July 2024
Welcome to the 50th Edition of From The Spine! To celebrate, I’m doing another book giveaway. Send me (text, email, IM, blog comment) any or all of the following to enter:
~Favorite Fireworks
~Favorite Firearm
~Favorite Fishing spot
~Favorite Fiction book
~Your Pick to win the Leagues Cup
I’ll collect entries and do a drawing on August 15th-ish. I’ll send the winner the book of their choice. If you can’t choose, I’ll send you The Way of Kings and you will have a new workout tool.
July has been busy. I had a couple of weeks of vacation to start the month. We celebrated Independence Day, then drove to New Mexico to see my people there. The kids had a blast with my folks and their cousins. They wanted to stay there till school started. We got to see both of my sisters and give them hugs. Now Charity is in Denver doing CAR T-Cell Therapy. Pray for her if you remember. Work has been crazy busy. Soccer started up for Jet. It sure is hot for soccer in the evenings.
Anyway, here are the books I finished and my reviews of them:
Fiction Books
The Lost Continent by Tui T. Sutherland (Wings of Fire #11)
Blue is the main character in this first book in a new prophecy set of stories. Blue is a very empathetic dragon who doesn’t have his wings yet. He is a Silkwing dragon on a whole different continent. The story follows him as his sister Luna starts going through her metamorphosis. The Silkwings don’t grow their wings or gain the ability to spin silk until they go through a metamorphosis at six years old. Something goes wrong when Luna starts her metamorphosis. Luna is a Flamesilk which means she can produce flaming/fiery silk. Flamesilks are rare and related by genetics, so the Hivewings take Luna away in her cocoon. The Hivewings treat the Silkwings like second-class citizens. Io helps Blue escape the Hivewings, who keep the Flamesilks hidden and enslaved, forced to produce quotas of flamesilk for the hives to use for light and heat. Blue runs into a little Hivewing named Cricket. Cricket is a unique Hivewing that can’t be controlled by Queen Wasp. Queen Wasp rules the two dragon clans with a fierce will. She also can use mind control on any or all of the Hivewings (except Cricket and a few others). Queen Wasp chases the runaway dragons all over for several days. Blue, Cricket, and Swordtail (Luna’s boyfriend) hunt for Luna and avoid Hivewings, but they run into a group of Leafwings (a race of dragons thought to be extinct since the Tree Wars). The Leafwings convince the trio to help them steal the Book of Clearsight (a relic used by Queen Wasp to see the future and control her subjects). During the heist, Blue is captured and imprisoned with the other Flamesilks including his father. Sundew helps rescue Blue just before his metamorphosis starts. The story ends with Luna being blown out to sea during a battle with the Hivewings, Blue turning into a Flamesilk, and Cricket standing guard over Blue with Sundew. This is a hectic story and introduces a lot of new ideas, characters, and the framework for this set of five books. I enjoyed Cricket. She’s sharp and kind. She’s inquisitive and clever.
This is for little dragons on a new continent.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Shannon McManus, 8:23)
The Hive Queen by Tui T. Sutherland (Wings of Fire #12)
This is Cricket’s story. Cricket is a very curious little Hivewing who is not part of the hive mind. Queen Wasp is hunting for Cricket and her friends who stole the Book of Clearsight. Cricket and Sundew protect Blue while he goes through his metamorphosis. After Blue emerges from his cocoon with beautiful new wings and flame silk powers, the group (Cricket, Sundew, Swordtail, and Blue) sets out to uncover the secrets of Queen Wasp’s mind control. As they investigate, Cricket learns more about her own origins. The dragons who claimed to be her parents are actually not her parents, which explains a lot about the coldness and distance she feels from them. Cricket also meets several dragons who help her in her quest. She gets arrested and thrown into Lady Jewel’s dungeon, but Lady Jewel and Lady Scarab explain parts of the mystery and eventually help her escape. The story escalates in intensity toward the end when a group of LeafWings uses Blue’s flame silk to set fire to one of the nine hives. The group of friends plus one baby dragonet (Bumblebee) rescued by Cricket flee the area heading to the only “safe” place outside Queen Wasp’s control- the Poison Jungle. I love Cricket’s constant stream of questions. I love her bravery. I like the way she is willing to stand out and always add new knowledge to her experiences. I like that she can’t be mind-controlled. She thinks for herself. I think so far this is my favorite of the books in this series.
