January 2024
January is usually tough, but this one felt extra. We started by celebrating Millie’s birthday at the rollerskating rink and they wouldn’t let me skate. We got a couple of snow storms and plenty of extra cold weather. Now that I can drive myself around again like a real adult, I’ve been trying to get back in the office in person which is funny because every time I’m there someone new says something like, “What happened to you?” when they see me with my crutch. Winter is hard. The weather keeps us inside, diets suffer, exercise is hard to find, and everyone is sick. I’m ready for spring.
Anyway, here are the books I finished and my reviews of them:
Fiction Books
Day of War by Cliff Graham (Lion of War #1)
Sometimes the Bible leaves out some of the awesome details. Graham has written this “fictional” account to give some color to the story of David, Saul, and the mighty warriors from their time. If you read 2 Samuel 23, it gives a fast account of some of David’s elite warriors, including Benaiah, who went down into a pit to kill a lion on a snowy day. Graham takes that single line and makes it come alive. He gives context by giving Benaiah strengths and companions and a mission away from David’s army, hunting a lion who has been killing around a village of Hebrews. The hunt is amazing and real and scary. The hunters kill the lion after a mighty struggle, only to be attacked by another lion who falls into a pit. Benaiah follows the lion down into the pit and the struggle is insane. Eventually, Benaiah kills the lion and escapes the pit. Wounded and exhausted he travels back to the village only to find it under attack by a group of Amalekites. A mysterious warrior (angel) anoints Benaiah and tells him he will defeat all of the Amalekites except one, who will escape. The warrior’s prediction comes true, and Benaiah saves the village. The rest of the book includes more of the story about David and his army as well as King Saul’s defeat at the hands of the Philistines which opens the path for David to take the throne of Israel. I like the way this writing brings the stories to life like movie scenes. I like the struggle and the power of the covering that Yahweh gives the warriors in the day of war.
This is for warriors, poets, and dreamers.
(Rated PG-13, Score 9/10, Kindle ebook, 369p.)
Defiant by Brandon Sanderson (Skyward #4)
The humans are dangerous and aggressive compared to the other sentient races in The Superiority. So when they start making alliances with other races, like the Kitsen in the UrDail, something drastic must be done to stop them. Spensa, recently returned from the Nowhere, with a new set of powers, and a head full of questions and insecurities sets to re-joining her friends. She has been running and gunning solo for so long that she forgets what it is like to act as part of a team. As Gran Gran reminds her, “A spear is always stronger as part of a phalanx.” Together, they are much more powerful and effective. Jorgan, the new admiral of the fleet, is working to devise a strategy of fighting a super-power as big as The Superiority, with a very small force. The humans who are used to fighting for survival have a hardened approach. They focus on limiting The Superiority’s critical resources - acclivity stone. The team steals a bunch of critical data and uses it to map the locations where acclivity stone is harvested from The Nowhere. Jorgan plans a simultaneous attack on the portals to the Nowhere, but Spensa undermines the attack by making a deal with her pirate, friends in The Nowhere, who shut down all the portals with much less loss of innocent life. The move looks like a genius solution, but it has unintended consequences. The Superiority is now laser-focused on eliminating the humans in an all-out attack rather than risking a prolonged war without the portals. As the humans and their allies scramble to organize against The Superiority’s massive attack, Spensa is kidnapped by Brade, making it look like she betrayed her friends and disobeyed orders again. How will the humans overcome such a dire situation? Can Spensa escape? How will the human defiance last in the face of such overwhelming odds? I was surprised when I saw that this book came out last fall because I thought the series was over. I was wrong. Even at the end of this book, the author left room for a whole series of spin-off adventures to be added. This wasn’t my favorite book of the series. It was a bit slow getting started and didn’t have the same edge and hooks as the first book did. Doomslug is still my favorite character.
This is for the underdogs and the defiant.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Suzy Jackson, 13:49)
The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2.6)
Since Rothfuss refuses to finish the next real volume of this series, I’m forced to keep reading these smaller, spin-off stories while I wait. This story is about Bast, the Inn-Keeper’s helper. Bast has set up shop by the lightning tree. He sells amazing things to the local children. To one, he sells a lie. To another he sells revenge. To the mayor’s youngest daughter, he sells a trick that will let her keep the kitten her parents are refusing her. For payment, Bast takes secrets, favors, or trinkets. Bast is a trickster and a rogue. It’s hard to tell at points in the story if he is evil or kind. One thing is sure- he is dangerous. The story tracks one day for Bast, and it is a very busy day. Into and out of trouble and deals all day. I love the banter between Bast and the children as they strike deals. I liked the way not everything in the story is spelled out clearly and the reader has to connect some of the dots on their own. I like the characters from the larger story and wish Rothfuss would finally finish book 3. I think the ebook and hard copies have illustrations so I intend to find one of them to see if my imagination is even close.
This is for tricksters and seekers and the fae.
