March 2021
The weather is turning. Green is exploding through the gray. The seasonal depression is losing its grip. It’s time for planting, gardening, sun, and fresh air. I love this time of year. What type of projects do you tackle in the spring?
Here are the books I finished in March 2021 and my short reviews of them:
Fiction Books
The Warden and the Wolf King by Andrew Peterson (Wingfeather Saga #4)
This is the final chapter in the Wingfeather’s story and it is filled with adventure, drama, highs, lows, and at the end of it all, a little hope. After the Monster in the Hollows is sorted out in book 3, the Wingfeathers are settling in for winter in the Green Hollows. Janner turns 13 years old and gets dumped out in the middle of nowhere to find his way home in a coming-of-age trial. While he is struggling to find his way home, the Green Hollows are attacked by the Fang Army of Gang the Nameless. There is a new type of Fang now, Bat Fangs, which pour in waves over the Hollows, trying to find and capture the three children. King Kalmar escapes the attack and runs to call reinforcements and Song Maiden Lilli discovers that her whistleharp music has the power to rally the defenses and push back the fangs. Kalmar decides to go find Janner and as a pair, they decide to go to Throg to end the war against Gnag once and for all. On their journey, they befriend a troll, travel through the realm of the Cloven, and destroy their old betrayer Bonifer Squoon. Eventually, there is a great battle (like the battle of five armies in The Hobbit). I won’t give away the end. Ultimately, this book is about knowing your name (who you are) and knowing your family.
I recommend this book to those who like epic tales and adventures.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, ebook, audiobook read by the author, 13:46)
The Essential Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
Bill Watterson is a genius. His drawing style and humor are so good. He writes clever jokes, and ironic jokes; some that are slapstick; some that are political. The characters have amazing depth and range of expression. Calvin is like a mix of my super imaginative 6-year-old son and my sassy, dangerous, 5-year-old daughter. Calvin spends a lot of time worrying about the monsters under his bed, daydreaming his way through school, and avoiding dinner, his babysitter, and baths at all costs. His stuffed tiger Hobbes comes to life when only Calvin is around. Hobbes helps Calvin with his homework, his anti-monster-under-the-bed antics, and his crazy downhill deep thought moments. Calvin always seems to be debating mortality and the afterlife while careening down a mountain on a sled or in a wagon. This book makes me chuckle, smirk, cringe, and belly laugh so hard I cry. Many of the jokes have extra layers of complexity that I can only understand now that I’m a dad.
I recommend this book to jokesters of all ages.
(Rated G, Score 10/10, Paperback, 256p)
The Water Keeper by Charles Martin
This is a novel that I added to my list based on a recommendation from Annie F. Downs, who is an author/podcaster/influencer my wife follows. Considering the source, I didn’t expect the action/adventure/rescue/masculine side of this book. The book is about Murphy Shepherd, who is the water keeper. He finds the lost or stolen or missing. He rescues them when he can. He has considerable training and resources and still struggles against those criminal types who make tons of money exploiting those less powerful. Murph is headed south along the coast of Florida to scatter the ashes of his mentor, Fingers. As he travels, he attracts those who need help like a magnet. By the time he makes it to his destination, his boat holds a desperate mother searching for a lost teen daughter, a teen girl looking for her past, an old man headed south to say goodby to his past, and the smartest dog he’s ever met. Most of the story takes place on Murph’s boat as he travels down the coast, which makes this desert kid nervous and self-conscious about all the boat skills I never learned. Here are some of the lessons I pulled out of this story: Water absorbs all kinds of abuse and heals quickly- in people this type of resilience and healing is only possible with love. People have an unbelievable capacity to harm, abuse, and objectify others (trafficking, drugs, greed, flesh, fear, neglect). This is the world we live in. All darkness and evil need to thrive is for good men to do nothing. This book tells stories of injustice in a way that is easy to emotionally relate to. It goes with Just Courage (reviewed below) in a powerful way.
I recommend this book to adventurers and those wanting to learn about injustice.
