Tag: blog

Saying “No”

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments
Daily writing prompt
How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?

Over the last decade, my goal has been to not shoot an immediate “No” to things. “No” used to be my default. The things can be opportunities, they deserve to be evaluated. “No” is easy. Nothing changes, it’s conservative. “Yes”, however, is the sun breaking through the clouds. It can be hard. So, instead of saying “No”, I think about it, evaluate it, and try to make it work and to see its purpose. More often than not, it turns out that it makes sense.

Of course, this is a generalization that applies to my life. In case the thing is, “Let’s jump over the North Pole with a parachute”, still an immediate “No”. Okay, actually, can we make it work somehow? How are we getting there? How much does it cost? How do we travel to the North Pole and back? What about polar bears? Yolo.

White Sand Omnibus by Brandon Sanderson

~ Veselin ~ Leave a comment

I blogged about this book because it’s heavy and impressive due to its size. I read it today. It was quite an adventure.

I only had rough memories from White Sand part 1, and the Omnibus contains parts 1, 2, and 3, so it’s technically 3 books. Reading the first part didn’t mess up with my experience, and I wouldn’t even count it as a re-read. It had additions to part one, and the visuals were significantly changed so it felt like a different book.

The second and the third parts had different artists. Part three was the simplest and I liked the most.

Story-wise, I’m surprised by the low 3.5 rating on Goodreads. The story is good. A typical Sanderson with a clever magical system, an attempt to explain it but not too much so that there’s room for 2-3 follow-ups. There’s a hint of a romance but nothing more. It’s good vs evil, however the evil is biting from the shadows.

Worth the time and money. 5/5.

PS. not sure how I was supposed to read it, I left prints on the book. I’ve never noticed leaving prints on books. This one was prone to prints. Go figure.

Stephanie Plum – books 7 to 10

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

I achieved my goal of reading the first 10 books in the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. The series is about a hot formerly unemployed bounty hunter who chases evil folks and loses them 10 times per book to only capture them on the 11th attempt. This is usually funny and low-risk, with no drama.

The story evolved over the last 4 books.

  • Criminals are no longer inviting themselves to Stephanie’s apartment at the same rate. The ability to break 3 of the top 10 locks out there is not that common and people breaking in at a whim started getting annoying. I’m glad this part is gone, hopefully, to never be seen again
  • Characters who were captured in previous books reappeared either as allies or as adversaries
  • Janet Evanovich started developing some wicked love for donuts and cakes. All female characters eat sugar like their life depend on it. Truckloads of donuts, chips, and cake. On one occasion, truckloads of bacon.
  • Stephanie’s sidekick Lula developed the sit-jitsu battle skill where she would sit on a criminal and squash them as a bug
  • Stephanie’s two love interests Joe Morelli and Ranger are no longer translucent. Morelli is the cop and Ranger is the mysterious millionaire in love with the clumsy nerd. Both didn’t add anything to the story over the last 4 books and I wish they get assignments in Venezuela. They were better when they were translucent.

All in all, books 7 to 10 are all in the 4/5 territory. They’re fine and I may read a few more because reading about Stephanie Plum is comforting. I just hope she stops eating donuts. It’s bad for her and unpleasant for me. We don’t want the main characters to die from sugar poisoning.