Sunbird

Twi's summary of the reason why recent Marvel movies have been higher quality than their DC counterparts also highlights another difference: Marvel isn't afraid to make fun of itself or inject some silliness into the story. DC seems to be all doom and gloom and "this is srs bzns guise."

Ok I have a few suggestions of some of my favorite books that might be available at your library (and if not the library, then Barnes and Noble): The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans The False Prince by Jennifer A Nielsen Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes Jackaby by William Ritter The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells I don't think any of these are longer than about 400 pages, and the only one that's not even remotely fantasy is The Mistletoe Promise. (I assume fantasy is your preferred genre since this is the Shard.) I hope you find something you like.

I've seen Doctor Strange twice now, so that should give some idea of how storming awesome I think it is, since I almost never see a movie more than once in theaters. (The last time I did that, it was because I'd missed the beginning of the movie the first time around.) There are plenty of literally lol-worthy moments and plenty of awesome fight scenes and special effects, but the film isn't just two hours of mindless eye candy like some action movies. Like many previous movies in the MCU, Doctor Strange prods at questions that don't have easy answers and tugs on your heartstrings in just the right way. Highly recommended!

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles I'm not an RP god and I haven't even read very far into the Portland thread, but Nathan is one of my favorite characters.

Remember my battle against the onions? Well I made a pot of curry tonight and tried something new for chopping the onion: I dug out my swim goggles from the bathroom cabinet and wore them while I chopped the onion and voila! Not a tear to be found.

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles Latest chapter deserves ALL THE UPVOTES.

@bleeder Oh my Stormfather. I'm cringing just thinking about how awful you must be feeling right now. I had to watch my diabetic cat suffer through ketones and it was heartbreaking. He would collapse on the floor, panting and howling in obvious pain, and I hate to think that that's how you're feeling. *hugs*

I saw not only a covey of about 10 quail today but also a little flock of Goldfinches!

Oh. Duh. No wonder it sounded familiar. XD

XD @bleeder what is that one from?

I second the Bartimaeus suggestion! One of my all-time favorite series. The footnotes always crack me up.

Owls are also cute. Especially when they're yawning. Case in point:

LOL. Then maybe it'd be more accurate for me to say, "This is my first time really paying attention to an election, so I appreciate that you know how it works better than I do." XD

"So this is how liberty dies: with thunderous goats." (Say what you will about the Star Wars prequels, but I've lost count of how many times I've quoted Padme from Revenge of the Sith during this election season.)

Ok, thanks @Chaos. I'm no statistician, so I appreciate your expertise. XD

Spoilered for yuge. This is how I deal with stress: by making memes.

I'm confused by Google's electoral map. It says Trump has won Utah already, but also that only 29% of Utah's votes have been counted and that some districts have "no results" yet. WHAT IS HAPPENING.

@Pinnacle-Ferring knows where the good music is; I second all those suggestions for awesome Celtic music. I'm wearing a Grumpy Cat shirt for election day because this election season has made everybody very grumpy.

@The Technovore You can either paste the url into the reply box, provided it ends in an image file extension like .jpg or .png or whatever, or you can save the image to your computer/phone and use the file upload.

@tobar14 I'd recommend The Hobbit over LOTR, since the former is much shorter and less likely to put off readers new to fantasy than the latter. You may want to try Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. It's a MG urban fantasy of sorts that follows the story of a brother and sister who discover that their grandparents are the caretakers of a wildlife preserve for magical creatures. Pretty much all the traditional fantasy creatures make an appearance at some point in the series, plus plenty of more unusual ones. The first book stands on its own pretty well, too, in case you don't want to commit to five books right from the start.

The cabbage joke even extends into Legend of Korra.

@Oversleep Oh ok. I can't think of anything significant... I think there might've been a passing mention of the Sokovia Accords, but all you need to know for that is that that is just the MCU name for the Superhuman Registration Act.

@harambe's imagery is... pretty accurate, actually. XD Patar is also correct; understanding Doctor Strange is not dependent on having seen Civil War.

@Kaymyth Take them to the refurbished chamber that was once bad!

Apologies for the lack of reviews last week! I finally got around to reviewing a book that I finished reading about 6 weeks ago, so this week, I present The Sweet Sister by C. David Belt! Extra note: Like Brandon, Mr. Belt is a Mormon, but unlike Brandon, his books have a lot of explicit references to Mormon culture and beliefs. So some jokes or events might be a little confusing if they depend on understanding life as a Mormon.