(Rated PG-13, Score 8/10, ebook, audiobook read by Jonathan K. Riggs, 11:35)
Probing: Cycle Three of the Harbingers Series (Harbingers Book #3)
Like the first two books, this is a collection of 4 shorter stories, each written by a different author, using the same characters and story arc. Bill Myers leads off with Leviathan where the team heads to California where they find themselves in the middle of a tech attack where The Gate transmits signals which minimize the victims' inhibitions. In such an attack crimes of passion skyrocket. The team destroys the transmitter before the whole country can be targeted.
The Mind Pirates by Frank Peretti takes the team on a modern pirate cruise. The pirates are using technology to steal tourists' banking information. The technology was invented to allow a blind person to see through another’s eyes. The Gate wants the tech and they blow up the pirate’s operation trying to get it. With some luck and some tricky pirate tactics, the team destroys the technology before The Gate can commander it. In Hybrids, Angela Hunt takes the team back to Florida for rest and to support the Professor during one of his presentations. Instead of rest, though they find themselves with 2 mysteries as the Professor disappears and a pair of children with black eyes cause trouble and confusion in the area. The Village by Alton Gansky reunites Tank and Littlefoot, unfortunately, the trip to her parallel universe causes the team (minus the still missing professor) to age rapidly. They have to solve the mystery of how people are making the trip before they all die of old age.
I recommend this set of stories to people who like shorter stories.
(Rated PG, Score 6/10, Audiobook read by various narrators 10:06)
The Neil Gaiman Reader: Selected Fiction
I’m a sucker for a 2-for-1 deal, so when this collection popped up in an Audible sale, I snatched it up. It’s a huge collection, mostly of shortish stories organized in order of their publishing. As you read the stories you can see Gaiman’s style evolve through time. There are 52 separate pieces written in many styles- rewrites of fairy tales, horror stories, a Sherlock Holmes story, ghost stories, excerpts, and mini-sequels for American Gods and Neverwhere so you can catch up with Shadow and The Marquis de Carabas. Some of the stories are fun, some are adventurous, all of them are written in Gaiman’s silky smooth style. As a huge bonus, this Audible collection is read by Gaiman, who is a gifted narrator.
I recommend this collection for its amazing value, depth, and range.
(Rated PG-13/R, Score 9/10, Audiobook read by the author, 27:02)
If you need an action-packed thriller that will keep you up reading past your bedtime, this is it. The action starts in the desert of Iraq. The Gray Man (Court Gentry) is introduced trying to escape after doing some bad things to some bad men. He blows up his own escape plan by sniping some terrorists who shot down a US helicopter and are filming atrocities. After being picked up by a crew on an L-100 Hercules, Court is betrayed by his handler, Sir Donald Fitzroy, who orders the crew to kill Court. After a gun battle in the big airplane, Court finds himself walking out of the desert again. Sir Donald is being blackmailed by a young American lawyer, Lloyd, working for a French mega-corporation who needs Court dead to protect its reputation and land a massive Nigerian natural gas contract. Lloyd sets up a contest between kill teams from 12 countries, offering $20 Million for the body of the Gray Man. Lloyd keeps Sir Donald and his family as bait drawing Court through a gauntlet of killers to a French castle for the final showdown. By the time Court assaults the castle he is shot, stabbed, cut by glass, using someone else’s blood, and very tired. I won’t ruin the chase and the ending for you here. My real question is this: who would win in a fight between Mitch Rapp and Court Gentry. Send me your votes. Thanks to my friend Michael for the recommendation of this fantastic book.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes gun battles, James Bond, or Jason Bourne.
(Rated R, Score 9/10, Audiobook read by Jay Snyder, 11:12)
A Fine and Pleasant Misery by Patrick F McManus
My Dad recommended this book back when I was asking for funny and uplifting suggestions. I had to track down a hard copy at the local used book store. This book was worth the hunt. It is hilarious. A couple of the chapters had me laughing so hard I cried. The first one was about the author’s childhood dog: “Take all the flaws of character you find in all dogs and most human beings, roll them up in the hide of a sickly warthog, and you would have a reasonable facsimile of my dog Stranger, who was a dirty, lazy, bigoted, opinionated, gluttonous, conceited, ill-tempered, and an incorrigible liar.” His stories about the dog’s antics and character had me rolling. The other chapter that got me was the two-wheeled ATV chapter about his bike. “The Bike had a couple of little tricks it did with its chain…One was that it would wait until you had just started down a long, steep curving hill and then reach up with its chain and wind your pant leg into the sprocket. This move was doubly ingenious, since the chain not only prevented you from putting on the coaster brakes, it also shackled you to a hurtling death-machine.” This book holds lots of stories about fishing, gear, the outdoors, and, as the title suggests, the fine and pleasant misery of camping. McManus’s characters are colorful, and his experiences are relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed it and now I am on the hunt for his other books.
