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I’m a Tolkien fan, but I can definitely agree with that!

Ken Liu, but his family immigrated to the USA when he was 11, so I’m not sure that counts? He does a lot of translations for Chinese scifi authors including Three Body Problem. I do have all of his Dandelion Dynasty books, but I haven’t started them yet.

I am a big fan of his short stories and I would recommend Hidden Girl and other stories. There are a few in that book that are loosely tied together and it was made into a tv show called Pantheon, which was great!

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is another great collection of short stories. I first listened to the title story on the LeVar Burton Reads podcast, then bought the book. My favorite story was The Literomancer, which was so moving I couldn’t read anything for a few days. Good Hunting from that collection was also an episode of Love, Death, & Robots.

Philip Pullman will always and forever be my favorite author. I first read the His Dark Materials series when I was 11 and I was hooked. Those books made a huge impact on me and how I think about the world.

I would recommend his book The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. It’s a retelling of the Jesus Christ story where Jesus and Christ are 2 brothers, one who is moral and the other who is not at all moral. I am not a religious or even spiritual person, but that book was really good!

Oh! I forgot about that one, I liked Edge of Tomorrow too

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I was 11 when the book came out, so I was the perfect demographic for it. That book played such a pivotal role in my life at that age. I remember being excited for the next books and waiting for their releases.

I’m 41 now and I still will pick up any book by Pullman and read it. He is my very first favorite author.

I have two.

I do not like Will Ferrell in his typical roles at all and I’m glad I’m not the only one saying this anymore. Everyone quotes Anchorman and I just did not enjoy that at all, or Elf, Step Brothers, or any of his “everyone loves” movies. Stranger Than Fiction, however, was amazing and I wish he would do more roles like that.

Tom Cruise is my other one. I find his acting very bland and unappealing. Mission Impossible has put me to sleep every time I try to watch it. I am not a big fan of Top Gun, Jerry Maguire, or any of them. My Cruise exceptions are Tropic Thunder which I wish he did more comedic roles like that and Minority Report, not a perfect movie but it was the very first DVD I ever owned so there is a bit of nostalgia tied to it.

Star Wars Pod Racer Halo Reach Word of Warcraft

Pod racer was the first game I was better than my younger sibling and when I bought my very first CD (Green Day). I spent hours playing that game with my CD on repeat.

Halo Reach was the first Halo game I was really into and first console modern game played. I spent so many hours playing online and IRL with friends.

World of Warcraft is the game I’ve played the longest. I’ve been playing since a few months after launch. Even though I initially thought it was “too cartoony”, it has kept me entertained for decades. Some of my favorite books are from Warcraft lore. I’ve played countless hours with friends, but now I play solo more than anything. I chase achievements, transmogs, and pets.

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That makes sense. I wish we had that here, but I’m happy they at least are required by law in my state to tell people about the surcharge.

Recently, I’ve actually found the opposite to be true in the US. Smaller places prefer cash because they can avoid the CC fees that they get charged for every single swipe. Many places have a sign at the register that they add an additional ~3% to the bill to cover fees which it can be avoided by paying in cash. I’ve started using cash over the last year to avoid the additional charges, especially for takeout.

Epistory and Nanotales

Both fantastic games with beautiful graphics and good for typing practice.