Video: https://youtu.be/UWujFMjOibY
Hello, I’m Rogan and welcome to day 10. Today is books! We have eight books today. It could have been more, but I put off reading so… Let’s get into it.
The first book is Merger of the Century. I mentioned this in my last book post. But today, I’m going a bit more in-depth. I want to start with a quote from Franklin Delano Roosevelt. “When I have been in Canada, I have never heard a Canadian refer to an American as a ‘foreigner.’ He is just an ‘American.’ And, in the same way, in the United States, Canadians are not ‘foreigners,’ they are ‘Canadians.’ That simple little distinction illustrates to me better than anything else the relationship between our two countries.” Basically, Merger is all about the reasons why Canada and the US should consider a merger. Maybe only political, or only…whatever. It has one chapter talking all about threats for both: terrorism, drug smuggling, immigration (illegal and legal). Another chapter explains why a merger makes sense, another talks about the benefits of a merger for both countries. One chapter explains fairly in-depth about how a merger deal would be structured, in a few different ways. One example that was used is Germany, when it was West and East, with the whole Berlin Wall thing. It used that example of how it was a fast merger, because West took responsibility for some things, and in exchange for certain things from the East. It’s really interesting! They close the book talking about the politics of a merger, like how would that work, because obviously the governments of both countries won’t be willing to completely give up their power. And also, it talks about what happens if a merger doesn’t happen soon. It’s really interesting because it’s a really in-depth analysis of what’s happening right now. It is a little older book, but still relevant today, because… [sigh] I’m not saying I don’t want to be an American, no. It’s more of, it really makes sense for Canada and the US to become “one country.” Anyway, it’s a fascinating book. I think I would really recommend anyone read it.
The second book is Brewing Revolution: Pioneering the Craft Beer Movement. This book is about Frank Appleton, and his experiences in the beer industry. He used to work for a large beer corporation in Canada. Then after a while, he became the “father of craft beer.” He left the corporation because he didn’t agree with their way of things. Appleton stumbled on the beer industry after someone asked him to help open up a pub with craft beer. After that, he worked on helping open up several different craft breweries mostly in North America. The reason why he decided he wanted to go into craft beer was because he was sick of all the light, boring lagers in the area for Canada. In the US, it’d be like Budweiser and Coors. In Canada, it’s Molson and Labatt. Beers that are really light, and very bland, no flavor. So if you really enjoy learning about how the industry works, and if you enjoy beer, craft beer, read this book. It’s really interesting history of beer in North America.
The third book: Public Library and other stories. When I got this book, I did not expect what it actually turned out to be. I was expecting like, stories about experiences in public libraries — No! No. It’s nothing like that. It has short stories that are really out there, odd stories. The writing is a little unusual. It’s okay, I wouldn’t be like oh, you have to read! It’s interesting to read. I do want to give you a couple of quotes from the book. “It is the poorest, most isolated, and the least able in our society who suffer most if libraries are gone. So if our society does not care for libraries, then it is not caring for its most vulnerable.” “I believe that within every library is a door that opens to every other library in time and space: that door is the book.”
Next book. Actually, two books, from the same author, Clive Cussler. I LOVE this author. My mom and I are the same, we love this author. 
Pretty much all of his books are historically based. He has several different series. One particular series is set in the past, it happens in the 1920s. Around when cars and trains were taking off. (Isaac Bell) But the other series are based more in the present. BUT they have historical stories. A lot of them also have nautical themes. So I really enjoy that. The two books I read: Odessa Sea, and The Emperor’s Revenge. Odessa Sea is the legend of the Romanov treasure being brought from Russia to Britain, and a Cold War bomber that vanished with a dangerous cargo. In the present, a high-tech drone developer and Ukrainian rebels are trying to cause a big war. 
Emperor’s Revenge is the story of Napoleon and his diary, the legend of the huge treasure Napoleon stole from Russia. When he invaded Russia, then retreated, he stole Russia’s expensive things then hid them. In the present, there are people trying to find where it is. That story parallels with people who are trying to throw the world economy in chaos, just so they can become rich. Basically, Cussler books tend to be pretty action-packed. Almost like a spy novel, kind of, but not really spies. Sometimes. Anyway.
Another book I read was The Book of Shade. I won’t give a review about it, because this was a book I read for a review website. I will link that review here if you want to read it. It’s actually pretty good. A little unexpected, but good.
Next book that I read: A Thousand Splendid Suns. This was recommended to me by someone who commented on my last book video. Fantastic read. If you like books with happy stories, this is not the book for you. It’s not. This book focuses on two different women in different times of their lives, then they intersect at one point. They live in Kabul, Afghanistan. This book is set right before the war starts, around almost the same time as the war. It’s mostly set during the war in Afghanistan. So it’s good, yes, but it’s not all happy, it’s not. Very touching good, and it does have moments of hope and happiness here and there.
And the last book I’ve finished reading is Modified: GMOs and the Threat to Our Food, Our Land, Our Future. I just finished it this morning. It’s an interesting read. It is in-depth, a lot of analysis, thinking—but I wasn’t expecting it to be written almost like an autobiography. The author got sick from corn, GMOs, and she was trying to find out if it was really because of the GMOs? She dived into that, researching what are GMOs, what are the threats, all of that. So… At times, it’s written like verified research, explaining the history, and sometimes it’s written like a story. I’m not sure if I like the writing style, but it is good. You do learn a lot of the history of how GMOs started, how they’re progressing, what’s going on with the fight with GMOs for now. I’m not going to give you my personal opinion on GMOs, because it’s… I honestly don’t know what to think. But the book is an interesting read.
Okay, now that’s all of the books I’ve read in the past two months, plus the Harry Potter books. I did a Harry Potter video about that so technically, you could say I’ve read 15 books in the past two months. That’s all for today. Hope you enjoyed! If you have any book recommendations, or books that you think I should read, go ahead and leave it in the comments below. Not that I need any more book recommendations because I have plenty saved on my GoodReads account! If you want to support me making content here, I have a Patreon and ko-fi. Follow me on my socials. All links in the video linked above. Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow.