November 2022: Baby and Books

 Hi friends,

I was able to get back to reading in November after we settled into a little more of a routine with baby Lincoln. I started light with a few fantasy/scifi novellas, but also managed a few nonfiction reads as well. They were all really helpful and informative. 

November was good for the family too. We had a low-key but nice Thanksgiving with my in-laws and enjoyed some family time together over the break. 

As always, let me know what you think of these reads and if you have suggestions for further reading. 

Merry Christmas!

Tonya 

When Women Lead: What They Achieve, How They Succeed, and How We Can Learn from Them  by Julia Boorstin

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation:  yes, for those interested in leadership women in the workplace

Review: This was an interesting book that focused on women who have achieved large success in founding and leading companies. While Boorstin discusses the abysmal deficit of female leaders in start-ups that receive venture capital funding, she doesn’t focus on the disparity, but rather draws from case studies of very successful women to make conclusions about what successful women have and continue to do to lead. For example, she has an extended discussion with Gwynneth Paltrow about her road to becoming CEO of her company, Goop. Topics range from how even the most successful women feel imposter syndrome, to characteristics of female leadership that lead to female-led companies generally and consistently generating higher returns than those with all-male leadership. In general, women are more thoughtful and empathetic leaders, less likely to take large risks, and more likely to create cooperative environments. This was a great and new take on the gender differences in leadership, and I would recommend for anyone interested in becoming a better leader --- male or female. 

The Lost Metal (Mistborn #7) by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for all Sanderson fans!

Review: Wanting to read this book is what drew me back to reading after my baby was born. Sanderson delivers an amazing conclusion to the second era of Mistborn. This book was so much fun to read. Sanderson is finally leaning into his connected universe, which he calls the Cosmere, and this book is full of Cosmere references and crossovers. You don’t have to read all the other Cosmere books to enjoy just the Mistborn series, but I promise it will be a lot more fun if you do. Even without all the connections, this book was great, and Sanderson wrapped up most of the major plotlines while leaving things open for Mistborn Era 3, which will be set some unknown amount of time in the future. Wayne was my absolute favorite this book. I felt like we finally got to really know him as Sanderson explored more of his backstory, and resolved his character arc so perfectly. There was plenty of engaging and fast-paced action, revelations about multiple magic systems, and with the exception of one plot in the middle that I felt dragged a little, was really well-paced. As usual, Sanderson delivered a highly-enjoyable reading experience. I’m just jealous that we didn’t get to go to the Dragonsteel convention when this book was released as we had a 3 week old baby. Oh well, we’ll have to make it to the next one. 

Into the Riverlands (Singing Hills Cycle #3) by Nghi Vo

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, but not as good as the other 2

Review: This was the third installment in the Singing Hills Cycle, which follows a cleric whose job it is to collect stories and histories as they wander a fantasy world inspired by ancient China. I really enjoyed the first two installments in this series, but this one didn’t engage me as well as the first two. Maybe I was just having trouble following it because of my new Mom brain. I still enjoyed it though. Vo wrote a few really well-described and paced fight scenes, and it’s always fun to read the stories-within-stories that she includes and which allows her to explore several different story-writing styles within the same work. I’ll probably read any future installments that are released even though this one wasn’t as good as the first two, it was still definitely a good read. 

Together We Burn by Isabel Ibanez

Rating: 2 of 5 stars

Recommendation:  not really

Review: I read two other of Ibanez’s works and thought that Written in Moonlight was particularly good. However, this one didn’t measure up. Ibanez writes firmly in the Young Adult genre, which I usually enjoy, but this book had too many of the highly-criticized tropes that come with that genre. The romance at the center of the story just didn’t sit well with me. It felt like the relationship was kind of forced, and the prose describing the male lead was way too sappy. It also failed to surprise me, and I called who the villain was the moment he appeared on the page. The decisions of the female protagonist were also annoying, and while sometimes characters make bad decisions as part of a broader arc, I felt like this character didn’t learn from her mistakes and kept making silly choices. The concept is really intriguing: a period piece set in a fantasy world inspired by Spain with dragon fighting instead of bull fighting, but it wasn’t executed very well. There were some really good moments, particularly when Ibanez described the flamenco dancing, but they were mostly outweighed by the poor execution and sappy prose. 

