Tonya's Book Blog: April 2023 Reading

Hi friends,

I went back to work in April, and Dan took his 4 weeks of parental leave, so it was a month of change for our family. I mostly enjoyed being back at work, but I am sad that I don’t get to hold Lincoln for as long.

I read a few good books in April including the latest Secret Project from Sanderson and a history of humanity. Let me know if you’ve read any of these books or have suggestions for further reading.

Cheers,

Tonya

The Frugal Wizards Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for a fun, entertaining read

Review: This was the second of Sanderson’s four secret projects coming out this year, which he wrote during the pandemic for fun, because he’s Sanderson. This one is more of a sci-fi than fantasy read and uses alternate dimensions to explain time travel with fewer plot holes. Our protagonist awakes in medieval England with no memory of who he is or what he’s doing there. The tension of the first part of the book revolves around him discovering who he is and how he was magically transported to a dimension of Earth that resembles medieval England. It’s a fun mystery and Sanderson has quite a few twists along the way. I enjoyed watching our character not only discover his identity but decide that he wouldn’t be defined by it and learn how to grow and overcome many obstacles that had been holding him back. That being said, this was definitely one of Sanderson’s shorter works, and since there’s only one point-of-view, is more straightforward but lacks some of the grand depth and breadth of some of this other stories. This book also has amazing and hilarious artwork in the chapter headings and doodles in the marginalia that really made it unique and told a completely different story. They were so cute and fun! II love that Sanderson and his team get to explore more mediums when they self-publish. I also really loved the very “corporatese” explanations of dimensional travel that Sanderson delivered through the Handbook that the novel is named after. They were hilarious and a really clever way to explain the universe and rules without info-dumping all over the reader. I’m really looking forward to the next secret projects.

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber, David Wengrow

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: sure

Review: In this book, an economist and an anthropologist try to succinctly present a “new” narrative of human history that explains the origins of inequality, or rather explains why that’s a dumb question and how we should instead be asking, “How did humanity get stuck in a capitalistic system that allows vast degrees of inequality when throughout human history many systems of governance and property have existed and people have always experimented?” They make a big deal about how their work totally upends classical explanations of human history that apparently don't accentuate that different methods of organizing humanity have been explored, which while I’m not an anthropologist, economist, or historian, felt a little overblown to me. The evidence that they presented for their argument was certainly convincing, and it seems unlikely that whole swatches of scientifically-minded people are unaware of or actively rejecting all of it, but maybe I’m wrong. In any case, it was a fascinating read and I learned a lot about how ancient humans experimented with different social orders and even rejected hierarchical systems of property holding. I’d definitely recommend for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of our collective history, but be warned, the text seems somewhat repetitive, and while I respect that the authors are trying to cover all of human history in one volume, I still think that they could have been more succinct in some places. Still, a good read.

Off-Earth: Ethical Questions and Quandries for Living in Outer Space by Erika Nesvold

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: yes, for those interested in space

Review: I love learning about space exploration. In fact, I literally get paid to do so. So that’s nice. This book asks all the big ethical questions that those seeking to explore the heavens, be they public entities or private corporations, should be asking themselves. How will we ensure that laborers in space civilizations won’t be exploited? How will we ensure that scarce resources, including the very air that we breathe, isn’t controlled for profit? How will we treat the disabled? The author even explores questions like how will we approach contraception and reproduction? Nesvold doesn’t offer many definitive answers at all, but she does provide thought-provoking discussions and a great perspective. I will definitely not be volunteering for any space settlement even if such a thing would be an option in my lifetime. I’m way too risk-averse, but I do hope that those seeking to expand humanity further into the final frontier think about these questions before they venture out and consider what type of society they want to build and then intentionally do so.

Flux by Jinwoo Chong

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: maybe

Review: This was a trippy scifi novel that came highly recommended from the book nerds at the New York Times. I mostly enjoyed it. There was quite a bit of somewhat confusing time travel and the explanation at the end felt a bit hand-wavey and deus ex machina, but Chong definitely delivered several emotional punches throughout the story that really resonated. He did a great job of building suspense and setting a scene and then letting the scene climax at the right time. I’m happy to say that I called the big twist a little bit before it was revealed. I recommend for those interested in somewhat experimental scifi books.

Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: Journey Through the Deep State by Kerry Howley

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Recommendation: sure

Review: Howley writes nonfiction but the book reads like a novel. In this somewhat disconnected book, she explores the stories of several prominent whistleblowers or national security leakers, depending on your point of view. She explains their backgrounds and their cases. While her themes were somewhat scattered and hard to follow at times, she talks a lot about data privacy and how private companies have remarkable insight into our lives that the government can and has also accessed. She tells the story of Reality Winner, who is currently serving a prison sentence for leaking one document that embarrassed the Trump administration. As someone who works in government, I can tell you that none of this was really surprising to me, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worrisome. Howley is an excellent author, and I was hooked from the moment I started reading. The nonfiction text read easily and was very engaging.

Mommy Corner

Chloe had a piece of art displayed at the district art show at the library. Grandpa Woodbury is helping her show it off here since it was hanging high on the wall. She's an amazing artist!

Dan always makes me an amazing cake for my birthday. Here's this years. It was gone within a week.

Smiley Lincoln with some shades.

My cuties with their Easter outfits.

We had a few nice days in April, and Lincoln said, "Suns out. Rolls out."

Chloe's amazing art teacher set up a really cool art show at her school. They covered the halls and surfaces in all the art projects they've worked on all year. Chloe was proud to show off her pieces.