~ Books ~

Finishing up reading the book ‘Monuments Men’ by Rober Edsel / Bret Witter. A book that I’ve been wanting to read for a number of years now, but never got around to it, until I bought a used copy at an estate sale. The book focuses on the efforts of those involved with the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program during and after World War II. Their job was to locate and protect Europe's cultural heritage and return the works of art that was looted by the Nazis. A monumental task indeed!

In the middle of reading and taking a short break with the sci-fi romance novel, ‘The Ministry of Time’ by Kaliane Bradley. The entire premise of the book is that the Ministry rescues several historical figures just prior to their deaths so that they can continue their lives. The narrator of the story is a ministry employee who personally works with one of the historical figures (Graham Gore) in order for them to adjust to the present day. Gore was an explorer who would have died on Franklin’s lost expedition in the 1840s. The other historical figures include Lieutenant Thomas Cardingham, extracted from the Battle of Naseby (1645); Margaret "Maggie" Kemble, extracted from the Great Plague of London (1665); and Captain Arthur Reginald-Smyth, extracted from the Battle of the Somme (1916).

Been taking a break from it, due to the fact that I’m halfway through the book, and the action has been a slow burn, and the romance is but a small sizzle, to say the least. Will get back into it eventually!

I recently got my hands on a handful of books that I’m always excited to dig into around this time of year - my favorite annual series, The Best American Writings, specifically:

- Essays
- Food & Travel
- Science & Nature

I wish that they still published the singular Travel Writings series, as well as the News Magazine Writings series.

Looking forward to reading an anthology series published by Belt City Anthology - specifically: ‘Rust Belt Chicago’ and ‘The Milwaukee Anthology’


~ Video Games ~

When not reading, I’ve spent a good deal of my time getting into Battlefield 6, just as soon as it launched on October 10th. Then, while trying to find some different games to keep me from getting burnt out from constantly playing the multiplayer missions (REDSEC is the best), I stumbled upon the newly released game - ARC Raiders, just a few days after it came out on October 30th. It’s a third-person extraction shooter game that’s PvPvE (player versus player versus environment) set in a post-apocalyptic world, dominated by the ARC system, consisting of a bunch of hostile NPC robots scattered about the map. Able to play solo or as a 2-or 3-person team. It’s quite addicting looting and roaming the map, avoiding being taken out by the robots, as well as the occasional player that will pop up and just shoot you dead without any warning.