The Invisible Killer: The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution- and How We Can Fight Back

The Invisible Killer: The Rising Global Threat of Air Pollution- and How We Can Fight Back by Gary Fuller

Air pollution is a silent killer. It is often not listed as a primary cause of death. However, instances of severe pollution are almost always accompanied by increased death rates. Air pollution can also lead to various chronic health conditions and decreased quality of life. The medical costs alone of dealing with air pollution are high, but are often borne by different parties than those that are polluting. 

Initial attempts at dealing with air pollution focussed on the large, visible particulate matter. It is easy to view the pollution emitted by the smokestack. The heavy particulate matter tends to have more local impacts. While it may travel, most of the impacts are nearby. However, this missed out on many of the smaller pollutants. The smaller pollutants can be more challenging to identify. They are not as easily visible. Their lighter weight also makes it easier for longer travel. Some pollutants react in sunlight to become worse. Topography and weather can impact the local conditions. Pollution can travel great distances. It can also get stuck in areas.

Air pollution comes from many sources. Big industrial smokestacks are the obvious. These are also the easiest to control. Agriculture produces significant pollution, especially during application of ammonia fertilizer. Home heating and cooking can be most impactful for local residents. Fireplaces have become more popular recently and are extremely dirty. This gets even worse when people burn treated or painted wood that emits arsenic, lead and other chemicals. Transportation is also a source with significant variation. Diesel emits more particulate matter. It has also been subject to more "cheating" in emissions testing. European countries had subsidized diesel, making it popular there. Lead in gas caused neurological problems and was eventually outlawed. Even clean burning cars emit significantly, primarily from their brakes and tires. The amount of particulate emissions increases based on weight and speed. Thus, an electric car weighed down by heavy batteries could be worse than the small gas car.

The best solution to pollution is to prevent it from happening. Reducing distance traveled and not driving cars will cause the most improvements. Building new roads usually makes things worse. Improving vehicle efficiency does improve things, but could be negated by more driving. Using clean home-heating sources helps. Natural gas is good. Electric can be good if it is produced in a clean way. Even wood burning can be made better by using higher efficiency stoves.  There are some mechanisms to "clean" the air. This includes large filters, special paints and other things. These generally work, but suffer from the scale problem. The atmosphere is huge. Even the largest cleaning mechanisms can only clean a small percentage of the local air. With the constant exchange of air from other places, there is little chance for it to fully catch up.

At times, this book can get a little snarky, but generally it has an objective view on air pollution. It is open to identify what has worked and what has not. It mentions global warming in passing, but that is not the focus.

Spy School British Invasion

Spy School British Invasion by Stuart Gibbs

The Spy School kids finally have the chance to take down the bad guys for good. They head out to England to hunt them down and get records of them all. They need to enlist the help of a super hacker that has extreme defenses and no people at his compound. They are able to get in via dogs. They eventually make it to the boss of Spyder. Turns out she is a lady instead of a guy. Spy school's best fighters are girls, so they are not surprised. However, Spyder happen to have an EMP bomb that is about to be triggered due to their actions. The Spy School kids manage to find it at the top of the Eiffel tower, hidden in a dummy. They disarm it by throwing it off the building. In the process they have some fights in British and Parisian museums, and have other classmates disarm bad guys attempting to attack family members. This one seems to go full on with "Spy" clichés.

Divided We Fall

Divided We Fall (Divided We Fall, Book 1) by Trent Reedy

A modern civil war starts in Idaho. The US government mandates a national electronic ID. Idaho does not like this, so decides it will not participate. In Boise people protest, so the national guard comes in. Violence erupts and some protestors die. There are calls for the head of the guardsmen. The Idaho governor refuses. Then the feds come into arrest the governor. The Idaho guard prevents them from carrying that out and sends them back. Things get worse from there. Idaho sets up blockades to prevent federal military or police from entering Idaho. Then the US seals off Idaho from the feds. There are attempts to recall the governor, but it fails. The president is assassinated in Philadelphia. The new president is a hardliner and says she will invade Idaho to force compliance.

The novel centers on a 17-year old high school student who had joined the Idaho guard. He was sent to Boise as part of the action. He had a gun that accidentally discharged and may have killed a protestor. (He was probably not supposed to be there. And they were initially ordered to not load their guns - but a lower leader overrode that.) He keeps his presence there a secret at first, but later it breaks out and causes a media frenzy. He tries to live a normal high school life, but soon can't. His mom was in Washington when the borders were sealed and was going to try to return. He was afraid for that and sought to escort her back. Things did not go well, and he ended up killing a US soldier, and his mom got shot and killed.

