Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: New Things I've Tried Recently

 

This week's topic: New Things I've Tried Recently

I like trying new things whether it's food, books, movies, or traveling to new places. You never know when you will discover your next favorite (fill-in-the-blank). It's part of what makes life an adventure!

Food:

I'm a chocolate lover. I'm always happy to find new chocolate to eat! :) Shortly after Christmas, I found a bar of extra-dark mocha chocolate in the discount section. It was so yummy with bits of coffee flavor mixed into the bitter dark chocolate. Better yet, my kids are not fans of dark chocolate like I am (the darker the better for me!), so when they asked to try a piece, they didn't care for the taste. That meant more for me! Unfortunately, I think it was just a Christmas-gifty kind of thing, so I'm not sure if they stock this chocolate on a regular basis at the store. I'll have to remember to check next time I'm there.

Books:

I love finding new authors to binge on! In 2022, I found three! I stumbled upon K.M. Neuhold while reading an anthology. I love anthologies! It's a great way to discover new-to-you authors. She writes M/M romances that are both steamy and sweet. Another M/M romance author I found is Robin Lynn. She has quite a collection of fan fiction which I adore, but recently she released a title of her own called Fire & Ice. I grabbed it right away, and I hope she continues to write more. And for nonfiction, I found a book called 7 Figure Fiction: How to Use Universal Fantasy to Sell Your Books to Anyone by T. Taylor. The title certainly called to me. 7 Figures? Yes, please! I found this book so interesting that I've read it twice. It's really made me think about how I write my fiction and what readers take out of it. I definitely recommend it for any fiction writer!

TV/Movies:

I've recently discovered two new-to-me shows that I'm simply crazy about!

The first one is new on HBO, but it's not exactly a new story to me. Kinda. Years ago, my husband (at the time) bought a new Playstation 3 for himself. With it came a game called The Last of Us. I enjoyed watching him play certain video games that had storylines that interested me. (I am a huge Uncharted fan although I've never once played the game!) Since this was a new game, he started playing The Last of Us to give it a try. He didn't play it for long. The main character Joel and his daughter were just getting into the town when my ex decided he didn't like the game and stopped playing. But I was interested in these characters, and being a fan of apocalyptic stories, I wanted to see more. Unfortunately, not enough to play the game. My gaming skills stopped with Pac-man, Tetris and Super Mario Brothers. So, for years, this story remained unfinished in my mind. 

I was super excited when I heard that HBO was filming The Last of Us. And with Pedro Pascal as Joel! Oh, I thought he was perfect! (Yes, I'm a Mandalorian and Game of Thrones fan, too!) This news interested my 16 year-old son. He already knew of my interest, so he brought his Playstation 4 into the living room so I could watch him play. Finally! After all these years of waiting, I know what happens to Joel and Ellie. Last Sunday, HBO released the first episode of The Last of Us. I was thrilled that they kept the characters and the storyline so close to the game. It was heartbreaking, breathtaking and nail-biting! And I can't wait to see more!

Since I have to wait for the next episode of The Last of Us to release (one episode every Sunday... Ugh! The wait!!), I decided I needed another show to watch. So, on Monday, I was scrolling through Netflix, looking for something to interest me when I found The Blacklist. I've heard of this show. I've seen a few clips and I knew James Spader played in it. I loved James Spader in his role as Daniel Jackson in the movie, Stargate, although he's not on my auto-watch list. With Netflix's little preview portion, I watched the opening scene of the first episode of The Blacklist where James Spader as Raymond Reddington walks confidently into FBI headquarters, requests to see Assistant Director Harold Cooper, then calmly sets down his briefcase, slips off his jacket to fold over his briefcase along with his hat, then waits in a room full of people. When the lady at the desk gets the notification that she is talking to a criminal on their Most Wanted list, the alarms sound and men with guns surge into the room. Reddington simply places his hands on his head and slowly gets onto his knees. 

I was so intrigued by this beginning. Who is Reddington? What has he done? Why has he turned himself in? So many questions! I had to find out more. My 15 year-old son and I started watching The Blacklist on Monday. We're only up to episode 11 in Season 1, so no spoilers! But I am so hooked on this show! The storylines are intriguing, the characters are compelling. It's filled with action, suspense and mystery. It's definitely addictive! I can't believe I haven't watched this show before now!

That's enough for now! As you can see, I love talking about the new things I find, too! What have you tried new recently?

Be sure to check out the other blogger's suggestions at ...

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Happy Reading!

~Tricia