie and Ben have such a fantastic relationship. They have an incredible partnership, and they weather the hard and awkward parts of love with humor and grace. They support each others dreams and Ben was willing to give his up to help Leslie achieve her own, swoon. 

2.) Khal Drogo- Game of Thrones

Beneath his tough never been defeated (except for that one time he got a scratch and it killed him thing) macho attitude. Lies a man who loves his queen more than anything. He was willing to raise an army cross the sea and conquer a foreign land, if that isn’t true love I don’t know what is. 

3.) Jim Halpert- The Office

His sense of humor, his dorky looks, his never-ending love for his wife. Do I need to say more? 

4.) Luke Cage- Luke Cage/ Jessica Jones

Luke Cage is just a fantastic guy. He stands up for whats right. He believes in his community. He has unbreakable skin. When he talks about his wife, who unfortunately was killed you can tell how much he absolutely loved her. Reva helped him out after the whole incident in jail when he got his super powers, and then they fell in love. He cares so much and I would be happy to help him with the loss of his wife. 

5.) Ron Swanson- Parks and Recreation

Another Parks and Rec husband (honestly this list could be just parks and rec guys *cough* Andy Dwyer *cough*). Ron is a scotch drinking feminist who loves strong ladies, like… um… hello that is basically how i see myself. He sticks to his guns, challenges the people he loves in his life, and genuinely cares for and loves his wife. Everything you could possible want in a husband and partner. 

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage

Full Disclosure: I love pretty much anything Vin Diesel does, which is because he is amazing. This weekend I finally got the opportunity to go see the next installment of the xXx series. I posted how this was one of the movies I was most excited for in 2017.  I have to say this is one hell of a movie. Nothing about this movie disappointed. The only thing that I thought fell a little flat was some of the dialogue. Even that wasn’t bad enough to detract from the overall experience of the film.

*Spoilers ahead*

First off the fight scenes were incredible. It was a solid mix of guns, hand to hand combat, and even motorcycles being used in close quarters fighting. In one of the first scenes we see Tony Jaa’s character, Talon, use a motorcycle to whip a guy in the face. It is simultaneously humorous and impressive. There is also an amazing fight scene towards the end featuring Ruby Rose and Deepika Pukone. They were back to back guns blazing, fighting off a military tactical unit. They looked so bad ass. It. Was. Incredible. Donnie Yen and Vin Diesel’s characters fight off another batch of military commandos on a plane. It might not sound that interesting, until you realize that the plane is in a free fall. They are essentially in zero G and there are only the two of them against a heavily armed military unit.  The free fall does last a suspiciously long amount of time. As my friend Derek pointed out they would’ve had to have been in orbit to get that much zero G time and not crash.

You may have noticed that they were fighting the military several times. That’s because it turns out people in power are pretty much awful (feeling any parallels to the real world?). Toni Collette’s character is a high ranking government official, and is pretty much the face of the bad guys. The plot was interesting enough to carry me over in between the action scenes. Without getting too deep into it, the XXX program was created by the government, but is now fighting the government. They introduced several new XXX agents who were every bit as talented as Vin Diesel, and who I really hope show up in the next movies. I especially loved Ruby Rose’s, sharp shooter character and Deepika Pukone’s, general badass/leader character.  There is a moment at the beginning of the movie where Pukone’s character is arguing with Yen’s character and they were making chess metaphors.  He says something to the effect of “…I have my eye on the King.” She goes, “That’s just it. You forgot about the queen.” Then shoots a coconut right next to his ear. Chills.

I will say this about Vin Diesel action movies, all the women get to be badass. It doesn’t matter if they are villains or heroes. The women hold their own in fights every bit as much as the men do and let’s be honest look better doing it (Seriously what was going on with Vin’s wardrobe in this movie).  Women are just as capable of toppling government regimes and rescuing someone as men are, and that is something Vin Diesel knows and portrays in his films. This might be why I like them. There is nothing better than a smart and capable woman who kicks some serious ass.  

One of my fave scenes!

I would highly recommend you go see this movie. It is exciting and action packed from start to finish, which is good, because it doesn’t allow you to get too caught up in the sometimes stiff dialogue.  Have any of you seen xXx: The Return of Xander Cage? Let me know in the comments.

