The Adventure Zone: Murder on the Rockport Limited

A fun follow up! Funny, over the top, quirky, and clever; this nerdy graphic novel series is my new favorite thing. A trio of ridiculous adventurers have found themselves on a new quest. They must find a dangerous item before it falls into the hands of a nameless enemy. Things get complicated when they end up stuck on the train that the relic is on and someone gets murdered. Who did it? Why are they relying on a 10 year old for help. Why  is there a giant crab attacking them? Wonderfully illustrated and filled with fantastic banter, I can hardly wait for the third installment!

Dead Little Mean Girl

I was such a huge fan of The Awesome (Eva Darrow's first book) that I had to get this one as soon as it came out. While it wasn't as good as her first novel (the bar was set too high), it was still pretty damn good. This teen novel opens with a nerdy girl finding her quasi step-sister laying face first dead on the garage floor wearing a skimpy hula girl costume. From there we get the complete back story leading up to the death from Emma's perspective. Emma was a shy, nerdy girl who liked blending into the background. After her parent's divorce her mother starts dating a woman who has a daughter the same age as her, when things get serious they all move in together. Quinn is a holy terror. Pretty, popular, and vindictive she is the typical mean girl. Emma tries to play nice but soon the two become mortal enemies. Quinn keeps upping the ante and trying to screw everyone over. After a blow out fight Quinn is left dead and Emma finds herself feeling.... remorse? An interesting take on regret, bullying, and mean girls. A laugh out loud funny, heartfelt young adult book that should be required reading for teens. I loved it.

Armada

Another great novel from Ernest Cline! I know it's wrong to compare Armada to his first work, Ready Player One, but I can't help it! Armada is good, but not "as" good as Cline's first novel. However, he has definitely found himself a niche and I hope he keeps writing in this gamer/sci-fi/pop culture genre. Because he is king. Also, Wil Wheaton has to read every audiobook version. HAS TO! (if you couldn't tell I listened to the audio). Quick summary is that a teenage gamer sees a flying saucer straight out of one of his video games, what happens next is enough to blow his mind. Read it! And then re-read Ready Player One because they're both too damn good to only read once!

Ready Player One

Officially the BEST book I have read this year! Simply stunning and fantastical! The world that Ernest Cline creates is unique and so damn imaginative. Why have I waited so long to pick this up?! I literally DID NOT want it to end!

Had I read this in paper form I probably would have read the whole damn thing in one sitting, but I instead opted for the audiobook version read by the super talented and super sexy and super geeky Whil Wheeton (Stand by Me and Star Trek Next Generation star among many other talents). Overall, it took me about a week to get through 13 discs. Even though it takes longer to listen to than to read I would HIGHLY recommend the audiobook version because Whil Wheeton does a superb job of narrating. It's easily the best voice narration I've ever listened to in an audiobook.

So what exactly is this hella amazing book about you're wondering? Well let me try to tell you. It's like the fantasy classic "Snow Crash" mixed with every 80's pop culture reference, video game, nerd trivia, and Goonies like adventure. In the not to distant future everyone escapes the falling to shit planet by logging into the "oasis," a virtual reality world that lets people forget about their problems. It contains thousands of planets, quests, schools, entertainment options and literally everything you can imagine.

When the famous creator of the Oasis dies he leaves behind a golden egg hidden in the virtual reality that contains his ENTIRE fortune, billions and billions of dollars. Nearly everyone on the planet spends years trying to find the three keys and gates that will lead to the egg. In order to decipher the riddles and clues these searching souls must be well versed in 80s pop cultures, nerd lore, video game history, and other things the eccentric billionaire was interested. After years people begin to give up hope that the egg will ever be found and interest wanes. That is until a dirt poor teenager named Wade discovers the first key. "Ready Player One" is the story of his quest, the friends he meets along the way, and the discovery that living in the virtual world may not and should not be a substitute for living in reality.

READ THIS BOOK!

Gettin' My Nerd On

 

This is my collection of young adult and juvenile books. Note the 

large collection of "Dear America" books. Be insanely jealous. 

 This is the main portion of my books. I don't store anything on the bottom shelves because I'm scared to death that it will flood again and throwing out books is the worst feeling ever.

A close up on one of my shelves. The top shelf contains all my signed books and nesting dolls.

This is my Vonnegut collection artfully stored on top of my wine rack. I'm starting to run out of room so I'll have to move them elsewhere.

My very small selection of graphic novels and comics. And the sleeping girl in flowers is a print (that I ripped from online, sorry Pickart!) from my very talented friend Ryan Pickart.  

A few random books chilling underneath a glass head filled with scarves.

My collection of DVD's not quite books but they are alphabatized! 

A close up on some of my DVD's. 

My collection of board games. Game night anyone?