(Rated PG, Score 9/10, audiobook read by Nick Podehl, 4:15)
Brian is a 13-year-old boy battling his way through his parent’s divorce. His mom gives him a hatchet before sending him to his father for the summer in Canada. On the way, in a small single-engine Cessna, Brian flies copilot. Midway through the flight, the pilot suffers a massive heart attack and dies, leaving Brian alone at 7,000 feet with no idea how to survive. Brian calls for help over the radio, but can’t reach anyone who can help. Eventually, the plane runs out of gas and Brian crash-lands the plane through some trees into a lake, barely surviving and swimming to shore. Now he’s all alone, concussed, and confused. Brian struggles against the wild, learning hard lessons, winning small victories, and is ultimately transformed from a scared boy into a toughened survivor. The bugs try to eat him alive, the wildlife tries to kill him a few times, and hunger becomes an ever-present motivator. He learns to find berries and eggs. He teaches himself how to fish, and then how to hunt. He learns how to make fire with the hatchet and some flint he finds in his shelter. He learns how to use his senses to survive. He learns how to hear the animals and how to see past the colors to find the birds he hunts. He learns to prioritize food and safety. “First food, then thought, then action.” He learns to stay busy to keep his thoughts from wandering. One day after months on his own, nature tries extra hard to kill Brian. He is ambushed by a moose, who nearly crushes and drowns him in the lake. After he escapes to his shelter, everything he’s built and collected is destroyed by a tornado. But he isn’t shaken. He started with just the hatchet, and he can rebuild everything again. The next day Brian sees that the tornado has left him a gift- it moved the plane wreckage to a place where the tail is visible above the water. He builds a raft and floats out to the wreck, hunting for the survival pack it holds and the wealth of survival gear in it. It takes him a whole day to free the pack and haul it back to his shelter, but inside, it has miracles like food, a gun, fishing gear, and an emergency transponder. Brian isn’t even done cooking his first meal out of the stores when a plane drops down on his lake and parks on his beach. A hunter/trapper heard his emergency transponder and came to his rescue. Brian survived almost two months on his own in the story. Listening to this story made me want to do some more camping and survival training. My kids are just about big enough to handle some next summer I think. That will be great because it will give Aubrey some quiet time.
This is for boys, survivors, and nature lovers.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Peter Coyote, 3:42)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter #7)
The series builds to a crescendo in this final book. Harry now has a mission: find and destroy Horcruxes, which are parts of Lord Voldemort’s soul. Then kill Voldemort. Which is all well and good except he doesn’t know what they all are or how to destroy them. Dumbledore left Harry, Hermione, and Ron some clues in his will, but not a lot. So, instead of going back to Hogwarts for their final year, the trio go hunting. There is a huge wedding at The Borough for Bill and Fleur where Harry meets several interesting characters and learns about Dumbledore’s past. The wedding party ends abruptly with the news that the Ministry of Magic has fallen. The Minister is dead. Voldemort is publicly taking power and spreading darkness. On the run, Harry, Hermione, and Ron use all the magic they have been learning to stay hidden and safe. They spend some time at 12 Gimmauld Place, plotting an invasion into the Ministry of Magic building after learning that the locket Horcrux is with Umbridge. Their mission in the Ministry building gets sideways and they are almost caught several times, but they escape with the locket. One of the Death Eaters holds on to them during their escape, breaking the spell hiding Grimmauld Place and forcing the young wizards to live in the wild in their tent. The evil in the locket drives the three friends apart, eventually separating Ron from Harry and Hermione. The next obvious place to hunt for Horcruxes is in Godric’s Hollow. Harry and Hermione use all their ideas to try to explore the little town in secret, but they fall into a trap, barely escaping with their lives. In the battle, Harry's wand is exploded by a stunning spell which is devastating. Eventually, things start looking up when Harry and Ron find each other and the sword of Gryffindor which they use to destroy the locket Horcrux. At this point, the three are learning about the deathly hallows: the invisibility cloak, the Elder Wand, and the Resurrection Stone. They have to choose if they will hunt Hallows or Horcruxes. The action picks up as the reunited trio gets snatched, dragged to Malfoy Manor, and nearly tortured to death. They escape with Luna, but Dobby dies. They plan and execute the most insane heist ever into Gringotts. They break into Hogwarts, start the final battle, and Harry dies. It’s all very complicated and fast toward the end. Having read the story a few times now, it all makes better sense. There were several places in the story where the action and emotions were big enough for Jet to ask to take a break. Now that we have finished the books, we need to hunt up the movies and watch them through. I liked this journey through the final book better than previous reads. It seemed more connected and made more sense to me. I think my favorite part is watching Neville’s character evolve into his true Gryffindor hero version. I want to evolve my courage and toughness like that.
This is for young witches and wizards who are willing to fight for the good in this world.
