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Book Report - 'A War of Gifts - An Ender Story' by Orson Scott Card

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When I recently wanted to revisit the Ender's Game series, the first book wasn't immediately available in audiobook form from the library, but they did have "A War of Gifts." I'm not one to read interim novellas while I'm working through a series for the first time, but I read the first four books of Ender's Game years ago and really enjoyed it. With a pretty good familiarity of the series, I figured it might be a good time to read one of those shorter in-between stories. As I have never officially covered "Ender's Game" or its series, I think it's important to provide context there. The first book is incredible, and I would easily recommend it to anyone who enjoys science fiction. The second book, "Speaker for the Dead," is an excellent follow up to Battle School and showcases Ender's growth. Now... "Xenocide" is kinda awful. Perhaps it isn't bad on its own, but within the series, it is clearly the weak link. ...
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Review - Hollow Knight

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“ Hollow Knight ” is a Metroidvania released on all major platforms in 2017. I steered clear of Hollow Knight for years due to its "Souls-like" description, but a recent whim turned my opinion and made me open up a bit more to the genre. It's no secret that  I hate Souls games , and as much as I love Metroidvania games, I didn't want to get frustrated by a prohibitively difficult experience. As  Silksong  was coming out around that time and the original Hollow Knight was on sale , I decided to pick it up and give it a try. You can't say you don't like something without ever trying it, and I considered that my love of the Metroidvania genre might make up for the Souls elements. After no more than an hour in, I was pretty hooked. Sure, I could see how aspects of Hollow Knight did resemble Souls in certain ways, but I didn't hate it. Benches are just like bonfires, and going back to retrieve your geo from your corpse after you die was a concept I was pretty  ...
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Thirsty Thursday Eve - Maple Pecan Old Fashioned (November)

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The cocktail series continues! This month, I wanted to go heavy on the fall-into-winter flavors that are frequently associated with Thanksgiving. Google Gemini's suggestion for this month wasn't surprising: Theme 1: Thanksgiving & Harvest.  Feature autumnal flavors like cranberry, pear, or maple syrup. A Cranberry Bourbon Sour or a Maple Pecan Old Fashioned. Theme 2: Comfort & Spice.  Use warming spices like nutmeg, clove, and allspice. A Spiced Pear Cocktail or a Mulled Wine. I don't love pear, so that's off the table. Cranberry is alright, but a vodka-cran seemed a little low effort. Maple, though? I love some maple syrup. On pancakes, in a latte, maple syrup and maple flavor in general is a welcome addition anywhere. Hence, the maple pecan old fashioned: Recipe 2.5oz pecan/cinnamon infused bourbon 0.25oz pure maple syrup 3 dashes pecan bitters When Gemini suggested a maple pecan old fashioned, I was intrigued. It seemed like a logical, if somewhat niche, riff...
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New Steam Hardware

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  After months of rumors and some pretty convincing hardware leaks, Valve has   announced new Steam hardware   to be released in "early 2026." In particular, they are releasing a Steam Controller, an updated Steam Machine, and a VR headset called the Steam Frame. Last Wednesday, I was walking my dog when I got a Discord notification from the  Refurbished Steam Deck Notifier  server that I joined earlier this year. Originally, I joined to watch for refurbished Steam Deck restocks before I bought my own. After I got one, I turned off restock notifications but stayed in the server in case friends were interested. With individual restock notifications disabled, I didn't frequently get updates from this server. I considered leaving the server entirely, but after I read the alert, I'm glad I didn't. "Valve announced new Hardware for next year! https://store.steampowered.com/sale/hardware " The thumbnail showed a VR headset, a controller, and a box. I was ecsta...
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