October 2021
This year is flying by. I can’t believe we are already through ten months. We are getting close to the holidays, colder weather, and according to the squirrels, it’s bulking season! That’s what you say to people who are overly concerned about your caloric intake. You are welcome. Also, bulking season lasts till about March. What are your favorite bulking snacks?
Here are the books I finished in October 2021 and my short reviews of them:
Fiction Books
Artificial Condition by Martha Wells (Murderbot #2)
In book two, murderbot (MB) is wandering around space, trying to find some answers about his past. Traveling on transports by bargaining with the bots or constructs in charge of the ships. One ship computer it nicknames ART helps MB to adjust its behavior, movement, and even physical appearance so it wouldn’t be immediately recognizable as a Security Construct. MB acts as a security consultant for a group of researchers who are being scammed by their employer. While protecting and advising the researchers, MB uncovers critical details from the incident where it got its nickname (murderbot). It turns out that MB was not to blame for the mass murder that happened in the past. The internal dialog that MB records on these adventures is an interesting balance of snark, humor, irony, tech, and emotions. Despite not understanding or liking humans, MB does an excellent job protecting his clients.
This book is for sci-fi fans, short-book readers, and socially awkward humans.
(Rated R, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Kevin R. Free, 3:21)
Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski (Witcher #1)
I know it says Witcher Book #1, but it’s more like Witcher #4 or #3.5. The order is a bit lost on me. I’m just running down the chronological list I got from my friend Neale. This book is the story of a young orphan princess named Ciri, who is the Witcher’s destiny. Geralt (The Witcher) finds and rescues Ciri after her home and family are destroyed by the Nilfgaardians. Geralt and the other witchers adopt Ciri at Kaer Morhen- their stronghold. Not knowing much about young girls, the witchers (all male) go with what they know- witcher training for the young girl. Eventually, they reach out to a sorceress, Triss Merigold, for help handling the young lady. Triss stays with the witchers and helps them to raise and care for Ciri. In the spring, Geralt and Triss take Ciri to Ellander, where she is trained in magic by Yennefer while Geralt tries to find a mysterious magician who seeks the orphaned princess. There is an undertone of political strife throughout the book and a lot less battling monsters than the other books so far. It doesn’t take much imagination to see the political jargon between dwarves, humans, and elves could be aimed at us today. If you like the complexities of war strategy and kings like Game of Thrones, you would probably appreciate this book more than I did. So far, this isn’t my favorite Witcher book. Hopefully the next one is better.
This book is for the strategists and the activists.
(Rated R, Score 5/10, audiobook read by Peter Kenny, 10:55)
Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (Murderbot #3)
In book three, murderbot (MB) develops a theory about GrayCris, the corporation involved in the scandal from book one and the massacre MB investigates in book two. The theory leads him to an abandoned terraforming facility in orbit over the planet Milu. MB thinks that there could be evidence that GrayCris is illegally and craftily digging into alien ruins on planets like Milu. To get onto the facility MB befriends a humanoid bot named Miki. MB pretends to be a hired SecUnit on the facility to help secure Miki’s humans. The humans fall into a trap that is set to send the facility crashing to the planet to destroy evidence that GrayCris is hiding. MB finds himself saving another set of humans from imminent death. Evidence in hand, MB decides to visit Dr. Mensah, the person who freed him in book one. She’ll know what to do with the data.
This book is for techies, sci-fi fans, and adventurers.
(Rated R, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Kevin R. Free, 3:46)
Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain #4)
True to the title, in this book, Taran- Assistant Pig-Keeper goes wandering. His goal is to determine who his parents are. He wishes to determine if he has royal blood so that he might be worthy of asking Princess Eilonwy to marry him. He journeys to the Marshes of Morva to consult with the three witches. They send him looking for the Mirror of Llunet. Taran meets many people on his journey to find the mirror. He provides wise counsel to King Smite and almost becomes his heir, but presses on. Taran and his companions battle a sorcerer who is bent on ruling the dwarves. Taran finds an old sheepherder who claims to be his father. Taran is devastated by this news and yet, he honors the man by helping him prepare for winter. Taran learns the man had lied only after better understanding himself. Taran works as a sword-smith, a weaver, and a potter, but these trades do not hold his heart. Eventually, Taran finds the Mirror of Llunet and learns that it has been the journey and the lessons along the way that have made him who he is. They have proven his character.
