Anime

Now, I could do probably a whole list that is just anime, there’s a whole genre of anime, slice of life, that tends to be less heavy and more light hearted. Granted, some of them deal with heavier things, but a lot will be happier. But let’s focus on two of them.

Dagashi Kashi

Now, maybe we shouldn’t be sitting on our couches just eating candy the whole time, but Dagashi Kashi is all about that Dagashi. Dagashi are basically cheap candies and snack foods in Japan. The main character works with his dad in a little Dagashi shop that a big company wants to buy and take over. His dad makes an agreement, but only if the company can convince his son to take over the shop instead of becoming a manga artist. The show takes you into the history of a lot of Dagashi and will make you want to get some, but it’s generally a really good and light hearted romp that is worth checking out.

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun

A new one that we just started recently, this one is about two high schoolers. Chiyo who has a crush on Nozaki, who is in her high school. However, she can’t ever get the words out right to him. She finds out that he’s a manga creator and accidentally gets roped into helping him with his manga. It’s a very cute story and has lots of weird characters and light hearted moments in it. Definitely a bit all over the place, but that’s what so many slice of life anime are.

Movies

I could pick a lot of kids movies in this category because a lot of them do have good wholesome and up lifting messages, and I could pick a lot of animated movies in general because again, they tend to be made more for kids, but I wanted to give a couple of different options, so only one kids movie.

My Neighbor Totoro!

It’s an animated movie from Japan and it definitely has a slice of life feel to it. Two girls move with their father to a place in the country. Life is fine there, but they are really waiting for their mother to get better and join them. However, there are some unique spirits living around them, most notably Totoro. Totoro is a goofy seeming creature, but is often there to help them and to help them through the times ahead. It has some moments that do have some emotion, but mainly this movie floats through on it’s iconic moments and pacing of a story that really doesn’t go anywhere. It’s nice and short as well, which makes it easier to sit down to in an evening.

Stardust

Now this movie is a bit different, based off of a book by Neil Gaiman of the same name. It’s about a fanciful world and the real world where they meet up, and what seems like true love and real true love. The story has some epic fantasy moments, some final face offs of characters, but overall, it’s done very well and tells what is generally a very light hearted story. In the end it’ll definitely leave you feeling like you’ve sat through an enjoyable romp in a crazy fantasy world.

Television Shows

Now, I could just go back to more slice of life anime for feel good watching, but I don’t want to do that, and I split anime out for that reason. So many TV shows focus around some sort of drama, we have a ton of procedural cop shows out there, but what are some shows that leave you feeling like you had a good time after watching them.

Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency

Of course, I’m starting out with Douglas Adams, or at least something vaguely adapted off of a couple of books of his. This falls into that camp of completely absurd humor, but it does it in a great way. Add in Elijah Wood whom we know was Frodo from Lord of the Rings, and that’s a fun little addition as well. This show, both seasons, won’t make a ton of sense always, but it does all come together and it is all light hearted fun after a fashion, it just might be a little bit absurd as well. It has a mystery element to it, but that even keeps you wanting more.

The Great British Baking Show

Now, I didn’t mean to do two British shows, but if you are a fan of reality TV, but the drama is getting to you during the winter months, this, and the SyFy channel show Face Off will give you a couple of options to watch, The Great British Baking Show is just on Netflix so easier for me to tell you were to find it. This is a baking competition where they make all sorts of glorious things to eat, but that’s not all that is great. We have shows in the US like that, but generally there is some drama around it, in this show you can genuinely tell that they care about each other and they want to win, but they want everyone to do well as well.

Board Games

You know me, I love my board games, though, this is harder part of the board game section is that not all games are going to work well with a limited player count. While we’ve never been told during the pandemic to see no one in Minnesota, naturally in Minnesota during the winter, less people go visit people because it’s cold, dark early, and often the roads aren’t great. So what are some fun games that can be played with not a ton of players.

Marrying Mr Darcy

Now, being a Jane Austen fan might help for liking this game, but it works well as a light hearted and light little game that can play from two all the way up to six or possibly more. This game is all about playing one of the characters in Pride and Prejudice and getting paired up and marrying your perfect match. The game has very simple mechanics, draw a card and do what it says, and some set collection card play. That’s about it, but the cards keep Jane Austen’s dry and sarcastic humor on them. I think this works better with more players so everyone is laughing about it, but it can play at a lower count and be a lot of fun.

