The Weekly Update: 4/30/17

 
 

First of all, I feel like everyone is going to judge me for playing The Sims when I’m supposed to be resting my tennis elbow, but playing hurts it surprisingly little, and I only played it for a few hours one or two days last week. Plus I need to do something to relieve stress.

Second, I feel like I gave everyone who’s never played the wrong idea about the game last week. It’s usually not so sad or serious. For example, I’m pretty sure sims can date the grim reaper if they want to. I tend to play on the realistic end of the spectrum, but even then it’s still often silly and weird. Here’s my Sims Pinterest board if you want a laugh!

But the game can be serious depending how you play it, as proven by this funny, touching, heartbreaking tale about a homeless sim and her verbally abusive father. I think I might’ve actually cried the first time I read it. Even in my own games, it never ceases to amaze me how realistic sims are and how they have actual personalities beyond just what you make them do.

Also on the topic of The Sims, I had another thing happen that I’d never seen before. My sim had a drink from the bar, and instead of waiting to finish before using the bathroom, I kid you not, he set his drink down on top of the urinal, peed, then picked his drink back up and kept drinking.

Sim with Drink in Bathroom

Who even thought to code that into the game??? Seriously, how did that conversation among the game designers even go?

Team Leader: “Ok, so what different actions should we make sims able to do while drinking bar drinks?”
Person 1: “Walk around.”
Person 2: “Talk to other sims.”
Person 3: “Pee in urinals!”
[awkward pause]
Team Leader: “Fantastic idea! Someone get on that immediately!”

Because that’s not weird at all o.0 Is that like a thing that men do that I don’t know about? Seems highly unsanitary. He didn’t even wash his hands!

Anyway, I think I’ve talked enough about urinals to last the week, so moving on…

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Blog/Bookish Updates:

My Amazon wishlists, which is how I keep track of books I’m interested in, will no longer allow me to filter by price drop or sort by price. It’s also an infinite scroll now instead of pages. I’m not happy about either of these things. My wishlist has nearly 1000 books, so I literally cannot even scroll to the end of it because it would take forever and because my computer is slow and just freezes because it can’t handle that much on one page. So now I can’t even see all the books I’ve saved -_- Update: It still sorts and filters on the mobile site. But it’s still annoying to have to use my phone if I want to look at my TBR.

Also, I’m sure you’ve all heard that there are going to be three more books in the Shatter Me series. I’m torn because I enjoyed the books, but they didn’t leave much of an impression on me, and I’ve pretty much already forgotten everything about them and therefore am not invested anymore. But it’s going to be dual POV with Warner’s POV, and I liked his POV in the novella, so… *sigh* I’ll probably just read them if my library gets the ebooks.

 

Books I Received for Review:

Gone by the Board by August Li
Organic by Jadah McCoy
Lux and Lies by Meg Collett
 

First two were from Dreamspinner, third was from Curiosity Quills, and fourth was from Xpresso Book Tours.

 

Books I Finished:

Hyde by Lauren Stewart
Gone by the Board by August Li
 

I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately. Or maybe just reading the wrong books for my mood. So I haven’t gotten that much reading done. Hyde was pretty good though. And Gone by the Board was quick and sweet, which was what I wanted at the time, so I enjoyed it.

 

Song of the Week:

No song or video this week.

 

In Case You Missed It:

– I shared ten interesting and funny book titles.
– I reviewed Saga Vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples and mostly talked about how I’m pretty sure Robot IV is depressed.
– I reviewed Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat, which was great and totally not the Stockholm Syndrome erotica I feared it would be.
– I reviewed When Twilight Burns by Colleen Gleason, another juicy, sass-filled book in a great historical urban fantasy series.

 

The Sunday Post Link-Up:

Once again, I’m linking up to The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer 🙂

 
 
 
 

Talk to me!

Have you found any good books, music, or videos lately?
Are your Amazon wishlists also doing the infinite scroll and missing the price drop and sort by price options?
How do you feel about more books in the Shatter Me series?
Also, somewhat unrelated question: do you use categories when you visit blogs?

 
 
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Your Thoughts

 

62 thoughts on “The Weekly Update: 4/30/17

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  1. Catherine

    I remember reading Alice and Kev when it first came out. Quite the impressive bit of storytelling using the game.

    As for the peeing while holding drinks thing, I think they just got so excited at finally having Sims that could read while on the toilet they decided to code as much “X while toileting” combinations as possible.

    1. Kristen Burns

      It really is some impressive storytelling.

      Haha, they must just be really excited about the multitasking. But reading on the toilet, are you talking about TS3 or TS4?

      1. Catherine

        It’s been a while since I played either, but IIRC it was introduced in TS4, along with other multitasking actions like conversations while watching TV.