Artificial Condition (The Murderbots #2) by Martha Wells

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, but must read the first one first

Review: For a human-like robot construct that has hacked its governor system and christened itself Murderbot, Murderbot spends a lot of time saving humans. This is the second-installment in Wells's short story series following Murderbot as they go on an adventure to discover their past and what actually happened during the incident that led it to override its governor system. Murderbot’s perspective and voice are so fun to read. For a killing machine, they’re particularly plagued with social anxiety as they now have to fake being human to avoid being recaptured by the company. Probably the most intriguing part is that for a being that isn’t human, Murderbot experiences and some of the most human emotions of any of the characters in the series and consistently acts with more morality and human virtues than the heartless corporations that rule this dystopian universe. These are such fun, short reads, and they always leave me thinking about what it means to be human and how emotions play a roll in that. Wells also writes excellent action sequences and does just the right amount of world building to provide a great atmosphere but not info-dump all over the page. Highly recommend, and I will definitely keep reading. 

Platonic: How the Science of Friendship Can Help You Make --- and Keep --- Friends by Marisa G. Franco

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes

Review: Since getting married, I’ve noticed that the number of friends I have has markedly decreased, and the pandemic has exacerbated this. Of course, there’s nothing about marriage that precludes close friendships, but friendships do require, as Franco discusses in the book, an investment in time and energy that, especially after the kids arrived, has been hard for me to expend. However, I have started to feel the lack of close friendships more acutely than before, and being me, decided to read a book about how to make friends to help me relearn old and largely unused social skills. Franco summarizes and explains the research surrounding friendship and relationships really well and provides actionable advice for those seeking to establish more and more meaningful friendships. She starts with talking about how American society has over the last century or so downgraded friendships largely in favor of romantic relationships, assuming that for whatever reason romantic ones are superior, as typified in the assumption that being “just friends,” is inferior to being involved romantically. Franco pushes back on this and convincingly makes the point that friendships can be just as or more rewarding and valuable as romantic relationships. For me, the big takeaways from this book were that I need to take the initiative to develop adult friendships, and I should assume that people like me. She has more advice, drawn from research into how people make and retain relationships, and I encourage anyone who feels like they could use more or closer friendships to read because I bet there’s something that could help everyone. Now, I just need to make time to make friends!

Mommy Corner

Lincoln is our little ewok in his bear suit. 

Chloe and Maya had fun picking new ornaments, a tradition that we do every year. 

Lincoln makes a pretty fun faces. 

October 2022: Our family grows!

 Hi friends,

October was a big month for our family. We welcomed baby Lincoln to the family, and coincidentally, I have not finished any books since then. Good thing he’s worth it, and things should hopefully settle down enough over the next month or so that I can get some more reading in. If not, I’ll just post cute baby pics here. I’m sure none of you will object. 

Before giving birth, I did finish four really good books in October. Let me know what you think of these, and if you have any suggestions for future reading. 

Cheers,

Tonya 

What If? 2: Additional Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, no need to read the first beforehand

Review: Most of the books I read are ebooks, but this is one that I recommend getting a paper copy of. Munroe has a PhD in physics and is the creator of the nerd-oriented internet comic, XKCD, and much of the books features his signature stick drawings as they illustrate the answers to reader-submitted questions. This is the second book where he answers questions submitted by readers. The questions vary from what would happen if you slid on a fireman’s poll from the moon to the surface of the Earth? How many people would it take to build Rome in a day? And what would happen if Japan just disappeared and then reappeared? It’s highly entertaining and thought-provoking. I highly recommend for anyone who likes popular science books and enjoys a good laugh. 

The Golden Enclaves (The Scholomance #3) by Naomi Novik

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for fans of the first two

Review: This is the third, and promised final, book in the Scholomance trilogy. Since book #2 ended on a rather egregious cliffhanger, I was eager to see what happened in this one. We get to see more of the outside world beyond the Scholomance, which was neat, and Novik did a fairly good job of answering the unsolved mysteries from previous books, although she did seem to leave the ending wide open for future stories in this world. This book had an even darker tone than the previous two and explored questions about sacrifice, group-think, and justifying evil for the “greater good.” It’s definitely an interesting read, and although it’s shelved as Young Adult, definitely explores very adult themes. I really liked the world building in this one. The world of the Scholomance and the outside wizard enclaves is fascinating to explore, and the magic system that Novik has developed is really interesting. El’s journey in this one is also fascinating as she learns about herself and the prophecy that has defined her life. I regretted that her friends from the previous two books were largely sidelined in this one, but we did get to explore some new relationships, and that was interesting. Highly recommend for those looking for a new and different read in the fantasy genre.

