Topic: Nintendo Life Book Club

I've been reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

First time reading something like this (my brother gave it to me), usually I read fantasy or horror. I'm enjoying it a lot, some very good food for thought!

Ha, I just started studying some of her short stories. Pretty fun ride at times, plus it kinda reminded me of some similar literature I read when I lived in eastern Africa a few years back.

(About The Shinning)

I'm now 1/4th done with the book, and while the "good stuff" hasn't happened yet, it's been really interesting to have some insight about what goes on with Jack Torrance.

There's an implication that he has some sort of shine to him: the cook is able to identify something in him, but he decides it's definitely not a shinning. While you have Danny losing control of his body and having out of body experiences that give him information, Jack has out-of-mind experiences and loses control of his temper instead, even sober, which leads to destructive behavior.

He's completely in denial about it too, constantly reminding himself that he's not actively participating, bad things just happen to him. So his "ability" seems to be the complete opposite of the shinning. No wonder the bad things in the hotel are able to influence him; while Danny is aware of the things around him and is cautious, Jack is already convinced that he's nothing but a prop.

Doctor Glas by Hjalmar Söderberg.
Modernist ethical and moral dilemmas in fin de siecle Sweden.

@Eel - one of the things I've found with Kubrick's films is that, for me, reading the source novel enriches the viewing experience.
I'm not a big fan of the book of the Shining, but the background stuff with Danny and Jack is great, and Jack is not just a baddie from the get-go.
Plus it has a wonderful first line.

Been a quiet morning for once and I decided not to work today. Grabbed a quick run through of Very Good Lives by JK Rowling. Very insightful speech, with a nice balance of humor, dark honesty and optimism. I have no interest in Harry Potter but have been wanting to read something by her for a while. It is also amusing that since she gave this speech the same year I graduated undergrad and she opened with a joke about how when reflecting on the commencement speech of her youth she couldn't remember it. Which reminded me that I don't remember much of mine except that it was delivered by Big Bird.

Still working on my previous list but also adding The Standard Model and Beyond by JD Vergados. It's a nice light read without side stepping the math(s) of the subject matter.

Just a week or two ago I finally finished Oathbringer. Stormlight Archives is the first series I've read by Sanderson.
He's definitely a decent writer. I think his real talents shine in imagination and worldbuilding, but there are times his writing makes me roll my eyes and a few times I've been totally taken out of the story.
As much as I do like the man and his work, he really struggles to pull off witty characters. Also, and this is just personal preference, I really don't like how he uses italics so liberally to emphasise things.
Regardless, enjoy the books and ready to keep on reading them.

I read Asian novels

I got a new book! 😀

We were walking past a group of newsstands, and sometimes they have serial publications that come with, like, pieces to build something. I don’t know if they’re common in other parts of the world.

Well much to my surprise, this time instead of parts to build a dinosaur or coins of the world, they have a collection of Jules Verne books! And they look really pretty too.

I didn’t want to overspend so I bought only one of the three they had available, Five Weeks on a Balloon, which is the one I am less familiar with (they also had Around the World in 80 Days and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), so it’ll be entirely new to me.

It’s a retro-looking hardback book with golden details and all. Apparently the full collection has 5 books. I can’t really get them all, but it’s tempting.

It also comes with a shorter story named Martin Paz after the main one ends, so that was a nice surprise.

@Eel I am a sucker for those kinds of book designs. Got me into a lot of classics that I would have otherwise skipped (Moby Dick is one of my favorite books for example) otherwise thanks to the “ooo shiny” factor. I’m still working through the full 1001 nights collection that Borders put out (I miss Borders).

I know! The old timey library look is really appealing, and the shiny detail adds to it. I kinda want to buy another one.

Hopefully we will pass through the same newsstand tomorrow before leaving, maybe if I check harder they’ll have From The Earth To The Moon.

Just bought a new book on celestial mechanics and the biography of Kathryn Janeway (which is fiction of course). In general I don’t read a lot of fiction anymore (no time and it’s unfulfilling) so my interests took a hard pivot about 15 years ago, but I have gotten a few books/manga about fiction recently. I’m somewhat surprised by this.

Also Eel good luck on your book search!

@Eel
That's a lovely looking book! The Folio Society do a range of lavish editions like that. However i'm yet to buy one due to the prices!
This looks amazing, but the price...
https://www.foliosociety.com/uk/dune-limited-edition.html

@Rambler Ah that looks really cool, with a little chest and all!

Thankfully this one was just around 9 bucks.

@Ryu_Niiyama I kind of only read fiction at the moment, I do wish I had your initiative to read useful stuff though. Hope you enjoy your book!

Edit: I slipped and ended up with four Jules Verne books. Unfortunately one of them seems to come from a different collection, so it’s a different size, but it’s really pretty still.

@Eel I got a fancy collection of Jules Verne last xmas. Fantastic writer but it's really shocking reading his work and seeing how far ahead he was, like submarines weren't a thing 1800s and he's description is almost spot on. Even if some of his science and tech is outright ridiculous the guy was a true futurist.

She's a beauty, I'm so jealous.

@jump yeah, and at least this one I’ve been reading spends a great deal of time explaining all the sciency stuff in detail as well, so he clearly cared a lot.

@Caperfin 😀 they’ll look so cool on my bookshelf, I’m glad I went back and bought a few more.

More of a project for next year than really reading in the general sense. But just bought a year's worth of yurihime to read/translate. I still can't read completely without a dictionary but I've improved significantly over the last year.

I love reading! Used to read a lot of fiction as a kid. Last few years though I started reading non-fiction and became hooked! I love reading and LEARNING! It feels good to become somewhat knowledgeable, even though sometimes it can be based on other people experiences.

I do enjoy comic books though. Last series I finished was “The Boys.” It was great! First comic book series I’ve read through! I bought a cheap tablet and use the comiXology app. Currently reading “Fables” on it. It’s fun!

Also reading a book called “The sixth extinction.” Talks about the different extinction events through Earths history, and the current extinction event that we’re witnessing and progressing today.

Last good book I read also was “How To Astronaut” by Terry Virts. Super interesting to see how NASA and the International Space Station Operate. Got me interested to watch that SpaceX launch a couple months back.

In between my non fiction books, I like to read a short story in “HP Lovecraft The Ultimate Collection” His story’s are fun to read!

Just picked up Amanda Gorman’s Call Us What We Carry. Will start tonight. So excited!

Currently got a few on the go

Hawksmoor by Pater Ackroyd. 17c /20c murder mystery fun

Honour by Elif Shafak - honour killing and it's fallout in London and rural Turkey

The Room by Hubert Selby Jr - it's not the most upsetting novel ever written contrary to what is said on the internet (so far, anyway)