This book is for the wanderers, the seekers, the dreamers, and the craftsmen.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by James Langton, 6:19)
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
I try to pull in seasonal reads from time to time and now is the time for ghost stories like this one. The legend is quite a bit shorter and less dramatic than the 1999 movie starring Johnny Depp. Ichabod Crane is the local schoolmaster in a 1790 small Dutch settlement called Tarry Town. He is leading a lovely life making the rounds, living with the families of the students he teaches, sharing music, food, news, and a bit of celebrity in the small town near Sleepy Hollow. That is until he falls in love with a girl, Katrina Van Tassel. Ichabod finds himself rival to a younger, manlier Brom Bones, who wants to fight for the girl. Following a harvest party and dashed hopes of proposing to Katrina, Ichabod runs into the Headless Horseman who chases the poor schoolmaster on his huge stallion. Finally, the horseman flings his flaming head at the fleeing Ichabod. Ichabod was never seen again.
This legend is for the Halloween season and those who like clever humor.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Anthony Heald, 1:17)
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
This is a fantasy story, written to describe the great separation between heaven and hell. The story is a dream and the dreamer becomes aware in a gray town (hell) and finds himself joining a bus queue. The omnibus takes the dreamer and other passengers up and out of the town to a bright sunny meadow. The folks of the gray town are ghostly and not as solid as the bright country. (This aspect of mater is a very interesting literary mechanism). The grass hurts their feet because it is more solid (real) than them and they aren’t substantive enough to even carry a leaf. Each ghost is met by a native of the solid land who tries to help them enter into joy or to fully abandon the gray town and seek love (God). The dreamer meets George MacDonald who teaches him what he is seeing, and how each of the ghosts are either saved or lost back to the gray town. In the end, the dreamer awakes and knows that the bridge of death is still ahead of him in his journey. This is a powerful story if you wish to better understand the dynamics between heaven and hell. The characters and dialogue make the theological debate accessible in a unique way. This story makes my heart yearn for heaven.
This book is for dreamers, seekers, and ghosts.
(Rated PG, Score 10/10, audiobook read by Robert Whitfield, 2:53)
Kill Shot by Vince Flynn (Mitch Rapp #2)
Mitch Rapp is on a roll. He’s killing terrorists and working his way down a list. But then the bad guys get the list. On a relatively easy hit in Paris, France, Rapp finds himself in a trap. He shoots his way out but gets shot in the process. So now you have the most dangerous assassin in the world, wounded and angry because someone set him up. The folks back home at Langley are torn. Half believe Rapp blew the op. Half believe something went wrong. The cranky old guy who trained Rapp, Stan Hurley, takes a big thug named Victor to figure out what happened, but Victor is a shoot first, lie his way out of it type. So Rapp is forced to shoot his way out of another situation in Paris. Eventually, with Irene Kennedy’s help, Mitch finds the men who sold him out and leaves a new trail of bad guy bodies. This book will keep you up past your bedtime.
This book is for hunters, spies, and action junkies.
(Rated R, Score 7/10, ebook, 400p., and audiobook read by George Guidall, 10:49)
Jazz Bashara is a smuggler- on the moon. She should have been so many other things, but she wasn’t properly motivated. When she is properly motivated by a job for a million slugs (moon currency) she turns into a saboteur. The sabotage job doesn’t go to plan and Jazz finds herself being hunted by a Brazilian mobster who kills her employer. Taking the sabotage a step further becomes the only option for Jazz to stay on the moon. She recruits a group of friends, enemies, and family to pull off the job. She needs to blow up the aluminum smelter on the moon to keep the Brazilian mob from taking over the small lunar community. In the process of blowing up the smelter, she accidentally pollutes the air in all the lunar environments with chloroform, knocking the whole city out. How will she refresh the air before she kills the whole settlement?