        1. Kristen Burns

          I’m still playing TS3, so this drink thing was TS3. And I know they talk while watching TV. So they’ve been working on multitasking for a while apparently, though when I played TS4 once for like an hour, I noticed the multitasking while interacting with other sims did seem even better.

  2. Greg

    I think I didn’t realize there was such a variety of things you could do with Sims! Like the whole personality thing- I had no idea. And you can date the grim reaper? Yay it’s a YA book *snicker* Seriously though this now makes me wonder just what you all can do??? And what else did they code in you know? Is there a reddit for Sims reveals I wonder?

    Oh and the drink thing. Yeah I’ve seen it done. Not that I’ve ever done it. :O But yeah wash your hands FFS!

    More Jadah McCoy! Nice. Is that another android story?

    1. Kristen Burns

      Hahaha I am reading a YA series about a character dating, well, she’s dating the Angel of Death and her friend is dating the Grim Reaper. I never even thought of the sims in relation to that lol. But seriously, I’m wondering now how many more little things there are in the game that I’ve just never seen because I never had my sims try them or whatever. Like, been playing for years, but not until last week did I tell my sim to go use the bathroom while he had a drink in his hand.

      But eww. Someone needs to tell those guys how unsanitary that is, haha.

      Yeah it’s the next one in the android series and I’m reading it now but am a little disappointed so far :-/

  3. Christy LoveOfBooks

    I always wanted to play Sims, but I haven’t yet. I just know it’ll suck me in and I’ll end up spending way too much time playing. Hahaha – but yeah, I know some guys do that with their beers … so it probably wasn’t too much of a stretch for them to get the idea of putting it in the game. *whispers* Some guys are so weird. lol. Oh! My price drop filter was gone for awhile too, but it’s back now. So hopefully it’s just a bug that’ll be worked out. Anyway, have a great week, Kristen!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Ugh, ok, don’t they know that when a toilet flushes, it sprays germs into the air and then into the drink?! And what about hand washing?! This urinal drink setting down thing really needs to stop lol. That’s good to know your filter came back, maybe there’s still hope for my list!

  4. Geybie's Book Blog

    I’ve never played online games but some of my friends are crazy gamers. You make me curious about Sims, though. It sounds like a great game.
    Anyway, I usually am in reading slump when I read books I’m not in the mood for. Finding the right book usually helps.
    I hope you enjoy these books. Have a wonderful week! ?

    1. Kristen Burns

      The version of the sims I play isn’t online, it’s just single player, but it’s still so much fun!

      Ugh, yeah, it sucks when you can’t find the right book for your mood. I have another book coming once it’s done being formatted, and I have faith that’ll be the one to get me out of the slump 😉 Thanks, you too!

  5. chucklesthescot

    I’m hacked off with Amazon at the moment. I uploaded 15 book reviews, all zombies and apocalypses and one kept getting rejected but it never tells you why, just says change it and resubmit. Change WHAT??? They don’t tell you what is wrong with it and it’s so frustrating! I don’t use Amazon wishlists-my wishlist and tbr are on Goodreads! Didn’t like the first Shatter Me book and DNFed so wouldn’t be interested in any more.

    1. Kristen Burns

      That aggravates me SO MUCH. Why can’t they just tell us what to fix?! I know one of the things that gets a review flagged is repetition or something like that, so when I absolutely can’t find any possible curse words, I usually just try to remove a part or rewrite a paragraph differently or something if there’s any one word I might’ve used a lot.

      But see, on GR you can’t check prices and price drops like you can on Amazon.

  6. Jackie

    Oh gosh, I wish I had a Sims game. I loved it when I was younger! I have no idea if my laptop is powerful enough to run the game though…

  7. Trish @ Between My Lines

    I hear you on that slump. I have to be so careful now, what I read as I don’t want to make it even worse. Can’t believe there are more mores in the Shatter Me series, I’m prejudiced as I didn’t connect at all with book 1 and abandoned the series. But still, seems like overkill.

    1. Kristen Burns

      I keep trying to find the right book, I feel like I need something fast-paced right now, but every time I think I’ve found a book that will help, it ends up dragging! Ugh.

  8. Samantha

    Wait, your amazon wishlist won’t let you sort by price any more?!?!? That hasn’t happened to mine yet, but if it does, I will LEGIT cry. I check my list daily to see if there have been any price drops! Gah! Amazon, you better not screw this up!
    I love how quirky the sims games are. They are filled with these little easter egg type nuggets all the time! I used to spend HOURS lost in the game. Loved it!
    Have a great week!

    1. Kristen Burns

      I check every day too which is why I’m so unhappy about this!

      I love how quirky the Sims is too. And even after all these years I keep finding new things I’ve never seen! Thanks, you too!

