Time to Brush the Dust Off the Blog.

It's time to brush the dust off the blog and get things rolling again.

Welcome to Books Are Pretty! I'm your host, flea. Nice to see you again.

After a somewhat turbulent spring and summer, things are starting to finally settle down. Everyone is employed again, the kids are back in school, and at last I have a second to sit down and read something. Even better, the Books Are Pretty staff has recently doubled! I am now a We, and We have a new reviewer, FanTam, who will be splitting the load with me. Please give her a round of applause and make her feel welcome.

We're starting up again, in fact, with a brand new review written by our new reviewer. FanTam has chosen to start things off with a review of Living With a Gamer.

As a result, I think you'll find that Books Are Pretty will now be even better than before.

With no further ado, please enjoy FanTam's review of Living with a Gamer.

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Living With a Gamer.




For those of you out there who have never felt the smooth, cool, soothing texture of a wireless PS3 remote; or have never allowed yourself the fantasy of stepping into a world full of excitement, passion, espionage, and possibly dragon slaying all at the literal control of your fingertips; or at the very least, have never felt the thrill of crossing the finish line of Mushroom Gorge in first place, while pounding your chest like only Donkey Kong can do; do not read Living With a Gamer. For those of you who know exactly what I’m talking about, do not read Living With a Gamer.

If you are one of the former types of non-gaming people, this book will do nothing more than perpetuate a stereotype that is so far off base, it isn’t even funny. It isn’t even funny. If you are the latter, even a casual “gamer,” this book will do nothing but offend. Personally, I am a 40-year-old mother, who loves nothing more than to relax in front of my television, and dive into the wonderful land of Hyrule in constant search of my beloved princess. My husband calls me a vid-ee-it. I call myself a gamer. Yet somehow, I am still capable enough to work full-time, take care of my children and run a household.

Living With a Gamer explains nothing about what it is really like to live with someone who, like myself, realizes the extent of intelligence, dedication, and dexterity it takes to play the modern video game. Living With a Gamer paints the picture of a 14-year-old boy who is stupid, geeky, ugly, has poor hygiene, no friends, and dresses badly. The Living With a Gamer-Gamer knows nothing of the “real” world because his “real” world is two-dimensional. Living With a Gamer gives no practical advice on how to live with someone like this, it only offers unconventional and unrealistic ways of accepting or eradicating his unacceptable non-behavior. However, there is a small section on the female Gamer who, unlike her male counterpart, is highly intelligent, independent, super-cool, and does not base her self worth on the latest fashion mag. So the book does have its upside.

If you live with a Living With a Gamer-Gamer and feel that you need guidance, try talking to him – although if he is a true Living With a Gamer-Gamer, he won’t listen unless you forcibly remove the remote from his permanently-twitching thumbs, at which time he will explode like a atom bomb. Maybe that isn’t the best advice. Okay, try offering him some incentives to listen to you like buying him a new game if he gives you a few minutes of attention. Well, that won’t work either, because you would be perpetuating the problem and continuing to be the enabler that you already are.

Of course, the entire book is written in a moderately humorous manner, and is obviously not intended as anything but a comedic view of the awkward pubescent video game player. Living With a Gamer may be the perfect gag gift for that parent who likes to read while in the crapper, scheming up ways to poke fun at his kids while sitting in the fog of his own fecal fumes (because that’s normal).

Do yourself a favor, before you read this book, try picking up a Wii remote and throwing a few virtual bowling balls. You may actually realize the reason video games are so popular, and your 14-year-old is not.
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Living With a Gamer
By Charlie Mills with Daniel Kleinman
June, 2009 by Red Rock Press
Hardcover, 96pp
ISBN: 978-193317626-0