52 lists – games I love to play

So, you may have noticed that I’ve been blogging up a storm. Now I’m all caught up on Meet Me At Mike’s 52 lists challenge.

This evening we’re talking games. I love a good board game sesh. You? Yeah I thought so. There are loads of games I like but I’ve picked out a few that are particular favourites.

I don’t have a competitive bone in my body until it comes to games. Then a latent competitiveness rushes to the surface and I get a bit el nutso. I play to win and I really only want to play with other people who want to win. I’m not at all a fan of helping people through the game (DONNA!!).

Naturally my favourite games are all the ones I’m good at. 

Kerplunk is a game I only discovered a few weeks ago. I bought it for my nephews for Christmas and when I visited last month they got me playing it.  I was quickly addicted. Much to their annoyance, I wouldn’t let them stop playing until I’d managed to get through a whole round of pulling out plastic sticks without making marbles fall. I really want my own Kerplunk now!

Boggle is a game I played repetitively in primary school and I love it so much I put it on our wedding registry. I never get sick of it.

Pick up sticks is SO MUCH FUN! And I have lots of tricks up my sleeve for this one.

Scattergories is awesome because it’s a list making game where you can get extra points for alliteration. Say no more, right?

Pass the parcel is not just for kids. I’ve played this game at many a bridal shower or adult birthday party. It’s like musical chairs (also awesome) but you get prizes along the way. And don’t you love it when lollies fall out in between gifts? YEAH!

Rock, paper, scissors is the game Husband and I use to make all our decisions. We used it to decide whether to buy our house. We use it to pick holiday destinations. We use it to see who has to get out of bed in the middle of the night and fill up the water glasses. Rock, paper, scissors is where it’s at!

I’m at my parent’s place this weekend, but Ian is at home with his family visiting. The only good thing about being apart for the long weekend is that I had no one to rock, paper, scissor me about licking the spoon when I baked today. All mine!

Taboo is the game I am best at. Seriously guys, I am so good at this game. I never lose. Well, I probably have lost sometimes but only because my partner was crap.

Thumb wars are something that I can physically beat Ian at. I don’t stand a chance with arm wrestles. Those skinny little arms of his have quite the strength behind them. But thumbs? I got it covered.

Commander Keen is the only computer game I’ve ever really liked. Apart from Tetris. But Tetris freaks me out. I play it, then see squares joining in my sleep. Commander Keen is just fun and I loved it as a teenager. I play it now and again as an adult and I scream my head off. E finds it cute. It’s meant to be hard core.

What do you like to play?

 

 

 

 

52 lists – things I’ve read lately

Embarrassingly, I’ve only read three and a half books so far this year. This is mostly because I’ve discovered the joy of watching TV on my laptop before going to sleep. I’ve also been using long distance commutes to watch movies. What I have read though, has been amazing.

My three books so far this year are:

I wrote about Shantaram here. I started it on January 1st and didn’t finish it till January 31st. It was certainly a hefty novel, at 946 pages long, but I loved every page. I think I probably could have finished it quicker if I’d just read the book and stopped youtubing. As I went along, I kept googling the author and I’d spend night after night reading about him online and watching interviews. Fascinating man!

Then there was The Boat, a collection of short stories by Nam Le. As with most short story collections, there’s always quite a few you love and then quite a few you don’t. Nam has a strong background in writing poetry and that was quite evident in his writing. He has a real way with words. And I really like ethnic literature. It’s important.

Next up was Life of Pi. I loved this book. I love beautiful quotes, as you know, and for me, this novel felt like one big, beautiful, philosophical quote. I loved Yann Martel’s perspective on religion and also on Zoos. I don’t necessarily agree with him, but he puts forward a few interesting arguments and gave me pause for thought. I also like how he calls churches God Houses. Tres cute! I’ve been mentally referring to them in the same way. I think I’ll probably do a whole post on this book at some stage.

I’m now about half way through A Million Little Pieces, a memoir by James Frey. It’s a tough book to read. Hearing about the way drug and alcohol addicts treat their bodies literally makes me feel weak at the knees. I think perhaps I’m reading this book to soon after Shantaram. It’s making me want to step back in time and give James’ liver some love!

But what about you? What have you been reading lately? Any good books? Mags? Cookbooks? Blogs? Websites? Share!