  9. Lola

    It’s weird how some things do hurt your arm and others not. But hey that’s great the Sims doesn’t hurt your tennis elbow. I agree the Sims is silly and fun, but it can also be surprisingly realistic and those sims do almost feel like real people after a while. And that’s fun you even have a pinterest board for the sims. And actions like him taking his drink to the urinal does really make you wonder how or why they coded that into the game.

    My amazon wishlist was still the old version last time I checked, but I guess it will be only a matter of time before I get the new version as well. that sort option is so handy, I can’t imagine why they removed that.

    I also read two books this week, one 4 star and one 3 star. Sorry to hear about your slump, I hope you get out of it soon. Your new books look good! I hope this week is a good one for you!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Actually almost everything hurts it, the Sims just hurts less because not a lot of typing or movement. But yeah, I am totally attached to my sims, some of them at least. They do seem so real sometimes!

      Someone else said their wishlist did that but then went back to normal, so maybe it’s just a glitch? *fingers crossed*

      Guess we both had slow reading weeks. Thanks! I’m actually waiting for the 3rd Real Vampires book to be formatted and then I’m gonna reread the series. That series got me out of a kinda slump before, but ugh why are they taking so long to format?!

  10. Danya @ Fine Print

    I don’t know much about Sims, but one of my best friends loves it — he once played a version where all his characters were polyamorous vampires. LOL. Sounds like a fun time to me!

    As for the new Shatter Me spinoff, I’m not sure whether I’ll be reading it….but I do really like Tahereh Mafi as a person (and fashionista, her outfits are amazing) so I’m pleased for her. 🙂

    1. Kristen Burns

      Haha there’s so much strange stuff you can do with the Sims.

      I don’t actually know much about Tahereh Mafi as a person, I don’t follow on social media or anything. But I mean, authors can continue series if they want, totally their prerogative, I’m just undecided whether I should read the rest or not.

  11. Melissa

    That sounds so annoying with Amazon. I created an exclusive wishlist shelf on Goodreads which works best for me and the sorting options are many!

  12. Evelina

    I mean, naaaah, we’ve known you’re a Sims addict since last week’s post. You’re fine 😀 not gonna judge lol xD

    I’ve also played the Sims ages ago, but I mean… Like, Sim’s 2? When you had to use the.. rosebud code, was it? To get ALL THE MONEY because otherwise you couldn’t really build them a house 😀

    And I would totally bet that’s a thing men would do. And you thought it’s icky that maybe some of them wouldn’t wash hands 😀 lol, right? (k, guys, I know not all of you are like that :D)

    Also, Amazon wishlists. GUUUURRRRLLL. Get on ereaderiq.com – it will tell you WHEN your listed books DROP IN PRICE. Under a certain price. I have been buying my TBR books for 2 dollars for the past half a year because of that service. It’s free and it’s the most awesome thing ever.

    Also. Totally gonna check out that Sim’s Pinterest of yours 😀 sounds quite fun!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Lol I’m just afraid people are going to judge that I’m not resting my arm properly.

      There are still cheats for money and everything else lol, but I prefer to not use cheats because then it’s too easy and no fun (unless I have some really specific type of game in mind that requires some cheats to set up or whatever).

      Ugh, apparently it IS a thing men do. They need to stop! It’s so unsanitary!

      ereaderiq sounds great except I really do not want to have to go add 1000 books to a new site lol. If only I had known about it before!

      Lol hope you enjoyed the board!

      1. Evelina

        OMIGOSH ALL OF THESE COMMENTS WERE IN THE SPAM D: I guess you can expect me to spam you now 😀 *badum tsss*

        And yeah, I do find that those cheats kind of made it not fun. You’d just… build a nice house and then it would be totally boring. Meh 😀 I wonder if it’s like that in real life too? 😀 haha. Is that why celebs are so depressed?

        Also, have you played Sim City? The old one? Unwinnable game 😀

        Yeah, adding all those books to ereaderIQ sucked, but I’m a little OCD. So I did 😀 well, you can start adding the new ones, I guess..?

        1. Kristen Burns

          Yeah, when you can just poof and have everything for your sims with no effort, there’s no goal to work toward. I never even thought of that in regards to real life! But idk, I feel like there’s always something new you could do in real life? Like, no one in real life is at the max level of every skill or whatever lol.

          No, I never did play Sim City.

          So far I can still filter on the mobile Amazon site, so I’m just leaving it there for now. Crossing my fingers it’ll go back to normal at some point!

  13. kris @ lemon-notes

    I have never used the amazon wishlist function because I fear it will lead me to buying more than I should 😛 I don’t know how I feel about more books in the shatter me series because I never read the originals!! Guess I’m going to have to get on that now lol.

