If I wanted to be generous (I don't), I'd say it's because they want to scrap Gunn's project. Realistically, we all know your comment is the real reason. John Stewart's popular, but always gets shifted to the side (he's not the only lantern to have that issue when you have a bazillion greens, but aside from maybe Jessica Cruz, he's the only popular one to get shafted).

I do think the Gunn DC universe stuff was overrated, so I'm not surprised they're out. I enjoyed Lanterns, but didn't like returning to an era where the hero can't even wear his costume.

This merger is so painful for me. DC comics were on a roll, and now they're going to tear the whole thing down, again. If they're killing Lanterns, then at this rate they might just hire DiDio and Dixon back to make DC great again.

Two hundred some pages into The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephnson and Nicole Galland, and I'm thinking about dropping the book, which I rarely do. It could have accomplished in fifty pages what it's taken two hundred some pages to do.

While it occasionally has its moments, it's so boring. Which should be impossible. The whole government set up is a goldmine for comedy, and somehow it's still dull.

I loved Nona (it's my favorite), but when I originally read it, I thought it was supposed to be the final book (I didn't know that the series had been changed to 4 books), which left me baffled until I looked it up.

Its biggest weakness is that to me, everything aside from the end itself wasn't confusing at all. It felt fairly predictable to me.

If you don't like Harrow, I wouldn't continue the series. Nona the Ninth is more of an interlude (personally it's my favorite of the three), and sets up more questions than it answers. Unless you really loved Camilla Hect and Palamedes Sexton (because Nona is their book along with Nona herself). Also, the final book, Alecto the Ninth, still seems to be nowhere in sight (on goodreads there's no release date set). It's been years now.

This for me, but with the new Fire Emblem. I've played almost every game in the series. But I can't justify $500 for a console for a single game, then pay whatever the going cost is now for the game ($60-80?), and then have all the inevitable DLC that actually raises the cost of the game to somewhere between $140-160 (most FE games since 3DS have DLC that nearly double the price of the game).

Oh, and if I pay $500 for that console, I have to pay a subscription fee if I do want to use internet features.

I hate Nintendo for their corporate practices, but at least up through the Switch, they actually make good games. And when people complain about their high price games, when you buy physical, that also means you can sell your games and get most of your money back from them. It's the attacks on fan projects, the DMCAs, the DLC, and paid internet subscription that made me lose any love for them. Almost every older Nintendo console was worth it, but not now (I had a Wii U, lmao). It's also incredibly frustrating in this day and age to be locked to a console when I might want to play things elsewhere.

I loved Saints Row 4. I was surprised to see how hated it was, lol.

I've stopped buying most media. Almost all my physical books are bought at an extreme discount from overstock, or the occasional sale (Target weirdly has good deals once in a blue moon). Even if I could afford $30 for a book, do I want to?

Keep in mind if you want to own your books, many libraries sell off books (and other media) they no longer need, as well as donated materials (very cheap in my experience). It's a good way to support your library and buy some books :)

Also, if you have too many books (or other media), consider donating whatever you don't want to your local library (assuming it's not one of the ones trying to burn books).

Fun fact. Many libraries have tons of extra services, like help with writing up your resume, genealogy services, access to peer reviewed scientific research, language learning, etc. There's a lot you can get out of that library card. Check it out!

If Shrinking is the Apple TV show, that's been renewed for a Season 4.

Finished Legion. Was not a fan, especially of the 3rd season. The Loudermilks were fascinating though, I would have watched a whole show based around them and the Birds. Have to say, never expected this show to feature a redeemed/heroic (?) Shadow King (this seems to be the only point of the show). Crazy that the other X-Men show of the same time, The Gifted, decided to have the incest Nazi twins become heroes too.

Also finished my rewatch of Dollhouse. I was surprised to learn that I feel almost exactly the same way as before. The last episodes are rushed (the early episodes also have their problems), and I hate everything about the 2020 setting. But it's still a pretty great show with some interesting concepts. The main thing I found on this rewatch was that I think you could cut Paul. After the first season, he doesn't really add anything. The romance isn't even half-baked because it never really gets there in the first place.

I've finally started The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I'm not sure when I'll finish it, but so far, it's much better than I was expecting. At the very least, I hate Danglars and am hoping there's not some stupid parable of Christian forgiveness at the end, because I want that guy to get destroyed.

I often have a hard time enjoying older books, but I'm surprised so far at how very human all these characters Dumas is writing feel. Aside from the obviously dated aspects of the novel, it feels very much like they could be anyone I know today.

Also recently finished Queen of Faces by Petra Lord, which I picked up by mistake thinking it was an adult novel for some reason, lol. But I gave it a chance since I had it, and stuck with the YA novel anyway because the world was somewhat interesting. Honestly, it felt like it should have been an adult book. It barely made use of the magic academy, which in hindsight should have been a redflag that it was indeed YA. The anime vibe was strange (they kept using 'manga' instead of 'comic' in a fictional world with no Japan, and their 'unique' magic had names). The characters were pretty flat, and I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to find Ori as the most interesting character. Also, the real villain of the story was obvious. If you like YA, it's good enough. I'm certainly not the audience, but it was enjoyable for what it was.

I've had that feeling with so many books. Glad you're liking the last bit though 👍

That sounds fun. It's nice to see a review for self-published stuff, too!