January 2022
In January, I celebrated my birthday, and then I got COVID. Being able to work from home kept me from going quarantine crazy. I’m ready for the warm weather to be back. I got my rock-climbing belay certification. Climbing with the auto-belay device is more of a trust exercise than I am used to. I also did a 30 day yoga challenge with Aubrey. We managed to do all 30 sessions despite having COVID. Yoga makes me feel uncoordinated and not athletic, so it has been a challenge for me. What have you been doing to get out of your comfort zone?
Here are the books I finished in January 2022 and my short reviews of them:
Short Stories
The Future of Work: Compulsory by Martha Wells (The Murderbot Diaries, #0.5)
Meet Murderbot (MB). This magazine story introduces MB to the world in a bite-sized chunk of human rescue, internal dialog, and hacking. MB doesn’t know why it rescues the humans. Technically, it shouldn’t in this case because the HubSystem tells him to stay put and wait for the Safety bot to save the human. Is MB a person or a machine? Reading this short is a quick way to decide if you like the MB vibe. It’s free at the link above.
Ellie has a gift…or is it a curse. She can feel the emotions of others like picking them up on an internal antenna. But the experience is dreadful. The only way she can redeem the pain is by helping those people whose emotions she senses.
Fiction Books
Treasure Island (Audible Original) by Robert Louis Stevenson
There are many versions of this classic story and this one is a dramatized version done by audible. The young lad Jim Hawkins finds himself in the middle of a pirate treasure hunt with greedy Englishmen on one side and cut-throat buccaneers led by John Silver on the other. Following an old map from dead Captain Flint, they sail to Treasure Island where the pirates start a war against the rest of the crew. Jim walks the line between the pirates and the Brits doing the best he can to do the right thing along the way. The honest crew eventually gets the best of the pirates with the help of Ben Gunn who was marooned on the island for three years by Captain Flint himself. On the sail home, Silver jumps ship with a portion of the treasure, and young Jim returns home to his mother but he isn't the same boy he was before he went sailing with Pirates. This is a must-read for young boys. Any version will do, and this one is well-made. Thanks, Neale for the recommendation.
This book is for boys, pirates, and treasure hunters.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audio drama with full cast, 6:23)
The Thief and the Red Mandolin by Samuel A Mayo (Black Armor Tales #1)
To read a longer review with spoilers click here.
Sam gave me this book a while back and I got it conflated with another book I'm not sure I ever finished. I cracked it open on Christmas break and it was great to read by the fire. The story includes three thieves, a bard, an elf, a small giant, a knight, a witch, pirates, ogres, and a journey. Two stories following the thief and the bard run parallel until they finally merge in a great battle. I enjoyed the characters, the descriptions and integration of the world and races, and of course the supernatural (magic).
This book is for young thieves, musicians, and adventurers.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, paperback, 376p.)
The Christmas Pig by J.K. Rowling
Most kids have a special toy, blanket, or stuffy that goes everywhere with them and develops a personality and story. Jack has Dur Pig (DP). DP knows Jack like no one else, and DP listens to Jack as he grows and struggles through his parents’ divorce and moving to a new school. DP is Jack’s safe place till he gets chucked out the car window and lost. On Christmas Eve Jack and Christmas Pig (CP) (DPs attempted replacement) go on an impossible mission to rescue DP from the Land of the Lost. Jack and CP go from Mislaid to the three towns in the Land of the Lost. They dodge the Loser and his minions. Eventually, Hope flies them to find DP on the island of Beloved, but CP can’t go there. He goes back to face the Loser. Jack learns that CP has sacrificed himself to allow Jack to save DP. But on the journey, Jack has learned to love DP and CP. Jack says goodbye to DP and flies with Santa to save CP from the Loser. They have a showdown and Jack and CP make it home just in time for Christmas.
