Fallout 3 Midhrastic ENB

Just thought I would put up some pictures of a new ENB I installed for Fallout 3!

Summer Reading project pt4

So a look back at the book "Postcards from No Mans Land".  I originally picked up the book for my summer reading project because, well it looked the most interesting out of the grouping of titles that were available, this was because at the time I saw the words No Mans Land and immediately thought that it would be something WWI or WWII related and I like things related to those topics and that time period.  But the further I got into the book the more I lost interest, this is mostly because I expected it to be fast paced and at times battle related... turns out I was more than a little wrong.  The further I got into the book the more it turned to stuff like drama and just overall boring (to me) topics that honestly I could care less about.  That is when I more or less just kept reading to finish the book, it had a hard time keeping my attention just because the way that it was structured with the fast paced dialog and sudden time changes just sorta lost me and i got bored.  Although I may have not liked or enjoyed the story much I believe that those who enjoy a slightly drawn out tragic sort of writing and who would like to really evaluate the characters and what they are going through would perhaps enjoy the story and style of writing that the author put to use in "Postcards from No Mans Land".

Summer Reading project pt 3

Here is an exert from later in the book during one of the WWII chapters, "They had been doing something for the Resistance about which Dirk said he would tell me later.  It had gone wrong.  They had run for their lives, had decided they should split up, and agreed to meet again at the farm.  It was months before we heard Henk had been caught and shot.  But the night Dirk returned and until we heard the truth, we kept hope alive by telling each other that he was sure to be hiding somewhere , that Henk was a survivor, and that once the war was over he would come back to us.".  A little earlier in the book Henk (the brother of one of the main characters Geertrui).  Henk and Dirk left earlier in the book because they were frustrated with all of the siting around while hiding and waiting in fear of the Germans discovering them so the two of them ran off one night to go and join the resistance so they could help fight back against the Germans.  At this point in the book everyone has lost someone (at least in the WWII section) and the Germans are becoming more desperate in their fight against the allies.

Summer Reading project pt2

The characters in "Postcards from no mans land" when alone in essence are boring to say the least, but when they are put into context with the rest of the story other supporting characters and interesting if not awkward situations.  In the book there are essentially two main characters, this is because the book is structured so that there are two different periods in time, one being around present day, and the other right in the middle of world war II.  The Present day character goes by the name of Jacob Todd who is your average teenager going on a trip to Amsterdam to visit family.  The character from the past is a girl who goes by the name of Geertrui who lives in an occupied town in Amsterdam.  For most of the beginning of the book both characters are trying to focus on just surviving for the time being but then as the story develops they are trying more and more to attempt to find out more about themselves and what they want for themselves and well as figure out their feelings (as stupid as it sounds). Also once you get past all of the weird and fast paced conversation structure you begin the see that in the future there seems to be a constant sense of confusion while in the past everything seems to be different and frightening.

Summer reading project pt1

         The Book I am currently reading is called "Postcards From No Man's Land".  The book is about a teenaged boy named Jacob who goes to Amsterdam looking for an adventure and to remember his grandfather who was a soldier who fought in the area in WWII.   The other half of the story in from the perspective of a girl from the time period in Amsterdam named Geertrui.  The book is constantly switching back and forth between the two character's perspectives and their time periods creating an outline for what I believe will lead to the two character's perspectives coming together to help the main character who is essentially Jacob (because of his account being the one that is closer to present tense) overcome some sort of major obstacle later on in the book.

         Since I have not read very far into the book yet my opinion on the character and their goals is sure to change of the course of the book but I have been able to make what I feel are a good base for me to build off of for the personalities and personal drives of the two main characters.  Jacob at my current point in the book seems to be a little lost, not necessarily just in the city of Amsterdam but also as a person. The trip that he is on seems, at this point be more of a adventure of self discovery as well as one of remembrance.  Geertrui on the other hand is currently living right in the middle of Amsterdam in WWII, which to be blunt is a rather large difference from Jacobs problems that he faces in the future. She seems like she is like everyone else her age but the. As the story progresses she is very quick to adapt when her world of calm is interrupted by the brutality of war. In all it seems like at my current point in the book she wants more than anything else to stay who she is as a person but keeping herself and her family safe while helping others.

           After reading into the book for a little while and the back and forth between the two characters and the switch between past and present tense I am reminded of the book "Flames of The Tiger". I was reminded of this certain title because like "Postcards From No Man's land" it too is based in WWII and switches between two characters and well as past and present tense.

           

A look back on How to Lose World War II By: Bill Fawcett

Well so a while ago (I mean a while) I happened to get my hands on the book "How to Lose World War II.  At the time I was more than a little bit interested in WWII and would read basically anything that I found on the subject.  Well I found this book and let me tell you up front, if history is not your thing or you do not enjoy the subject, well you should probably stay away from the book.  Otherwise I would highly recommend the book. 

One of the things that a really liked about the book was the way that the author would have a chapter for every problem and when a new problem the author would go through and systematically bring each sides blunders in a way that they all complimented each other bringing to light the fact that a lot of WWII was just a giant mess (that tends to happen when there is violence involved in anything).  I found the way that the author would use a combination of fact and opinion to keep the book going with a good place and make as it would seem the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

The book provides a good amount of information is not commonly known which makes the book a bit more interesting and allows for the reader to perhaps, learn something that they did not already know (from experience textbooks tend to repeat each other because, well history doesn't change in case you haven't noticed)

But anyway i found the book to be and entertaining book and would like to let you all know about it because i feel far less people are looking at the past and looking at the future instead.  This can be a problem because "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it." (George Santayana).

In Her Name: Final Battle By: Michal Hicks Review

After reading the book "In Her Name: Final Battle" I have a somewhat unequal feelings of happiness and a feeling of emptiness that have come about because I just finished (as in a few weeks ago) probably what is my favorite  book series of all time.  I'm happy because it had a good(ish) ending in my opinion and a lot of the book ended up playing out well and there was always a new twist or turn that encouraged me to keep reading along. The story of the book stays very consistent with the other books. Which in my opinion makes the overall story quite a bit better because it keeps certain constants or anchor points throughout the book that help keep the reader in touch with the story and help them not get lost throughout the wonderfully crafted plot.

As last time I would like to say that I would recommend this book a great deal to anyone. I feel as if this series is not very well known and it saddens me that so few people know about these wonderful books and the great author.  Michal Hicks does a very good job of keeping his stories fresh and interesting and he always knows when to throw a wrench into the works of the story line to give the reader something new to think about.

Also as with my last reviews of the previous books "Empire" and "Confederacy". I would like to mention that at times there are some rather mature sections to the book and would recommend that you think about these facts before just going and reading the book.