February 2026
February was a roller coaster with highs and lows. We had a dark week when the kids had the stomach bug. We watched a lot of the Winter Olympics, including the bright spot of the USA Women's and Men’s Hockey teams collecting Canadian tears. At work, the talk has been all about AI. The weather has been everywhere from 10 to 80 degrees.
Anyway, here are the books I finished in February and my reviews of them:
Fiction Books
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
What do you think the future holds for man? What does the Earth look like after eons of time pass? This book is the author’s guess in the form of a story, told by an inventor who travels to the far distant future and finds his way back to his own time. In the future, the time traveler finds two types of humanoids: a bright, fairy type, and a dark, ape-like subterranean type. The inventor philosophizes with his friends as he recounts the adventures. His idea of how humans evolved changed drastically as he learned more about the future Earth. After relating his thoughts to his friends, the time traveler disappears again into times unknown.
This is for students of philosophy, class, and human development.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, audiobook read by David McAlistair, 3:27)
The Boy Who Fell From the Stars by Ted and Rachelle Dekker
Religion has led to nuclear war, forcing humans to create an ark and send the best of the race into space to wait while the earth recovers. But when scouts return, they find dragons, released by the war and emitting toxic gases. So the council on the ark has created a team of dragon slayers. The dragon slayers are being trained to travel down to earth, hunt dragon queens, and kill them, paving the way for the rest of the humans on the ark to return to earth before they run out of air and water. The plot and setup for the series are very dramatic. The stakes are the fate of the human race, but the dragons are not their biggest enemy. The story is written for kids, so the language is clear and direct. There are some unshakable truths woven into the conversations between the main character, Jack, and his mother that really resonated with me as I read. First, “There is no darkness in light, and there is no fear in love.” I needed this reminder when I found it. Second, “You might be my son in this life, but you don’t belong to me. You are a gift from heaven, and to heaven you belong.” This truth is critical for me as a parent. I often forget it when my kids are sick.
This is for little survivors and space nerds.
(Rated G, Score 9/10, paperback, 170p.)
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
A crazy trio of former stars comes to the aid of the Murry family, whose father is missing. Mrs. Who, Mrs. Whatsit, and Mrs. Witch take Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace to rescue Mr. Murry by tessering (space and time-traveling) away from Earth. The party stops at a planet named Uriel so the children can see the darkness they will be fighting. The darkness is terrifying. The children fight it anyway, for love. The children rescue Mr. Murry from IT on a dark planet, but they lose Charles Wallace. Only love can help Meg rescue her little brother from the darkness and IT. The book is unique in style. It blends deep themes with fantasy, sci-fi, and clever writing. It is a classic now, but it took a while to stick. By defying classification, it baffled experts, publishers, and editors. I love the lessons in the book. It depicts the battle between good and evil in an accessible plot. Light overcomes the darkness.
This is for explorers, rescuers, and misfits.
(Rated PG, Score 9/10, audiobook read by Hope Davis, 6:27, paperback, 211p.)
Separation by Seth Ring (Battle Mage Farmer #7)
John and Ellie have their farm and their valley packed up in a tiny sphere. They are traveling through the void searching for a place to anchor their world shard and reestablish their home. They break into a dying world, learn about the power of faith, and save the world. They stabilize the mana enough to use a dimensional portal to get to Candle Scholar Tower. While there, they study, politic, and research, eventually discovering a Void Labyrinth which appears to be a potential new home for their farm. They build an adventure party- John, Ellie, Katryn, Cavvod, Ferdie, and Captain Worrell. The party goes hunting for the center of the labyrinth, the source of the void beasts, and the source of mana that will power their world shard stabilizer. This story was pretty consistent with the other books. I am not sure I follow all the logic supporting the magic system (still). There are two more books for me to figure it out.
This is for void travelers, heroes, and warriors.
(Rated PG, Score 7/10, ebook, 403p.)
I wonder if I could have enjoyed this book ten years ago. The beauty of the book is in the depth of the characters and the deep emotional ranges it made me feel. If you hate feeling things, you should not read about Theo. Theo is an old, mysterious gentleman who moves to the city of Golden from New York. Theo finds some amazing portraits for sale in a small coffee shop. He studies them deeply. He doesn’t understand why they haven’t sold. He decides to buy them and give them to their subjects as gifts. The story blends Theo’s bestowals, his past, and his interactions around Golden. The character development is so good. The dialogue is perfect. There are so many moments that echo with the feel of eternity. Some interactions gave me a glimpse into things unshakably true. I love these moments. Ten years ago, I don’t think I could have understood or appreciated a book like this, but maybe I sell myself short.
There were three pieces of the book so good that I marked them for revisiting. One was a discussion between Theo and Asher about what makes good art. Theo thoughtfully tells him, “For anything to be good, truly good, there must be love in it.” That seems to be true for all work.
Two was, “Sadness can make us bitter or wise. We get to choose.” We will all face sadness. How it shapes us is our choice.
Three, “God gave us faces so we could see each other better.” We must be willing to look at people’s faces to know them and understand them, or we will fail to understand them, and that will let us dehumanize them.
Thank you, Jimi, for this beautiful recommendation.
This is for anyone needing a glimpse of kindness and heaven.