The viewpoint tries to be balanced. The protagonist is torn between duty to the president and to the governor. The politicians themselves come off most negative. They are hard headed leaders that find it difficult to compromise. It could be seen as an advocation of right-wing individual rights or a criticism of the the right wing. It does feel precinct in the "mob" behavior. He was concerned that he would not get a fair shake if he tried to tell his story. A few years later, police officers in Minnesota received decades in prison because they didn't intervene in George Floyd's death. Could someone that killed a non-violent protester have any hope of a fair trial?

The characters seem to be primarily caricatures of Idaho individualists. They want their rights and their guns and don't want the feds to tell them what to do. The governor quotes the Idaho and US constitution to justify his actions. Even the anti-violent liberal-arts girlfriend is also a great markswoman and quickly turns to the side of her boyfriend. The book is poorly written, but it keeps you following along to see how it turns out. Just when you expect a way out, things get worse. It finally ends in a cliffhanger.

The Story of Ferdinand

The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson

Most bulls practice being wild and crazy so that they can join the bull fight in Madrid. Ferdinand would rather just sit and smell the flowers. One day the bullfighters come to find the best bull for the fights. The bulls are putting on a sow. Ferdinand decides to sit and watch. However, he accidentally sits on a bee and then goes crazy do the pain. The people see this and think that he is the bull to have. They bring him to the festivities, but he just wants to sit down. Eventually they just let him go back home. The book is a well illustrated classic with a message of being different.

The Metamorphosis

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

The narrator of this audiobook, Ralph Cosham, would often narrate under the pseudonym Geoffrey Howard.

Gregor woke up one day and discovered he was a bug. It was just a "oh, I'm a bug and not human". He is slow getting out the door. His family and even his manager try to come and get him out. Later they learn that he is a bug. His sister is the only one that regularly attends to him. Others protect him but generally avoid him. He was a primary earner in the house, so his "bugification" creates some stress. Eventually, he fades from view. They clean out human furniture from his room to make it more comfortable. They send him food, but he rarely eats. His room gradually becomes a junk room. His family takes on tenants to make ends meet. Eventually, while his sister is playing violin, Gregor goes out to listen. This freaks out the tenants (who are neat freaks.) Gregor shortly after decides to give up on life and dies. The family acknowledges his passing and opts for some privacy from the tenants. Then they go on with their lives. They are somewhat relieved that they don't have to tend for him anymore. They can now move to a smaller apartment and live financially well with their new work.

This can be seen as part of a struggle of caring for somebody that has challenges. They may have changed to be different. At first you see them as who they are. Gradually they become more of a burden. Eventually, there is a relief when you no longer need to care for them anymore. There may be a hope they can return to how they were, but an exit is a more likely outcome.

Telling this story primarily from Gregor's view helps emphasize the changes that are made. He was not killed, he just gave up. He was capable of thought and realized his change. However, he could not do anything about it. He gradually adopted more and more to the life of a bug. Eventually he stopped eating and stopped living. The world and his family was not capable of giving him a life that he felt worth living. He couldn't provide it for himself either.

Gregor's sister was the one that had cared for him. She also played violin in a way that pleased Gregor, but not the tenants. The family barely noticed her until Gregor's pasing. Only then did they realize she had blossomed into a woman. The first thing they thought to do then was to marry her to somebody. Is this good or bad? Is it another form of control or more freedom?

Things Fall Apart

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

People live their life in Africa. Things are different than what we are used to. There are rituals for taking people out to die and multiple wives are the norm. People have heard of "white people", but think of them as sick, abnormal people. Then the white men and the missionaries appear and things change. It is an interesting glimpse into the "contact-era" African culture. It is not idealized or daemonized, but just "culture".

Question 7

Question 7 by Richard Flanagan

This seems to be mostly a history book, but written in novel form to be "flexible". The narrator's father was in a Japanese internment camp. The Japanese at the time were keen on fighting to the death. However, the atomic bomb helped to kill their resolve and dad was free. He later had an awkward meeting with the jailor that involved a hug photo op. This pivots to a few related topics. There was H.G. Wells and his life and affairs and his use of "atom bomb". There are German scientists and their research into the bomb. They stopped because it would take "too long" and Germany expected to be fully victorious by 1943. It also jumps to life in Tasmania. It was once a cruel prison colony that lead to killing of many of the aboriginal population, something that would later be termed genocide. There is also talk of World War II movies and how they are more a projecting of the creator's thoughts than actual experiences. Life of father and family is also brought in. It interestingly jumps from topic to topic to give something of a coherent story.

