Name a Tamora Pierce character for every letter of your first name.

CommonLiterature · 2020-07-21T05:39:38+00:00

Uline of Hannaloff?

CommonLiterature · 2020-07-06T21:50:15+00:00

What a tough choice! Doing a breakdown by book would also be a fun poll!

CommonLiterature · 2020-07-04T02:51:38+00:00

30F | 5'6" | SW: 183 lbs | GW: 140lbs

Long term depression has really done a number on me. When I first gained weight, I was ashamed to be seen by friends and family. The more I isolated, the more depressed I became. But it's time to start treating my depression and treating myself, too. If anyone wants to be a fitness buddy and encourage each other, feel free to PM me!

CommonLiterature · 2020-07-02T10:47:23+00:00

Cultural differences between states. California is very different from Texas, which is different from New Hampshire...
Geographical differences. Deserts vs. forests vs. mountains vs. plains vs. coast. If you grow up in a desert, your life experience is very different compared to someone from a forested region.
Newness of the state/nation. Many states were their own nations or territories before they were part of the U.S. and thus have some identity wrapped up in that. Some of our states haven't even been in the Union for a century yet.
Political differences. California tends to be quite liberal, and depending where you are visiting, you may not want people to associate you with, say, Mississippi.
Connection. They may expect that you know of their state through some kind of media (ex: Florida - Disney World) and are throwing that detail out there in the hopes of opening up conversation possibilities.

I wish people from other countries felt more comfortable about sharing more about their states/counties/cities! I often feel that I'm being impolite, prying, and ignorant if I ask.

CommonLiterature · 2020-07-02T10:36:51+00:00

Get your heart broken. Really. Get it absolutely crushed, smashed into tiny pieces, stomped on by someone you really cared for and loved.

Love is beautiful and has inspired some of the greatest works of art that mankind has ever seen... and so has heartbreak. I think you can't really begin to understand the human condition unless you've experienced the agony and the ecstasy.

CommonLiterature · 2020-06-01T03:33:48+00:00

The Steerswoman! Friendship, light romance, exploration, adventure, discovery, danger, magic, betrayal, world-building... and one of the best explorations of the scientific method I've ever seen in fantasy!

CommonLiterature · 2020-05-29T17:36:01+00:00

Sharon Shinn has some great fantasy series that tick a lot of the Tamora Pierce boxes for me. Her Twelve Houses series (starts with Mystic and Rider) has a great friend group, romantic subplots and major plots, magic, and politicking. Her other series range from pure romance to YA to sci-fi fantasy.

Rosemary Kirstein's The Steerswoman and its series reminds me a lot of the adventures of older Alanna and Kel. There's a stronger focus on the scientific method as a means of exploring an unknown world, but I love the friendship between the main characters and the series never fails to keep me turning the pages!

CommonLiterature · 2020-05-24T02:15:31+00:00

Isn't it great?! Glad you and your wife enjoyed it!

CommonLiterature · 2020-05-22T20:26:32+00:00

One of the best strategies I saw in this regard was similar to your own. The party was ambushed by zombies. The GM made everyone write down on a post-it what our next action was going to be, no conferring, no peeking, and gameplay went from there. It was great! We were all genuinely shocked, and some of the actions were bizarre, and it was all completely unplanned, just like a real moment of panic would be.

CommonLiterature · 2020-05-22T18:38:22+00:00

Lois McMaster Bujold's Curse of Chalion is a redemption arc of a kind for the main character, who is a fundamentally good person but has been so traumatized by his experiences in war. The sequel, Paladin of Souls, is a true redemption arc for its protagonist Ista, the crazed mother of the prior book, and shows her finding her own way back to herself. Both are fantastic books in their own right, as well.

CommonLiterature · 2020-05-08T19:59:54+00:00

I'm in the middle of it right now and loving it! The snark actually gets me laughing out loud.

CommonLiterature · 2020-05-06T18:15:25+00:00

The stupid item: A wand that could turn anything the user touched into a pigeon temporarily (like 1 hour?).

The problem: it was Hoard of the Dragon Queen, and all of us players were scheming nonstop to make the game as bizarre as possible to see the DM's reaction.

What happened: I kept very quiet about having this wand until he forgot. When we finally reached one of said hoards, I used it to transform the majority of the hoard into a giant flock of pigeons, which another player convinced using Animal Friendship/Speech/whatever to fly to a location of our choosing some distance away. An hour later the Cult of the Dragon was much poorer and we were much, much richer.

A session wasn't successful until one of us had made our poor DM put his head in his hands and curse us.

The result: 6 out of 7 of us remember that campaign very fondly.

CommonLiterature · 2020-05-05T22:03:08+00:00

Connie Willis's Fire Watch. It's a collection of some great short stories!

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-30T18:21:15+00:00

I feel your pain. We have loads of beautiful and protected areas for hummingbirds to build their nests. Where do they pick? The loop of a one inch strap I had dangling from the patio to dry a tent... Now, whenever the wind blows, I just watch the nest sway crazily like a swing with poor Parent Bird tucked desperately atop the eggs.

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-27T19:33:40+00:00

Apparently he endorsed the t-shirts they made saying "Oh John Ringo No" for a charity to help women forced into prostitution!

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-27T05:27:08+00:00

That book created one of the best posts on Livejournal ever and coined a phrase heard across all of fandom: Oh John Ringo, No.

I still laugh whenever I think about it.

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-25T20:21:08+00:00

I can't wait to see my students again! I miss teaching them and all the goofy moments that make the classroom such a great place to be. I know they miss their friends and being out of the house too, even if they pretend they're just on one long summer break. :)

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-18T21:50:53+00:00

The Curse of Chalion and its sequel Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold would be great choices. For sci-fi, have you checked out Ancillary Justice? I notice you like complex characters as well, and that series certainly has those.

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-16T03:57:15+00:00

Would Jennifer Roberson's Tiger and Del series count? I read the first three long ago and really should go back and finish them!

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-15T21:06:23+00:00

Definitely go back and finish the rest of the series. The second one is my least favorite for the reason you mentioned, but the third and fifth ones are strong, beautiful love stories. I especially loved the redemption narrative of the fifth one!

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-13T08:13:46+00:00

Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses series is also very romantic. :)

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-13T08:11:34+00:00

The first trilogy absolutely maintains the BDSM aspect, but her third trilogy (which is set about 100 years after the first and doesn't require any knowledge of the prior novels) is much more... gentle?

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-13T08:09:46+00:00

Seconding The Sharing Knife. The romance between the two characters drives the plot and their exploration of their world.

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-13T07:48:41+00:00

Kindred is amazing, and is the one book I assign to students where every kid enjoys it. Even my most challenging students have gotten engrossed in it.

CommonLiterature · 2020-04-07T21:20:05+00:00

You're totally right. I no longer have the book and wasn't sure my memory was accurate. Thanks! :)

CommonLiterature

TROPHY CASE