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It's that time again of summer, those d*g days...pardon my French...let's commiserate with the kitties!
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Publisher's Summary:
The Laconian Empire has fallen, setting the thirteen hundred solar systems free from the rule of Winston Duarte. But the ancient enemy that killed the gate builders is awake, and the war against our universe has begun again.
In the dead system of Adro, Elvi Okoye leads a desperate scientific mission to understand what the gate builders were and what destroyed them, even if it means compromising herself and the half-alien children who bear the weight of her investigation. Through the wide-flung systems of humanity, Colonel Aliana Tanaka hunts for Duarte’s missing daughter. . . and the shattered emperor himself. And on the Rocinante, James Holden and his crew struggle to build a future for humanity out of the shards and ruins of all that has come before.
As nearly unimaginable forces prepare to annihilate all human life, Holden and a group of unlikely allies discover a last, desperate chance to unite all of humanity, with the promise of a vast galactic civilization free from wars, factions, lies, and secrets if they win.
But the price of victory may be worse than the cost of defeat.
My Thoughts:
I did it! The final installment of this incredible series is finished. It's sad but satisfying. I have grown to love these characters so much. I'm sad to see them go but I am happy with the ending and where the characters went by the end.
The authors really took their time to understand a future that isn't completely utopian for humanity with each (like Star Trek) but one that still has hope and faith in humanity to keep plugging along and trying do its best with the ups and downs along the way.
Holden with his eternal optimism and hope, Naomi learning how to lead and accept herself and her life choices, Alex and finding his family, and Amos? well...Amos stays Amos.
I am really sad that Amazon cancelled the show before the last three books were finished. It's a travesty.
This summer is flying by. That's good. It means we're busy and having fun. Birthday came and went, Father's Day, I got a new tattoo, and G went to space camp. And I even got in a hike or two.
I have not read very much this summer. I'm reading big books and it seems like I'm not actually finishing any. It's a weird reading time for me. I'm in a bit of a slump. But I'm still really enjoying what I'm reading; it's just taking me a lot longer than normal.
And I have only just barely finished one book today since my last update...😅. We shall see how my focus goes the rest of this month.
We've got a small camping trip at the end of the month and a quick weekend trip up to Boise at the beginning of August.
Also trying to get in a lot more hiking than usual. Two of my friends and I are planning on hiking a local peak that is 15ish miles in one day towards the middle of August. We just completed a 6-miler and have plans for a 10 miler in a couple of weeks. Plus I'm getting my son out for one in a few days and the next week one on my own. I haven't hiked this peak since I was 24 years old! It's been a really really long time. It's a fantastic goal for me. I'm excited. I've got a few in-between hikes to do to make sure I'm really ready...😬
My friend Melissa just moved with her family. Her son and mine are great friends and it's a huge blow for all of us. They're just a state over so at least it's not super far but far enough. Two great friends have moved this year! But we are heading up there next month for her son's birthday and a concert to see The Chicks! I'm not a big concert-goer but I'm excited for this one.
Now our car broke down! We are hoping they get it all fixed before our camping trip in two weeks... yikes.
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| Melissa and I on a night out right before she moved away |
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| This was so hard! That cat killed me. But it was sure fun. |
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| Top of Grandeur Peak |
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| Selfie on the way up! It was sooooo hot. |
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| The other side of the peak |
Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media by Jacob Mchangama
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Leviathan Falls (The Expanse #9) by James S.A. Correy. Last book in the series!
Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington by Jamie Kirchick
What Do You Say? How to Talk with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson
My Thoughts:
This is an excellent book and teaching mindfulness and how to use that to understand our triggers and how they cause bad habits. Being curious and mindful and using self-compassion allows us to figure out where and why our bad habits come from.
He starts off a bit about his background and how he came into mindfulness and how it helped him get through medical school. The beginning chapters start off small and in sizeable chunks and each chapter builds from there. I'll need to keep going back to absorb the small steps and build. Plus, I have a ton of bad habits so I feel like I can only work on one at a time! I bought this one knowing I'll be referencing it for a very, very long time.
Highly recommend even if you feel like you are perfect and have no bad habits...
My Thoughts:
This is more of a collection of essays that Sam Kean tried really hard to link together as a coherent book. Some chapters were a lot better than others. Towards the end he had some interesting tidbits about modern frauds in science.
I felt like he was a bit hard on science in general which I thought odd for a science author. I also didn't appreciate how every single chapter ended with a plug for more info we subscribe to his podcast...really?
I've really enjoyed Kean's other books but I feel like he's dry on ideas and this is what we get...meh. I'd recommend if you've enjoyed his books.