Being a Cat: A Tail of Curiosity

Being a Cat: A Tail of Curiosity by Maria Gianferrari and Pete Oswald

This picture book feels long, but it is primarily pictures with few words. It explores the life of a cat and what it does during the day. There are a few bits of humor (like a dog trying to nap on it's dog dish), but is not super memorable. 

Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye

Good-bye Stacey, Good-bye: A Graphic Novel (The Baby-Sitters Club #11) (The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix) by Gabriela Epstein and Ann M. Martin

Stacey's dad is being located back to New York. She realizes things will be different when she gets back. She also misses her friends. Her friends help her have a big yard sell and later throw a big going away party for her - complete with games and all the kids they babysit. There are plenty of sentimental going away things. It all feels very cliché. 

Intermezzo

Intermezzo: A Novel by Sally Rooney

The smooth voice of the audiobook narration does a great job of putting you to sleep. It is hard to stay focussed. There is a chess player. A father recently died. Two brothers are supposedly mourning the death of their father, but all they seem to pay attention to is the body of their girlfriends. The brothers are a decade apart in age, and their significant others are closer to the age of the other brother. This leads to fights. One brother had his girlfriend dump him after he got in a wreck. They reconcile and decide that he can see her and the new one. The brothers have a holiday together. The central characters are men, but it feels that they are more pawns for the action of the women.

Jessi's Secret Language

Jessi's Secret Language: A Graphic Novel (The Baby-Sitters Club #12) (The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix) by Ann M. Martin and Chan Chau

The twelfth babysitters club graph novel explores the deaf, ballet and sign language. Jessi is in a new ballet class and is one of the better kids in the class. Other kids feel jealous of her. She feels it may be because she is the youngest and newest girl. (The fact that she is the only black girl in the class is never mentioned.) However, she continues to work and gets a lead role in the upcoming ballet. Meanwhile, she also gets the job of babysitting a new family. She goes twice awake and learns sign language to communicate with a deaf boy and his hearing sister. The sister struggles with being looked down on because she is always helping her brother. Jessi helps her to overcome this. She also helps both to get good friends. She is also able to communicate with the deaf sister of a girl in her ballet class. For the opening performance, Jessi invites all her friends and the deaf class. They all enjoy the ballet. This one is a nice positive message that seems to have fewer false dramas than other BSC books.

1587, a year of no significance: The Ming dynasty in decline

1587, a year of no significance: The Ming dynasty in decline by Ray Huang

By 1587, the Ming dynasty was in terminal decline. The government continued to function, however, the base to its legitimacy was fading away. This book is written in the style of somebody living through the empire and experiencing the decline. It is clear there are a multitude of forces involved. The empire is in a state where the ideal and communications are different from the actual. Humility and frugality are important. However, these are more principles than actual practice. Government officials will preach frugality, but live an ostentatious life. The empire has built on Confucian ideals. It has evolved to be too rigid and difficult to change. Even when actions diverge from the principles, they have been ingrained by the behavior. On the other hand, massive changes can occur when leadership changes. A high level government official can drive out those that they do no like and raise up their friends. Once they are out of power, the leadership changes again.

The book has a number of different chapters that focus on certain people that have a tie to 1587, the year o the Pig. The "year of no significance" has a double meaning. On one side, it can be taken literally because the year is not incredibly significant. On the other hand it can be treated as the imperial doublespeak for "the most important year." Nothing really did happen, but it was emblematic of the downfall of the empire. A chapter covers the young emperor and his disdain for protocol. Another chapter covers a tutor who assumed significant power with display of frugality while living a secretly extravagant life. One chater discovers an official who enforced rules and true frugality. He somehow got into a position of power, but had that taken away. Military officials and others all had their discussion. A system of rent-taking and doublespeak had come about as the society was declining. Through the civil service people from all walks of life had a possibility of entering the upper echelons of society.  However, this also left little continuity. With the enlightenment bringing intellectual changes, the empire has little left to support itself.

