Fairy Tale Spotlight: Super Mario Bros. [Book Review]

"Super Mario Bros." is a book written by Todd Strasser. It is the novelization of the 1993 movie of the same name and was published at the same exact time. If I had known this book existed earlier, I would have read this one a long time ago. Apparently it is based on the original version of the script! It also has the Nintendo Seal on the back, which is a first for me as far as book reading. The movie DVD doesn't even have that.

I actually like this movie and have defended it. Some people say that it is actually a good film but not a good Super Mario film, but I don't agree. I think that if you were going to do a human version of the game, this is about as good as you could expect. Children responded positively to the film when it came out. It was the adults and later generations that did not understand it. Even so, the movie didn't make money, so we never got another one. (And we wanted another one.)

The book follows the film pretty closely, but it does deviate occasionally. Some scenes were added or changed slightly. The elevator goomba dancing scene doesn't happen, although the elevator scene does occur. They just don't dance. However they do dance later when Toad (in the form of a goomba) plays music on his harmonica. I feel that both scenes are necessary for it to be funny though, because it shows that the goombas like music.

Probably the oddest inclusion in the book was that the good king (the one that got turned into a fungus) was named Bowser. It feels like the people who made the script just sort of threw names around without fully knowing the context. This was thankfully omitted from the film.

"Super Mario Bros." is a painfully easy read. It feels like I am just reading scenes from a comedy 90's film. And even though there are some intriguing differences, it is not really better than the movie. For that reason, I don't really recommend the book if you can get ahold of the film, which isn't hard to do. That said, however, it was a good novelty, and I don't regret it. If anything, I am just amazed that the book even exists. Super Mario was actually novelized!

This blog was written on October 15, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Cold Brew [Short Story Review]

"Cold Brew" is a short story by Phox Sillanpaa. It is the sixth story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. As I have already stated, this is a universe created by author Rick Griffin, in which he allowed many other people to write stories in.

This one was rough but well-written. It involves a geroo captain named Kris and his friend, a ringel named Seax. They are forcibly freed from their slavery to the krakun and then unfortunately forced into space pirate life until they can pay off their debt... ironically to another krakun. It's an unfair situation, but it's the life they have to deal with.

Without going into spoilers, the real difficult thing with this story was the fact that they had to do bad things while trying really hard not to. To make matters worse, some of the people on their pirate crew were not so big into doing the right thing at all. This was a situation where good people were placed in an impossibly bad situation with no clear way out.

The hardest thing about this for me was the fact that two friends could suddenly be at each others throats because the situation was forcing the worst out of them. I always take friendship trouble a little harder than most, but I am happy the author played it straight.

"Cold Brew" is a great story, but it is a difficult one to get through because of the topic at hand. Either way, I do recommend it it.

This blog was written on October 8, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Meditations [Book Review]

"Meditations" is a book written by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It was originally published in 1909, however it was written roughly between 170 and 180 AD. It is often considered to be a sort of handbook for stoicism, although there is some controversy surrounding it.

Marcus Aurelius was well known for persecuting and killing Christians. He did so quite frequently and with a lot of cruelty. So why would I care about this book? Well, for one, Marcus Aurelius is very dead, and, secondly, he never intended anything in this book to be published. I mean... just look at how long it took for it to even be published. "Meditations" were notes he wrote to help himself become more of a stoic person, and those reasons are more than enough to push aside what he did and to take a better look at how he structured himself as a man in a world of humans.

There is a lot to take in with this book, and it is difficult to boil it all down to one thing. There is a lot of repetition, which sort of helps with the problem. I think the most important thing I got from this book was the concept that we are ultimately in charge of our own behaviors and should not let others influence who we are. If we do, then it is really us that's doing that because we are actively allowing it.

A good example of the latter is revenge. The act of getting revenge is to become like the person you get getting revenge against. You are ultimately allowing the bad person to manipulate your anger into committing some sort of similar act. This means you are not truly in control of yourself.

Marcus was also very aware of the mortality of people, including himself. He often expressed that all the famous people of the past had all died, and he knew he would die too. He even expressed that there was a good chance that he would never be remembered, so it was important to live his life to the fullest, and as a good person, while he was yet there. Well, he is actually fondly remembered today for his writing---something I doubt he expected.

Due to him being an emperor of Rome, he believed in a polytheistic religion. He would however also refer to a God with a capital "G." Now, I am not completely sure what this was about. The context of it was unclear, and I assume that there is someone more informed than I am about it. It could just be his way of referring to nature. Marcus talked about nature a lot, and how the nature of different things never change. The nature of various people were often different to each other, but he would hold them to it just as he held to himself.

