The Usually Dave Adventures

20/05/2024

A slow start but seeing everything crumble was so much fun. Though I was a bit surprised by the brutality towards the end!

19/05/2024

Call me crazy but I enjoyed the addition of the shifting viewpoints and new characters.

05/05/2024

Solid. Interesting. Not quite what I expected.

It was more mystery/adventure than magical, not so much Midnight Library, more of a magical portal fantasy with Indiana Jones vibes(kind of) that was also a coming of age tale at the same time.

01/05/2024

The ultimate revenge tale.

A nice little detour from the Cosmere after finishing the Mistborn Era 1 trilogy.

23/04/2024

What fascinates you lately?

Sometimes all we need is a little time on a quiet back road with the windows down and just our thoughts for company.

22/04/2024

The first leg of my Cosmere journey is complete as I finished the Mistborn Era 1 trilogy over the weekend.

It was an interesting experience as I had read this trilogy before but barely remembered events in book one and completely forgot what happened in books 2-3.

Overall it's a solid series, though I feel like this third book stalled a bit for me. Sure we get the classic Sanderlanche at the end, but so much of book three was people having internal monologues worrying about why they aren't good enough to succeed.

Next up will be Elantris - but as my Dad is reading my copy right now as he's about a half a book ahead of me on this journey - I'm going to take a second and read something non-Sanderson while he finishes Elantris.

Mistborn 3 - The Hero of Ages
Also known as Immovable object meets Unstoppable force in an epic tale of navel gazing and self doubt.

21/04/2024

Mistborn 2 : The Well of Ascension

Also known as epic adventure with a side of Steve Urkel’s “did I do that?”

05/04/2024

Book one of my Cosmere journey is complete!

I’ll have some more detailed thoughts up on the newsletter, but man did I love this first book on the journey!

21/03/2024

Part One - The Survivor of Hathsin

I love how from page one of the Prologue Sanderson pulls us into his world and sets the stage so perfectly. While the prologue sets the bleak fantasy tone, Chapter one brings us immediately into the absolute fun of a heist story of epic proportions. We quickly get to see Vin and Kelsier navigate the spaces of comfort (or lack thereof) that’s inherent in the formation of a new crew, while also getting a better understanding of the magic system and how an allomancer works.

And the small moments of humor bring an element of lighthearted fun to an otherwise desolate, bleak, and broken world

15/03/2024

Some book love with my recent reads as another edition of the Weekly Stacks goes live!

Weekly Stacks Issue #015 - I've hit a wall with my reading, one that I'm enjoying as it's letting me work my way through multiple books nice and easy - hopefully getting the most out of it them I can!

14/03/2024

What has been rolling around in your mind lately?

Thoughts on journaling, forgiveness, fishing and more

10/03/2024

Fun concept for a 30 page short story but man I just don’t understand the hype around this one at all. To each their own, but this one wasn’t for me. First real big swing and miss on a book for me this year, so I can’t complain about one “didn’t like” book out of 25 read.

They can’t all be winners, right? 🤷‍♂️

06/03/2024

Look, Stephen King fans MAY want to be aware that you may find a small section of this week's newsletter a little triggering. We're all adults here though and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the book I'm referencing so let me know what you think!

Weekly Stacks Issue #014 - This week might find us kicking a hornet's nest!

04/03/2024

Decided to finally give this one a look as I've heard it talked about as being good for so long.

I've also heard it referred to as a great place for those new to fantasy, or even kids, to get a good introduction to the fantasy genre.

Umm - I have to disagree with at least that last part. Not for kids at all.

Within the first 20ish pages we get a dragon being nonchalantly killed (no biggie there) and then a page long description of King Roland on his wedding night...you know... 50+ year old King Roland and his new 17 year old wife... oh yeah, also her curiosity of his flaccid member that he refers to as the Kings Iron that needs to be molded in her forge that she unknowingly brought with her but she'll have to trust him as he eases his iron into her forge... blegh.

I'll give this one just a little more to see what the hype is all about - but so far this one is off to a VERY rocky start for me and even though I'm only 20-25 pages in, it has felt more like King is writing about some weird pervy personal fantasy of his own than anything else at this point.

03/03/2024

One of these will be my next read, so which should we read next?

02/03/2024

Have you read the Four Pillars series yet?

Just finished up the fourth and final book tonight and I had a smile as the final words passed by.

I think this might be one of those perfect fantasy series to read when you want something a little lighter and with lots of heart, also I think it’s a great series to hook newcomers to the fantasy genre.

23/02/2024

A few thoughts and photos from a recent foggy morning out with my camera I’d like to share with you.

When all the colors mix together... to grey.

19/02/2024

Finally got around to reading Frankenstein and whoa, I wasn’t expecting that.

A truly beautiful portrait of how loneliness and depression can bring a person from virtuous to villainy so easily.

I hate that I’ve not read this till now.

03/01/2024

Whew! December was a wild ride but oh so many wonderful worlds explored - including a few surprises!

A look back at an insane month that saw a whopping 19 books explored! From fantasy and sci-fi to historical fiction and even a straight up smutty tale, the worlds offered a ton of variety this time!

03/01/2024

What an interesting read. As my first of 2024 all I can think about after finishing the final pages is how beautifully illustrated this book paints the idea of “What a small world, huh?”

02/01/2024

Back to work for me tomorrow, vacation is over. Unfortunately I spent the last few days dealing with some kind of flu/sinus bug and now I’m feeling better (enough) to get back to work tomorrow, but my wife and daughter both came down with the crud last night and today too…

I have a little bit of Station Eleven to finish, was hoping to finish it before the new year started, but didn’t manage it. Oh well, it’ll become my first finished book of 2024.

Here’s hoping this crud clears out quickly for us(and skips over my son altogether!) so we can all get back to feeling better soon.

Happy New Year friends!

01/01/2024

Well, that’s a wrap on 2023!

29/12/2023

I got a super cool new desk lamp for Christmas that I’m pumped about! (Does that sound like an old man thing to say and be excited about?!)

22/12/2023

A very special sci-fi send off for the holiday weekend!

With Christmas fast approaching, here are some non-bookish things to enjoy while you relax over the holidays as well as one great conversation starter!

22/12/2023

This is the strangest tone in a book I’ve read in a while. Such a wild mix of folkloric vibes, sort of high stakes political backbone, graphic and bloody violence, and through it all what appears to be a very obvious enemies to lovers trope between main characters.