While I was writing this I was also listening to my own version of the playlist from the movie. It is a little short because I could not find all the music on Spotify, oh and don’t mind the Ed Sheeran song at the bottom, I just really like that song.

5 Fandom Fridays: Galentines Day Gifts

I’m super excited for this 5FF from The Nerdy Girlie. Galentines day is the day before Valentines day to celebrate all the wonderful ladies in your life. As someone who is a deep skeptic of arbitrary holidays, ummm do we really need a donut day? Also if you aren’t living everyday as a chance to eat donuts and celebrate donuts… what are you doing? I do however believe wholeheartedly in celebrating the amazing women in your life.  So without further ado here are my top 5 Galantines day gifts.

1.)    I’m going to plug one of my favorite Illustrators on Etsy again. But I really do think this print would make a fantastic Galentines Day gift. Pick it up on Tyler Feder’s etsy shop, Roaring Softly. There are also quite a few new prints that would be excellent Galentines Day gifts. Check her out!

2.)    Make a donation to a cause they support in their name. Planned Parenthood, ACLU, RAINN, Natural Resources Defense Council, Human Rights Campaign, and The Southern Poverty Law Center are just a few. You know what is important to the ladies in your life, give a meaningful and lasting gift in their name.

3.)    Do you have a wine lover in your life? You should get them a wine glass that holds an entire bottle of wine! It is both a funny and practical gift for any wine loving lady in your life.

4.)    Okay this is a little corny, but I also think it is also sweet and unique. What better way to say BFF than with giving them a star to name! I found a site, StarNamer that has a package to name a star for only $15. Better yet you could buy two stars next to each other so you and your bestie will have your place in the cosmos forever. Or you know until that star dies, but that probably won’t be for hundreds of thousands of years.

5.)    Inviting your BFF(s) over for a home cooked meal and in home spa day is always a treat. Rachel from By the Pounds and I will get together and color our adult coloring books, watch a movie, and do a face mask. It is a lot of fun to spend quality time with your BF where you can be silly and talk about all the things going on in each other’s lives. Let’s be honest, I love texting, but it’s hard to communicate the bigger stuff in life or get tone from texting. Sitting down and having face time with your friends is so very important. You can try one of these DIY facemask recipes or treat yourself to a nice one from Lush.

There are endless ways to show the awesome ladies in your life some love this Galentines day. Even if you don’t want to celebrate this holiday, you should still make time to celebrate your lady friends!

Book Club: The Rosie Project

This January’s book club marks the 3 year anniversary of the Read or Die book club. I honestly cannot believe it has been 3 years. Probably the longest New Year’s resolution I’ve stuck with. Probably because reading is awesome, and talking with these ladies is always an absolute joy.

This month we read The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. It is about an associate professor in Melbourne who is looking for a wife. While this is not groundbreaking plot in and of itself, the book does offer several interesting departures from the traditional Romance novel.

One being that our protagonist Don has Aspergers and falls somewhere on the autism spectrum. It was really interesting reading from his point of view.  While this is only one representation of Asperger and everyone’s story is different, but it was unique to view the world through Don's lense. Seeing the things that Don has trouble with, I.E. social cues and where his strengths lie, I.E. his impressive memory and rational logic use.  Don also engages in a form of social camouflaging, he uses the things the world would hold against him, like his lack of understanding of fashion and social norms and transforms them into a sort of armor. Much like Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones when he says, “Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you.”  I really enjoyed reading the novel from Don’s perspective and using some of his scheduling techniques to make my life better. It would probably be a good thing for me, since life has been a little chaotic (read: its winter so I don’t feel like doing anything but simultaneously feel guilty about all the things I’m neglecting).

The second cool and unfortunately unique thing about the Rosie project, is that the love interest, Rosie is an independent, and fairly well developed person. She isn’t waiting for anyone to rescue her. She is a grad student simultaneously getting her Masters and PHD. Rosie is awesome! I enjoyed that they included a female love interest who isn’t weak or one dimensional. She is flawed, smart, talented, and can support herself. Did I mention she is a bartender to support herself during school?  

Everyone enjoyed the book a lot. It was a nice lighthearted romance story, with some unique twists.  The group agreed that it was refreshing to read a story where the love interest wasn’t a Damsel in Distress. The consensus is that we would all recommend this book.

