Tag: books

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A Storm of Swords

The Song of Ice and Fire continues. I finished the third book A Storm of Swords yesterday. True to its title, there are battles, skirmishes, and breathtaking sword fights everywhere. In the north (including north of the Wall and even on the Wall itself) , in the South, and even in the East. Yes, Daenerys’ storyline is finally picking up steam (guess it just needed the fire from those dragonlings). Nothing epic like the Battle of the Blackwater at the end of A Clash of Kings but just as well since the book is already long without having to be burdened by a long narrative for a single battle. In fact, sometimes the pacing becomes a bit ponderous and the twists and turns start seeming like a soap opera. But somehow George Martin redeems himself at key sections and kept it compelling enough to turn the next page. Or two. Or chapter. Or book.

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The iPad 2 That Reading Bought

I had thought of getting Jeanne an iPod touch but I’ve pushed back the purchase time and time again. But recently, Michelle and I have been reading ebooks a lot and although it’s reasonable on the iPhone because of its retina display, it’s not exactly ideal on Michelle’s Nokia 5800 where your squint at the small low-resolution display and tapping the not-so-sensitive resistive touchscreen so often. And there’s also Jeanne taking over the iPhone especially when I’m reading. And yet, the display is too small and she ends up hunching over it. So I finally decided to get an iPad. Now Michelle can read on the iPad, Jeanne can play with a bigger screen, and I have the iPhone all to myself. Now that’s a win-win-win situation! :P

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A Clash of Kings


Finished A Clash of Kings over the long weekend. It’s about as good as A Game of Thrones,  if not a bit better. The saga goes on and there’s still the political maneuverings, the cloak-and-dagger stuff, the skirmishes, and the battles. There’s also a little bit more of magic and sorcery, edging the series from medieval and towards fantasy.  Unexpected was the battle outside the walls of King’s Landing towards the end. The battles in A Game of Thrones were rather smallish or seemed like so but this one was HUGE. Though it could have been more epic by adding more detail and perspectives, but it’s good enough as it is. I read there’s going to be a TV version and I wonder, considering the low budget of TV productions, how they’re going to pull this off. It would be sad if they couldn’t.

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A Game of Thrones

I haven’t read fiction much these days but back in grade school, when I was 8 or so, I started on my first novel: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. I found it lying about with my mom’s stuff and curious as I was, read it. I remember having a struggle reading this new book that had no pictures.

I persevered and eventually went through the book and soon after The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I also went through the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys (one book every afternoon after class). During high school, I kept reading: going through Tolkien’s books again, suspense/thrillers notably The Bourne series and even crap like Mills and Boons(!). During college, there was a whole bunch: Robotech, the Robot Series, the Foundation Series, the Clancy books, a bunch of Crichton books, the Dragonlance Chronicles, and more.

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