    I use categories on blogs if I’m looking for a specific kind of post and the search bar has failed me. Otherwise, not really. But then I get stuck in infinite scroll!! Which can sometimes be scary because hours will pass and I’m like wait it hasn’t only been five minutes?? what.
    Sims is amazing. I have spent DAYS wasting time with them 😛

    1. Kristen Burns

      Haha I’m good about having control when it comes to buying, and the wishlist helps me find sales 🙂

      You’re the only one who answered my question about categories, thank you! My blog doesn’t have infinite scroll though. I actually hate infinite scroll in general because, once you scroll to a certain point, there’s too much and whatever device I’m using gets slow and glitchy. Especially my computer since it’s old and half-broken. But gah I love the Sims!

  14. Let's Get Beyond Tolerance

    That’s a bummer Amazon isn’t letting your classify the types of books you want to look at in your wish list. I keep trying to go through mine and get rid of certain things, because I don’t want it to be TOO long…it’s difficult though. It’s the same with Goodreads – I tend to have different things saved on Goodreads than I do on Amazon so it’s a lot all together. LOL

    -Lauren

    1. Kristen Burns

      I think they’re going for the Jekyll/Hyde comparison with the two sides, but yeah, pretty butterflies isn’t usually what I think of when I think Hyde!

  15. S. J. Pajonas

    Lol at that Sim who didn’t wash his hands afterward. Guys are gross in general so this doesn’t surprise me one bit! Also, I have no idea why your Amazon wishlist changed like that. Mine is still in pages and I can sort by price. That would definitely be something to complain about to Amazon. They’re very customer oriented, to a fault, so make your wishes heard!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Lmao I never realized guys might do that. I’m crossing my fingers the Amazon thing is just a glitch and will go back to normal. If it doesn’t, then yeah I guess I’ll contact them.

  16. Becky @ A Fool's Ingenuity

    Hey, no need to justify your sims playing. I am still stuck on Sims 2 (I like Sims 3 but ever since I got the ultimate collection for sims 2 free I can’t help but play) but I tend to have my game play like a soap opera. I want all the drama with affairs and accidental pregnancies and backstabbing. It’s crazy but fun. I’m actually trying to play a supernatural neighbourhood at the moment as I’ve never done that before so we’ll see how that goes.

    And I hadn’t heard there were more Shatter Me books coming out, I’ve not even read the original ones! I’ve got some catching up to do.

    Also, I don’t know if it will work for you but the only way I can keep track of my TBR is goodreads and ereaderiq for price drops for ebooks on Amazon. It’s not flawless but it helps me catch books going cheap when I can.

    1. Kristen Burns

      Idk, I just sometimes feel like I have to explain myself about things. Haha, I love that you play that way. I’m kinda boring with how I play. I always say I’m gonna try new things but then I end up giving sims the same “good” traits, I play the same way, I have them do the same things… I’ve never even played with supernaturals in Sims 3! Weird, since I read SFF lol.

      Someone else mentioned ereaderiq but ugh, how am I supposed to transfer 1000 books to another site?!

  17. Annemieke

    Haha oh my gosh that urinal thing. If only we could look in on those conversations… And I’m not judging you at all for playing sims with your elbow. Like you say you need to relax. And you use it anyway.

  18. HEATHER DUFF

    I miss playing the Sims, I started out years ago playing the original Sim City and the they released the first Sims and I was hooked but damn kids get in the way of playing! I loved it though and was always looking for mods to adjust things. Will check you out on Pinterest!

    Have a good week!

    1. Kristen Burns

      Lol see I don’t have to worry about kids taking up my time 😛 And oh gosh, I never tried mods until Sims 3, but now I cannot live without them, haha. My game has so many mods it’s ridiculous.

  19. Dragonfly @ Our Familiarium

    hahahahaha your sim is awesomely disgusting! Love it. AND IT’S A GUY! interesting choice. 🙂 I think I’ll choose a guy avatar next time I allow myself play, which maybe when my kids are older and don’t need to be fed regularly 😉

  20. Lampshade Reader

    LOL your Pinterest board is hilarious. Your Sims’ drink suspiciously looks like pee… 😀

    I haven’t noticed the wishlist changes, but that does suck.

    Hope you have a great week! ~Aleen

  21. rogier ( roro)

    I want to be a fly on the wall to hear that sims brainstorming meeting/session. Speaking of being a fly on the wall; WHY Amazon??

    Yeah I heard of the new shatter me books. I’m super existed

    1. Kristen Burns

      Lol seriously, I can only imagine that conversation. But ugh, the Amazon thing is so frustrating! But it’s not happening to everyone, so idk maybe it’s just a glitch *fingers crossed*

      It’s definitely great news for everyone who loved the series!

  22. Molly @ Molly's Book Nook

    HHAHAH your whole sim section made me laugh. Who really though to coding that, though? So funny. I haven’t played in a while but every time you mention it, I REALLY want to lol. I hope you had a good week this week! (I know I’m commenting on this SO LATE lol)