Mal Goes to War

Mal Goes to War: A Novel by Edward Ashton

In this not-so-distant future, the US has been concerned that AI entities are gaining too much strength. They release a virus to wipe out the AIs. Mal is an AI malware that is working on the side of the AIs. He wants to protect AIs from the anti-AI humanists. He has the ability to infiltrate various technologies. Since most people have various electronic implants, he is also able to infiltrate them and perform various actions. In the end he works together with people to battle against the humanists and in the end sets some code in the Virus leader to cause occasional pain. It is an interesting dark-humor story on the risks of technological dominance and the difficulty in containing it.

Books in 2024

In the middle of 2024, I started making a few changes to tagging the books. Now I've added tags to distinguish between paper books and ebooks. I've also added star rankings to books. I use a 10 star scale, but most seem to be in the upper half. (If they are really bad, I am probably not reading them.) This has lead me to being less likely to give a "good book" tag. I've also added more picture books that I read to the kids. This in part helped me to average more than a book per day. 

How I read books

The book "reading" means has evolved. When I started, it was primarily by ripping CDs and running scripts to speed up the audio. Now the primary way is by checking out audiobooks from the library on the Libby app. Most of these are listened to at 3x speed. Every now and then there is one that will be played down to 2x or so. These are most often "full cast dramatizations" or narrators that are faster or harder to understand.

There are a few audiobooks from other sources. There are occasional free Audible books (including a few classics and some from Amazon music.) These support speed up of up to 3.5x, so I listen to them a little faster. 

For other audiobooks, I typically use the "PlayBook" app. (Not to be confused with the Google Play Book" app. This app supports playing up to 4x speed. I typically use somewhere between 3 and 4. Other audiobooks will typically come from Librivox or CD. These are usually ripped via iTunes on an old computer and then transferred to phone.

For eBooks, they typically come from the Library via the Libby app. For most, I "read" with Kindle. I use an old Fire Phone to have the books read via text to speech. This generally works, though it does occasionally hang when there is an image at the end of the page. For some ebooks that are not available on Kindle, I'll load the Epub into the PocketBook app. The Pocketbook app text to speech works pretty well, though it occasionally has bugs with repeating content. These will include some library books not available in Kindle as well as Project Gutenberg and other typically public domain sources.

I rarely read an ebook. The rare exception is typically graphic novels that I cannot get on paper. There are some "ebooks" that are only available online. I will avoid these. I'd prefer to hunt down the paper book. There are also a few old books that are only available via scanned books in the Good Play Books app. (Play Books also has a text to speech for digital books, but this is awful.)

For paper books, these are usually books that cannot be found easily in digital. I also prefer physical books for graphic novels and picture books. I prefer physical books for very verbosely written books. (It is easier to speed-read/skim through wordy books.) Some of these books come from my personal collection. Other will come from libraries. There are three large library systems within a 10 mile bike ride from my house. This allows for a lot of physical book holds. Interlibrary loan is used for books that cannot be found locally.  

Book statistics

Total Books: 483

Great Books (1)

Trust

Good Books (25)

Song for a Whale
Counting by 7s
Who Gets in and Why: A Year Inside College Admissions
Exit
Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do About It
Can't and Won't: Stories
Trust
Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream
Essays One
The Wondering Jew: Israel and the Search for Jewish Identity
Go as a River
Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters
How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island
Interior Chinatown: A Novel
How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology
Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up
Drift
A for Andromeda
First Lie Wins: A Novel
Adapt: Why Success Always Starts with Failure
The Universe in Your Hand: A Journey Through Space, Time, and Beyond
How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen
The Once And Future World: Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be
Yellowface: A Novel
Invention and Innovation: A Brief History of Hype and Failure

Good Audiobooks (2)

Chuck Klosterman X: The Audio Companion to a Highly Specific and Defiantly Incomplete History of the Early 21st Century
Tracy Flick Can't Win

By month read

January: 25
February: 38
March: 34
April: 29
May: 59
June: 19
July: 21
August: 33
September: 35
October: 52
November: 75
December: 63