Rachel of By the Pounds delighted us all with a stadium food themed dinner. Part of the book takes place in New York and they go to a baseball game (one of the best parts of the book IMO). She made nachos with homemade cheese sauce. This cheese sauce is bonkers good. I’m still thinking about it weeks later. My dream is to just have a fountain of it in my kitchen so I can eat it whenever I want. There is probably nothing that this wouldn’t be good on. She also made hot dogs, which are one of my favorite foods. Funny story in college I decided to be a vegetarian and the only food I was concerned I was going to miss was hot dogs... my love runs deep. Rachel also roasted peanuts in the shell, which definitely felt like we were enjoying a real baseball experience.  Last but certainly not least Rachel made the most delicious Homemade Port Caramel Cracker Jacks the recipe is up on her blog and you should definitely check it out, along with her review of the book and the Fosters beer we drank! These homemade cracker jacks were the bomb, leagues better than the kind you get in the box.

If you are following along with the Read or Die book club we are reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.  If you have read The Rosie Project, let me know what you think!

5 Fandom Friday: My TBR Pile

I don't know what happened last week but I did not get to any posts. Oh well, sometimes that's how life goes.

Well this is only 4 days late, but better late than never. Last week’s 5FF post was about 5 books on your to be read pile (TBR). Since I love reading, I didn’t want to miss a chance to share with you what is on my TBR pile.

My Current bookshelf. My plants from L-R. Peter, Freya, Orion & Aurelia. 

Currently reading: Bad Feminist by Roxanne Gay (I’m not going to count this in the total because I’ve already started).

1.)    Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. This is February’s book club book so that is what is up next for me. It looks interesting and it never hurts to read more classics.

2.)    The 48 laws of power by Robert Greene. Apparently this is the book that gangs use to expand their territory. It is also a favorite among celebrities. Seems like an interesting read.

3.)    Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan. I love Riordan’s series about the Camp Half Blood chronicles that follows the scions of the God’s of Olympus. I also love Norse mythology. I’m hoping this book will capture me in the same way.

4.)    Becoming: Sex, Second Chances, and Figuring Out Who the Hell I Am by Laura Jane Williams. I found Laura Jane's blog last year and then promptly fell in love with her. Her voice is strong and unique. Her writing is everything I want my writing to be. I can’t wait to read her book. I’ve been putting it off for too long because I “had to” read the books I already owned.

5.)    Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll. I’ve heard a lot of awesome things about this book and I’ve been wanting to read it for awhile, but please see #4 as to why I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

Honorable mention Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple. I absolutely fell in love with Where’d You Go Bernadette and I am excited to revisit this author and her new book.

What is on your TBR pile?

5 Fandom Fridays: TV Shows I’m excited for in 2017.

Continuing the 5 Fandom Fridays this week. I will say it is going to be hard to only pick 5 TV shows, but I will do my best. 

1.) Girls Season 6 (HBO, Feb. 12). This will be the final season of Lena Dunham’s show Girls. I don’t enjoy this show as much as I once did, and I definitely think they had a few seasons that lacked in substance. I did enjoy season 5 and I’m really hoping season 6 will finish strong. At any rate this is the last season so it should be interesting. 

2.) The Handmaids Tale (Hulu, Apr. 26). It’s shocking and a little scary that this series feels so very relevant to our current political situation… The book is amazing and based off of what I’ve seen from the previews it shows a lot of promise. 

3.) American Gods (Starz, TBD).  This is one of my favorite books ever written. The characters are interesting and the story is fascinating and complex. I love love love Neil Gaiman. I really hope they do the book justice. The previews look awesome, and the cast is promising. 

4.) Game of Thrones (HBO, TBD). This one speaks for itself. Game of Thrones is amazing and I can’t wait to see the show. Especially after last year’s season ending epic-ness. I can’t wait for more drama, intrigue, dragons, and fight scenes. 

5.) The Defenders (Netflix, mid 2017)- I can’t wait to see Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Daredevil, and Iron fist come together for what will surely be an awesome series. It will be interesting also to see what kinds of villains the Marvel/Netflix universe come up with. 

Lots of good TV coming up in 2017, I can’t wait to binge the online shows and slowly watch (and complain about) episode by episode of the other series. 

Are there any TV shows you are particularly excited about this year?