The Night of Wishes by Michael Ende. Given that I loved Momo and The Neverending Story, I hoped I would enjoy everything Ende wrote (or at least everything translated into English). This, I would say, is not my cup of tea. A cat and a raven have one chance to spoil the plans of two evil sorcerers bent on wishing catastrophe into the world by New Year’s chiming. It’s a well written children’s story, but I felt too old for it.
Dragon Keeper series (Dragon Keeper, Garden of the Purple Dragon, Dragon Moon) by Carole Wilkinson. Far back in an ancient era of China, a slave girl takes care of the last two royally owned dragons in the country. They are ill and dying from neglect, for the emperor hates dragons. But one day, the last dragon speaks to her, and she discovers she is far more than a slave. I read the first two books as a kid and loved them, and always wondered how the story ends. I finally got to read through the third book and it was a good story. There are more books that follow the dragon (who lives longer than any human) but I found myself far less interested and after consuming about a quarter of the fourth book, I dropped it. The first three, however, are a good read.
The 101 Dalmations by Dodie Smith. Finally! Finally I got to read the source material. And you know what? Fun read. And I can say that it feels like Disney did a reasonably close adaptation, too. Unlike Bambi, 101 Dalmations follows the book fairly well with a few negligible adjustments. Good story.
Bambi’s Children by Felix Salten. Did you know there was a sequel to Bambi? Well, if you’re here, now you do. It was enjoyable to read a continuation. Though Bambi is no longer the protagonist, his presence is clearly felt throughout the book and you get to see him take his father’s role on more and more. Beyond that, you see it slowly begin to pass to his own son, and how Bambi cares for his children. If you liked Bambi, you will probably like the sequel.
The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai. A gentle read about food and finding nostalgic memories in Japan. Not entirely up my alley, but enjoyable to read through, and it sure gave me a whole lot of food vocabulary for my stay in Tokyo.
I’m Afraid You’ve Got Dragons by Peter S. Beagle. YESSSS. This is what I missed about the author in his last couple of books. Solid fantasy story, epic and witty writing, and little twists that change everything you read before you saw it. Proving he can write a dragon tale alongside unicorn stories, this book can hold its head high alongside the best of his novels.
Smith Wigglesworth on The Holy Spirit by Smith Wigglesworth. Honestly, this didn’t turn out to be the book I was hoping to read. It seems to be mostly transcribed sermon material by Wigglesworth. It may be helpful to some but I did not find it helpful in terms of delivering information to me or giving me concrete guidance. I had also planned to read his book on healing but now I don’t think I’m going to. The one aspect I came for and got was the accounts in his sermons of miracles performed. That was pretty stunning to read.
The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon. In a version of London where psychic powers are driven underground, a gifted psychic is abducted and enslaved in an enclave of other psychics. They are held there by an alien race attempting to gain control over Earth. It turns out, though, not all of the overlords are as united on this goal as they seem. The writing and the story held me for the most part, but I don’t think I want to continue with the series. One factor I didn't enjoy was being hurled into the deep end with the worldbuilding terminology and even by the end I wasn’t comfortable enough with the lingo to say for sure I knew what the words I was reading meant. I’m less concrete about other factors I disliked, I just don’t want to keep reading.
How To Have Impossible Conversations by Peter Boghossian. The subtitle bills this book as “A Very Practical Guide” and I think that’s accurate. This book breaks down step by step how to have conversations across ideological divides, but advocates that you take it slow. It’s like a hands-on college course, where you have to practice beginner level concepts and become familiar with them before progressing to the next level. I don’t think I have the focus to devote to this process at the moment, but I will certainly flag this book for a more intensive re-read in the future, hopefully when I have time to begin putting the instruction into action. Very readable with relevant examples to illustrate the instructions--and, I'll note, the examples touch on every side's cherished beliefs, so no one side feels targeted by the author. Excellent book.
The Moorchild by Eloise Jarvis McGraw. Every now and then I have to grab a book from my childhood and bolt it down to see if it’s as good as I remember it, and this one is. This is a changeling story from the viewpoint of the changeling who never asked for her situation, and it is an enchanting read every time I pick it up.
We Who Wrestle With God by Jordan B. Peterson. If you are familiar with Jordan Peterson's writings and lectures, I can oversimplify this book by saying it is the Genesis lectures 2.0 (more in-depth and distilled) plus the Exodus seminar. That is an oversimplification because he branches out into Job, the story of Christ, Jonah, even Elijah. He walks through every concept--taking nothing for granted--from a psychological and evolution-of-consciousness perspective. Atheists may knock him for leaning too close to the idea of the divine while Christians ream him for refusing to "go the distance" but I, for one, am grateful for the first high-level cultural personality I've ever seen who has provided common ground for Atheists and Christians to rationally discuss the Bible. This is not the easiest book to digest and I will probably have to return to it in the future, but it's very worthwhile.