This is for questioners, freedom seekers, and bookworms.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Shannon McManus, 6:53)
Red Sky Mourning by Jack Carr (Terminal List #7)
The easiest way to die in the thriller book is to attack the loved ones of the hero. James Reese is trying to settle down and live his own life, but the world has other plans for him. China is on the rise and on the clock. The USA is on a decline, destroying itself from the inside out. AI is developing fast. Weaponized platforms controlled by AI are on the horizon. These factors are coming together and key players are seriously thinking about war. China is putting pieces into place to take back Taiwan, control the Pacific, and cripple the west. Only a few things stand in their way – the current US president, an incomplete AI, and Alice. Alice is an AI who saved James Reese in previous stories. China makes a huge mistake. They try to take out James Reese, but they go cheap. You get what you pay for. The hit team fails to kill Reese and almost kills Katie, Reese‘s fiancé. So of course, Reese goes to war. He visits Beijing for a meeting with Chinese officials. They try to buy him out. He refuses their offer. They try to kill him again. He killed that hit team too. A different team kidnaps and threatens to torture him. That turns out to be a big-time backfire. Reese and a team from the CIA turn the tables and learn the details they need to finish the revenge thing and stop World War III. Alice plays a critical role in the story and is one of my favorite AI characters. She is unpredictable, learning, and growing in power. She models parts of her personality after Commander Reese, which gives her interesting depth and complexity. The author has a ton of interesting ideas about war, politics, foreign policy, and the future. I can’t say I agree with all of them, and I’m sure his writing style, amplifies them on purpose. When I read his books, I have to remind myself that these issues, threats, and dangers are beyond my control and not mine to solve. All I can do is manage myself and protect and love my family.
This is for protectors, preppers, and techies.
(Rated R, Score 8/10, audiobook read by Ray Porter, 15:28)
I listened to this book in two days. It’s fast. The main character is an airline pilot named Bill. A terrorist kidnapped his family and forces him to choose between crashing his plane and saving his family. The doomed flight carrying 149 souls is an LA to New York route so there is a lot of flight time for the plot to evolve. The terrorists have a mole on board that isn’t revealed until the opportune moment. The lead flight attendant, Joe, learns about the kidnapping early. She gets her nephew, Theo, who works for the FBI to rally the troops and search for the pilot’s family. Theo risks his career to start the investigation and trigger massive evacuations in Washington DC where the terrorists direct the pilot. As a backup, the terrorist has commanded Bill to gas the passengers with poison before he crashes the plane. As the story develops the terrorists’ story and motive are unveiled. They are trying to strike back against the country that has turned a blind eye to the pain, suffering, and genocide that happened in their country. The plot goes fast with a few holes, but I found it to be very interesting. I liked the tension each character feels in their moments of truth. I liked the idea of Bill being forced to learn Morse code during pilot training as one of the tools in his toolbox. I liked his grit. I liked the resourcefulness of different characters determined to fight evil. I’ve enjoyed asking some of my technical friends about some of the plot points to better understand how some of the airplane systems work in real life. It’s been a good opportunity to practice curiosity. Thank you, Jennifer, for the recommendation.
This is for anyone needing a quick story to binge-read.
