William Morrow Paperbacks (2011), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 448 pages

Everyman's Library (1995), Hardcover, 304 pages

Tachyon Publications (2009), Paperback, 424 pages

Orb Books (1993), Edition: 1st American paperback, Paperback, 208 pages

So the other morning, Kaylee crawls into my bed, curls up against my chest, looks up at me, and says, "How cute am I?" #HowCuteIndeed

@AaronGleeman: Loved this week's podcast! I'd say Parker could be the Plouffe to Bonnes's Valencia.

@ravsitar: Electric died a couple months back. Didn't want to spend the $$$ on a new one.

Shaving with a blade while pissed off: cannot recommend.

eBook, AZW format

saltmanz's review: "Jules de Grandin is basically a French Sherlock Holmes who investigates occult-related mysteries (complete with narration by his doctor friend.) It was fun, predictable in a good way, and even rather sweet at the end. De Grandin himself is a delight. I've had The Compleat Adventures of Jules De Grandin on my watch/wishlist for a while now; I'm going to have to bump up the priority on that."
eBook, AZW format

eBook, AZW format

eBook, AZW format

by Salt-Man Z

Huh? There's only been one printing of the Gore deck according to BGG.

I own the first edition (first printing) of the Chrononauts base game, and the Gore cards are cut differently than the base game cards--and the difference is highly noticeable.

David Farland (2011), Kindle Edition, 318 pages

Orbit (2010), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover, 336 pages

Harper Voyager (2007), Edition: First Edition, Paperback, 528 pages

Pocket Books (2006), Mass Market Paperback, 672 pages

{Whispered} Goodbye, Grandpa.

DAW (2013), Mass Market Paperback, 624 pages

Finally saw THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Wow. #AndThatsAllIHaveToSayAboutThat

@FourBrosStudio: I think I misunderstood how you acquire loot. So I can't acquire the paper/wood/etc that results from making a 4-in-a-row?

@FourBrosStudio: Why don't materials that I match in Elematch (wood, brick, etc.) show up in inventory? Hoping this is a bug, not a feature.

Superheroes versus zombies. That’s Ex-Heroes in a nutshell. Don’t like superheroes or zombies? Well…that might not be a problem, actually.

Ex-Heroes is about a group of super-powered heroes trying to protect a last enclave of humanity in a Los Angeles movie studio-turned-fortress following the zombie apocalypse. I will admit that I’m a bit of a superhero guy, but I couldn’t care less about the current zombie trend. It’s okay, though, because the zombie apocalypse featured in Clines’ books is just the setting; the real show is the larger-than-life yet all-too-human characters: St. George, Stealth, Zzzap. Gorgon, Cerberus, Regenerator. You could draw some easy parallels between Clines’ creations and the stable of popular DC and Marvel Comics heroes, but it doesn’t matter because Clines makes his so engaging.

I loved the structure of the book, too. The chapters alternate: two “Now” chapters set in the present day, told from your standard third-person perspective; then one “Then” chapter set in the past and told in the first-person by one of the superhero characters. The Then chapters move forward chronologically, slowly building up the history of the zombie apocalypse (including an ingenious superhero-related origin for the zombies) as well as fleshing out the backstory of the characters involved. And the way they interact with the ongoing plot of the Now chapters works brilliantly.

If there are any real flaws in the book, it would be that one of the heroes seemed way too powerful, and the hasty explanations given for why he wasn’t more effective didn’t really satisfy me. Also, the main bad guy has huge question marks in his background that (thankfully) are mostly cleared up in the sequel, but still drove me nuts for most of this book. Those are minor nitpicks, though. This book is just too much fun. [4 out of 5 stars]

by Salt-Man Z

This is very close to the official variant from Das Buch ("Armut ist keine Schande"), except in that one, instead of rolling the dice on your turn, you can cash in your tokens (at the same rate of 1 token per public-knowledge VP) and name the number that gets "rolled".

♫ I'm dreeeeaming / Of a whiiiiiite / Maaaay Daaaaay ♫