Book #38 of 2016: In Real Life

In Real Life by Lawrence Tabak
Rating: Loved (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)



This book was unique in my reading experience: I loved it so much, yet I skimmed probably 25% of it. There were two plots in the story, but they both got nearly equal time, so I can't really label one a subplot. One part of the story was about a kid, a gifted math student, who was also gifted at playing an online game (Starfare in the book, based on Starcraft in real life). This teen was one of the best players in the US, and eventually one of the Korean professional teams recruits him. While this book was fiction, the author had two sons play in pro eGames, so it felt very, very realistic and accurate.

Even though I'm a gamer, going into this book I thought I might not enjoy it. These professional eSports, I just don't get them. It always seemed a little silly to me to try to make a videogame into a sport. But wow, this book showed me how serious places like Korea take it. Plus I got an interesting view of Korea from an outsider's perspective, and a look at some interesting math stuff, and other new-to-me things.

If the book had been about the gaming alone, I would say this was the best book I had read in a long, long time. Unfortunately the other plot didn't work for me. Romance. Yawn. While I fully believed start and growth of the relationship the main character had with his girlfriend, it bored me. I just do not care about a teenage boyfriend/girlfriend situation, the worries they have, having to deal with their families, all that. I can't fault the author for including that plot in the book (it's a YA book, so I'm not the target audience), it just completely and totally did not work for me.

I was worried at how the story would end, because there was only one way I could see him ending it. See, this kid loved the game he was so good at; no matter what else he was doing (school, work), he was counting the minutes until he could get home and log on. However, when the Korean professional team recruited him and he was required to play 12+ hours a day, six days a week, the fun went out of it for him (100% accurate, that happens to me even on short vacations when I do nothing but play all day). Plus there were serious issues with the team not wanting to accept him (for perfectly valid reasons -- as a blond American, he was getting a lot more publicity than even the more skilled players). So basically, the kid's dream of going off to play for a professional team was crushed by the reality of that. I was really, really worried the author would crap on gamers -- that he would end the book with something like "So Main Characters gets back together with Girlfriend and realizes that his life is better without Starfare," but luckily he didn't. The story ended with a completely open ending, not touching on the game at all. The reader can fill in for themselves if the kid ever played again or how he felt about the game going forward. I'm really thankful for that. It felt like the author was being both true to the story and respectful to gamers.

Even with the romance plot, I really enjoyed this book. It's very, very rare for me want to reread a book, but I would happily reread this one.

My LJ is almost 14 years old, and other non-book review things

In the middle of this month, my LJ will hit 14 years old. How amazing and scary is that? I still want to go back and tag the old entries, but I have seven years of them that aren't done... During those early years, I posted daily or multiple times a day, so that would be a lot of work. However, it would be interesting to read all those posts again, so...maybe. (Every year I say the same thing, so I'm not exactly holding my breath that I'll get it done this year.)

It's exactly one month until I move. I really, really like having all this time ahead of time. I've thrown out so much stuff. I had multiple boxes I never unpacked in the last 10+ years, but stuff I knew I didn't want to throw away. I ended up throwing away about 90% of it. :P

My new apartment is going to be a studio, which I'm kind of worried about. It's going to be kind of like living in a dorm room, but without a roommate (THANKFULLY). One room, tiny kitchen, tiny bathroom. So the more I can get rid of, the better.

It's odd, but usually when I move, I think it's going to be a long-term thing, that I won't want to move again. But this time I know I won't be staying there more than a year or two. The parking situation is what's going to be what makes me leave. (I could pay $160 extra a month for a parking spot, but the place also has no AC, so it's not like it's perfect other than not having assigned or much street parking.) So basically it feels like, once I'm home from work early afternoon, I won't be able to leave again for the day because I won't have a spot when I get back. I know I don't like going back out after work, but sometimes there are doctors appointments and I keep wanting to try to reach out and get some kind of social network going, but that would be hard enough even without stressing about finding a parking spot when I get back. So, a year or two in the new place, then I'll move again.

...I know I said this wouldn't be about books, but wow, that In real Life one I just finished is still in my brain and won't leave me alone. I want to know MORE MORE MORE about professional eSports teams! I even watched some Starcraft videos on YouTube.

I think I'm going to be able to get my apartment clean enough to get most of the deposit back. My bedroom rug is the big problem. Ellie New Cat always throws up on it, and there are some visible spots. I need to get some carpet spot cleaner or something.

Work is rough right now, but that's nothing new.

Gaming is... somewhat the same. A number of months back, I got roped into a leadership position that I didn't want, but no one else wanted and they all voted for me to get it. The group needed a leader or it would fold, and it was a very old group, but I didn't want it all the same (I had been about to leave the group, in fact). Months later, and I still have the position. I still don't want it. It's nothing but stress for me, and next to no benefit. Problem is, no one else wants leadership, so if I give leadership to anyone who will take it, it will hurt the group, and I feel too responsible to want that to happen... so it's sort of a catch-22.

TV: I watched the first season of Mr. Robot, which was AMAZING. Like nothing else ever on TV. I loved it! I'm waiting to watch the second season until it's over though, so I can marathon it. Better Call Saul's second season should be about over soon, too? So I can start watching that. Yesterday I started Stranger Things, which is completely freaking me out. I didn't know it was horror-ish (or maybe I'm just a scaredy cat).