I keep waiting for the big snowstorm. So far, no luck, though the wind changed and it’s getting colder. There’s been a 60-degree swing in temperature in less than 24 hours. My brother challenged me to run 50 kilometers in January, so I spent some time running around the track at the YMCA. I learned that I very much prefer running outside. What resolutions or challenges did you take on in January?
Here are the books I finished in January 2023 and my short reviews of them:
Shorts
The Egg and Other Stories by Andy Weir
Andy Weir is one of my favorite Sci-Fi authors having written The Martian and Project Hail Mary. I bought up this short set of stories for $1 on Audible, which was well worth it. This collection has nine short stories, each with a twist. Some of the twists slowly evolve and others get sprung at the end. My favorite is the first story called Access about a young lady who seems to have the superpower of being able to fit in anywhere without being questioned. Where would you go if you could immediately fit in like you belonged?
Fiction Books
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia #4)
Thousands of years have passed in Narnia since the Kings and Queens disappeared back into the wardrobe. Narnia is being ruled by a usurper- King Miraz, who has stolen the king from Prince Caspian. When Miraz’s wife has a son, Prince Caspian’s life is in danger because he has a rightful claim to the throne, but he is too young to take his kingdom by force alone. He escapes and begins to build an army of old Narnians, but his army is not well organized, nor well provisioned. In a desperate act, Caspian calls the ancient kings and queens (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy) back to Narnia from England, though they come to their old castle and not to the place where they are needed in the war. As they get oriented they save a dwarf, sent to meet them and take them to Caspian. Along the journey, they remember their old strength and eventually even find Aslan, who has also come to Narnia to restore Caspian to his throne. The children, Caspian, the old Narnians, and the forest all unite to take back the kingdom. I love the parts of the story that include Aslan. They resonate deeply with me. I also love listening to these books with Jet and seeing how his little imagination is stretching and growing.
This is for warriors and rescuers.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Lynn Redgrave, 4:40)
The Russian by Ben Coes (Rob Tacoma #1)
The Russian mob is systematically taking over America. Fueled by greed and strengthened by violence and brutality, they have become bold and brash. They initiate dual operations to assassinate the US presidential candidate and the US Senator who were their biggest enemies in the US. The murders trigger a flurry of activities within the CIA. The US President even executes a constitutional action to grant the CIA special permissions to act within the USA. Rob Tacoma is a hot-shot young operator whom the CIA calls to act as the business end of the spear aimed at the Russians responsible for the assassinations. Rob goes to meet with the other member of the special task force, but the Russians have a spy inside the US Senate, and they send killers after the special team. Rob starts killing his way up the Russian organization. He tortures each bad guy to get the next name in the chain of command, eventually discovering the brains at the top. The story is fast and entertaining, though, compared to Mitch Rapp or The Gray Man, there are some creative plot gaps and tech magic. Thanks, Chris for the recommendation.
This is for action/thriller/spy/assassin junkies.
(Rated R, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Ari Fliakos, 9:18)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia #5)
King Caspian and his crew are sailing their ship the Dawn Treader to the east of Narnia searching for the seven lords of Narnia that were sent away by Caspian’s evil uncle Miraz. This is the story of their voyage. They are joined by Lucy, Edmund, and their cousin Eustace who get sucked into Narnia through a painting in Eustace’s home. Lucy and Edmund immediately love the adventure as the air of the younger world works its magic restoring their strength and memories of times when they sailed long ago. Eustace is a royal pain. He is a spoiled, whiny, sniveling, wretch. Only after he finds a cursed treasure and becomes a dragon does he begin to change for the better. His story is one of redemption and character growth. Of course, the great lion Aslan comes into the story to help and redeem. The best character in the book is the mouse Reepicheep. He sails with great excitement and discipline, eventually sailing to the utter end of the sea in the east. Along the way, the crew finds many islands, adventures, and the seven lords they set out to find. This is a grand adventure story.
This is for sailors, adventurers, and those who seek the unknown.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Derek Jacobi, 5:50)
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #1)
This is the story of the Martian human Rosemary, who joins a multi-species crew on a spaceship called the Wayfarer. Her job as the ship’s clerk is to get the ship’s books in order so that they can take bigger and more profitable jobs building tunnels in space. The crew grows close as they weather many adventures, eventually working their way toward the core of the universe on a job. The author uses the story to build the characters, their alien cultures, and their relationships with the others on the crew. I enjoyed some of the characters and antics more than others, but I suppose that’s part of the cleverness of the book. Chambers uses tension, emotions, and situational confrontations to pull the reader in, and hopefully help us recognize our biases and maybe be a little more willing to see the similarities we have rather than focusing on the differences. Thanks, Kate for the recommendation.
This is for sci-fi junkies, adventurers, and empaths.
(Rated R, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Rachel Dulude, 14:23)
My beautiful wife bought me a 100 Books Bucket List poster, and this is the first book on the list. I read it in high school, but that was half a lifetime ago. I’ve changed and the world has changed a lot since then. In Part 1, Winston explains the state of things in 1984. The Party and Big Brother are always watching and have the power to vanish any resistance to their agenda. The Party is rewriting history, page by page. No one can remember what life used to be like before The Party started changing things. The world is always at war, the people are always living in fear, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. In Part 2 Winston and Julia covertly rebel against The Party. They meet in secret and enjoy life together. They know the rebellion will eventually catch up with them, and that they will be tortured and killed, but each moment is worth the risk. Eventually, they try to join The Brotherhood- a group of people trying to overthrow Big Brother and The Party. Part 3 pulls back the curtain on The Party, the thought police, and the Ministry of Love, which is where Winston and Julia are taken for rehabilitation. The Party spends years torturing and degrading them in every possible way until finally, they learn to love Big Brother. This book is dark, and probably too close to the truth for comfort. I took away the reminder that life and freedom live in the small, quiet, private moments we have with those we love. Cherish those moments.