All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries #1) by Martha Wells

Rating:  5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, a great read for scifi fans

Review: I’ve had the Murderbot series recommended to me by some YouTubers I follow, so I decided to check it out. Wells has created a well-developed and fascinating character with her android security bot that has hacked its own consciousness and enjoys spending its time watching reruns of bad TV while it pretends to care about its job. I really enjoyed this novella-length story. After reading lots of epic fantasy and scifi, it’s always nice to see a story told well in a shorter form. I definitely plan to continue the series as I found the setting intriguing and want to learn more about Murderbot and its adventures. 

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

Rating:  4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for those who like scifi space opera-esque stories

Review: This book was recommended to me by my brother. I had heard of the TV show adaptation and wanted to read the book first to see if it was worth checking out. Well, I liked the book a lot and plan to continue the series, but I don’t think I’ll watch the show. There were a few horror sequences in the book that my brain left fuzzy around the edges as I read, but I think would be too intense to watch on a screen. I really liked both main point-of-view characters and enjoyed the noir-detective story as well as the action-adventure, running from the bad guys plot as well. I’m interested to learn more about this world as this volume focuses mainly on activities in the “Belt” of the solar system beyond Mars. The plot was fairly-well paced, with a few slow moments, but lots of corresponding tension and action. The themes Corey explored were also interesting. He focuses on sacrificing for the greater good, discovering your own path, and who has the right to make moral decisions for large groups of people. I really liked it, and am planning on reading the next one. Not sure if I’ll make it through all 9 though. We’ll see.

Mommy Corner

The girls were astronauts this year after I found Maya's costume at a local second-hand kids store. Dan went as mission control, and Lincoln went as a cutie pie. "Shuttle to mission control. Houston, we have a baby!" 

An actual picture of me on the blog! This was right after Lincoln was born. I had a c-section because the ultrasound measurements estimated that he was going to be a huge baby. He was quite large, and I'm glad that we went with the c-section. 

They're so cute right after they're born. 

Stoic newborn face. 

Chloe and Maya have been pretty good about the new addition. Maya adores him, and says at least a dozen times daily, " He's so cute! I want to give him a moochy-kiss!"

Maya making progress on the light-up wall at the climbing gym.

Chloe enjoyed carving pumpkins, or rather watching Dad carve pumpkins and providing direction to him. 

September 2022: Great Fantasy Standalones and Getting Ready for Baby

Hi friends,

September was a pretty good month for reading with a good balance of both fiction and nonfiction. I even had a few five-star reads. 

We had a few fun adventures for labor day and settled into our school and work routines. 

As always, let me know what you think of these books and if you have suggestions for further reading. 

Cheers,

Tonya 

Circe by Madeline Miller

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes!

Review: This book had been on my to-read list for a while, and I’m so glad that I finally got around to it. Circe is the back and forward story of the witch that Odysseus comes upon on his Odyssey. She’s the one that turns his men to pigs, turns them back, and then lets Odysseus go. Well, Miller has taken that story and expounded on it, and it’s amazing. Circe is one of the most well-developed, complex, and interesting characters that I’ve ever read. She’s undoubtedly a legitimate strong female character, but she also has flaws, and issues that she has to work through. Her character arc is the biggest theme in the book, and it’s a great one. I loved watching her transform from a little goddess cowering at the feet of her Titan father, to someone who knows who she is and has gained the confidence to fight for what she wants. Highly recommend.

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes

Review: This is another book that’s been on my to-read list for a long time, and I’m glad that I got around to it. This is another one that features a soft magic system, an awesome female lead, and a character-driven story. It also had a story-within-a-story for most of the book. I was able to guess a lot of the twists, but still enjoyed watching them play out and seeing January transform from a “good girl” that met the expectations of her creepy guardian to an independent, competent, magic-practicer who saved herself on multiple occasions. The book has an intriguing premise that was fun to watch it play out: our world is connected to thousands of others through doors that are weak spots between the worlds. Combine secret, magic doors with an evil secret society, and a loyal animal companion, and you get an awesome world setting, in addition to beautiful prose and well-developed characters. Highly recommend. 