Second Chance

What, I put a roll (flip) and write on the list, who’d have guessed. This game is very peaceful to play. You flip two cards and fill in one of the shapes on your board, you repeat, repeat again, and so on until no one can fill in anything. What adds to the peaceful nature can be how you fill in the shapes. You don’t just box them in because eventually you’d lose track, so I doodle mine in, my wife makes patterns by filling them in in various directions. You can really do whatever you want, and even with the doodling the game plays so quickly, so there’s no need to feel like you’re rushed.

What is Your Nerdy Mood Lifter?

I could have gone into books and comics as well, but these are four things that I know pretty well, so I wanted to focus on them. What are some of your favorite light and fun things to watch, play, or read?

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5 – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

This Douglas Adams work is just fun and while I love to get transported into big worlds, sometimes it’s nice to just get thrown into a small and silly world, which is kind of what Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy is. Sure, it’s the whole galaxy, but we don’t need to know everything about it, so we don’t. This book is very absurd and silly with a lot of great British humor in it. Douglas Adams does a wonderful job of making all the humor work in my opinion and keep the story moving along as well, which isn’t something that can be said for a lot of comedy where it’ll stop and pause on a joke or an absurd moment.

4 – The Reckoners

Not the only Brandon Sanderson that you’ll see on the list, The Reckoners is a super power story, but everyone with super powers is bad. The main character wants to join a group known as The Reckoners in order to take down one of the villains in particular who had killed his father. Can he find the Reckoners, convince them to let him join and become part of their group? This is a young adult series, but really well written. I’m not always a big fan of bad super powered people, something like The Watchmen and The Boys don’t interest me that much as their current shows, but Brandon Sanderson weaves a really good story with that as a backdrop to it. I think that this story works well for both kids and adults as well, as I didn’t read it until I was out of college and I still really enjoyed it.

3 – IT

I like Stephen Kings work a lot. And IT is probably about the most iconic thing that he’s done. There are others, Carrie and Misery are two that come to mind that would be up there as well. But in terms of the one that I like the best, it is IT. One thing I love about Stephen King is that he does a wonderful job creating two types of characters. The first is the protagonists who have their flaws, they are good, but not perfect people by any mean, and sometimes have some very big flaws. And then he also creates amazing bad guys as well, obviously in IT there is Pennywise, but Henry as well is a great bad guy who doesn’t have redeeming qualities, while King’s good guys might be shades of grey, his bad guys are all bad. I also like that IT lands the ending pretty well. Sometimes Stephen King’s books just kind of fizzle out, but IT is strong through the whole of the book. Including the ending.

2 – Stormlight Archive

I have the newest book in this series just waiting for me to read it. Stormlight Archive is an epic fantasy series by Brandon Sanderson that just tells and weaves together such an interesting story. There are a lot of moving parts, but they come together really well. And like you’ve probably notices already, I like flawed characters, but I also like how this series has some characters that are paragons of good or honor. It doesn’t mean that they are perfect, but they hold themselves to such a standard that they strive to be. I also like that this book doesn’t shy away from being what it is, a truly massive and epic story. The audio books are 50 hours, and it feels like there’s no wasted space, unlike some epic fantasy series (cough cough Wheel of Time cough cough).

1 – Dresden Files

Such a great series, I talk about it all the time, but with the new books, it’s still the same. I do have a slight knock on the new books, it really feels like it should have been a single book, but it was getting too long for what would be considered a normal Dresden book length so it was split into two. The first of the two books is still great, but it feels almost like the first act for the second book. That said, I love Harry Dresden and the series and how Jim Butcher manages to create such an engaging world and characters with depth. I think he does a great job creating flawed characters who grow and change, and get new flaws over time, or sometimes who know they have a flaw and will still refuse to work on it it. Yes, these are pulpy summer reading books, but there is so much more going on than that as well.

Those are my Top 5, and writing about them really makes me want to dive into all of them again. Thankfully I have done Dresden Files book that I need to read still and the next book in the Stormlight Archive. And as always, I do have some honorable mentions.

Daughter of Smoke and Bones
Stardust
Harry Potter
Wheel of Time

What are some of your favorite books or series? What epic fantasy should I checkout next, I do need to get back to the Runelords series.

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10 – Good Omens

I like some humor in by books and this one has a good amount of it. Good Omens is the story of an Angel and a Demon who are working together because they don’t really want to see the apocalypse come around. Unfortunately, nothing is really working like they think it will and can you actually avoid the apocalypse? Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman do a great job with this story and it’s a fast and really enjoyable read.

9 – Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

More humor, this time even more absurd as Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy asks you the big questions in life as you fly around on a crazy space ship that just doesn’t quite do what you think it will. And you’d think that the universe would have some normal parts, but that’s very questionable. Douglas Adams is an author who’s writings I generally enjoy. The other Hitchhikers books are fun, though not as good. And Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency is a new side of crazy. If you’re up for something completely absurd, anything by Adams is worth checking out.