I recommend this book to anyone in need of a good chuckle or big fish story.
(Rated G, Score 10/10, Paperback, 209p)
Non-Fiction Books
I find it fascinating how some books wait for just the right time to jump into my life. Sometimes, like in this case, I’ve had this book on my list for years. I saw Haugen speak at the Global Leadership Summit a few years ago and added this book to my To-Read list back then. The timing was perfect to fit with The Water Keeper. Haugen is the leader of International Justice Mission (IJM) and this book holds some of his stories and defines what the non-profit is all about: Justice. I think we all know justice when we see it, but it can be hard to put words around it. So instead, they define injustice as the abuse of the power to take life, freedom, property, and dignity away from the weak. We have all seen this, and we all know it’s wrong. So, if we know what is wrong, what keeps us from acting? Typically, these four things contribute to inaction: Comfort, security, control, success. We don’t want to risk our comfort. Confronting powerful people to force justice can be dangerous. We don’t want to give up control and take risks. And typically, our culture does not reward helping the oppressed with accolades or financial success. Doing God’s will is in a fallen world is inherently dangerous. Speaking truth and helping the needy are dangerous. So, what can we expect instead, when we risk it all to seek justice on behalf of others? Haugen says we can expect adventure in ways that will make us come alive, exponential growth in our faith, miracles, and deep, personal knowledge of Jesus. Haugen also talks about how parenting is having your heart walking around in someone else body. I related to this. It’s how we can all relate to each other. Ultimately this book is a call to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God in faithfulness.
I recommend this book to men who are seeking to understand why God made them with a warrior spirit.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by David Cochran Heath)
This is my second time through this book, and after understanding the basics from my first read three years ago, I was able to soak up some of the more nuanced lessons and details I didn’t catch the first time. Sinek sets up the book by explaining why Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers successfully changed the world. Each of them had a noble cause, a passion, something that they believed in deeply- a why. Sinek argues that when you start with why and then figure out how the what takes care of itself. Apple’s why is to challenge the status quo, their how is by creating devices that are beautiful and easy to use, and so their what can be dynamic - computers, music players, phones, watches. Most businesses start the other way around. They start with a what- a product or a service- figure out how to produce or offer it, and then they struggle to get their message across to the masses. These backward businesses end up using manipulations to beat the competition rather than inspiring their customers. When an organization’s why, how, and what are in balance, trust emerges. When there is trust, and a clear mission, decisions are easier to make and the company can flourish. Until split happens. Blessed with enough success, a company will be forced to navigate a split. The company’s momentum may try to veer away from its why if leadership changes or the mission gets fuzzy. A company that is successfully able to navigate the split must get back to its why.
I recommend this book to anyone trying to understand business or personal motivators.
(Rated G, Score 9/10, Audiobook read by the author, 7:18)
Preview/Currently Reading-
Here are the books I am currently working through:
Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War
I track all the books I read in a database called Goodreads. You might find it helpful in managing your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
I’ve learned that funny books lift my mood, while darker books can lower my mood and make me cranky. This isn’t surprising, of course, but it is useful to keep in mind when choosing what I read and when to read it.
In thinking about my why, I hope that these reviews inspire you. Each of you has your own goals, projects, and aspirations. I hope that this communication leads you to start the thing that you want to, but haven’t gotten to yet. I hope it inspires you to try that thing you always wanted to do. I hope it inspires you to connect- with me, with friends and family, and with new people. I hope that this inspires you to think-to challenge your assumptions and biases. I hope this inspires questions, curiosities, and interests. I hope.
Thanks as always for coming on this adventure with me.
Joshua
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