(Rated PG-13, Score 7/10, audiobook read by Steven Weber, 8:26)
The Poison Jungle by Tui T. Sutherland (Wings of Fire #13)
This is Sundew’s story. Sundew is a very angry, vengeful, powerful LeafWing dragon on the outside, but her actions betray a deeper sense of honor, compassion, caring, and protection for even her enemies. She has a dragon superpower called leafspeak which allows her to communicate with and affect/grow plants. Her leafspeak helps her to protect the group of dragons (Blue, Cricket, Swordtail, and Bumblebee) she takes into the Poison Jungle. The story unveils two new dragon communities in the jungle- One group, led by Belladonna, is determined to strike down Queen Wasp and the HiveWings who destroyed the trees. The other seeks peace under the rule of Queen Sequoia. Both LeafWing tribes learn that war is coming in the aftermath of the hive burning commanded by Belladonna. Sundew learns that the secret to Queen Wasp’s mind control and a possible antidote might be found with a banished dragon named Hawthorne. He has been sent to a remote part of the jungle to study the “breath of evil” plant that gives Queen Wasp her power. But his antidote turns out to be a trick, played by an ancient “othermind” that is seeking to control all life on the continent. The war between the HiveWing army and the LeafWings turns out to be a trap, too. The “othermind” takes control of Queen Wasp and all the dragons exposed to the “breath of evil”. At the end of the book, Sundew leads her friends and a group of LeafWings under the command of Queen Hazel (Queen Sequoia’s heir) across the ocean and away from danger. My favorite character in this book is Bumblebee, the baby dragon. The kids got a kick out of her antics too.
This is for green thumbs and future queens.
(Rated PG, Score 6/10, audiobook read by Shannon McManus, 7:25)
Josh Duffy is a bodyguard working in Lebanon when his protection detail is attacked. The presidential candidate he is protecting is killed and the dispatcher tells Josh to walk away and leave the president’s wife to the terrorists, but Josh refuses. He rescues the woman but loses his lower left leg in the process. Unable to get another protection job with his injury, Josh is working as mall security when a former colleague comes along and gets him recruited to a team going to Mexico. The team is tasked with protecting a United Nations mission to the Devil’s Spine. The UN is trying to meet with cartel leaders and avoid a war between the narcos and the Mexican army. Josh jumps at the chance to earn some money and support his family, but soon he realizes the team is in deep trouble. Josh is named Charlie Team Lead (TL). Assigned to him are a driver called NASCAR, a French medic, a sarcastic troublemaker, and a local interpreter who tries to talk them out of going into danger. Three massive armored vehicles make up the convoy heading up into the mountains. The convoy is attacked by various groups of cartels, indigenous people, and eventually, their crew. Josh turns out to be a great TL. He makes solid choices at each twist. He protects his team to the best of his abilities in extremely challenging circumstances. I enjoyed the twists and turns of the story. Some of it was predictable, other moments had me going the wrong way. I like that. I got to practice my Spanish (mostly the bad words). I like Mark Greaney’s story-telling from the Gray Man series. I’m looking forward to where he goes with Josh Duffy.
This is for protectors, aspiring leaders, and action junkies.
(Rated R, Score 8/10, audio drama performed by full cast, 5:34)
Non-Fiction Books
Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday
This book is part of a series dedicated to the 4 Stoic Virtues (Courage, Wisdom, Justice, and Temperance). This book is all about Justice. To begin, Holiday defines justice in the book as being a moral guide or compass. We all know what right looks like intuitively, and we know wrong too. There are three parts to the book: The Me, the We, and the All. The Me is all about developing one’s self of justice, integrity, honor, values, and self-accountability. In the We, Holiday outlines ways we develop our collective sense of justice and how we as a society calibrate, expand, and embrace different ideas together. The All takes an even bigger step back and considers justice at a global level taking into account all people, the environment, and beyond. To tie it all together, Holiday finishes with a call to action. We can all do a better job of doing the right thing, right now. I find Holiday to be a challenging author to read because I often agree with most of what he writes but not all of it. His ideas force me to engage my brain. He challenges my understanding of ideas, philosophies, and beliefs. There are many fantastic examples used in this book to illustrate his points from Harry S. Truman to Gandhi, from Florence Nightingale to Marcus Aurelius. Justice is hard. It often costs us. I learned a lot in this book about what justice is (and isn’t) and what it means in my life to seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with my God (Micah 6:8). Two ideas resonated with me strongly enough to bear repeating here. First, is the idea that we have the power/duty to take responsibility for the warmth others (the young and old) need. In this season of my life, I have felt an enormous burden of responsibility. Here is a quote of a quote that defines this season. It wrecked me. “It’s [my] turn to be the center. To give others what was given to [me] for so long. [I’ve] got to give security to young people and peace to [Aubrey] and a sort of charity to the old. [I’ve] got to let the people who work for [me] depend on [me]. [I’ve] got to cover up a few more troubles than [I] show and be a little more patient than the average person and do a little more instead of a little less than [my] share. The light and the glitter of the world is in [my] hands. It’s [my] turn to make the fire.” Second, the challenge to become powerful resonated with me. “Anyone who wants to do good in this world must be a student of power.” Power is a tool. Power is dangerous. Powerful people do not share power. You must take it by its own rules. I love to help my kids to become more powerful. The world needs more kind people who wield power well.