8 – Daughter of Smoke and Bones

You’ll also see a fair amount of fantasy on the list, and Daughter of Smoke and Bones is the first one to kick it off. And it’s very different in terms of fantasy. It’s not your normal knights on horses riding off with the wizard to slay the dragon. No, this takes place partially in a modern world. The story is interestingly woven together, and while there are some stumbles in writing where it dumps backstory for too long, it’s very enjoyable. It also feels so different from standard fantasy. Laini Taylor does a good job on the story and a good job creating a world that feels unique.

7 – Swallows and Amazons

This is a series that I grew up on. We read through it multiple times growing up and it’s just a ton of fun. It’s a kids style adventure story, almost kids on bikes, but because that was really the common term for the genre. It follows three families of kids as they go exploring the lake country of England, camping under the stars, and having crazy adventures. Good wholesome fun for the whole family. Arthur Ransome really can tell a tale of adventure. Now, I will say that there is some from the times that shows up in the writing, considering they were published in the 1930’s and 1940’s, mainly in Missee Lee, and while that one is a fun romp, it is skippable in terms of the story as a whole.

6 – Stardust

Back to another story by Neil Gaiman, this one again leans into the comedy, but also a lot of fun world building. What happens when the normal world and a world of magic collide. Stardust is an absurd story of that. It has high stakes adventure, romance, and so much going on in the story. If you’re looking for something that is just a fun romp, Stardust is that, and you can blow through it quickly. Again, one that leans into that British absurdity in it’s humor like Good Omens and like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

5 – Harry Potter

I wish JK Rowling would just go away at this point in terms of her world. She’s ruining the world that she created by continually trying to fill in holes in her world and just in general, but I won’t get into that further, because the series itself is still enjoyable. Yes, there are massive plot holes, but for a series, it builds over time and they are almost always enjoyable. I like how the stories grow up with the characters, the first one is a pretty light and simple romp and story, but in the last one, they are dealing with much weightier things. I still recommend the series for kids who need something to read, and since I’ve read them a few times now, it’s something that I can breeze through quickly.

4 – The Reckoners

Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. The man is a machine when it comes to turning about books, and while I like some of his epic fantasy stuff better, you’ll have to find out what it is, I love the Reckoners series. It’s a good young adult superhero book where it isn’t just your normal superheroes out there saving the world, the powers affect the heroes negatively so that if you have powers, you are a villain, and the Reckoners are a group of people who are taking down the worst of the worst, but you have to find out the weakness of those with super powers. Really well written, some heavier things to think about, and a ton of fun.

3 – It

Only Stephen King book on the list, though, I do enjoy a lot of his stuff, and I really need to read some of them again like Dreamcatcher. But It is a book that I can just read over and over again. He does a great job of creating the horror and the tension in the book while also having a kids on bikes adventure feel to it, almost like you get in Stranger Things. Pennywise is a great villain, and there’s a lot of depth to the story. It’s a big book, but it tells such a good tale that if you’re thinking about reading some horror or want to see what Stephen King is all about, I think that this one is a great starting point.

2 – Stormlight Archive

Second Brandon Sanderson series on the list, this is a massively epic fantasy series, I mean massive. The third book in the series, the audiobook for that is over fifty hours, it’s insane. But the story in it is amazing. Sanderson weaves together several different characters into a story about the end of the world, but also about how it could be saved. There are spren, creatures that embody everything, there are wind spren that you can see when it’s windy outside, light spren, dark spren, death spren(?), and more that people research, and it’s just a unique twist to the world. I feel like there are a lot of fantasy tropes, but also so many amazingly different things that make the series worth spending the time on.

1 – The Dresden Files

I really enjoy urban fantasy which Daughter of Smoke and Bones is in some ways, and Neverwhere, which just misses the list by Neil Gaiman, is as well. But the best urban fantasy that I’ve found has been The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. He weaves a masterfully grand tale and always world ending events that keep the stakes high, but without feeling silly like so many massive series can. Harry Dresden is just a well created character, you know he’s going to win, but it’s going to be hard along the way. Nothing ever comes to him easily, and that’s fine, and he’s never going to be a perfect character, he’s written well with flaws and that makes him seem such more real, as do all of the characters in the series. Definitely a big series, definitely an easier series to read, one to checkout if you’re having trouble finding good urban fantasy.

Now, I’ve mentioned a few other books that I like as well that almost made the list, Dirk Gentley’s Holistic Detective Agency is just out there and weird but really enjoyable. I have liked Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is massive and enjoyable. Classics like Dune, Lord of the Rings, and Chronicles of Narnia all just miss the list as well. How about what, what are some of your favorite books? Have I sold you on checking out any of my favorites?

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5 – The Reckoners
The only YA (young adult) series on the list, and one of the two series by Brandon Sanderson. The Reckoners is a super power series, but done in an interesting way. Super powers became a thing, but they weren’t heroes, in fact, they were all villains. There is a team, called The Reckoners who are out there figuring out the weakness of bad guys and trying to take them down to basically free the normal people from being under the super powers thumbs. David, isn’t a Reckoner, but he desperately ones to become one. Is he going to be able to help them in a way to get into the group? It’s a well done series and while it’s a bit darker in how it handles super powers as compared to Marvel or DC, it doesn’t beat you down with bring dark.

4 – Stardust
The lightest book on the list in terms of tone, Stardust is just a fun romp through a wild and crazy fantasy world. I generally like Neil Gaiman’s works, but they can be pretty big and heavy, Stardust is a much smaller work, but tells an interesting and light story. The blend of the real world and this amazing fantasy and how they interact is interesting. There are a few lines that just crack me up when I read them in the book, and you really do feel the sense of adventure that is being created in the book. The movie, while different, is also not bad and keeps a similar tone to the book. If you want a lighter fantasy read, Stardust is a lot of fun.

3 – The Stormlight Archive
Another series, I kind of feel like I’m cheating by putting them on the list, but I feel like sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts, and if I were to talk about it separately, it wouldn’t fully tell the story. The Stormlight Archive is an epic fantasy story by Brandon Sanderson. You get prophecy, you get visions, intrigue, and so much more, but it’s all put together well. Sanderson is probably better known for Mistborn, but I like Stormlight Archive considerably better. The scale is just so big, but the story is well done, and the characters are flawed. You’re going to see this as a theme, characters who are flawed who feel more real, and in Stormlight Archive, you have heroes who do great things, but they are still flawed characters.

2 – IT
I love Stephen King. And IT is my favorite out of the books that he’s written. The structure of interweaving the kids and adults stories together works well. It’s an interesting horror story but also has an epic story as well. Pennywise is a great antagonist. I sometimes, also, have an issue with Stephen King’s work because he doesn’t always land the story as well as he could in the end, and I think in IT, you get a good complete story. Again, with complex characters who have flaws and because of those flaws you care about them more. Now, IT is a beast of a book to read and is definitely weird and disturbing, so it isn’t going to be for everyone, but if you are interested in trying horror, I highly recommend it

1 – The Dresden Files
I’ve talked about this series before, and I’m completely caught up series finally this year. Thus far, there are 15 books in the series, and it’s a ton of fun to see the series come together. The start of the series is a bit more of a stand alone, but when Jim Butcher hits his stride, the story is quite complex and well written. It’s a massive fantasy world with interesting characters and flawed characters, which I think really makes the series work. Harry Dresden is a good guy in general, but he has his flaws and you get to see the character grow in realization without fixing all of his problems. To me, that’s what I want in good story telling, good depth of character and characters who feel real. The series, since it is so long, does have a hiccup or two in the storytelling, but as a whole, it is telling a very interesting story.

Nothing new to this year, besides finishing off The Dresden Files this year, but let’s see in the honorable mentions?

The Wheel of Time
Harry Potter
Ascend Online
Lord of the Rings
Daughter of Smoke and Bones

Any books from my top reads that you love? Any that you’ve been wanting to check out? Let me know in the comments below.

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I’m starting off with my Top 5 Books.

Now, I’m going to add a disclaimer — when I say books, I mean top 5 books or book series. Some series are just too good to split up into single books, and I expect that more often than not you’re going to see series on my list.

Let me say that creating this list was harder than I thought; getting criteria in my head as to what should make my list was tricky, and there’s always something nagging in the background like, “but there’s probably a book you’ve forgotten.” Hopefully I didn’t make a glaring miss on my list. When choosing, I thought about the number of times I’ve read the book, if I’d want to read it again, and how much I’ve enjoyed the book, and I think I’ve come up with a pretty solid list.

Some books that were close but didn’t quite make it are Inkheart by Caroline Funke, Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Stardust by Neil Gaiman, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

But what other books do you think I would enjoy? What are your five favorite books?

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And now we are starting to get some casting news.

“American Gods,” Starz’s TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s beloved fantasy novel, has cast Ricky Whittle in the lead role of Shadow Moon, the premium cabler announced Thursday.

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/american-gods-shadow-ricky-whittle-starz-tv-show-1201690861/

Ricky Whittle has most recently been starring in The 100 on CW.