nerdytheorist's place of books and other things

Hi, I'm nerdytheorist, welcome to my thread.
I play D&D, make game theories, and build things over on Roblox/Roblox Studio. You'll find me making a lot of refences to video games, TV shows and tabletop games (please note that there is a large possibility of me going on rants about them).
Some genres of books that I enjoy are:
SCI-FI
Fantasy
Paranormal

Books That I've Read In 2021
Chaotic Good
Ready Player One
Fullmetal Alchemist
The Hunger Games
The Red Badge of Courage
Catching Fire
The Sandman
The Book I Am Currently Reading
Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 2

Well hello there, sir. Good to see you here. I think you'll like it; the people round these parts are pretty cool.

Happy new thread and a warm welcome to this great group!
Have fun!

>3 scaifea: Are us old boomers cool? Apparently millennial don't believe that.
Now my kids are *totally* cool. Back in the day (High School, anyway, no time at Uni), they were all-nighters with RPGs, esp. D&D that the lead wrote up.

You can find them on Github, Go-programming sites and they *always* kick my ass when I play Carcassonne which I'm told is for "babies". Which is true because my 6 yo grandson now plays that game.

Bit of an Intro, since I rewrote my profile after I retired (and maybe Mr. Nerdy will enjoy) ~
Myself, I'm totally a science geek, with plant metabolism and natural products chemistry as a the more recent work background. I also hold forth on the microbial world, since I had my first 'real' job in a microbiology setting and had to do a lot of molecular genetics in my last employment.

For laughs, here's an old book I read before LT was even thought of ~ it's the only one by this author that I'd suggest, The Cuckoo's Egg.
Might not be your jam though.

Welcome the party, nerdytheorist! I'm a SF/Fantasy/Paranormal fan also, and look forward to your comments.

Hello, Nerdytheorist! I'm looking forward to your rants. If they are genetically similar to @scaifea's, they will be awesome.

>5 SandyAMcPherson: Wow...The Cuckoo's Egg, that takes me back. Remember the movie Sneakers? Seems like an age ago. And I guess it was, when you're dealing with computer systems.

Not cool, not nerdy but I do welcome you to the 75'ers and hope you find some things to entertain you here.

Welcome to the group! Looking forward to seeing what you're posting as I also enjoy sci fi and fantasy. I hope you like Ready Player One - it's one of my husband's favourites and I hear snippets of the audiobook as he relistens to it at least once a year.

Ooh-- Ready Player One was good. Hope you enjoy and welcome to the 75-ers.

Hiyah! Glad you joined us! Ready Player One was great. I’ve been putting off the sequel ‘cause I’m concerned it might not measure up. 😀

Hello and welcome! It's great to see you here and I hope you find this group a nice place to hang out.

Heigh-o! So cool to see you here. Looking forward to the rants!

>7 laytonwoman3rd: Nope, I didn't see movies in those days. I was so wrapped up in grad school by then. Sneakers looks interesting but I wonder how dated we'd find it now?

Welcome to the group.

Welcome from me too - not even a Boomer but a war model. I do share your penchant for scifi and fantasy though. You should check out our own AlcottAcre for the board game queen among us.

Welcome, welcome!

Welcome!

Welcome nerdytheorist! Love your member name!! I hope you like Ready Player One - it's one of my favorites, but then I have a soft spot for all those 80s references because those were my middle school/high school/college years. But all of my kids liked it, too. The movie was fun but not nearly as good as the book. Another one set in the gaming world is Warcross by Marie Lu - I don't know if you have read that one yet, but I thought that one was also very good.

I am very excited about the "possible rants" concerning video games, TV shows and board games- that sounds full of fabulous.

Welcome from another boomer.

Welcome to the 75ers! Looking forward to your thoughts on Ready Player One.

Thanks for all of the warm welcomes and book recommendations!
I'm only a chapter into Ready Player One, and it's already becoming one of my top favorite books. I don't really know what originally inspired me to start reading it, but I am so glad that I finally did.