Books by year written

1160: 1
1260: 1
1387: 1
1676: 1
1759: 1
1775: 1
1781: 1
1794: 1
1796: 1
1798: 1
1799: 1
1800: 1
1801: 2
1802: 1
1803: 2
1804: 1
1805: 2
1807: 1
1810: 1
1818: 1
1835: 1
1840: 1
1843: 1
1846: 1
1847: 1
1850: 1
1853: 1
1859: 1
1861: 1
1875: 1
1888: 1
1889: 1
1890: 1
1901: 1
1902: 1
1903: 1
1904: 1
1906: 1
1907: 1
1908: 1
1909: 1
1910: 1
1911: 2
1913: 1
1916: 1
1917: 1
1920: 2
1922: 1
1923: 1
1926: 2
1929: 1
1930: 2
1932: 1
1934: 1
1935: 2
1936: 2
1937: 1
1939: 1
1942: 2
1943: 1
1944: 1
1945: 1
1951: 1
1952: 1
1953: 2
1954: 1
1955: 1
1957: 1
1958: 2
1959: 4
1961: 1
1962: 2
1963: 2
1965: 4
1967: 3
1968: 3
1969: 1
1970: 1
1973: 1
1974: 1
1975: 4
1976: 1
1977: 1
1978: 2
1979: 1
1980: 1
1981: 3
1983: 1
1985: 2
1986: 3
1988: 2
1989: 2
1992: 1
1993: 1
1994: 2
1995: 3
1996: 3
1997: 5
1998: 3
1999: 2
2000: 3
2001: 2
2002: 4
2003: 4
2004: 5
2005: 6
2006: 9
2007: 7
2008: 12
2009: 12
2010: 12
2011: 10
2012: 15
2013: 13
2014: 14
2015: 17
2016: 17
2017: 16
2018: 21
2019: 32
2020: 35
2021: 30
2022: 39
2023: 34
2024: 23
2025: 1

Stats on years written

mean: 1989
median: 2013
mode: 2022

Most popular tags (other than year and book)

ebooks: 81
paper books: 76
history: 66
science: 40
childrens books: 37
politics: 32
business: 28
social science: 28
psychology: 27
economics: 26
good books: 25
autobiography: 21
science fiction: 21
7stars: 19
biography: 18
translated literature: 17
young adult fiction: 17
food: 17
8stars: 16
6stars: 14
Audiobooks: 302
Books: 482 (includes audiobooks also available in book form)

For all time, I have read a book from each year since 1900. For the 1800s, there remain a few gaps. The years and gaps are below. More than half the years covered, but many to go.

1800 1

1801 2

1802 1

1803 2

1804 1

1805 2

GAP! missing 1 years

1807 1

1808 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1810 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1812 1

GAP! missing 3 years

1816 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1818 1

GAP! missing 11 years

1830 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1832 1

GAP! missing 2 years

1835 3

GAP! missing 3 years

1839 1

1840 2

GAP! missing 2 years

1843 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1845 1

1846 1

1847 1

GAP! missing 2 years

1850 1

1851 2

1852 1

1853 1

1854 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1856 1

GAP! missing 2 years

1859 3

GAP! missing 1 years

1861 1

GAP! missing 2 years

1864 2

1865 1

1866 1

1867 1

1868 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1870 2

1871 1

1872 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1874 1

1875 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1877 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1879 1

1880 3

GAP! missing 1 years

1882 1

1883 2

GAP! missing 1 years

1885 1

1886 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1888 2

1889 1

1890 1

1891 2

1892 1

GAP! missing 1 years

1894 1

1895 2

1896 2

1897 2

1898 1

1899 2

Exhalation

Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang

Exhalation explores a number of philosophical topics in Science Fiction short stories. Each story also provides a short "why I wrote it" section. (This can be one of the best part.) The first story was an "Arabian nights" type setting that explores a door that lets you go see time in the future. People can explore the future, but can't really make any changes in their life. (As an example, one man goes to see his future self and discovers that he is a frugal miser with huge amounts of hidden wealth. He feels it would be better to spend money and takes all of that money. Alas, his life of wealth is short lived and leads to him hoarding money due to getting robbed and accused of not "earning" it.

A few stories look at different approaches of freewill. One person analyzes their own brain. In another story, people can "fork" their lives in alternate ways. 

One story looks at "virtual people". These AI beings are allowed to grow on their own and are held somewhat like pets and live in virtual worlds. They want additional freedoms and rights, but are they mature enough?

There is one story that looks at communication. It combines a thread of adding written language to an oral communications tribe with a technology that allows people to replay at will any previous event. Is the "real truth" better than the way that we remember things? We may remember a great experience from childhood. However, if we replayed it, we may see that other participants were reluctantly participating. Does this make it worse? Do we really want the "real truth"?

