August 2021
What a month August has been. We have had ups and downs; firsts and lasts. We got a new air conditioning unit installed during the hottest week of the summer thanks to some old HVAC guys who had mercy on us. I had more medical procedures than all the other months of my life put together. I learned a lot about myself this month.
Here are the books I finished in August 2021 and my short reviews of them:
Fiction Books
Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling
I love this coming-of-age story. A spoiled young man (Harvey) falls overboard and is picked up by a fishing schooner off of the New England coast. Harvey is heir to $30 Million in railroads and mines. He has never done a lick of work in his life. Now he is the ship's boy on a cod fishing schooner called the We’re Here. He tries to convince the captain to take him to New York, but Captain Disco decides Harvey is concussed (or crazy). Instead of taking Harvey to New York, Disco offers Harvey a fair wage to learn the ropes and work with the crew until the fishing season is over. During the fishing season, the spoiled brat metamorphoses into a strong, capable, respectful, member of the crew. My favorite part of the story is the realization the millionaire father makes when Harvey shows him the boat and tells him his story. Disco gave the boy priceless lessons he never would have learned under the protection of his money. Thanks, Mom, for the recommendation.
This book is for mothers, fathers, sons, and fishermen.
(Rated G, Score 10/10, audiobook read by George Guidall, 5:57)
Gaiman uses masterful creative language and London lore to weave this tale. Richard Mayhew rescues a young lady named Door and as a result, falls into London below. London Below is the place where the outcasts land, the homeless, the abandoned, the different, the bizarre folks. Richard no longer exists in London Above, so he joins Door and the Marque de Carabas as they try to sort out the murder of Door’s family. Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar, assassins and villains, threaten them along their journey. Door hires a bodyguard- Hunter, but Hunter sells them out for a magical spear she needs to hunt the Beast of London - a ferocious great boar. In the end, the Lady Door manages to free the group of their enemies by opening a portal to as far away as she can send them. Thanks, Kate, for the recommendation.
This book is for the openers, the outcasts, and the forgotten.
(Rated R, Score 9/10, audiobook read by the author, 13:48)
This is a different sort of post-apocalyptic story, set outside of Atlanta a couple of hundred years after the earth has been turned into a lifeless waste. Humanity is living underground in a silo. The psychology of this story is fascinating. The narrative follows a tough mechanic woman (Juliette) on her journey from the down deep of the silo, to the up top, and on other adventures as the story plays out. Juliette is appointed sheriff of the silo, and she inherits several open cases that lead her to discover that not everything in the silo is as it appears. What will she learn as she challenges the power balance in the silo? Thanks, Stephen, for the recommendation.
This book is for survivors, sheepdogs, and rebels.
(Rated R, Score 8/10, ebook and audiobook read by Minnie Goode, 17:53)
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
This is a hopeful book about healing, magic, nature, friendship, and laughter. Mary, a spoiled ten-year-old girl gets shipped off to live with her uncle in England when her family is killed in a cholera outbreak in India. There, at Craven Manor, she meets her equally spoiled and horrid cousin, Colin, who is sickly and wild. The pair are joined by a local boy (Dicken) who has the power to heal and grow things. They find a secret garden, and they work to make it bloom and grow beautiful. In the process they find healing. The staff of the manor can’t believe the healing and change in temperament of the pair. Finally, the boy’s father, who has been sick and lost in grief since the boy’s mother died in childbirth, returns home to be reunited with his son and healed from the grief. Thanks, Mom, for the recommendation.
This book is for healing, and magic, and spring, and animal charmers.
(Rated G, Score 9/10, ebook, audiobook read by Carrie Hope Fletcher, 7:38)
This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone
I got this book recommendation from the 5 Bullet Friday email that Tim Ferriss puts out each week. He basically said “go read it and the less you know going in the better”, so I went and got it and dove in. I suggest you do the same, but for those of you who need to know some stuff before committing, here’s a basic overview. It is Red vs Blue; tech vs bio; the network vs the biome; in a time war. The story bounces all over time and is told in snapshots and letters between the soldiers on opposing sides so the letters have to be encoded. It’s creative, clever, and different. It evolves and grows as you get into the characters and the plot. Just go read it and don’t quit till you get at least 30 pages in. I swear it settles in.