I forgot to say that I'm interested in these rants of yours, too...

Welcome, Nerdytheorist! Happy New Thread! Looking forward to the occasional rant. I loved RPO too!

Welcome to LT! Glad you’re loving Ready Player One; it’s a favorite of mine. I haven’t read the sequel yet, but it’s on my list of things to get to next year.

A good table-top/board game I would recommend is Root.



In Root, you choose from four factions:
Marquise de Cat (cats)
Eyrie Dynasties (birds)
The Woodland Alliance (foxes and mice)
Vagabond (a racoon or wolf or beaver)
to compete to see who can rule over the forest. Each faction has it's own different gameplay and features. Learning how to play the game may take a while to understand what is going on, but it is worth it in the end. The main goal of the game is to get 30 victory points (the point system to the game works similarly to Catan's). I don't really know what else to say other than it is a very entertaining game that is worth playing.

Interesting game. I've playing ed Catan some and really enjoyed it. Will have to check this one out.

>26 nerdytheorist: Mr. Fine and I had this one talked up to us recently when we visited a game store while on vacation and we've added it to our want to own list. Glad to see you enjoyed it!

>26 nerdytheorist: Nice review! I agree that even though the rules take some patience, it's definitely worth it. It's a super-fun game!

>26 nerdytheorist: Sounds fun! The woodland setting reminds me of Everdell, which I found a little too complicated, but beautiful in terms of the game pieces and artwork. Have you played both? If so, how would you say they compare in terms of difficulty?

>30 foggidawn: I haven't heard of Everdell before, but it sounds neat, I'll have to check it out sometime.

>26 nerdytheorist: Excellent review of the game, and it sounds like one we would enjoy. We love Catan. A board game that is perfect for this time of year is Horrified - my son bought it for me, and it's a cooperative board game where you work together to save the town from monsters - Dracula, Frankenstein and his Bride, The Mummy, the Invisible man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Wolfman and to rescue villagers. You can choose how many monsters to go up against each time, which is fun because it's different depending on who you are going up against.

I think we need to check out Everdell *and* Horrified...

>33 scaifea: Maybe I'll come visit sometime and bring Everdell. :-)

>34 foggidawn: OOOOO YES!!

I looked up some pictures and both Everdell and Horrified look amazing, definitely going to have to try out sometime.
Anyway, yesterday I began reading Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1. I don't have too much of an idea of what's going on since I'm only a few pages into it, but this is yet another book (if mangas are counted as books) I've been meaning to read for a while.

Mangas are definitely books!

So the last name Elric had me doing some quick Googling to see if there's a connection to Elric of Melnibone, of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion series. Turns out Arakawa got the name from the Elric character, but claims not to have read them, so connections are tenuous. Still, it would have been a lot of fun to have a connection to the two different stories! 😀

Oh, and mangas count if you want them to!

>36 nerdytheorist: Around here, it's a book if you say it's a book. :-) Hope you enjoy FA -- I haven't read it, but I remember my brother being a big fan a while back.

>36 nerdytheorist: I've enjoyed the anime of FMA I've watched with my daughter - she's been reading the manga as well though I didn't get that far with them.

Mangas definitely count. My daughters Abby and Birdy have both read Fullmetal Alchemist. Abby especially loves it - she is collecting them all in the collector's edition hardbacks and has watched the shows - she thinks the Brotherhood version of the show is the better of the two.

Great to have you here, nerdytheorist! I'm another RPO fan. Looking forward to rants and manga recommendations.

Hello everyone! I have returned to LT (hopefully I'll stay for a while).
Here are some updates book/nerd related that happened over the time I've disappeared:
1) I finished RPO and Fullmetal Alchemist. Both were amazing, I intend on reading through the rest of the mangas, and I already started Ready Player Two. My review for RPO hopefully should be up soon.
2) The Hunger Games was assigned to my class in Language Arts, we've gotten through most of the book and its earned its place near RPO on my top favorites list. Our next book is going to be The Red Badge of Courage, which looks SOO "amazing."
3) I guess not really important compared to some of the other things going on in my life right now, but my favorite video game came to a conclusion a few weeks ago. While it does have two sequels out currently with the story being worked on (both of which look amazing so far), the experiences and times I've had with this game has been unforgettable.