At the end of the day, Marcus just wanted to control himself and his behaviors. He wanted to be calm and non-emotional, which is actually not a bad quality for an emperor. It allowed him to deal with ruling a country with a very analytical and sane mind. Yes, he went after the Christians, but it was because he believed they were obstinate. His views about Christians were only mentioned one time in Meditations 11:3. You can look this up if you wish to see the verse for yourself.

All in all, this is a very good study guide into what it means to be a stoic, if you were interested in such a thing. I would say, however, that nothing in this book really matters without Christianity as a basis. Marcus was not really a good man, although I do believe he was trying to be one.

I do recommend this book to anyone studying stoicism or the life of Marcus Aurelius. Beyond that, you may want to take a pass, because you will probably find it a boring read.

This blog was written on October 1, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Friend for a Day [Short Story Review]

"Friend for a Day" is a short story by Robert Carter. It is the fifth story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. As I have already stated, this is a universe created by author Rick Griffin, in which he allowed many other people to write stories in.

Oh my gosh! The krakun are 40 feet tall?! What the heck? Why didn't I realize that in the earlier stories? No wonder they enslaved all the other races! They are freaking huge!

Seriously, I am not sure why I missed this important detail in the earlier stories. My brain must not have been able to conceive of such a huge height difference. You see, the krakun are a dragon-like race that enslave other species whenever they can in various ways. They are, in many ways, the villains of these stories, but also... they are just sort of there. The stories have not been about rebellion against the krakun at all. They have been slice-of-life stories just happening in this universe.

This particular story showed that good can happen even within the krakun. It was about one "young" krakun named Ashiok. He was just a kid, even though he was something like 700 years old. That's another thing about the krakun: they live waaaay longer than the other races. But it feels like they also mature as a similar ratio. So 700 years is still immature.

Ashiok, although a slave owner, is actually not a bad guy. He works in the fast food industry. Actually it felt a whole lot like a Starbucks. He was a chipper friendly krakun in a world where everyone around him was very cynical and cruel. I really liked him.

The main thrust of the story had to do with him coming to terms with the fact that he had become very good friends with his slaves. They were a species called the ringel, which are a lemur-like race known for being very forthright in how they speak.

Other than that, I don't want to spoil anymore. I do recommend the story. It was refreshing!

This blog was written on September 18, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters [Book Review]

"Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories: And Other Disasters" is a novel written by Jean Shepard. It was published in 1971. It collects a series of his short stories originally published in Playboy Magazine.

Each and every chapter of this book is a complete story unto itself. The previous book I reviewed was like that too, but this one really hit me pretty hard. I have completely different opinions about all of these stories, and I wanted to go over them individually. I also want to mention that Jean Shepard refers to the main character of this book as... Jean. Not Ralph. It's the same family from the previous book, but he personalizes this one, making me of the opinion that, although exaggerated, this is pulled from his actual life.

"The Grandstand Passion Play of Delbert and the Bumpus Hounds"

This is a story about extremely horrible neighbors. If you ever had bad neighbors in your life, they were not as bad as the Bumpus family. They were a bunch of rowdy hillbillies that had absolutely no appreciation for other people's boundaries. The scene from "A Christmas Movie" where the Thanksgiving turkey is eaten up by dogs was pulled directly from this story, although it was an easter ham in this case.

The neighbors were cartoonishly horrible to the point where it wraps back around to hilarious. You don't like them, but you sure as heck can still laugh at their antics. I really enjoyed the insanity of it, but I am so glad it did not happen to me.

"County Fair!"

Pretty good story about what county fairs were like during the depression. Actually, I think they are exactly the same today. Everything they described was familiar to the ones I went to. There was a scene in one of the rides where everyone threw up. I wonder if that scene from the "Problem Child" movie was based on that. Who knows?

"Scut Farkas and the Murderous Mariah"

Easily the best story in the whole collection. This was an epic story about heroes and villains... but it was also just about kids playing with tops. Jean Shepard managed to take a simple game that kids play and turn it into the most clandestine encounter imaginable. It kept me on the edge of my seat till the very end. So dramatic and wonderful. I am so sad this was never made into a movie. It sure as heck felt like one.

"Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss"

This was the one I bought the book for. I grew up watching the Disney film that was based on this. This is a solid story about a family going on a vacation trip. The movie actually reflected the story quite well, but it added extra stuff to the beginning. The story is all about the crazy trip, and it's wonderful.

