MarioKart - Nintendo Wii

So I’ve been trying to update. I have really. It’s just that last week we bought MarioKart for the Wii and it has seduced me. I was addicted to Carnival Games, but I love the fact that with MarioKart you can play other people online. You have the option of playing strangers on a regional or worldwide field or you can input your friends and play them for bragging rights. It’s also most entertaining to watch Matt form and plan out a revenge attack against someone from England whom we haven’t met and never will.

MarioKart comes with the game and Wii wheel for $49.99. And I wouldn’t waste the money on buying an extra wheel. Definitely not worth it. Using the wheel allows a player on a bike to pop wheelies and do other flips in the air but it is ridiculously hard to steer with. I’ve been using my classic controller to play and find it much easier.

The other new feature is being able to pick your car/bike for each race. Each option has different features, some are great to use just for their look alone. You can also unlock secret cars and characters to race with.
There are eight different cups with four tracks each you are able to play. You start with four cups and have to play single player in order to unlock them; one of my only complaints about the actual game design. MarioKart is suppose to be a multi player game yet in order to unlock anything in the game it must be done in single player mode. What’s the point of playing alone to unlock stuff so that you can play with other people? I don’t think the people at Nintendo fully thought that one out.

One of the features Matt was able to unlock while playing by himself is the ability to play as our Mii. Not only in the regular tracks but online as well. This ranks, in my book, as a top five feature for the game. I’ve really grown attached to that Mii. She’s adorable.

And with that I’m back to beat Matt in another race. But have no fear we did attend a book sale today so expect updates soon.

PaperBackSwap.com

So during my travels in internet world I came across what seems to be an amazing website. Paperbackswap.com. This site is a place where users (for free) can post books (not just paperbacks) that they are willing to send off to someone. For doing this you earn credits, two for listing your first ten books and one for every book you ship off to another member. With these credits you can search the books other members have listed and have one shipped to you. The only cost associated with this is the cost you incur when you send a book. (around 2.13— a for a typical paperback)

Before signing up I read some reviews and played around the site to make sure it was legit. From what I can tell it is. Since I’m kind of a book freak and have mine all listed in excel I have a few I could list. Out of the 500 I own I listed about 60. By doing this I earned two credits and shipped off my first book the next day. I have since requested two books. Mine has already arrived and been read. (The Starter Wife). The book, a hard cover, came in good condition about three days after I requested it.

Don’t have a ton of books to be mailing to strangers? You can also buy credits for about $3.50 a book. Much cheaper than the cost of a new one at B&N or even Amazon (when you calculate the cost of shipping).

So far I’m happy with the site and hope I get the chance to read some good books from other members. If you should decide to join up connect from the link below, I get free books from referrals… duh.

The Starter Wife, Book Review

So I read The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer this weekend. It was ok. I think I had my hopes a little high. I really have to be in the right mood in order to handle a lot of sappy mushy stuff. And this book had a little more than I like, what can I say, I’m a non romantic female. I guess I started reading the book thinking it would be more along the lines of The First Wives Club; it wasn’t. The Starter Wife is about Gracie and begins with her life as a Wife Of; the name given to the wives of famous figures in Hollywood. Gracie’s life drastically changes when she becomes a divorcee and worse yet, a starter wife. We as readers follow Gracie through her experiences as she clings to her friends during the rough times and the search for a new man, in the strangest of places. I read The Starter Wife in less than two days so I obviously found it enjoyable, just not one I’ll be re-reading anytime soon.