RPO was definitely a fave of mine - the 80s were my era. 😀 haven’t gotten to the sequel yet, but will soon. I still haven’t read Mockingjay yet, though I’ve seen the movies.

Which game?

I think I may read Fullmetal Alchemist before I take it back to the library for you...

Great to see you posting! I loved Ready Player One and will be awaiting your thoughts on Ready Player Two - I can't decide if I want to read it or not because the first book was so perfect. Hunger Games is another favorite of mine. All of us here love that one, actually.

Looking forward to your thoughts on The Red Badge of Courage.

Like the good doctor, I want to know which game.

I have never read The Red Badge of Courage. I'm sure it was on a reading list when I was in school, but never on the required list. I think I need to remedy this. I'll be very interested in what you think of it.

Glad you enjoyed your most recent reads!

Oh, manga *definitely* count as books--if you want them to! And if you don't, they don't.

I'm two chapters into the Red Badge of Courage, and I already find it super annoying. I don't think it was really necessary to recreate the accents instead of just describing the accent, but hey Stephen Crane, you do you. Also, why can't the main kid just use the names of the characters instead of calling them stuff like, "Sir Tall Solider," and, "Missus what's her face." Half of the time I can't tell who's talking. And it just makes me cringe so hard when he literally refused to listen to his mother, who requested him, "Don't register in the army or you'll get your face blown off," or something like that. I mean, who does he think he is? A Half-Orc barbarian on steroids?

>44 drneutron: It's a bit more of a recent game. It's called Piggy (I know it sounds weird, but it's really good). The first game in the series (also referred to as the main game) is about a police officer (the player) who goes to the Piggy family's house. There, they discover a monster-like creature that later turns out to be infected with an "infection" that what currently seems to have come from a potion known as substance 128. Book 1 is about tracking down the person who is assumed to cause the infection, and Book 2 is about finding a cure to the infection. The gameplay is very similar to an escape room, generally 5-6 players and 1 infected are in each round. The soundtrack is also the most amazing soundtrack a video game could have. The other two games in the series are called Piggy Intercity and Piggy Hunt. The main game and Intercity are on Roblox and I'm not too sure what's going on with the availability of Piggy Hunt, and I haven't played it yet. The games themselves are really fun, and they got me through a year of self-quarantine.
Wow, I went way overboard with the description of this didn't I.

>49 nerdytheorist: LOVE your rant! I also didn't enjoy The Red Badge of Courage.

>50 nerdytheorist: Nope. I think your description is perfect. I have not heard of that one - will have to ask my kids if they have played it.

Hoping your Sunday has been full of fabulous!

>49 nerdytheorist: That's pretty much exactly how I felt about Red Badge of Courage when I had to read it in school. Bleck. Your last comment about it made me snork!

>49 nerdytheorist: Good, good, let the hate flow through you, young Skywalker...

>50 nerdytheorist: Sounds good! I’ll have to check it put.

By the way, I pretty much hated Red Badge too… 😀

Hahaha not a lot of love for Red Badge here. Had the distinct benefit of being a short read.

>49 nerdytheorist: I loved this! I haven't read the book and I'm certainly not tempted.

One week later, and it is still agonizing to read Red Badge.
Meanwhile, I think I might put down Ready Player Two down for a bit. It's been really enjoyable so far, and I love that an AI version of Halliday has made it impossible for everyone wearing an ONI headset to log out so that the hunt this time is on a time limit, but I think I may have started reading this one a little too soon after reading RPO. I think the book that I'll be reading next is Catching Fire.

I'm also glad I am not alone with greatly disliking Red Badge of Courage.
Speaking of which, I finished today! And it's my first half-star book as well.
But here's a little thing that started in my life recently: I started writing my first fanfic. It is set in the Piggy world between the two books of the main game. I have a general idea for the plot of it, but otherwise I'm excited to see how and where it goes.

