A Game of Pugs

I recently adopted a pug puppy named Pickles.

She's a handful, but she makes me happy. The first few days were difficult and I almost regretted my decision, but after learning her habits and training her a bit, it's gotten a lot easier. I've already taught her to sit and (kind of) stay! She's also well on her way to becoming potty trained. She'll be ten weeks old on Tuesday.

I've also slowly been making my way through George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. It's the first series I've read in a very, very long time (Harry Potter was the last, I do believe. Maybe Lord of the Rings?). I was very reluctant to begin it since each trade paperback book nearly hits or surpasses a thousand pages. A bit daunting! And he's not even done writing them. What if I put all this effort into the series and he croaks or decides he's tired? So much commitment! I was also concerned that it is considered fantasy. I am not very interested in fantasy. I have a hard time following some of the terminology and am generally more interested in character driven fiction. However, Game of Thrones has proven to be just that. It's absolutely brilliant. I'm looking forward to watching the show after I've read the books. I'm currently halfway through the second installment, Clash of Kings. 

If you're reluctant to purchase a whole set of books to catch up, there's a very attractive and affordable (it's currently on sale for $20.50 and there are new or used versions available on the marketplace for $8!) paperback boxed set of the first four novels available on Amazon. I purchased the set and am very pleased with it. There's also the Kindle version, but it seems to be at bit more expensive at $29.99. The first chapter, however, is free to preview. I encourage you to check it out!