This book is for sci-fi fans, and time-soldiers, and adventurers, and letter readers.
(Rated R, Score 9/10, ebook, audiobook read by Cynthia Farrell, 4:15)
The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
This is an incredibly brave book written by Boyne. This is a story written from the view of a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. Bruno is a young German boy who gets moved from his comfortable home in Berlin to a smaller, much lonelier home when his father gets a new job from the Fury. Bruno hates the new home away from his friends, but he manages to make a new friend on the other side of the fence. His new friend is always hungry and thin and grey and sad. The boys grow their friendship by talking through the fence, and they take comfort from each other in their struggles. Of course, this is a book about the holocaust, but the way it is treated by the author with the characters and emotions and situations and language is so good. Thanks, Seth, for the recommendation.
This book is for readers of all ages, for parents, for kids, and for truth-seekers.
(Rated PG, Score 10/10, audiobook read by Michael Maloney, 4:58)
Non-Fiction Books
Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday
There are so many good principles in this book covering the stillness of the body, soul, and mind. Here are some of the areas I am working on trying to incorporate and practice at some level: Journaling. Letting go of the urgent to focus on the important. Studying wonder and beauty. Letting go of results to focus on processes. Going for walks. Giving more of my stuff away. Sleeping like a rock. Stopping self-medicating in unhealthy ways and running away from hard things. Being what matters instead of talking about it.
Holiday uses stories, examples, proverbs, and wisdom to help illustrate these ways to practice stillness. In this crazy world, we could all use more stillness and peace.
This book is for the anxious, the busy, and the overstimulated.
(Rated PG-13, Score 8/10, audiobook read by the author, 6:56)
Enneagram Type 5 by Beth McCord
Turns out I’m an enneagram Type 5. That means a lot to those people who understand enneagram things, like my wife. But I need a map, so Aubrey got me a book to work through the details. This book is a 21-day exercise/journaling type book, which runs through the basics of the enneagram, the core motivations, fears, desires, weaknesses, and longings of Type 5s. Then it covers alignment, wings, triads, and various paths. Like all personality bucketing systems, the enneagram is a soft science, but its power comes from its ability to provide language around the core emotions of each type. I learned a lot about myself by engaging and journaling through all 21 days. Historically, I haven’t been able to stick with journaling for more than five minutes so this was a big win in the discipline experiment category.
Figure out your enneagram type here.
Each type has a similar book here.
This book is for enneagram Type 5s or their significant others.
(Rated G, Score 7/10, hardback, 141p.)
Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute
This book showed up on the recommended reading list put together by senior leaders at work. A few of the guys in my group are reading through it and are discussing the ideas as they apply to our area. I’ll probably have to read through it a few more times for the concepts to sink in enough to help teach others. The book is set up like a leadership fable. The characters are fictional but are based on real-life examples. In the story, the main character learns all about how he is “in the box” (self-deceived into seeing people as objects or threats rather than as people). His new boss is the one teaching the lessons about the box. The company culture is built on teaching people about the box, how to get out of it, and how to thrive by seeing each other as people and working together toward real results. The book is broken up into three parts: I- Self-Deception and the Box, II- How We Get in the Box, and III- How We Get Out of the Box. The ideas are fairly complex, but they fit in with the Golden Rule- treat people how you want to be treated. What this book does, is help you see that to treat people well, you have to slow down and see them as people with wants and needs and goals and emotions. Only then can you connect with them.
This book is for leaders, spouses, and brave souls seeking to get better.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, hardcopy, audiobook read by Steve Carlson, 6:01)
Preview/Currently Reading-
Here are the books I am currently working through:
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
The Captain Class by Sam Walker
I track my books in a database called Goodreads. You might find it helpful in managing your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
My son and his cousin were having a reading contest with their Grandma the other evening. As they were reading, I heard Jet talking about how he was on “level 7” (chapter 7), so now all chapters will be referred to as levels. It’s hard to express how much this resonates with me. I love it.
Today I am leveling up by getting my faulty gallbladder removed. Say a prayer or send me some positive energy if you remember.
Thanks for adventuring with me.
Joshua