"The Star-crossed Romance of Josephine Cosnowski"

This is another one of Jean's stories that was made into a film, although I have not seen it yet. Jean (not Ralph) is older now and thinking about girls. This story is about his first date, and with an exotic girl no less. I did like this one, but it was also the moment I realized that these are secular stories. Keep in mind when you read his stuff that he is an Atheist.

"Daphne Bigelow and the Spine-chilling Saga of the Snail-encrusted Tinfoil Noose"

What is going on with that wacky-ass title? This is another dating story. This time, he ends up with a rich girl. It's one of those situations that you know isn't going to go well, but you can't help but read until the end. I had to know how bad it was going to be. She was not anything of his class, but he did his absolute best to make it work. Great story, but also kind of a slow motion train wreck.

"The Return of the Smiling Wimpy Doll"

My least favorite, but it isn't bad. It just makes me groan at the truth of it. This is the oldest I have ever seen Jean in his stories. He is an adult and has even served in a war by this point. This story is all about nostalgia and how it can take a stranglehold on our lives.

His mother did something lots of mothers do and sent him a box of all his old toys from his childhood. This makes him go temporarily insane as he goes through the box, reliving his old memories much too quickly. It's funny, but I really hate when this sort of thing happens.

"Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories"

Another dating story! Well, it's a bit more than that. This is his one and only prom story. The dating part sort of just goes along with it. This is a brilliant telling of one of man's all-time great puberty rites. I never went on one, and I am glad I never did. I freaking hate stuff like this.

This is a story about something wonderful, going horribly, but still somehow being wonderful. It's not about the disaster, but more about the experience as a whole. I liked it, and, once again, I am glad I never went through stuff like this.

That's all of them! I absolutely recommend this book. It was a fun read, and I fully intend to keep reading his books. Jean Shepard is one of the best storytellers of all time!

This blog was written on September 15, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: Columbo: The Grassy Knoll

"Columbo: The Grassy Knoll" is a novel written by William Harrington. It was published in 1993 and followed the canon happening in the movie series at the time. This was the one Columbo book that I did not really want to read, but I read it anyways. I worried it was going to get political.

Oh, I knew the book was not actually about Columbo investigating the JFK assassination. All the books are set in the "modern" era. Although I should say that the JFK assassination is a major part of this story. In some ways, the story of that shooting helps Columbo solve the crime happening in 1993. I like that, and it was a very interesting tie-in. That said, this story is really about the murder of a man named Paul Drury, a famous talk-show host who was known for bringing up dangerous topics.

As usual, William Harrington is extremely suited for writing a Columbo story. The lieutenant is presented very well, and you will easily love his charming style of sleuthing. This has always been the case for this author, and it is probably the real reason I read it. I just like these books.

The only problem I had with this story was that it does have a left-leaning narrative. There are politics in this book that are kind of annoying, and much of it happens because it dealt with JFK. This is the problem whenever you deal with political situations sadly.

All said, however, I did really enjoy the book, and I do recommend it. It's still good, and the JFK stuff was actually really interesting. Columbo remains one of, if not the best, detective characters in world history.

This blog was written on September 8, 2025.

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Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Curio [Short Story Review]

"The Curio" is a short story by Kate Watts. It is the fourth story in a collection called "Tales of Hayven Celestia," which was published in 2020. As I have already stated, this is a universe created by author Rick Griffin, in which he allowed many other people to write stories in.

This story featured the geroo exclusively. The kangaroo-like race was shown inside their generation ship, and you got a good look at how they lived their lives. Apparently the geroo seem to be the fan favorite. They are cute, I admit. Apparently, their faces don't have a large range of emotion, so they display how they feel by how their ears are positioned. That's pretty cute.

The story here was a tense one. It had to do with a geroo named Avit who has an old relative that is very frail. She had a curio that held secrets in it that could possibly reveal a terrible truth about something in the past. The problem was that Avit's sister was kind of a monster, trying to suppress his ability to figure anything out.

I know I am being a bit vague here. I don't want to spoil anything. You have to understand that the geroo live very close lives on ships because, if I understand it correctly, the kraken stole their planet from them. Because of population concerns, they are only allowed to live a certain number of years before they have to be removed. As sad as this sounds, they all accept it as a part of their lives. Crazy, huh?

The hidden secrets of this story have to do with a deceased relative of Avit's that dealt with a pandemic where many geroo had to be summarily killed. It was called the "Wasting" of all things. More than that, I don't want to say. What I do want to say is that this was a very emotionally driven story filled with mystery and thrill. I did like it.

This is also a really good story to learn about the geroo. I recommend it especially if you are interested in them. Solid story with a strong emotional premise.

This blog was written on September 8, 2025.

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