Book Review: Play Nice

For video game fans, the name Blizzard Entertainment was once synonymous with perfection. The renowned company behind classics like Diablo and World of Warcraft was known to celebrate the joy of gaming over all else. What was once two UCLA students' simple mission — to make games they wanted to play — launched an empire with thousands of employees, millions of fans, and billions of dollars.

But when Blizzard cancelled a buzzy project in 2013, it gave Bobby Kotick, the infamous CEO of corporate parent Activision, the excuse he needed to start cracking down on Blizzard's proud autonomy. Activision began invading Blizzard from the inside. Glitchy products, PR disasters, mass layoffs, and a staggering lawsuit marred the company's reputation and led to its ultimate reckoning.

Book Review: Jekyll and Hyde - Consulting Detectives

When Muriel Carew attends a lavish society party, the last person she expects to bump into is her ex-fiancée Henry Jekyll, a man she’s not seen for many years. When Jekyll turns out to be investigating a series of missing persons in London, Muriel is intrigued. But Jekyll is not working alone, and if Muriel wants to aid in the investigation, she must work with both Henry and his partner, the monstrous and uncouth Mr Hyde.

As their search takes a dark turn and a missing persons case becomes a murder investigation, Muriel finds herself deep in a mystery involving a nefarious group exploring their own hidden alter-egos within the beating heart of London’s high society. To solve the case and bring those responsible to justice, Muriel must find a way to place her trust in Mr Hyde, which might mean uncovering secrets about her own life she never dreamed of discovering.

Book Review: The Strange Case of Harleen and Harley

Harleen Quinzel is many things, a gymnast, anxious, broke… but the last thing anyone would call her is evil. Harley Quinn on the other hand…

When Harleen signs up to participate in a clinical research trial with her girlfriend, Pamela, the most she can hope for is extra cash in her wallet and a chance to get her anxiety under control. But what she gets instead are increasingly larger gaps in her memory and stolen mementos from some guy named Jack she’s never met. Soon, Harleen discovers she’s sharing her life with Harley—a take-no-prisoners, who-cares-about attendance, maybe-we-oughtta-save-the-bunnies kind of girl. She is the opposite of Harleen in many ways. She is anarchy in a cute dress. And although she’s throwing Harleen’s life completely off track, maybe she ain’t so bad either…

Book Review: Side Quest

The creators, Steenz and Samuel Sattin, narrate the book, switching between personal stories about their RPG experiences and concrete information that reveals the fascinating and often little-known history of these games. (Did you know that H. G. Wells created an RPG in the early 1900s? You will soon, along with so much more!)

This is an inviting introduction to what TTRPGs are, why they matter, and how readers can get involved. And like any popular guide to arcana, this book is geared toward an audience of gamers, non-gamers, and general readers alike. Equal parts enlightening, adventurous, and approachable, this appealing graphic nonfiction book is one that everyone can enjoy!

Book Review: Earth to Moon

From daughter of musical visionary Frank Zappa. Moon Unit Zappa, comes a memoir of growing up in her unconventional household in 1970s Los Angeles, coming of age as part of the MTV generation in the 1980s as the “Valley Girl,” and finding herself after losing her father, then her mother, and the fracturing of her longest relationships.

Earth to Moon, the memoir of Moon Unit Zappa, was published August 20, 2024. Dey Street Books provided a galley for review.

Book Review: 101 Things You Must Know Today About ChatGPT and Generative AI

Lasse Rouhiainen is a leading authority on AI. His first book 101 Things You Must Know Today About Our Future from 2018 provided a comprehensive overview of AI's potential to change our lives. In this second book of the series, he focuses specifically on ChatGPT, a generative AI tool that has become readily available to all users. These are tools that will revolutionize every industry, change business processes, and accelerate innovation.

101 Things You Must Know Today About ChatGPT and Generative AI was published independently on July 1, 2024. Victory Editing, a NetGalley Co-op, provided an early galley for review.

Book Review: Dream City

In this unconventional tale of Las Vegas during the two delirious boom decades before the bust of the Great Recession, failed actor “C. D.” Reinhart, who has launched a new career in hotel marketing, is gradually losing his moral and existential compass. Working on The Strip during an era when Sin City’s population growth was outpacing any other place in America, C. D. climbs the industry ladder while modeling himself after a Pyramid Resorts top executive, Lance Sheperd. C. D.’s professional choices lead him down a tumultuous road, as Sheperd, a complex and, at times, visionary figure, pilots his ventures through the tangled wheeling and dealing of finance and corporate politics straight into catastrophe.