This book would be fantastic to read with kids for Christmas.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, ebook, 333p)
Non-Fiction Books
A Minute to Think by Juliet Funt
When was the last time you slowed down, just for a minute, to sit and think? For some of us, it’s been way too long. We are too busy to think. Our brains need space and oxygen to work effectively. No oxygen = no fire. So what can we do to make space to think (white space like the blank spaces on your calendar)? We can take a strategic pause. Stop rushing from task to task, meeting to meeting, and just think. Let our brains rest and run free and make critical connections. The truth is we are trapped by habits of busyness, insatiability, conformity, and waste. Juliet describes these four thieves of time- drive, excellence, information, and activity. But these are excellent things you say. How can they steal our time? They steal our time when we take them to extremes (which is easy to do with these thieves). Taken to the extreme these thieves kill. Drive becomes an overbearing monster. Excellence leads to perfectionism. Information quickly becomes information overload. Activity turns into busyness for its own sake. How do we avoid these extremes? Use these simplification questions: Is there anything I can let go of? Where is “good enough”, good enough? What do I truly need to know? What deserves my attention? When attacking waste there are two approaches: tuna or krill. Krill are tiny little creatures that feed blue whales. In the same way, little improvements in efficiency can add up to a lot more white space. Alternately, tuna are massive fish that can be trophies. If you try to wrestle a tuna-sized time-waster, you may be in for disappointment if you don’t have the practice or credibility in your organization to pull it off. Another topic that Juliet addresses is hallucinated urgency- is it a critical task tied to a specific business outcome or is the deadline being used to abuse you and your staff arbitrary? Be clear about requirements and expectations. Don’t abuse your people when there aren’t actual consequences for missing due dates. Other topics and ideas that resonated with me from the book include: Email- touch it less. Compose it better. Ask for what you need. When deciding when to act ask yourself, Is it kind? Is it honest? Is it necessary? And ultimately, ask yourself, was this time well spent? Use the answers to guide your way.
This book is for folks who are too busy, overwhelmed, and interested in growing.
(Rated PG, Score 9/10, audiobook read by the author, 7:02)
Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
“Do you think I’m insane?” Elon asks the author this question during one of their interviews, and it sets the tone for most of the book. Vance tells the story from Elon’s grandparents Elon’s childhood, the companies he built, all the way to the book’s deadline. All the while trying to make sense out of the man from South Africa. Elon has always been on a mission to send people to mars and on the way, he built SpaceX- a cutting-edge spaceship/rocket company. Elon hates the US being dependent on foreign oil, so he built Tesla- an electric car/solar power company. When the future Elon wants doesn’t exist, he just invents it through an indomitable will, his unbelievable work ethic, photographic memory, and incredible tolerance for risking his own fortune. The author also compares Elon to Tony Stark (Iron Man), but that vibe doesn’t fit for me. Elon seems like more of a physics nerd than a partier. The book covers Elon’s businesses and touches on his personal life a bit, but not enough to get a feel for who he is in private. Is Elon Musk insane? I think, like most geniuses, he lives on the line between insane and genius where the magic happens.
This book is for nerds, techies, space junkies, and business gurus.
(Rated R, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Fred Sanders, 13:23)
Fathered By God by John Eldridge
Every young man is asking himself this question: Do I have what it takes? We all feel fatherless at some point. We all know what it’s like to be wounded by our fathers. In this book, Eldridge breaks down the stages of the male journey: Beloved Son, Cowboy, Warrior, Lover, King, and Sage. These stages are the pattern for how men will be challenged, grown, and embraced by God as he leads them to himself. As a boy, each of us looks to our dad to see if we are the beloved son. In boyhood we want to know if we are dangerous, do we have our dad’s attention? Boys can be crushed by an overbearing, harsh, or critical dad. Looking to God, we all want to know, are you there God? Do you love me? Am I your beloved son? As the boy grows to be a teenager and young adult, he enters the Cowboy stage where adventures and danger test the man. This is when the man learns about good and evil, easy and hard, danger and safety, comfort and hardship. In the cowboy stage, the young man is asking the questions, “what am I made of?” And “what is this world made of?” Next comes the warrior stage. How do you train the warrior? Hardship. The warrior spends this stage finding and fighting for the truth. The quality and character of the warrior and his effectiveness and power come from the lessons he learns in the previous stages. If the warrior was not confirmed as a beloved son and did not learn about good and evil in the cowboy stage, the warrior will not fight for justice and may even use his strength to abuse others. The lover stage can come at the same time as the warrior stage, but this is the time in the man’s journey when he learns about beauty. In a healthy journey, the lover will learn to love and seek God first. The lover will find God in the beauty he brings in nature, in poetry, and in healing. The man spends this stage learning to love and be loved. Next comes the stage when the man is the king. When is a man ready to wield power? You can tell the power of a king by how the people in his kingdom are thriving. God teaches us how to fight by putting us in situations where we must fight. Will we let him teach us? Friendship with God makes a good king. How many leaders act like a friend of God? We men were made for this stage. We are made to be good kings who will use our power to build up those in our kingdoms. Our families, our workplaces, our teams, our communities should all be areas we can build people up. Finally, men can become a sage like Yoda, Gandalf, or Dumbledore. In this stage, men are gray with the weight of many winters. They can offer their wisdom to men of all ages and in all stages of their journey. At this stage, men can be tempted to disappear and relax, but we need these men and their wisdom more than ever. We need to sit at their feet with humility and questions and ask them for their wisdom. In my experience, we call the sage the “old guy”. The old guy knows how to do all the things and fix all the problems and use all the tools. Old guys are so valuable to younger men who know how to ask the right questions. This is an amazing book filled with hope and power for men on their journeys. Thanks, Seth for the recommendation.