(Rated PG, Score 10/10, audiobook read by David Morse, 13:12)
North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson (Wingfeather Saga #2)
Book 2 of the WingFeather Saga picks right up where Book 1 (On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness) ends. The adventures of the Igiby family continue as they flee from the Fangs of Dang over the Mighty Blapp River and into the Ice Prairies. Stranders, a Fork Factory, toothy cows, Gray Fangs, Bomnubbles, and Snickbuzzards are just a few of the dangers the Jewels of Anniera must face in this tale. Can the Throne Warden protect the King as his duty and honor dictate? Can an old man be forgiven for his long-ago sins against the dragons? Listening to this with Jet, I had to deal with so many questions. The action and danger keep him nervous and trying to figure out what happens next.
This is for adventurers, protectors, and rebels.
(Rated PG, Score 9/10, audiobook read by the author, 12:01)
The Hard Line by Mark Greaney (Gray man #15)
I love reading Gray Man books. They aren’t all polish and fancy ideas and self-improvement. They are gritty, dangerous, and entertaining. They talk about people as they really are- varying degrees of gray. We all have our strengths, weaknesses, and dark sides. We all have loves and hates and lines we swear we will never cross. We all have doubts. We all have mistakes we can’t go back and unmake. In this book, Court Gentry (Gray Man) and Zack Hightower are forced to face mistakes and consequences from their pasts. At the same time, they are working as members of Ghost Town, an off-book CIA task group that is trying to figure out who is killing members of the US intelligence community in DC. Like all the other Gray Man books, there are lots of gunfights, chase scenes, and political intrigue. If you don’t know Gray Man, think Jason Bourne, but more sarcastic. I don’t usually mention the audiobook narrators, but for this one, Jay Snyder is not at his best doing broad Irish accents.
This is for ghosts, spies, and protectors.
(Rated R, Score 9/10, audiobook read by Jay Snyder, 15:02)
The Journey to the Silver Towers by Rachelle Dekker (And They Found Dragons #2)
The Dragon Slayers are stranded on Earth after they crash-landed at the end of book 1. Jack, Sammie, Miguel, and Marco are the children Dragon Slayers whose mission is to kill the dragon queen so that the remaining humans on the ark space station can return to Earth before they run out of air and water. The dragon's breath in the air drives each of the humans to the worst of themselves. Only Jack is immune. Jack and Sammie are rescued by Scalers who drink dragon’s milk, serve the red dragons, and live in fear. Jack finds that his blood will temporarily heal Sammie of the effects of the dragon's breath and dragon’s milk, but it wears off, sending her into fear and distraction. Jack discovers the Silver dragons after Sammie falls back into fear and chooses the reds. The Reds are fear. The Silvers are light. The fate of the humans will be decided by which type of dragons they choose to believe. I liked the action in this book better than the first one. The story makes more sense as the layers are peeled away.
This is for dragon riders and survivors.
(Rated PG, Score 8/10, paperback, 167p.)
Non-Fiction Books
This is an amazing book that found me at just the right time (as most books do). I’ve been wrestling with some ideas surrounding trust, even though I didn’t understand how big the trust aspects were.
There are five sections in the book-
- In the first section, Dr. Cloud explains what trust is, how we develop it during infancy and childhood, and how we rely on it in so many aspects of our lives.
- In section two, Dr. Cloud explains that there are five essential elements of trust: understanding, motive, ability, character, and track record. Each element is broken down in its own chapter. Dr. Cloud uses his search for a knee surgeon to explain how each element of trust contributed to his eventual selection of a surgeon while ruling out untrustworthy options along the way. For example, a surgeon could listen to your situation and empathize (understanding), express his desire to help you recover (motive), but be completely inexperienced in knee surgery, failing the ability and track record elements. We know and understand these ideas intuitively, but it’s so helpful to have a framework and language to discuss them.
- Section three contains ways to develop trust.
- Section four is a step-by-step process for restoring broken trust.
- Section five is a wrap-up with tips for not making the same mistakes in trust.
I enjoy reading content by Dr. Cloud. He uses a good blend of psychology, wisdom, story, and plain language. He breaks big ideas into manageable chunks. He is hard on bad behavior. He provides wonderful perspectives on difficult issues. He calls it like it is.
This is for anyone dealing with interpersonal trust issues (all of us).
(Rated PG, Score 9/10, audiobook read by Michael Beck, 9:28)
Preview/Currently Reading-
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
The Apostle’s Creed by Ben Meyers
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
I track my books in a database called Goodreads. It might help manage your reading lists.
Final Thoughts-
There was a clear theme in all of the books I read this month: Light overcoming darkness. I love this theme. It resonates with me this time of year. Clawing our way out of the dark of winter has been tougher since COVID. Fear and darkness, sickness and sadness; they hang on and don’t let go without light and deliberate focus on healing, motion, and (sun)light. Check in with your people and lift each other up out of the seasonal depression, and help each other thrive and bloom.
I found this prayer in The Boy Who Fell From The Stars. It touched my dad-heart. I will pray it over my kids with tears in my eyes as I bless them and pray power and direction for them. I can imagine my mom praying these powerful words over me, too, just like in the story.
[Child] of heaven, I pray all light and love go with you all the days of your life. May you know your worth deep enough to see the worth in others. May you see the narrow path, the only way, and not fear it. May you use innocence in the face of judgment. May you hear Yeshua’s voice and see him in all the things you face.
May you find light and life.
Thanks for adventuring with me.
Joshua
No comments:
Post a Comment