Breaking it in: Book Crawler for iPad

Recently I've been acquiring a lot more books and also trying to repurchase some as a hardcover when I can. I tend to get confused at times trying to remember what I already purchased, if I got this or that edition, or what volume of which series is the one I'm missing.

I turned to Twitter and a friend tells me, "Well there's an app for that, silly!" And my life was changed.

Okay, maybe it hasn't really changed my life, but it's made things much more convenient. I looked up various reviews of book catalog apps such as Good Reads, iBookshelf and others, settled on Book Crawler and purchased it in the app store for $1.99. (It's a fair price considering all it does!) And I'm so glad I did.

The interface is smooth and pleasant to look at, not to mention it's simple to enter everything. I don't have a scanner accessory for my iPad, but all I need to do is input the book's ISBN and everything comes right up (alternatively, I could input a book title and choose from a list after a search). After that, I have options to mark the book as owned, loaned or add comments about anything else. In my case, if the book was a gift I leave a comment about it.

Besides the book tab, there's an author tab to look up books in my catalog/library by author, a community tab and ample settings to play with. I'm really loving it so far, though I've only entered 88 books into the thing. Once I get past the 150 threshold I'll have to start backing it up on their server, since it looks like it won't save on the device by simply backing it up on my computer.

I don't really see any drawbacks to using this, particularly because I know I'll have hundreds of books entered. I don't have all my books in one place, either, so I'm happy to have an easy way to keep track of everything. It might seem unnecessary, but I've been at a book exchange or shop or even online looking at things and sitting there wondering whether I already own a copy. The best example I can give is I have a bunch of eBooks I'm working towards purchasing hard copy, so I lose track of which ones I already grabbed.

If you want to give it a try, there's a free version of Book Crawler that lets you catalog up to 25 books (something like that) to test it out. It's not quite enough to really get the full effect of organizing things your way or creating specific sections/groups for certain kinds of books, but it gave me a feel for the program before I went for the purchase.

More on this later when I've cataloged more of my library!

(images are screenshots I took from my iPad)

The right game at the right time

Now that I'm through with Batman: Arkham City (for now), I slipped back into Final Fantasy XIII. I was a little bit worried I'd be lost in terms of the battle mechanics and figuring out where I was in the story to keep moving forward, but thankfully I had no issues. Where I was when I turned it on yesterday (the game's Chapter 11) is not a terribly complex section and I didn't have anywhere to go but forwards (the map had an arrow pointing the way and everything). It also helps that they have a fantastic update system that tells you what's going on story-wise every time you load the game (every time a new event happens, the recap is updated).

I went onwards into a boss fight and then experienced one of the best cut-scenes I've seen in a long time, which led into the game's Chapter 12 (out of 13 - I'm almost done with the story!). After seeing the characters bust their way into a new area in the most kick-butt way, I sighed a glorious sigh of relief that I was back in the game that I wanted to be in. I would post a video here (if one exists on YouTube), but decided it's too awesome to "spoil" the surprise for anyone.

It's going to be a while from here on out. In this game, I do indeed hope to make it to 100% completion. They aren't making it easy, mind you, but I've had a lot more fun playing FFXIII than I ever thought I would. Now, if only FFXII would get ported to PS3, then I'd replay it (and make it through 100%, since last time I only clocked in about 50 hours before I stopped playing).

[Amazon: FFXIII for PS3 | FFXIII for XBox]

Only 38%?!

[Note: This post is spoiler-free!]

I finally finished through the main storyline of Batman: Arkham City last night, and I was surprised to see I didn't even get to the 40% mark in game completion! I suppose it's a good and a bad thing, since there's a bunch of stuff to do as Catwoman and Nightwing, challenges and Riddler busyworking, but a lot of my feelings of accomplishment greatly diminished when I saw that number.

When the credits started rolling (for the second time, because I actually nailed a "bad end" as Catwoman), I had time to sit and enjoy the moment. I did it! I finished the game! Yay! But I don't feel encouraged to actually follow through to 100% completion. I doubt I'll get all of the Riddler trophies or do every single challenge, but I do intend to go back and play the other characters.

In terms of my impressions of the game, I still stand by my earlier post about how the difficulty was impeding my enjoyment. Rather, the boss fights remained absurdly simple throughout the entire game, but all the stuff in-between was ridiculous. It's not that it was very difficult, really. It's that I got at least 60 game overs in the course of the game, none during boss fights. They were all stupid KO's and ridiculous situations that I wasn't expecting (or apparently didn't have the patience for).

