Saigon Raider

Finished The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larsen, this is about a year with Winston Churchill during the Blitz. Larsen is an excellent researcher and it reads like a novel a lot of the time. Don’t think this is quite as gripping as Devil In The White City or his book on the Lusitania but still very good. Was looking for a fun, easy to read crime novel and just started The Darker Arts by Oscar de Muriel. Had never heard of the Frey and McGray series but they have good ratings on Goodreads. Have enjoyed the start and looking forward to finding a new series to get into.

This is basically me right now. Every time I come up against a boss or even mini-boss I am getting killed every time. Not sure if it is the right tactic or not but I am trying to explore as much as possible to level up before fighting anything decent. Having just come from Halo Infinite what is so obvious is how small the margin for error is. It’s obvious I am going to die a ridiculous number of times before beating anything. The menus etc are also proving difficult to get to grips with and I am ending up on YouTube a lot!! I have avoided Magrit and gone to the Rountable Hall and then found the Lake instead of fighting that big fella.

I like Ciftci, but am I the only one that thought he looked absolutely knackered after 10 minutes on Saturday? Not sure he is close to starting games again yet. I would go with the same team with Zander back in goal.

Middleton was better today. I have been his biggest critic as I always felt he was playing at about 75%. He really battled today although I do think he could work the channels a lot better as he could have got behind that Hearts defence more often. That’s a small thing though as he was much improved.

That could be a decent shout. I think he gives us a good attacking option who gets into good attacking positions. I don’t want to see him in a midfield 2 or 3 but in a position just behind the strikers he gives us something different. I think a lot of the negativity towards him is a bit out of order to be honest.

He was excellent in the first hour tonight.

Psychonauts 2 for me - loved it.

I have been using the library to read physical books as I have found, over the years, to much prefer that over the Kindle. I find I read more but it does take away the option of reading in bed as my wife is always asleep before me and I can’t have the light on. We are moving back to Asia again in the summer so no point in buying physical books so the library is a great option. I listen to an audiobook while running but I struggle to get through them and have 2 Audible credits unused.

I finish every book I start (now I think about it, I don’t really know why) except for Catch 22 - given up on it twice.

Just finished Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie - nothing more I can say about give author, he is simply at the top of his game - this might be his best one yet. Halfway through Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. Heard the author on the Adam Buxton podcast and found him very interesting. This is a book about the disappearance of mother of 10 Jean McConville in Belfast in 1972. Very well written so far about a period of history I don’t know too well (despite having loads of mates from N.I). It’s very good and will find his book on the Sakler family next.

I finished 12-5 on champs which is crazily good for me. Rewards were absolute trash and I ended up getting Stindl 3 times in a day. Black Friday has been really good I think and I have made a fortune with BPM and the league SBCs. Building towards Roberto Carlos SBC and almost there. It has helped having a son with covid so basically been in the house for the past 5 days. Have been using 87 Dalglish and his finishing is ridiculous. I reckon the gameplay has been good recently, the content has been improving and it is a better experience than last year.

Rayman Legends definitive edition is absolutely brilliant - my 9 and 7 year old have loved it for years and can do two player. My daughter also seemed to enjoy Kirby Star Allies.

Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Yes it’s unrelentingly grim but there were real moments of beauty there as well. I absolutely loved it and it’s a book that will stay with me for a long time.

I’m not sure anybody knows how many divisions you will drop. I ran out of qualifiers after losing three in a row 5-4! The Fellaini objectives on the no rules friendly was good fun and a bit different, completed in probably about two hours. I am really enjoying the gameplay but the content just all seems a bit lazy and shit. More SBCs with potentially league ones would help keep my interest, going on the app less and less this year.

Am now onto book #4 of the Conqueror series by Conn Iggledun, still enjoying them- so easy to read. Finished Mike Tyson’s autobiography. Was great for the first 3/4 but then the constant drinking, blow, shagging tales got a bit tiring. A Last English Summer by Duncan Hamilton. A diary of his travels visiting various English cricket grounds. He was a bit old fashioned but I still enjoyed it.