Book Review: Star Wars Stories of Jedi and Sith

 

Tales of Jedi and Sith are a collection of short stories that span the bulk of the Star Wars timeline, with the first story set during the High Republic era and the last story set between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. The stories involve a Jedi (or a padawan) or a Sith. Sometimes the story is told from the point of view of the Jedi or Sith, and sometimes the story is told from the point of view of someone interacting with the Jedi or Sith. And, one of the stories shifts the point of view between Luke and one of the "regular" rebels in a story set on Hoth. 

Some of the stories involve characters that only people who have read the other novels or have seen the Clone Wars animated series will be familiar with, and other stories involve characters like Yoda, Maul, Luke, Anakin, Obi-Wan, Vader, Rey, and Palpatine. One of the best stories involves Palpatine during the events of Return of the Jedi in which we find out he still goes over his duel with Yoda, and wishes he could have killed Yoda.

Overall, the book is a good collection of side stories. The book is an intermediate length at just around 350 pages, but it reads very quickly. If you are a fast reader you will probably be able to finish it in a day or less. I would not necessarily say it is a must-read, but it is worth checking out if you are more than just a casual Star Wars fan. 

Book Review: Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How T***p Lost

 

This is a book that is mostly about the 2020 election and its aftermath by Wall Street Journal reporter, Michael Bender. It was actually one of the first books written after the events of the election and when it was first published, it contained a lot of bombshells. Of course, years later, the material in the book has been backed up by many other sources, and a lot of the details have been fleshed out so if you are reading it in 2023 or later, it will really not contain much that has not been widely reported. But, it seems that Bender had more access inside the 2017-2021 administration than other reporters, probably because he reported for the WSJ because he was reporting on a lot of events that were not widely known (and were not reported in full detail) until the January 6th hearings.

Of course, the MAGATs will scream fake news, but this is anything but. Bender clearly was talking to a lot of people inside the White House, including the Orange Genital Wart itself. And, he made a point to include details about the cult members who would travel around the country, including during covid, to see t***p do his syphilitic-like rants, even though many of them who were not the picture of health, were scared shitless that they were going to get sick and die (which some did). Some of those stories are very sad, all are pathetic, and some are just hilarious. Since Bender also followed agent orange's campaign during the 2016 election cycle, he does include some material in the lead-up to, and the aftermath of, that election. But, the focus of the book is from the first impeachment, through the covid pandemic, and the 2020 election and its aftermath. He does include a little about the second impeachment, but the book was coming up for publication right as that was playing out, so there is not a lot of detail about that in the first run hardcover edition.

The book is moderately long, coming in at just under 400 pages. And, they had to use a fairly small font type to get it in at that length. But, it reads relatively fast, especially if you are a regular news consumer (at least of news from reputable sources). I would not call it a must-read, but it is worth reading if you are a fan of current events and/or political books. 

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 50

Day 50 was Agility X in X3 and Core in PIYO. I would say that both workouts got a little easier from the last time I did them, but Agility X is another one in which my space limitations make it a bit harder to do, even modified. But, I do the best I can with it. The core workout in PIYO is very challenging. It actually has quite a bit of a cardio effect, so you are getting winded as your abs are being worked.  

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 49

Day 49 was Decelerator in X3 and Sweat in PIYO. Decelerator is basically a plyometrics-type workout (with some pull-ups and push-ups in between the plyo moves) that focuses on the explosive jump, then slowly recovering after you land. So, you will land on one foot, and do a three-count back down into the position from which you jump. It is a tough, but doable, routine that really works on your balance as well as your explosiveness. The sweat routine in PIYO was pretty much the same as the last time I did it.   

Workout Update: P90X3 and PIYO doubles workout- Day 48

Day 48 was the drench workout again, which is the longest of the PIYO routines, and basically takes elements from all of the other workouts and combines them into one. As I said before, I think there should be an updated PIYO program that has all 30-minute workouts instead of having some workouts be around the 21-25 minute range, another be 35 minutes long, and this one being just under an hour. That would make planning workouts a bit easier.