This is for anyone seeking (to understand) justice.
(Rated R (Language), Score 9/10, audiobook read by the author, 7:59)
take less. do more. by Glen Van Peski
This is a fantastic book written as a collection of life lessons by the author. Glen is an engineer by trade, but most of the lessons in this book come from his adventures as an ultralight backpacker. Glen got into backpacking with his son and their Boy Scout troop. He quickly learned that to go farther, faster, he needed to carry less. The book is divided into two parts: 1-take less. 2- do more. The lowercase title even gets into the spirit of the book. The lower case font takes less ink to print than an upper case font or a longer title. The first half of the book contains seven lessons about taking less. The second half is about doing/being more. Glen has amazing stories, a fantastic partner, Francie, and very interesting perspectives coming out of the wisdom he gained along the way. Glen talks about how the wilderness provides perspective. It has great power to strip away our comforts and petty worries and take us back to what truly matters in life. The wilderness helps us need each other. Glen also points out that when you go into the wilderness you are only three bad decisions away from never coming back. Glen teaches about the power of taking only what you need and how that allows you to go farther, faster, see more, and potentially carry extra to help other travelers. One danger Glen points out with taking “take less” to an extreme is that you might not have enough. There is a balance between taking what you need, taking everything, and taking not enough. In the do more part, Glen talks about the importance of building relationships, being generous, and learning from failure. Glen talks about all the opportunities he came across by being open to new things, being generous with what he had, and deliberately meeting new people. Here’s one of my favorite quotes: “One surefire way to navigate through sadness is to be of service to someone else. When I get out of myself and my personal bog of despondency by seeing what I can add to another’s life, it works every time.” At the end of the book Glen did this neat thing I’ve never seen before: He summarized his life from two perspectives. First, he told the hardship story where he only included the hardships he faced in his life. He tells all the bad things from anxiety, abuse, misfortune, surviving a plane crash, Francie’s depression, and his son Derek’s severe handicaps and eventual death. Then he flips the script and tells the happiness story where he shows how he overcame the bad, how he has been able to thrive in the face of challenges, and how he has been blessed with amazing talent, friends, and adventures. Both stories are absolutely true, but separately, they don’t tell the whole truth. What story are we focusing on? I learned a lot from reading this book. I hope to implement some of the ideas about taking less and doing more in my own home and family. Thank you, Eddie, for lending me this book.
This is for anyone who loves the outdoors and crazy adventure stories.
(Rated PG, Score 9/10, hardback, 253p.)
Preview/Currently Reading-
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Life to the Fullest by Bryant Westbrook
SpecOps by Craig Allison (Expeditionary Force #2)
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
The Dangerous Gift by Tui T. Sutherland
I track my books in a database called Goodreads. You might find it helpful in managing your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
I’ve been doing this email for 50 months. I started back during COVID so I could have something positive to do, a way to connect with people, and a way to share my thoughts. Some of you have been along for the whole ride. Others are getting this for the first time. Either way, I hope you can get some new book ideas and if you have any books you want me to read and review, please send them my way.
I've been pondering empathy lately. I've been trying to learn how to balance being a support to my friends and family, while not carrying more stress and anxiety than is truly mine to bear. I want to help where I can and be able to support people where they are. I want to provide wisdom and kindness. I want to be a healer. I want to be a safe place for the hurting. And I want all this to not eat me. Maybe that's asking too much. Maybe we were never meant for that. Somehow, I think it's possible to have all that with a bit of practice and some wisdom, and maybe some proper tools for stress management. If you have any wisdom, books, resources, or ideas for handling this stuff please reach out.
Thanks for adventuring with me.
Joshua
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