This is for philosophers, historians, and free men.
(Rated R, Score 6/10, audiobook read by Simon Prebble, 11:22)
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia #6)
Eustace Scrub and Jill Pole escape from a tough situation at school when they are called by Aslan into Narnia. Aslan gives them a mission and four signs to find and save the lost prince, the son of Eustace’s friend King Caspian. Prince Rilian disappeared ten years earlier after the death of his mother. Many heroes and champions went on quests to find the prince. None ever returned. So the quest Scrub and Pole undertake is a daunting one. They are joined by Puddleglum, the Marsh-wiggle. The children botch the first three signs on their journey north. They are almost killed by one group of dumb giants, and almost eaten by a different group of smarter giants. When they finally end up on the right path, they are captured deep underground by the saddest group of gnomes. The trio eventually finds the prince, who is enchanted by the evil queen of the Underworld. By heeding the fourth sign they free the prince from his enchantment, but the evil queen seeks to enchant them all. The bravery of Puddleglum saves them. In the end, the prince is restored to Narnia, and Eustace and Jill are returned to school with the lion’s blessing and the power to restore the school to health with a little help from King Caspian and Aslan.
This is for adventurers, rescuers, and reluctant recruits.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Jeremy Northam, 5:25)
Salvage Title by Kevin Steverson (Salvage Title #1)
Harmon Tomeral has been working in a salvage yard, trying to figure out how to get into space. Tomeral and his two friends/roommates build a mech to enter a Marine competition, hoping to win the 100,000 credit prize so they can buy a spaceship and start their own space salvage company. Tomeral is tough, having come out of an orphanage and learned lots of life’s hard lessons. He wins the competition, embarrassing the marines and military leadership. The military pays Tomeral the prize credits, but in an account that he can’t access as a reservist. The junkyard boss has a soft spot for the boys and hates to see them get abused by the military so he buys them a spaceship from a retiring salvager, and they go to work fixing it up, adding an AI they found in some scrap, and hiring a crew to help run the ship. After a few missions and some luck, the crew finds an ancient midsized warship from the AI’s forgotten star system. Using the AI’s knowledge, they restore the warship and try to sell it in their home system, but the military is still sore about the Marine competition, so they try to freeze the ship and crew in red tape. Tomeral finds a loophole, registering the old ship with a salvage title, and the name Salvage Title. The crew jumps out of the system, hoping to sell the Salvage Title for millions of credits, but they end up in a trap. The buyer is a greedy bully, which sets Tomeral and his crew off. They figure out how to use the ancient warship’s defenses and fighters and destroy the bully. With a better understanding of the Salvage Title’s power, they decide they might want to keep it so they go find a full crew. The book ends with Tomeral and crew saving his home system from an alien invasion seeking to exterminate the humans. What I loved most about this book was Tomeral’s attitude and the fact that the good guys win despite the challenges.
This is for underdogs, hard workers, and treasure seekers.
(Rated PG-13, Score 8/10, audiobook read by KC Johnston, 6:42)
Non-Fiction Books
Gazelles, Baby Steps & 37 Other Things Dave Ramsey Taught Me About Debt by Jon Acuff
This is a short, silly book that presents some spins on the principles taught by Dave Ramsey. Dave has a radio show, books, and classes on money management and he hired Jon to write books and share his ideas. Each chapter in the book is one of the things Jon learned from Dave or experienced in his marriage as he and his wife worked to get their money working for them. He includes ideas like how bad bridesmaid dresses are on budgets, not everything is an emergency, a free spirit scorecard, a nerd scorecard, and writing a breakup letter to your credit card company. Jon is hilarious, and since money principles can be stressful, this humorous spin on them is worth a listen… if you can check it out from the library for free.
This is for baby steppers and anyone trying to live like no one else.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by the author, 2:08)
Five Days in November by Clint Hill
These five days in November are a lot like 9/11 for those who were alive and old enough to remember them. This book is a recap of the trip to Texas that took President John F. Kennedy. The book is arranged chronologically and the hard copy has many pictures and other documents from that trip documenting the assassination of the president. The death of the president was brutally emotional, sad, and shocking. Hill’s writing style is brief, and factual as he describes those events scarred into his memory. He has tried to heal from the tragedy by writing about the events after so many years of silence. Hill was the Secret Service agent in charge of Mrs. Kennedy’s protection so he was very close to the family, the president, and the events that happened in Dallas. He is the agent in the photos who jumped on the back of the car after the fatal shots were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald. The book also tells stories from the days following the shooting where the nation mourned and buried the beloved president- how 34-year-old Jacqueline Kennedy planned and led the biggest state funeral of the time involving over 100 heads of state, creating some of the most iconic moments in our history.
This is for anyone wanting the real Kennedy assassination story.
(Rated PG-13, Score 9/10, hardcopy, 243p.)
Preview/Currently Reading-
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (The Dark Tower #2)
I track my books in a database called Goodreads. You might find it helpful in managing your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
I read a lot of fiction this month. The stories give me a place to escape the cold and dark. They capture my imagination and attention and allow me to go live somewhere else while the world here in Kansas is dark and frozen. I’ll try to get into a few more non-fiction books next month.
What do you do to shake the cold? What challenges have you been undertaking? What dangerous things have you been doing?
Thanks for adventuring with me.
Joshua
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