(Rated PG, Score 9/10, audiobook read by Jim Dale, 21:36)
The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #2)
Luthadel is a city with secrets. Everyone thinks it holds a hidden treasure of Atium left behind by the Lord Ruler after he was killed by the Mistborn Vin. So three armies are marching to claim the city and its treasure. The army already in the city led by Elend Venture can’t find the treasure, so it looks like they are in for a siege. Elend’s father, Straff Venture, commands one army and a powerful Mistborn named Zane. Straff is wicked and cruel. He nearly executes Elend but fears the power of Vin who is Elend’s bodyguard/girlfriend. Lord Catt commands the second army. He tries more clever tactics to take control of the city from Elend, but is thwarted by Vin and Zane who decimate Cett’s defenses with their crazy Mistborn powers. The third army threatening the city is the most daunting. The Koloss are massive blue-skinned humanoid monsters who show no mercy and only know brutality. They are controlled by Elend’s former friend Jastes, who is ruled by greed and terror. Elend tries to lead the city with honor, but all that does is get him voted out of the kingship and treated like an idealist fool. The other leaders rule with fear, lies, and violence. Eventually, the Koloss army attacks the city, breaking the siege. The crew holds out as long as possible but ends up shattered like the city defenses. Vin finally returns to the city in time to join the battle, but it’s too little too late. Only in a desperate last stand is she able to unlock the riddle that saves the city from total ruin. After restoring Elend to power, Vin continues to search for the Well of Ascension which she believes holds the power to defeat the mist, which is growing in strength and evil. In the end, Vin looses a great power from the Well, but it is not clear what that power will do or how it will affect the world. I suppose that’s all covered in book 3. I enjoyed the characters in this book. The dialogue is well-written and clever. I didn’t follow all the twists and turns along the way, but judging from the end, that would have been near impossible. Possibly cheating by the author. A second read would probably make it all more clear, but that will have to wait. Maybe I’ll try again when Jet needs a new series to read.
This is for protectors, tyrants, and seekers.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Michael Kramer, 28:56, ebook, 624p.)
Non-Fiction Books
I’ve been interested in this idea of generalization for a while. It’s a core idea of the Crossfit philosophy. This was the first book I have read devoted to the topic and it was excellent. Epstein explores two different paths to success: the Tiger (Woods) path and the other path where people changed jobs or careers later in life like Vincent Van Gogh. Epstein seemed particularly intent on addressing the negative feelings we all get about changing jobs later in our careers. It’s scary, and we all seem to think that it’s a bad idea. Aren’t we supposed to be getting more and more specialized as we get older and more experienced? Won’t we suffer if we jump to a new field? Epstein argues that these are all real (but not valid) questions. One thing to consider when thinking about these questions is how “wicked” or “nice” the area of expertise might be. For example, golf is a fairly “nice” game because it has consistent rules, the motions are fairly simple, the players and variables are limited, and you don’t get a lot of random, mean outside influence while you play as a pro. This is why the early start and massive amounts of practice allow players like Tiger to be so successful. Other careers are filled with much more “wicked” problems, where a worker’s wide variety of skills, experiences, and contacts will cause him or her to be much more effective at finding new and novel solutions compared to someone who is over-specialized. Epstein covers many examples of learning variety being better than learning specificity from sports, chess, music, science labs, tech, and more. Ultimately, he makes the case that we should try lots of things, learn lots of things, and figure out what we like to do and are naturally gifted to do, and then settle down to do that. Learning a great range of skills before learning deep into a field allows us to be more balanced and more skilled workers in this wicked world.
This is for young people wanting to know what to be when they grow up and anyone thinking about a career change.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Will Damon, 10:46)
The Ten Commandments by Peter J. Leithart
This is a small, short book written to help us understand the Ten Words spoken by Yahweh to his people, the Israelites, shortly after he rescued them from Egypt. The author gives an introduction, explaining the context of the Hebrew law and drawing some parallels between the ten words spoken by God during creation and the ten words of the law given to set his people apart from the other tribes of men. Then the author describes each of the ten commandments in its chapter, explaining the intent of the law, its implications for today, and how we can use these commands to guide our lives and hearts. I enjoyed the way the author described some of the symmetry between the first five commandments and the second five, showing how they were pairs. The first five commands are about loving God. The second five are about loving people. And they work together in harmony. I thought the author did a good job of including different levels of details, pulling in references from many books and Biblical translations, without getting too preachy or stuffy. His language was typically simple and direct. This is one book in The Christian Essentials series and I intend to find and read the others. Thanks, Seth for this recommendation, and thank you, Charity, for giving me this book for Christmas.
This is for anyone wanting to learn how to better love God and people.
(Rated G, Score 9/10, Hardback, 101p.)
Preview/Currently Reading-
Becoming a King by Morgan Snyder
I track my books in a database called Goodreads. You might find it helpful in managing your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
Winter is stressful and depressing. What sort of things do you do to cope? Send me your stress relief ideas and your winter blues remedies.
My knee is still recovering in slow, small increments. I’ve been able to measure some of the progress week to week at physical therapy. This week my range improved to 120 degrees of bending. We also measured my good leg to set a baseline. It bends to 140 degrees. So I have the potential for 20 points of improvement before I get to start over. I’ll have my ACL fixed in March if things work out and I’ll get to do another rehab. If everything goes well, I could be jogging sometime this summer. I’ve learned a lot about asking good questions and leaning into the struggle.
One final note- please pray or send positive vibes up for my sister Charity. She’s fighting some medical stuff and I’d appreciate the support.
Thanks for adventuring with me.
Joshua
PS. Instagram: Fromthespine
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