I thought the Harambe thing was pretty funny. My wife did her's and got white swan. My kids haven't had a chance yet.

We did go down to the Wizarding World at Universal on vacation. The prefect shirts I made for the kids got them able to skip the line in Gringotts.

One of my goals this year is to read more now that I'm not overwhelmed with academic reading for school.

I just finished "Lion," formerly published as "A Long Way Home" by Saroo Brierley and it's a truly remarkable true story. As five year-old, Saroo gets separated from his family and ends up on the other side of India where he's put in an orphanage and an Australian couple adopts him. 25 years later, he finds his hometown and family using Google Earth and Facebook.

I thought the story was re-told so well and it was remarkable how vivid some of Saroo's memories were and how well he was able to articulate them in his book.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone. It's a quick and easy read and a really uplifting story.

I'm going to go see the film adaptation (with Dev Patel...the only Indian actor Hollywood seems to be aware of lol) so maybe I'll report back after. Hope it does the story justice.



Next on my list: The Sellout by Paul Beatty

I've been reading the unabridged Stephen King novel "The Stand" for many months. What a looooooong but awesome book

Ole' Vern @ 2/1/2017 21:08

I've been reading the unabridged Stephen King novel "The Stand" for many months. What a looooooong but awesome book

I only read my first Stephen King book in 2015. It was 11/22/63. I couldn't put it down and I think I finished it in less than a week. SO good. I definitely want to read more if you have some recommendations.

Poor Aziz

Instant classic

Ole' Vern @ 2/1/2017 23:08

I've been reading the unabridged Stephen King novel "The Stand" for many months. What a looooooong but awesome book

I've started that book 3 different times. lol Never finished.

Maddie S. @ 3/1/2017 1:03

Ole' Vern @ 2/1/2017 21:08 I've been reading the unabridged Stephen King novel "The Stand" for many months. What a looooooong but awesome book I only read my first Stephen King book in 2015. It was 11/22/63. I couldn't put it down and I think I finished it in less than a week. SO good. I definitely want to read more if you have some recommendations.

I got through Under the Dome, which is massive, in record time for me and books.

Reading "Again Dangerous Visions", then moving on to either rereading Martian Chronicles or this Lovecraft-inspired collection.

Just started my first "for fun" book in a long time (stupid academia). Figured since it was free, I'd use my new fancy kindle thingy to do something other than crush sweet candy, and read 'The Man In The High Castle' before binge-watching the series on Prime.

Philip K Dick is one of my faves, but then you get used to trying to find how he is going to make reality questionable in each story.

vladykins @ 4/1/2017 15:48

Philip K Dick is one of my faves, but then you get used to trying to find how he is going to make reality questionable in each story.

I'm about 6 chapters in so far, and tbh, I'm not a huge fan of his writing style so far. I feel like I'm talking to a teenage girl, who's got the attention span of a squirrel and is writing the book on a mobile device. Seriously, a sentence can have more than 3 words in it.

Maddie S. @ 3/1/2017 1:03

Ole' Vern @ 2/1/2017 21:08 I've been reading the unabridged Stephen King novel "The Stand" for many months. What a looooooong but awesome book I only read my first Stephen King book in 2015. It was 11/22/63. I couldn't put it down and I think I finished it in less than a week. SO good. I definitely want to read more if you have some recommendations.

It's hard to match it up, since much of King's subject matter is quite different from that particular book, especially since most of his stuff is either horror or fantasy, with a few "other" things in there (like "the Body", "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption", or "The Green Mile").

spindoctor02 @ 4/1/2017 16:51

vladykins @ 4/1/2017 15:48 Philip K Dick is one of my faves, but then you get used to trying to find how he is going to make reality questionable in each story. I'm about 6 chapters in so far, and tbh, I'm not a huge fan of his writing style so far. I feel like I'm talking to a teenage girl, who's got the attention span of a squirrel and is writing the book on a mobile device. Seriously, a sentence can have more than 3 words in it.

He's jumping all over that reality, so it takes some time to settle in.