Topic: Nintendo Life Book Club

https://the-authors.fandom.com/wiki/Avron
Hey guys, I know it isn't a "real" book or anything, but the NLife Writers Thread is archived, so I figured I'd drop this here. If enough folks are interested, I could make a new thread for us authors!

@CaleBoi25 this is so well written!!! i love how you effortlessly switched the story’s years, and the character development was so good, you really made them connectable and delivered their emotions perfectly. end is amazing. thank you for sharing 😸

@CaleBoi25, loved the story, thanks for sharing! Also, about the Writers Thread, please do make one! I should of thought of that sooner, since I want to publish books and everything! If you made this thread, I would share milestones and book publish dates on it in the future!

@ShieldHero @OctolingKing13 Thank you both so much!
OKing, thanks for noticing, it took me ages to figure out the timeline lol
SHero, I'll make one, then! Give me just a minute!

It's (regretfully) been many years, but thanks to the fact that my position at my job generally has a lot of lulls during the day (at the time being), I've been getting back into reading.

At first I just scrounged up some books I had lying around the house since back in high school and have read three of them:

• Jurassic Park (Michael Chrichton) - Just as gripping & exciting as it was back when I read it in school. It's been so long that I had forgotten the fate of some of the cast, so it was still able to string me along.
• Tom Clancy's Endwar (David Michaels) - Tie in to the PS360 game of the same name (have no idea if it's an adaptation of the game's narrative, a prequel, or else). I can see why I liked it as a teen as it's absolutely full of action scenarios, and although I still have a nostalgic connection to it can admit it's little else than pure jingoistic "'Murica, Heck Yeah!" in novel form. Due to background narrative reasons Russia invades Canada, and since the Canadian government meekly thinks they can just negotiate away the literal active invasion without any sort of military response whatsoever (this actually happens, lol), the US steps in because if "Canada won't guarantee it's own sovereignty, the US will because it's in our best interest" (there's a quote almost word for word copy of this). Anyhow, it largely follows the perspective of service members from each branch of the military (sans Coast Guard) across the Canadian theatre, and like 2 or 3 of them are pretty much the same cliche army guy personality.
• Tom Clancy's Power Plays: ruthless.com (Tom Clancy & Martin Greenberg) - With a narrative that comprises more corporate espionage & political posturing than overt warfare action scenarios I was almost certain I never read it as a kid because of it, however about halfway through & towards the end there were a few pages I clearly recognized, so I either got further than I remembered or just didn't remember much of it. Anyhow, I do think I connected better with it this time and it managed to keep me engaged, and narratively it was a bit more mature & nuanced than "Endwar's" blatant jingoism.

After that I picked up a stack of books (new, if only to me in most cases) from various stores and I've just started going through them:

• A Dog's Purpose (W. Bruce Cameron)
• Godzilla & Godzilla Raids Again (Shigeru Kayama)
• I Am America: And So Can You! (Stephen Colbert)
• the King of Late Night (Greg Gutfeld)
• Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court & Constitution (Amy Coney Barrett)
• Promise Me, Dad (Joe Biden)

Finished up Amy Coney Barret's Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court & Constitution last week.

I really liked the first several chapters detailing the history & work of the (Supreme) Court, which were filled with little anecdotes about the author's own experience working there. The chapters on the Constitution felt little more than a recap of what we learned in High School Civics class (just a necessity to get to explain the last section of the book), with the last set of chapters explaining the different schools of thought when it comes to how courts interpret laws & the Constitution (the Author's biases were, admittedly, more prevalent in these chapters).

Overall it could be a bit dry considering the topics at hand, but it had it's fair share of interesting tid bits and anecdotes, and since it focuses (mostly) on why the court does this or that as a matter of fact rather than focusing the author's own opinions/biases, I would say it's a worthwhile read even if you don't sit on the same political affiliation you'd assume the author herself does.

Just finished up Joe Biden's Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose earlier today.

A personal account of the author reflecting back on (roughly) the time between autumn 2014 - to autumn 2015 as he tried balancing his then duties as Vice President with his family's struggle with his son Beau's struggle with cancer.