Ender’s Saga (First Meetings in Ender’s Universe, Ender’s Game, A War of Gifts, Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, Children of the Mind, Ender in Exile, The Last Shadow) by Orson Scott Card. I mined this series pretty thoroughly and came away with a mostly favorable impression, though I can't recommend the novellas that flesh out the in-betweens as much. They felt weaker to me, even though they gave me a good deal more information about characters. I could have done without them. That being said, Ender's Game/Speaker for the Dead/Xenocide/Children of the Mind/The Last Shadow were excellent. The Last Shadow attempted to reconcile this saga and the parallel-running Shadow Saga together and I think it was trying to do a bit too much, HOWEVER I have seen other series attempt to do similar and perform far worse. Every book in this series has an incredibly grotesque and macabre concept that's fairly central to it, so reader beware. That being said, this is an incredible sci-fi series that deserves to be read again and again. Roughly, this series follows Ender Wiggin, a child conscripted to battle school in space. The Earth was attacked by a hive-mind species a few generations back, and they are expecting another wave any day. To stop this, Earth runs Battle School out in space to train the future savior of the human race. It's days and weeks and months of simulated games to train the children for war, except... well. READ IT.
The Shadow Saga (Ender’s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, Shadow Puppets, Shadow of the Giant, Shadows in Flight, The Last Shadow) by Orson Scott Card. This series runs parallel to Ender's Saga and follows Bean--the second choice for savior of Earth. Genetically modified by a scientist as an embryo, Bean's brain will never cease to grow. However, neither will his body. After leaving Battle School, he finds himself having to finish very old and very bad blood that started on the streets of his childhood city, Rotterdam. Unfortunately for all involved, resolving this bad blood means several nations go to war. Excellent series as well.
Children of the Fleet by Orson Scott Card. Stand-alone novel in the Ender universe about a different orphan going to Battle School long after the threat of alien invasion is over. It's a novel about someone who doesn't know how to make friends making friends under life-threatening conditions. It is quite excellent.
TV Shows
Arcane. It is gritty. It is dark. It was a suffocating weight on my emotions every single episode. And I could. Not. Stop. Watching. It is gloriously animated with intense symbolism in many scenes. It is clearly written with many archetypal stories in mind. You feel deeply even for characters you hate or disagree with. This is a work of art. Personal preference, I would have preferred it without the two sex scenes--either the hetero or homosexual one. That aside, considering this has its roots in a video game I knew nothing about beforehand, this stands alone as an incredible work that all involved should be proud of.
Movies
The Sound of Hope. 22 families in a small, backwoods Texas town called Possum Trot adopted 77 of the hardest-to-place children in the foster care system. This is their story. Well written and well acted, this is a powerful punch of a film with a challenging ending. Literally, they challenge you at the end. Very good movie.
Choosing Life (Beyond the Legacy of Roe) (formerly called Choosing Death). I went scrolling through the Daily Wire’s catalog to see what there was to see. This was a good puzzle piece to watch. It addressed four of the main arguments of the Pro-Choice movement. I think I was most struck by the idea that the industry does more harm to women and girls than not, especially when it comes to concealing statutory rape. I already knew some of the roots of racial eugenics with Margaret Sanger, but this expanded on that as well. This is all good information to sock away when weighing the issue.
Identity Crisis. As per the trailer below, clearly a discussion about transgenderism. It focuses a lot more on the detransition movement. I can't help listening to several of the female detransitioners (both in this documentary and through other venues) and hearing my younger self. I find myself incredibly grateful that I was ten or fifteen years too early for the answer that's been offered for anxiety, self-hatred, and feeling like you're not quite like the rest of your sex. Also happens to be the first time I've seen graphic footage of all three "reassignment" surgeries (you are given sufficient warning beforehand). It is incredibly disturbing.
Games
Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Talk about a lovely soothing playthrough. This is, apparently, the first Zelda game where you can actually play as Zelda. Instead of playing as a warrior, then, you end up playing a "summoner" who learns how to cast "echoes" of whatever monster you've defeated or whatever inanimate object you come across. I was excited that, while it was challenging, it was not difficult. I can understand most of the videogame "language" and what the game wants me to do, so there's more fun and less frustration now. Very fun, cute, and soothing on bad nights.