This book is for welders, street rats, and space junkies.
(Rated R, Score 8/10, audiobook performed by Rosario Dawson, 8:57)
Non-Fiction Books
Limitless by Jim Kwik
Jim Kwik suffered a brain injury as a child. He was known as the boy with a broken brain. Now he teaches people how to learn better for a living. His challenges, torments, and trauma fueled his mission to figure out how to learn. This is his story and his life’s work. Limitless is broken up into four parts: 1- Free your mind. 2- Limitless Mindset: The What. 3- Limitless Motivation: The Why. 4-Limitless Methods: The How. Part one is his story. Part two addresses belief systems and the seven lies of learning. Part three gets into purpose, energy, small simple steps, and flow. Part four breaks down practical learning methods: Focus, Study, Memory, Speed Reading, and Thinking. I am a lifelong learner, so I didn’t need to be sold on the back story or benefits of learning. I enjoyed the second half of the book more and found much more useful ideas in the How parts. I intend to get a hard copy of the book and do the many quick start exercises that Kwik puts in to help solidify the principles. One of the exercises I did do was to measure my reading speed. I read hard copy at somewhere around 200 words per minute. I’d like to be closer to 400 words per minute, so I’ll work on reading faster. Thanks, Mike, for the recommendation.
This book is for anyone wanting to learn how to learn.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by the author, 12:58)
One Minute Manager
This is a short management book suggesting three tactics for being a better manager: 1. Set One Minute Goals. 2. Give One Minute Praisings. 3. Use One Minute Redirects. These practical tools/secrets allow managers to engage with their employees in ways that emphasize clear expectations while valuing the employees as people. One minute goals should be clear and fit on one page. They should be agreed on between the employees and the manager so that both people clearly understand what success looks like and what should be the priority. Managers should catch their employees doing things right and praise those employees at that time. By praising right and good behavior early and often, managers reinforce the behaviors that they want. This saves managers from storing up praise or criticism for performance reviews where the feedback is less effective. When managers catch mistakes their employees make, these should be immediately addressed by a one minute redirect where the manager explains the mistake, tells the employee how that makes the manager feel, then reaffirms the value the employee has as a person (tough first, then kind). By setting clear expectations, praising good behavior, and redirecting bad behavior, managers can be results-oriented while investing in their employees’ success.
This book is for current and aspiring managers, leaders, and
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Dan Woren, 1:27)
Preview/Currently Reading-
Here are the books I am currently working through:
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
Winning the War In Your Mind by Craig Groeschel
Ballistic by Mark Greaney (Gray Man #3)
Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (Murderbot #4)
The Grasshopper Trap by Patrick F. McManus
I track my books in a database called Goodreads. You might find it helpful in managing your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
In a lot of ways, October is a mix of celebrations and sorrows. Aubrey and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary this month. It’s amazing how much changes in ten years. We have two beautiful children now and a house full of messes and projects and potential. The weather changes in October and the green things die or go into hibernation. I am reminded of the cycle of life; of death; of resting.
Last month I wrote about the passing of my friend Beau Cline. I was able to attend the services for him in California. It was a very hard trip, but I think it was deeply healing. There were many people in attendance at the graveside service; more than any other I have ever been to. Most people there were visibly upset and emotional. Everyone stayed and paid their respects even though it was windy and cold. The coffin was fabricated by Beau’s close friend and it suited him perfectly. All these things are a testament to how well Beau was loved, and how well he loved others. Words fail me in expressing how much he will be missed.
Here is a tribute page set up for Beau with the American Brain Tumor Association. Stop by and donate a few $$. This is tax-deductible and might be an opportunity for charitable gift matching from your employer. Brain cancer has taken two of my closest people, so this cause is important to me.
Beau loved Halloween. He always had a costume. Most of them he made himself. What are you going to be for Halloween?
Thanks for adventuring with me.
Joshua
PS. Past emails can be found on my blog here.
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