As somewhat of a decision maker in US foreign policy in the Obama administration, his insights into topics such as the rise of ISIL/S & the fallout surrounding Russia's annexation of Crimea are often engaging, sometimes very much so (especially since the latter is still relevant background info in the current Russia/Ukraine war), but at heart it's a story of family, and that's where the book was at it's most gripping. No matter whether I agree with the man or not on this or that issue notwithstanding, it's abundantly clear he's a man who absolutely loves his family, adores his children, and the book often brought me to tears as he brought us into the most intimate moments as they were struggling with his son's cancer battle.

Absolutely fantastic read.

I finished up Shigeru Kayama's Godzilla & Godzilla Raids Again (translated by Jeffrey Angles) - As a huge fan of Big G I had no idea that the first two films were based on (or rather conceived alongside) a couple of novellas. The Author actually wrote the original rough draft script of the original Godzilla film (& it's sequel) which Ishiro Honda (& his screenwriter) later refined into what we'd see in the final product. Kayama would release his novella versions of the stories in-between the film releases of the OG & "Raids Again", which have a few differences from their film counterparts (Godzilla is implied to tacitly generate powerful storm force winds in his immediate vicinity in the first story, and in the second it's explicitly mentioned that Anguirus has a "Hot Light Beam" just like Godzilla's, an ability I believe he lacks in the movies).

If I'm being a bit honest I don't think either story was written all that engagingly (maybe a combination of Translation hangups and/or older writing conventions?). For example, a few times the author forgoes painting a picture with his words and breaks the fourth wall to get his point across ("I'm sure some of you readers remember the panic that ensued when the evacuation sirens went off during the war, it was like that.". Not an exact quote, but it was something like that). That said they also had their moments and if nothing else were interesting reads for curiosity's sake.

That, and the last 30 pages or so was an Afterward written by the translator that kind of gave a brief history of the Author, the films' creation, and the experiences the Japanese people were going through at the time that made the films resonate, which was really interesting.

Last week I finished up Greg Gutfield's "The King of Late Night".

the Author, a longtime figure on the extremely conservative cable "news" network Fox News discusses the success of his new late night comedy program on the channel & how it came to be via a series of vignettes of his own life (experiences from past jobs & the like) and what he views as a series of political/social platform "flips" that have recently happened culturally, all with a little bit of his humor sprinkled in.

To be short, I vehemently disagree with him on most political matters (which I won't go much into here, as it's not the place), which is a bit of a shame as there's a moment or two where I think he does have the capability to be funny. I actually largely enjoyed the parts of the book that focused on his upbringing or antics he got into in previous jobs (he was an editor at various mens/lad mags, such as Stuff & Maxim UK, before joining Fox in the mid-late 00's). That fun just largely goes away when he gets political.

A few books I've finished recently:

A Dog's Purpose (W. Bruce Cameron) - A stray mutt ponders the purpose of his existance while being euthanized after a short life, and soon finds himself reborn as a puppy in a different time & place. In a scenario that plays out again & again (each time a new dog in a new place) he discovers his purpose in the world, as he touches the lives of many people. Maybe a bit emotionally manipulative, but if so it did it's job wonderfully as I cried several times throughout the adventure. Really enjoyed this one & will definitely seek out the sequel.

I am America (and so can you!) (Stephen Colbert) - Satire of Bush era conservatism, written from the perspective of the comedian's "conservative" character from his "Colbert Report" days. Absolutely had me in stitches from beginning to end, reminding me both of nothing burger conservative controversies of the day (such as the "War on Christmas" that Bill O'Reilly used to blather on about), as well as issues that seem like could have been pulled from the news today.

Future Boy: Back to the Future & my Journey Through the Space Time Continuum (Michael J Fox & Nelle Fortenberry) - A first hand look at the behind the scenes production of both Back to the Future & the TV series Family Ties from the famous actor, and how they shaped his life. As a huge BttF fan I thought it was a fantastic read & devoured it in a single weekend (it also helps that it's pretty brisk, being under 200 pages long).

@RR529 I didn't know a Dog's Purpose was a book first. My Mum LOVES that film, as do I. So beautiful.
Thank you for that. I will get it for her as a Christmas present. After I have a quick read too. 😏

Have you read Stargazing Dog?

That’s another good dog tale if you feel like ugly crying for a little bit.