Publisher's Summary:
Twelve-year-old Aru Shah has a tendency to stretch the truth in order to fit in at school. While her classmates are jetting off to family vacations in exotic locales, she'll be spending her autumn break at home, in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, waiting for her mom to return from her latest archeological trip. Is it any wonder that Aru makes up stories about being royalty, traveling to Paris, and having a chauffeur?
One day, three schoolmates show up at Aru's doorstep to catch her in a lie. They don't believe her claim that the museum's Lamp of Bharata is cursed, and they dare Aru to prove it. Just a quick light, Aru thinks. Then she can get herself out of this mess and never ever fib again.
But lighting the lamp has dire consequences. She unwittingly frees the Sleeper, an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction. Her classmates and beloved mother are frozen in time, and it's up to Aru to save them.
The only way to stop the demon is to find the reincarnations of the five legendary Pandava brothers, protagonists of the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata, and journey through the Kingdom of Death. But how is one girl in Spider-Man pajamas supposed to do all that?
My Thoughts:
This is a re-read with G. It's been so long since we read the first two books that we figured we needed to go back so we can officially finish the series together!
It is still a fun and clever read. Lots of great action and humor. There are a lot of references that adults will get that I don't think a regular middle schooler would so it's like those Pixar movies: Great for both parents and kids alike.
I'm so glad Rick Riordan has put his brand on these books to help authors share their stories about their folklore, myths, and culture.
Publisher's Summary:
A psychological and supernatural twist on the horrors of the Japanese American internment camps in World War II.
1944: As World War II rages on, the threat has come to the home front. In a remote corner of Idaho, Meiko Briggs and her daughter, Aiko, are desperate to return home. Following Meiko's husband's enlistment as an air force pilot in the Pacific months prior, Meiko and Aiko were taken from their home in Seattle and sent to one of the internment camps in the West. It didn’t matter that Aiko was American-born: They were Japanese, and therefore considered a threat by the American government.
Mother and daughter attempt to hold on to elements of their old life in the camp when a mysterious disease begins to spread among those interned. What starts as a minor cold quickly becomes spontaneous fits of violence and aggression, even death. And when a disconcerting team of doctors arrive, nearly more threatening than the illness itself, Meiko and her daughter team up with a newspaper reporter and widowed missionary to investigate, and it becomes clear to them that something more sinister is afoot, a demon from the stories of Meiko’s childhood, hell-bent on infiltrating their already strange world.
Inspired by the Japanese yokai and the jorogumo spider demon, The Fervor explores a supernatural threat beyond what anyone saw coming; the danger of demonization, a mysterious contagion, and the search to stop its spread before it’s too late.
My Thoughts:
I really wanted to love this one. But...Katsu seemed to have a hard time keeping her story ideas together. We followed too many people across too many time frames. And thus each character was give short straw. I just didn't care about what happened. If one wants to read about the Japanese internment camps this is definitely not the book for that. Even the scary elements didn't quite work.
The ending felt very rushed and those who "helped" at the end? Well, I just don't buy it. A little deus ex machina for me.
It wasn't terrible. But the book is just a bit over 300 pages and it took four weeks for me to finish it. I never got drawn in. Which is so unfortunate. I had high hopes for the plot but it just didn't draw me in.
Publisher's Summary:
Death—the one aspect of life we all have in common—is waiting for everyone, yet our practices, beliefs, myths, and stories about it are as diverse as we are. You Died celebrates these vibrant cultural expressions of the great equalizer in a thrilling, life-affirming whirlwind of a book, an inspirational volume to be treasured through times of both loss and abundance (and every day in between).
At turns both brazen and insightful, morose and optimistic, You Died asks a wide array of cartoonist newbloods and all-stars to relate their most unforgettable tales of death and what comes next. Filled with beautifully illustrated accounts of grief and mourning, ancient myths, memorial rites around the globe, afterlife in the far reaches of space, and the simple and touching ways both the living and the dead carry on, this lively collection starts a comforting and much-needed dialogue about death as a natural part of life.
Featuring an introduction by death positivity movement pioneer and activist mortician Caitlin Doughty and a murderer’s row of comics talent, including Raina Telgemeier, Shae Beagle, and Lisa Sterle.
My Thoughts:
I'm glad I picked this one up. Overall, it's worth the read even though some of the stories weren't as strong as I was hoping for.
There are a couple in there, though, that made me cry! They open up about grief and death and moving through it all with love and hope. There are one or two that focus on some quirky and interesting historical stuff like how the Victorians dealt with death. And some were just really really confusing and didn't translate well.
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| It takes a match to light a fire |
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| Murder was just the beginning |
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| Private detective Easy Rawlins has been caught on the wrong side of the most dangerous secret in town |
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| The epic conclusion of the Jurassic era |
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| Never talk to strangers |
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| The universe is so much bigger than you realize |