Escaping Gravity: My Quest to Transform NASA and Launch a New Space Age by Lori Gardner

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for those who like or follow space policy

Review: Part of my job is overseeing large NASA acquisition projects for Congress, so I naturally had an interest in Garver’s memoir as she was the #2 at NASA when many of the projects I’ve been overseeing started. That was more than a decade ago, so that tells you something about how long human spaceflight development takes. This was fairly well written and tells an interesting story of a woman who is definitely a barrier breaker and has a remarkable vision of how NASA’s work, and human spaceflight in particular, can be used to really benefit the whole US instead of a select group of legacy contractors and Congressmen. I enjoyed getting the inside scoop on how projects that are just now getting ready to fly, like the Space Launch System and Orion Crew Capsule, came about with the insistence of a few select Senators following the cancellation of the previous human spaceflight program, Constellation. Having worked in government acquisitions for a while, I can also assure you that your program has to be phenomenally awful to get canceled. I also liked hearing about how the Commercial Crew Program, which along with the International Space Station, is the only human spaceflight program currently carrying astronauts in space, came about and the battle to convince even NASA leadership to take a chance on commercial ownership of human spaceflight systems, which now seems to be their preferred approach. To be honest, I would like to hear these stories from the point of view of some of the people that Garver worked with, particularly the NASA administrator at the time, Gen. Charles Bolden. If they write their own tell-alls, I’d definitely read them to get their perspectives on what happened, as Garver throws him and other high-ranking NASA officials from the time under the bus several times throughout the book.

On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nightime Sleep by Gary Ezzo

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for those with babies

Review: Since our new baby boy is coming in just 2 ½ weeks, I figured I should review this book. We had issues with our first child sleeping for almost two years after she was born. Not wanting to repeat the experience with baby #2, we looked into this method of caring for babies that was recommended by a friend. The whole philosophy mostly comes down to the order in which you care for your infant. In this case, Ezzo recommends that you feed them, then they have a period of wakefulness and play, and then they sleep, or “feed, wake, sleep.” He suggests establishing and adjusting these “feed, wake, sleep,” periods as the baby grows and as their needs change. It worked really well with baby #2 who was sleeping through the night by 9 weeks. I’m hoping to repeat that experience with baby #3, but I’m sure that he will have his own unique challenges and development. I know that a lot of people have strong opinions against this method, and I don’t have a fight to pick with them. I just want to do what works for our family. 

Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions by Batja Mesquita

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for those interested in how our emotion works

Review: Mesquita is a psychologist who has researched the connection between emotions and culture her entire career. She expounds on what she’s learned in this book. Turns out that there are no universal emotions, and a good amount of what we Americans usually perceive to be the internal state of our emotions actually occurs between us and those around us. Mesquita talks about how there are different “angers” and “disgusts” depending on the cultural context. She gives the example, of how Americans typically express and experience anger compared to Japanese. She talks about how we teach our children to experience emotions with most Americans focusing on helping their children identify and name what they’re feeling, and I realized that I’ve done this with my own children. It made me think about how I express my emotions, and how I’m teaching my children the “right” and “wrong” ways to express theirs as dictated by the culture that we experience every day. Pretty interesting stuff, and I recommend for those interested in psychology and popular science books. 

Mommy Corner

Chloe had her first school picture. So crazy that she's  big kindergartner now. This one seems like it'll be a classic. 

We had a super fun Labor Day weekend. We went to the Sand Dunes with our grandparents and cousins, an the kids loved playing in the stream along the bottom. We had to shampoo Maya's hair 6 times to get all the sand out after. 

Chloe loves building sand castles, a must for any trip to the Dunes.

Broomfield celebrated its annual Broomfield Day. Chloe got to march in the parade with her school, and then they hit up some of the vendors at the big festival. The face painting was far and away her favorite part. 

We also went to the Labor Day liftoff in Colorado Springs, a tradition that I remember ding every year growing up. Here's a picture of very pregnant me with the girls watching the balloons take off. 

August 2022 Parenting and Fantasy

 Hi friends,

August was a busy month for us, but I managed to get some good reading in including some parenting books and some excellent fantasy novels. Let me know what you think about these books, and if you have suggestions for further reading. 

Tonya 

In the Shadow of Lightning (Glass Immortals #1) by Brian McClellan

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Recommendation: for those whole like the author’s other work

Review: This book came highly recommended from Brandon Sanderson, my favorite author. I’ve also read some of McClellan’s powder mage series in the past, so I figured I’d give this book a try, but to be honest, I was kind of disappointed. The premise is really cool: imminently failing empire, murder mystery, hard magic system, and a fallen hero just itching to be redeemed. It took me a while to get into this book though, and I found that I didn’t really care about the characters for most of the book. I finally warmed up to them at the end, but I think that was a weak point. McClellan does a very good job of writing suspenseful action scenes and keeping the reader on their toes. I’d recommend for people who are bigger fans of his work than I am.  

Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for parents of young children

Review: I read Oster’s Expecting Better last month where she examines the data behind common pregnancy recommendations and rules. Since I also have kids in the early preschool range, I decided to read this one as well where she takes a similar approach to the early years of parenting before public schooling begins at about age 5. She discusses the research that could help you answer many questions about the early childhood years: what effect does a parent working have on child development? If you need childcare, should you hire a nanny or find a childcare center? What effect does sleep training have on a baby’s development and relationships? I enjoyed learning about what research has shown in regards to each of these questions. I also liked that Oster advocated for considering parental preference in addition to child development. As she notes, “This idea—that what parents need or want will play a role in choices—can be hard to admit. In a sense, I think this is at the core of a lot of the “Mommy War” conflicts.” Applying parental preference means that a choice that might be right for one family, wouldn’t be right for another. Highly recommend for parents with young kids. 

The Family Firm: A Data-Driven Guide to Better Decision-Making in the Early School Years by Emily Oster

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for parents of school-age children

Review: Unlike her first two books where Oster examines the research to help parents answer common parenting and pregnancy questions, Oster recommends a framework for family decisions making and provides the reader with some useful tools. This book is targeted towards parents of children in grade school, and Oster recognizes that the type and decisions that parents begin to face at this stage is a lot broader than during pregnancy and even early childhood. So instead of discussing decisions individually, she draws from her time teaching business school classes and recommends a decision-making framework similar to what business students are taught. She recommends: 1) Frame the question 2) Fact-find 3) Make a Final Decision together 4) Follow-up. She says that this framework won’t guarantee that you make the right decision, but it will help you make a thoughtful one that is supported by the facts you can find. As my daughter started kindergarten last month, this seemed like a good time to read about this approach as we’re going to be making choices about extracurriculars, how to handle homework, how to balance family time with friend time, etc. She also talks about a few case studies that do have research supporting them like how much sleep does your kid need and when should you get them a cell/smart phone. All in all, it was a good mix of discussing research and applying the framework that she recommends. 

The Bands of Mourning (Mistborn #6)  by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, a must read for fans of the series

Review: This is the third book in the second era of Mistborn, or the sixth book in the series so far. This was, I think, the best of the second era books we’ve got so far. The fourth one comes out in a few months, so we’ll see if that changes. I remembered virtually nothing about this book from my first read through, so it felt like I was reading it for the first time. It’s a good ride. I really enjoyed seeing Steris’s character development and watching her and Wax’s relationship progress. Sanderson really opens up the world in this book, and we get to see more of Scadrial and its peoples than before, which was neat. The climax is a lot of fun, and definitely evokes Indiana Jones, but of course, since it’s Sanderson there are multiple twists. Can’t wait for the next one!

Secret History (Mistborn #3.5) by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for those who have read all the other Mistborn books

Review: Saying anything about the plot or even the characters in this novella is a major spoiler for all the Mistborn books, so I’ll just say that it was interesting and really expanded the world of Scadrial into the Cosmere. It was kind of slow and disjointed at parts, even for a novella. Not my favorite entry in the Cosmere, but should be read after The Bands of Mourning.

 

Furysong (The Aurelian Cycle #3) by Rosaria Munda

Rating:  5 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, but must read the first two books first

Review: This is the third and final installment in the Fireborne trilogy, and it was a great ending to an outstanding trilogy. This one sees our heroes, Lee and Annie, finally get over themselves and move on from all the frustrating fighting and arguing that they did in the second book. They still argue in this book, but they’re not working at odds anymore. In this one, the threats that they face are more external than the internal moral conundrums they faced in the second. There is plenty of dragon riding action, along with some even more emotional moments. It was satisfying to see how each character’s arc resolved and the sacrifices that they had to make. I highly recommend this series for any fantasy readers. The ending is definitely worth the read. 

Mommy Corner

The girls like to build a "cozy corner" out of pillows on the couch and then read together. It's pretty cute.

As part of Dan's family reunion at the beginning of the month, we went to the North Pole in Woodland Park, CO. The kids had a great time on all of the rides. 

Chloe was especially excited about this one. 

Maya was living her best life at the family reunion. 

For work, I got to go to NASA's first attempt to launch its new Space Launch System rocket in Florida. Here is my very pregnant self standing in front of the Vehicle Assembly Building, where they put the rocket together. You can barely see the rocket to the right of me in the background. Unfortunately, the rocket didn't launch that day, and hasn't yet, but it was still really exciting to go and great to see all the projects I've been working on for years. 

I brought the girls back these "catstronaut" shirts. They were right up their alley. 

We took all the little cousins climbing at the reunion. Well, Dan did. My pregnant self stayed at the cabin with Maya. I heard most of them had a good time.