Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Reading Challenge Book 5: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Y'all:


My fifth book is finished and January still has days left in it.  Aww yeah!


BOOK 5
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
J.K. Rowling

Three Harry Potter books finished! For those of you just joining me, I've seen all of the movies and my ex-wife is such a big fan of the series she might as well hang a diploma from Hogwart's on her wall.  What I'm trying to say is that, even though I've never read the series, I'm no Squib.  I know what's up.


HPatPoA kept me on the edge of my seat more than the other two books.  Sure, during the first two I was anticipating reading the scenes I enjoyed in the films, but this one really took it to a new level.  The stuff about Buckbeak and the Time-Turner kept me flipping e-pages, hungrily reading for more.

In a recent conversation with a Potterhead who is reasonably younger than I am, I stated that I'm sorry I hadn't been able to grow up with Harry Potter the way so many did.  I do recall reading certain books with friends and family (some of which I intend to reread later this year), but I'm not sure it reached the fever-pitch that Harry Potter fans are familiar with.  So instead of growing up with these novels, I find myself a little older, stepping into a new world (not entirely unlike Harry when he first arrives at Hogwart's).

Once I finish reading all seven novels I'll have to take a weekend to marathon the films.  I haven't done that since the divorce, and I feel that such lofty film marathons deserve to be repeated yearly.
_______________________________________________________
THE ONE AND ONLY,
MAC III






Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Game 1: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Y'all:

In addition to reading a lot more, I'm going to be working through my massive backlog of video games. Gaming is an important aspect of my life, and I have so many games that I've started and just not finished. So here goes nothing!

Although this is the PS4 remastered edition, I'll still count it as being from my backlog because I had these games on my PS3 before I traded it in (much to my eternal dismay!), and I was always sorry I hadn't played through them. I finished the first two Uncharted games before the new year, so they won't count for this.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Reading Challenge Book 4: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Y'all:


I wrapped up Book #4 a day later than I had hoped, but that's due to my spending too much time playing video games this weekend.  That's ok, because time enjoyed is never time wasted.  Besides, if you know me, you know that games are part of my DNA.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Reading Challenge Book 3: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Y'all:


Three down, forty-nine to go.  Aww yeah!

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Reading Challenge Book 2: The Time Machine

Y'all:


An update so soon? What madness is this? Are the end times upon us?

No. I just finished my second book for the year and I wanted to share my impressions of it before my good-for-nothing memory makes the task more difficult.

Monday, January 4, 2016

Reading Challenge Book 1: Paganism 101


BOOK 1
Paganism 101:  An Introduction to Paganism by 101 Pagans
edited by Trevor Greenfield

I started off with this religious text, a collection of essays on various pagan topics written by a whole bunch of pagans! I personally started down the neopagan path years ago, and I'm learning a lot as I go.  Reading this text reassured me in my choice and also showed me that being a solitary isn't at all uncommon.  I still need to study more on this topic before I truly pin down where I fit in the grand scheme of Paganism (as in, what flavor of Pagan I am), but this was a good read.

There is certainly diversity to be had in these pages.  Men and women of varied pagan paths and from various regions of the world come together in this collection to share their beliefs on and anecdotes about Paganism.  Essays are grouped by topic, not by path, which I thought wise.  It was refreshing to get a Wiccan's and a Druid's thoughts on a single topic, for example.

My biggest complaint about the book is the formatting and editing.  As an English major and teacher, I have a deep love of editing.  There were parts of this book that had formatting errors.  I'll give the book the benefit of the doubt on that and blame the Kindle app on my iPad.  Other errors, though, could not be so easily explained away.

Paganism 101 was, overall, an interesting and educational read.  I recommend it to Pagans and non-Pagans alike.
_______________________________________________________
THE ONE AND ONLY,
MAC III



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A Year of Reading

Y'all:


Here comes my first blog post of the new year.  Oh yeah, I intend to give Idle Prattle some love and attention in 2016.

Just the other day I saw the hashtag #52booksin52weeks pop up in a few places on social media.  I also spent most of my 3-day-weekend cooped up in my apartment playing video games on Steam and battling depression without the aid of alcohol.  I'm not really a "New Year New Me" kind of person, but I got to thinking...