Does it make the game bad that I had difficulty getting around? No, but it made me want to throw my controller out the window on occasion. While I do think I'll end up playing through Batman: Arkham Asylum again in 'hard mode' to get the platinum trophy, I don't think I'll do the same for Arkham City. What's the point in being frustrated?

I haven't even mentioned the glorious animation, fantastic voice acting or cool plot twists that were tossed into the mix, though. Arkham City really is a fantastic game in so many ways; it's a shame that it focused so much more on downloaded and extra features than the story. I usually judge games primarily on how many hours of enjoyment I'll get out of them based on what they cost, and the story wasn't worth a full price game. It'll be worth it when I play through the other content, but why should I have to do that? And what about people who buy the game used and thus have to pay for the extra content?

I wonder whether the completion rate changes based on what you have registered with the game. If I hadn't registered Catwoman, Nightwing, extra maps or anything else, would I have something like 70% completion instead? I don't know if it matters enough to me to look it up, but if it doesn't adjust based on those things, it's pretty lame towards those who don't buy it new.

All that being said, I'm incredibly happy I'm finally through it. My boyfriend helped me purchase the game (I wanted the statue that came with the Collectors Edition - reviewed by me on Tomopop) and I didn't want to drop it without at least finishing story mode. He's borrowing it now, so now I've got a nice break to play other things while the game gets passed around my buds.

[Amazon: Batman: Arkham City for PS3 | Batman: Arkham City for XBox]

Bringing forth the metal and doing it right

On Friday I had the distinct (no, really) pleasure of being blasted with Christmas and classic metal by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I had seen them in concert before, but since it was several years ago the experience was fuzzy. Now that I've seen them again I can safely say they are definitely worth watching whenever they're by.

There is always a lot to take in when it comes to TSO. Musically, they deliver nothing but the best. It's apparent that the musicians are not only well trained, but incredibly passionate about what they're playing (not to mention music in general). Visually, the effects throughout the show are a spectacle to behold. Don't let the word "orchestra" make you think you're just watching a crowd of musicians sit on a stage and perform bad-ass arrangements; they make use of light shows, lasers, moving, floating platforms and even fire. Lots of fire, and in different colors, too.

While I'm not arguing whether orchestra performances are relevant to mainstream masses, I do feel the need to say that TSO certainly knows how to put on a hot show and make an orchestra performance very relevant. The experience is a fun mixture of hair metal (lots of hair), classical (and not so classical) music with fresh arrangements and a whole lot of heart tossed in with the fabulous performance. Performance here is a key word; they aren't just playing music, they're performing to a crowd. Roddy Chong, the key violinist at hand, joined the guitarists in some glorious head-banging throughout the show that just made everything even better. He just had so much energy and was running around the entire time!

It also helps that after the performance, they all sat at a long table together to meet fans and sign autographs. I got all of them to sign on my tickets! I wasn't sure they'd all fit, but they somehow made it happen. The t-shirts were cool, too, and I walked away with one that had their latest album's artwork on it. (For concert swag it was also well priced.)

Finally, at some point in the evening they announced they would be touring Beethoven next year, which is something I am very excited for considering it's not only my favorite composer but a show they are "bringing back" due to its popularity. I'll definitely be there to make it my third time catching them on stage!

(image taken via iPhone during the show by me)

Book Review: 'Stardust' by Neil Gaiman

Admittedly, Neil Gaiman falls under the category of people, things or otherwise that I've passed over because it's so enthusiastically acclaimed among the people around me (and in general). It wasn't until earlier this year that my boyfriend turned me on to his distinctive style of writing.

The first book I read (to whet my appetite, I was told) was Fragile Things. I didn't really think Gaiman would be for me after that, given that some of the stories within were rather dark. A chance for American Gods proved otherwise, and then a look at a list of his other works quickly revealed that two films I love, Coraline and Stardust, are based on books written by him! Now I've been converted.

Stardust is a story about a boy, raised in the small town of Wall, who ventures out to Faerie to find and retrieve a fallen star for the prettiest girl in town. He finds himself (and true love) along the way, through his adventures that lead him through forests and mountains, encounters with sky pirates, witches, and even unicorns. Stardust is a sweet fairy tale for adults to enjoy (for I'd be hesitant to hand this to anyone below the age of 14).

(click through to read more)