48 Dragonquest - Anne McCaffery (and 38 Dragonflight)

 As a teenager, I read every book I could by Anne McCaffrey. Oh to bond a dragon! To have a telepathic connection with a magnificent, flying dragon! It was one of my favorite daydreams.  It's fun to revisit these as an adult.  Anne McCafferey's prose is much more complicated than I remember and she uses words that I often have to look up.  Yikes...I don't remember looking up words as kid... I didn't pick up on much of the innuendo either.  Anyway...  Anne McCaffrey does a wonderful job world building.  This book picks up where Dragonflight left off.   Dragonriders of Pern need to band together with Holders and Crafters as deadly thread fall upon the planet.   Will they be able to overcome their political and cultural differences to save the planet?  Or will they be caught up in petty power struggles and greed?   Will they discover the secrets of their early colonist ancestors? If you don't like sci-fi that deals with the concept of a superior warrior-class, these may bug you.   The treatment of women characters leaves a little to be desired. What happened to Lessa in this book?  In the last book, she was the hero of the world, but she gets pushed to the side as a support role in this one.   Women are useful for helping queen dragons breed more dragons...and managing the domestic side of the Weyrs.  :( I'd love to see women as scientists and crafters....or grand adventurers so this book disappoints in that regard.

These are classics in science fiction and I recommend them.   I give them a 3/5 - worth checking out from the library, but I don't need to own them.  :)

47 The Gifts of Imperfection - Brene Brown

 

Y'all, I love this book.   I have the paper, kindle, and audible versions and I go back to them often.   This is technically a reread, but hey...I'm down to 5 days and 5 books.  So I'm selecting books that I've purchased on my Audible account that are under 6 hours, and listening to them at 1.3x speed.    So close.... I'll have a few days off around Christmas so hopefully I can get this goal accomplished!

In this book Dr. Brown walks you through 10 guideposts for whole hearted living.  When I first read this book, I was in the middle of my "great unraveling of 2018."  I was burned out and struggling with compassion fatigue in general practice.   I read this book and it turned the course of my life.

People may call what happens at midlife "a crisis," but it's not.  It's an unraveling - a time when you feel a desperate pull to live the life you want to live, not the one you're "supposed" to live.  The unraveling is a time you are challenged by the universe to let go of who you think you are supposed to be and to embrace who you are.

At the time I was still determined to make general practice work, but I realized that it's not where I'm happy.  So I stopped fighting what I realized to be true... and I quit.  I've never quit anything in my life (...Boundaries is a new favorite subject).  I spent 18 months as a stay at home mom, and I loved every minute of it.  I had time to teach students at bible study.  I had time to play.  I had time to paint and cook nutritious dinners for my family.  I had time to travel.  And...when I was offered a full time position at Mizzou to teach veterinary students, I was in a position where I could make that leap.  I'm so much happier in my new position, but the quote I shared above was instrumental in getting me there.

I'm not going to go into all the guideposts in this post, but I did want to mention 1:  Cultivating Creativity and Letting Go of Comparison.   Comparison is the thief of joy...and also the destroyer of creativity.   How many of you joyfully created art as a young child only to start comparing yourself to the "good artists" and stop?  What a tragedy! When I see my little children doing art, I compliment them wildly.  I mat their pictures.  I share them on my art page.  I want to raise fearless artists who create art because God gave us a spark of His creativity. I want to nurture that spark!

1.  "I'm not very creative" doesn't work.  There's no such thing as creative people and non-creative people.  There are only people who use their creativity and people who don't.  Unused creativity doesn't just disappear. It lives within us until it's expressed, neglected to death, or suffocated by resentment and fear.

2.  The only unique contribution that we will ever make in this world will be born of our creativity.

3. If we want to make meaning, we need to make art.  Cook, write, draw, doodle, paint, scrapbook, take pictures, collage, knit, rebuild an engine, sculpt, dance, decorate, act, sing - it doesn't matter. As long as we're creating, we're cultivating meaning.

Seriously, if you haven't read this book, it's phenomenal.   I give copies to my veterinary students on a regular basis.  

46. Talking to Strangers - Malcolm Gladwell

 

I've enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell's works in the past, and this book is no exception.   I listened to the Audible version narrated  by Gladwell himself.   Why are humans so terrible at reading the emotions of strangers?  Gladwell explores this subject through anecdotes and research - attempting to explain why humans misread strangers.   This book wasn't at all what I was expecting.  I thought it would be tips and tricks on how to detect lies (hello...I'm a mom to a teenager), but instead it dealt with police brutality, campus rape, sexual assault, spies, and interrogation tactics - situations when misreading another human's intentions leads to disastrous consequences.   We are fed a steady diet of lies on the television which intentionally dramatizes facial expressions to make the actors easily understood, but humans in real life rarely act like that.  We aren't that transparent!   But yet the expectation is set, and when others act contrary to our expectation for transparency we misinterpret them.   This book was a fascinating read and helped me understand myself and others better...or rather embrace that it's impossible for me to understand a stranger, and I should instead approach dealing with strangers with "caution and humility."  I listened to the Audible of this book and the voice acting and recorded interviews added quite a bit to my enjoyment of this piece.   I give this book a 4 ...and definitely the Audible version is worth it.