This book is for men, young and old, who are looking for ways to understand their journey better.
(Rated PG, Score 10/10, audiobook read by the author, 6:23)
Life is Messy by Matthew Kelly
We don’t always acknowledge this in our social media world, but life is messy. Life is messy because we are messy. This book is also messy. There isn’t a nice, clean outline with chapters each fitting into their place. The chapters are more stream-of-consciousness. They touch lots of themes and ideas. Here are some of the notes that stood out to me: The way forward always requires that we take responsibility for our part in the mess. Simply slowing down improves almost everything in our lives. There is evil in the world and we need to get better at naming it and fighting it when we see it. Evil- profoundly immoral. Social media is systematically dehumanizing us. How do we rehumanize ourselves? Empathy. What are you avoiding that you should be confronting? Addiction to comfort is death. Inspiration leads to creativity. Make a list of 20 ordinary things that bring you joy. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.
It’s one of life’s most delightful paradoxes: The more joy we bring to others, the more our joy expands. Words are powerful. Be careful how you talk to yourself.
This book is for anyone struggling to have a perfect, comfortable life.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, Paperback 152p.)
The Dichotomy of Leadership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
After writing Extreme Ownership, Jocko and Leif soon found that they needed a follow-on book to help explain some of the applications of their leadership principles. This book is the result of that effort. For each chapter in this book they take a principle/dichotomy, explain it in the context of their combat experience in Iraq, then they work it into a business example. Here are how I noted them: 1-Be ready to lead and know when to follow. Care deeply about your men and still execute the mission at risk to those men. 2-Micro management, extreme ownership, and hands-off leadership need to be balanced. Leaders can take too much ownership. 3-Leaders cannot be too overbearing or too lenient. Use your leadership capital wisely. 4-Some under-performers need to be led. Some need to be removed from the team for the greater good. 5- Training must be hard, but not impossible. Train hard. Train smart. 6- Leaders must be aggressive and act to accomplish missions. Losing your temper is a sign of weakness. Sometimes a moment of study is needed before aggression. 7- Disciplined, not rigid. 8-Hold people accountable; don’t hold their hands.
9- Leaders must be ready to lead and follow for the benefit of the team. Lead well, not by rank.
10-Plan, but do not over-plan. 11-Be humble, not passive. Humility is the most important quality in a leader. 12- Leaders must be detached from the details, but not so detached that they lose control. In all these examples, balance is the key. Being self-aware and situationally aware helps leaders to know which way to push the balance.
This book is for leaders, warriors, and anyone looking for something to stretch their brains.
(Rated PG-13, Score 10/10, Audiobook read by the authors, 10:34)
Preview/Currently Reading-
Here are the books I am currently working through:
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lingren
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Kelly: More Than My Share of It All by Clarence L. Johnson, Maggie Smith
I track my books in a database called Goodreads. You might find it helpful in managing your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
How many books are you trying to read this year? I think I’ll try for 100 again. That’s about 9 books a month, which is a lot. I am going to hit some longer books this year so 100 may not work out. It’s all a big experiment.
If you want to see what books I am reading, I started a Fromthespine Instagram. I’m posting pictures of book covers as I read them.
Thanks for adventuring with me.
Joshua