>58 nerdytheorist: Half a star! I don't really grade my reviews any longer but that is brutal!

Hooray for finishing Red Badge of Courage - I really didn't like it, either, so I completely understand your 1/2 star rating.

Good luck with the writing project - sounds very fun.

Have you started Catching Fire? I loved that one.

>58 nerdytheorist: Give yourself your highest star rating for finishing it, though. Yay for the fan fic writing.

I love that you gave Red Badge of Courage a half star. You don't mess around! I rarely rate anything less than 3 stars, but that's because if it's heading that way I usually just stop. Unfortunately you can't do that with required reading.

I also love that you're getting into fan fiction. That was my daughter's entry to a writing career.

>60 Crazymamie: I started reading Catching Fire pretty much right after I finished The Hunger Games. I read about a chapter a day for about a week until we started Red Badge, then with that I got a little busy, so I had to put it down for a bit. But I have started reading it again, and it is great!

Just this Friday, I was the first in my grade level to get chosen for the tenor saxophone in band! I'm really excited about it, and this message is kind of pointless otherwise.

>64 nerdytheorist: that's super cool! Congrats! (And not pointless at all, we love sharing those kinds of accomplishments and other non-reading stuff on our threads 🙂)

Way to go! That's amazing.

>64 nerdytheorist: Oh, cool! I was orchestra myself, and don't tell any of my old classmates, but it always seemed like the band kids had more fun.

>64 nerdytheorist: I'd just like to add that he's only been playing the new sax for two days and it already sounds like it's second nature.

It's pretty cool to be able to listen to you practice while I'm doing stuff around the house.

>64 nerdytheorist: Awesome! I was a trombonist through my freshman college year, then had to give it up to have more study time for physics and math. Picked up guitar instead, so music has stayed with me all these years. It's added a lot to my life, and I hope it will for you!

>64 nerdytheorist: Congrats!

>64 nerdytheorist: Congrats!

Congratulations on being chosen for tenor sax!!! I loved being in band and marching band - I played flute and piccolo. My senior year, I even got to have a solo in our marching band, which was awesome. I could still play it if I had to all these years later. Some of my favorite memories.

When I read through those Hunger Games books back when they first came out, I remember Catching Fire being my favorite. That was more than a decade ago - my daughter Birdy was 12, and now she is 22! Anyway, I wonder if I reread them now if it would still be my favorite - I am tempted to reread the series and find out.

>64 nerdytheorist: Congratulations! I have great memories of band (clarinet and bassoon), and hope you make some great ones too.

I also hated Red Badge of Courage when it was assigned in high school. I liked it better when I read it in college, though even then it was less a matter of enjoying it, and more of appreciating what Crane was doing in the context of the other 19th century American literature we were assigned.

First full week of the tenor sax went fairly well in my opinion. And I have all break to practice, which is awesome. Earlier this week I finished Catching Fire as well. As always it was amazing. But I think over break instead of heading to Mockingjay I might try and get through some of the Sandman volumes by Neil Gaiman.

Sounds like a solid plan. I have only read the first two volumes of Sandman - I need to get back to that.

Hoping your week is full of fabulous!

>74 nerdytheorist: Good luck with Sandman. I found the art really inconsistent and some of the content too gruesome for me so I ended up abandoning the series, but I hope it's a better experience for you!

Have a lovely holiday.

"Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain."
Zig Ziglar

With you and the group life is like a dance class - thank you.
I wish you and yours all the best in theese days and Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. I spent most of mine working on making a new D&D campaign setting. I finished the first Sandman too, and I thought it was pretty good. However, I think I might just read through a volume every once and a while. So, this week I'll read the next volume of Fullmetal Alchemist. If I don't post until next year, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year.

>79 nerdytheorist: Have fun with the D&D plotting!

>79 nerdytheorist: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.

Happy New Year.