20. Tough Guys, Drama Queens by Mark Gregston

 

If you have a teenager and are a Christian, I recommend this book.   Things are different for teens now because of the bombardment of social media.  When I was a kid, all the drama of school....stayed at school.  There was no snapchat/facebook/instagram to broadcast my awkward teen years.   If home is nothing but nagging about grades/housework...etc, there is no refuge from the storm and teens will withdraw to people who understand them (ie, their peers).   Modern parents therefore MUST focus on the relationship with their teen.  This is nothing new if you are into Love and Logic or TBRI, but if you are stuck in traditional consequence based parenting and it isn't working, this can be another tool in your tool box. 

45. Delay Don't Deny by Gin Stephens

 

Delay, Don't Deny was a fast read with one message: intermittent fasting works.  She briefly summarized the science Dr. Jung explains in The Obesity Code.  Insulin makes you fat.  Sweet things (including stevia and all the fake sugars) make you release insulin.   If you have insulin circulating all the time without a break, you get fat.  If you reduce calories, but still have insulin circulating all the time...your body thinks we are starving... so your hormones for satiety and hunger GO CRAZY.   This is a gross oversimplification of course, but it explains why about 2 weeks into a calorie restriction type diet I find myself shoveling all the food I can reach into my mouth.   It's not pretty.   I think I may try giving myself an "eating window," and slowly narrow my eating window to one large (as large as I want) meal.   Wish me luck!

I'd recommend this book to anyone who has dieted and failed....dieted and failed....dieted and failed.  It's simple and quick to read.  I probably won't revisit it though so I give it a 3/5. 

19. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

Are you fascinated by how the human brain works?  I'm obsessed with books about the brain - specifically how do I hack my brain to live the life I want to live instead of wasting it on social media?  One of my goals this year is live life with intention, and this book is perfect for evaluating the habits that hold me back (or propel me).

Duhigg examines both anecdotes and scientific studies to highlight the effects of habits.   Habits are like the autopilot feature for our lives.   Habits will make or break a person, but most of us don't even pause to think about them.  It is FASCINATING.    Habits occur in the "Habit Loop:" there's a cue, routine, and reward.   Identifying each component of a habit gives you the power to alter the loop.  What is the craving? What is the habit?  What is the reward? 

What is one habit that would dramatically change your life for the better?  Duhigg refers to these habits as keystone habits.  1 habit that has an effect on the whole.  For example, when Paul O'Neill became CEO of Alcoa, he announced they would be focusing on the habit of safety.  Shareholders freaked out because it wasn't what they were expecting.  How is safety going to make them more money?  However, safety was a keystone habit that transformed the company by increasing employee safety (and satisfaction) thus increasing profitability by decreasing workman's comp claims.  As old, dangerous equipment was replaced, quality sky-rocketed.  As employees learned to communicate on-site dangers and problems, communication flourished and, in turn, increased efficiency. 

Duhigg also examines will power and the habits associated with it.  As it turns out, willpower is a finite commodity.  If we use it all up early in the day, we are vulnerable to poor decisions later.   This is of particular interest as a veterinarian.  I used to feel all my decision making power was consumed by work and frequently made poor eating decisions because I just couldn't  find the willpower to eat healthy.  This where habits come in to play.  If you develop the right healthy habits, you don't have to use will power.  You just follow the habit. 

This book is chalked full of meaty, science on the formation and power of habits...but devotes less time to the practical tips of changing your habits.  The appendix is devoted to how to do you own mini-study of your habits.  What's the cue routine, and reward of your habit?   I printed it off to start examining my own bad habits (particularly my stress eating and my "Add to Cart" habits). 

Overall, I give this one a 4/5.  I have the Audible version and it was fun to listen to this one while working out or cleaning.    If you like reading about habits, but want a more practical book Atomic Habits is another great book to read. 

18. Home from the Sea - Mercedes Lackey

I checked this book out from the local library before the pandemic hit.  The cover looked pretty interesting, and I've enjoyed Mercedes Lackey's books before (her Joust series was AWESOME).  This one was not my favorite.   I should start with this is number 7 in the Elemental Masters series.  Perhaps, I would have enjoyed it better if I had  read the others first.

Mari lives with her father in a cottage by the sea.   Their fishing prospers and her father never seems to fear storms that have other fishermen too afraid to venture outside.  However, Daffyd has a secret: one that binds Mari to wed a man from the Selch clan.  The Selch are magical, shape-shifting creatures of the water.    Nan and Sarah suddenly show up (characters from the rest of the series I assume) to assist.   ...

I had a few issues with this book starting with the book didn't need Nan and Sarah.  The space would have been better spent developing character of Mari and family.    Also when Mari makes her choice of mate, why is this such a big deal to the clan chief?  The clan chiefs actions are just baffling.   Your clan needs to strengthen their line with the Prothero family....why anger them so much?  Also I thought there would be earth shatter peril - forces of darkness threatening to overtake or perhaps convert our new heroine.    Nope.    SPOILER ALERT so highlight to read it.... Mari's mother and brother were also a part of this bargain and supposedly a great wave swept them both to the Selch island.   When Mari shows up there, why don't they show up when she ventures there?  

Overall, I give this book a 2 on my rating system.   It was just ok.   Borrowing from the library is just fine.  I may or may not read more in this series.