I am a HUGE book nerd for those of you who don't know. I have so many books and I have just adopted the title "book dragon." I'm interested in fantasy, realistic fiction, sci-fi fantasy, and basically anything. I've recently also gotten into non-fiction books as well, which is definitely a character development moment for me because I've never liked non-fiction books, but I'm finding them really educational! Most of my non-fiction reading recently has involved the evolution of technology and video games; more specifically, how influential they are! They are amazing tools and I am interested in developing video games someday. That is so far in the future though, so I will stick to learning and reading more about it!
This initial spark started when I was looking at books in my school's library. I found a book called "Don't bother me Mom- I'm learning!" by Marc Prensky. I was instantly grappled into this book and I loved the new perspective it had given me. It explained how video games weren't actually "bad" for you (of course, addiction to gaming is a completely different topic) and could be huge learning tools in the development of kids! It offered parenting advice, and although I am not a parent, the information it provided was definitely something that I will use when I do have kids. The book was published in 2006 (the year I was born), so it is a bit outdated, but its information and points still apply today.
This led me to venture to my local library to find more books like "Don't bother me Mom- I'm learning!" and I did in fact find some! The current book I am reading about video games is called "The State of Play: Creators and Critics on Video Game Culture." It's a combination of essays written by developers, critics, and Internet celebrities which was put together and edited by Daniel Goldberg & Linus Larsson. I have yet to complete this one, but it has definitely proven educational! It covers multiple different subjects about the gaming community and how it's grown into what it is today (or at least in 2015 when it was published). It has given me a new perspective on how video games have affected society and its people. So far, it's a good read!
I've also been reading some shorter books about careers in different areas of expertise. I have one about careers in photography, video games (obviously), music, and animation. I've put a couple of others with similar topics on hold at my local library. There are so many things that pique my interest that I want to do in the future. Life is too short to only have one career! Unfortunately, though, that's all in the future, but fortunately, I have this little business to keep me occupied!
I mentioned that I liked fantasy, so my fictional book choice this time around is "Gleanings" by Neal Shusterman. Shusterman wrote the series Arc of a Scythe which is one of my all-time favorite series! I made a fanart of one of his characters which he later posted on his Instagram which was a HUGE milestone for me. Anyway, pushing aside my fangirl moment, Gleanings is an addition to Arc of a Scythe, but not really part of the main storyline. It consists of a handful of untold stories of Scythes in the series. I haven't made a lot of progress on it, but so far it's really good! I can never get enough of the Thunderhead and the Scythedom.
My previous fictional book of choice was "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo. I had read it before, but didn't have the second one in the duology, "Crooked Kingdom." I reread Six of Crows to make sure I knew what was going on when I finally bought Crooked Kingdom. The only problem was I started reading Crooked Kingdom after Six of Crows, but quickly lost interest because of the other books that I had been hyper-fixating on. I will definitely come back to it, just...not right now. Six of Crows is another series that I would recommend as it is also one of my favorites!
The final book that I've been reading through is more of a workbook and a guide. "I Like Me Anyway" by Brooke Romney is more of a self-care, spiritual book that has mini journal entries in it to help you love yourself better. Hence the name "I Like Me Anyway." I started reading it last year but never finished it, so now I'm tackling it again!
I hope you enjoyed my nerdy little book rant!