Topic: Nintendo Life Book Club

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.

books im busy with for this month this year and im doing an ebook buying run for my Kindle Fire. as of right now im busy with these

Star Wars Legacy of the Force book 1 Betrayal
Anne Rice's Prince Lestat

just read the last few pages of Star wars LOTF book 1 an hour ago tonight.

just started reading Legacy of the Force book 2 Bloodlines

For Christmas, I got a box set of four Unicorn Academy books, mostly because I like the cartoon series on Netflix. These books aren't tie-ins with the cartoon, rather the original books. I'm three books in.

Sophia and Rainbow - The first book is about a girl named Sophia who's attending a school called Unicorn Academy. She is paired up and befriends a unicorn named Rainbow. She struggles with missing her pony, Clover, as well as bullying problems from one of the kids at school. A core part of the story is Sparkle Lake, the source of unicorn magic, however, it's being tainted by someone. Sophia, Rainbow, and her friend Ava, go on an adventure to help the lake. The lake is being tainted by a cloaked figure, who isn't even revealed in the story. It makes me want to read more.

Scarlett and Blaze - Book two is about Scarlett and her unicorn, Blaze. In the second story, there's a big snow storm, and now the lake is being frozen thanks to a spell. A big plot point in this story is Blaze discovering she has fire magic, which Scarlett tries to use to thaw the lake. Scarlett, Blaze, and her friend Isabel use a magical map to travel to a wasteland to retrieve a diamond that melts the ice freezing up the lake and breaks the spell.

Ava and Star - Book three is about the berries that the unicorn eat, not growing. The berries are called sky berries and they help keep the unicorns healthy and full of magic. There's a shortage of sky berries, and the bush that grows them isn't growing them. Ava and Sophia go try to figure out where berries were being grown. Boy, did this one take a turn. When Ava found the berry plant, vines grew in out of nowhere and trapped Ava, even to a point of trying to hurt her. Star, Ava's unicorn, discovered she had plant magic and was able to get the vines to shrink and retrieve the berries, even using magic to grow a new berry bush. Also, that cloaked figure returns, riding a unicorn, and chasing Ava riding Star. It got exciting.

Edit: It's worth noting, Ava has dyslexia and possibly the first time I've seen a character who has it. Picked up on it while reading.

Three books in, I'm loving this. I'm thankful I watched the cartoon series, but this book series is really good. Would recommend to anyone who likes the cartoon series and want to read the original story. It's really different than the cartoon series.