The stories include:

"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" 

"Exhalation" 

"What's Expected of Us" 

"The Lifecycle of Software Objects" 

"Dacey's Patent Automatic Nanny" 

"The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling"

"The Great Silence" 

"Omphalos"

"Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom" 

Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster

Collision on Tenerife: The How and Why of the World's Worst Aviation Disaster by Jon Ziomek

The first half of this book provides a detailed account of the collision between two 747s in the Canary Islands. It even answers questions that I was curious about, such as "what happened to that cruise that passengers were going to go on?" (the cruise did go on, even though none of the passengers from the TWA 747 joined it.) The pilot of the KLM 747 seemed to be the root cause of the crash, with his desire to rush off as soon as possible. It is interesting that crew duty time limits were the root of his rush. Duty limits were in part an attempt at safety, but ended up leading to a disaster. The KLM noticed the TWA jet too late, and tried to take off over it. They nearly made it, but hit the top of the plane, instantly killing some on the TWA jet. The KLM jet then traveled a short distance before crash landing and killing everyone in a fireball. For those that were not killed on the TWA jet, some escaped - often by jumping out of holes in the aircraft to the ground. Many initial survivors died when the TWA plane later burned. 

In identifying the deceased, the Dutch on the KLM jet were easier to identify. They tended to be younger, and the state Dental plan records were readily available. For the TWA jet, the dental records were more not readily available for all Americans and many passengers were older and used dentures. 

The second half discusses the aftermath. There were safety changes made in aviation. More of the discussion was on the personal impact. People often "freeze" in terms of big stress. They could have escaped, but they didn't. People may be more passive and waiting for people to tell them what to do. They could also not have paid attention and are looking to go out the way they came in, rather than the closest exit. Men tend to survive at higher rates than women. People also tend to suffer in different ways after the disaster. Airplane crashes are large scale disasters that don't have the same "community" as natural disasters.

Kristy's Big Day

Kristy's Big Day: A Graphic Novel (The Baby-Sitters Club #6) (6) (The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix) by Ann M. Martin and Gale Galligan

Stylistically, the illustrations on this Babystitter's club has a much more "manga" style than the early books. The eyes pop out, and it feels Japanese. It is very clearly a different artist. Kristy's mom will be marrying Watson. They will then be moving into his mansion. Originally, they had planned to tie the knot in September. However, due to her mom getting a good offer on the house and having an upcoming business trip, they move it to the early summer. There is a lot of work to handle in a short time. Many kids come in from family. The entire babysitter's club comes together to help babysit all the kids. In the end, the wedding goes off well, and Kristy gets to wear her fancy dress and take part in the wedding. The girls also get paid well for the babysitting. It was a lot of work managing small kids  suddenly grouped together. After the wedding, the "big brother" takes over for watching the new blended family. He is intentionally lax.

Project Hail Mary

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

A man wakes up without knowledge of who he is or what he is doing. His memories gradually filer back in bits. The story unravels with his current condition as well as flashback to the past. We realize that he is on a mission to outer space to save humanity. The others on his mission have died. He previously taught science to children and did research on mysterious "astrophages" on the side. This small organisms can suck enormous amounts of energy from the sun. This will lead to massive global cooling in short order. He is on a mission to space to attempt to find something to counteract this problem to allow humanity to survive. 

In space, he meets another alien whose society is in similar circumstances. The other alien has also had his crew wiped out. As the last member of the crew, they only survived because the astrophages being attended had served as a radiation shield. The two of them join together to try to find a solution. They discover a natural predator to astrophages and then attempt to breed it to properly inhabit the local conditions. There are a number of crisis, but eventually they send a message back to earth. The human is on the way back to earth when he encounters a issue. He realizes this will also endanger the alien, so he goes back to help the alien ship. He ends up helping him and going to the alien planet. There he lives a somewhat comfortable - the aliens are excited to have an extra-terrestrial and help him to adapt.

The book has a positive story of encounter with existential threats. The survival of humanity does depend on a single person making good decisions. The right decisions were made. Earth appeared to survive. He thinks that it was what he did that lead to the success. It was not quite clear to me why both lifeforms seemed to travel to the same area in space to look for a solution. How did they know? And did they think they could really get a message back before the earth totally turned on itself with warfare? It did seem to work, but there did seem to be many close calls.

Partition: How and Why Ireland was Divided

Partition: How and Why Ireland was Divided by Ivan Gibbons

Ireland was one of the earliest British colonies. It is close to England and had been tightly integrated into Great Britain. However, there is also an ocean gap and a different (mostly Catholic culture.) Conflicts in Ireland had become a drain on British resources and various attempts were made at granting autonomy. However, Ireland was not unified. The north was mostly protestant, while the remainder was overwhelmingly Catholic. Both parts of Ireland wanted greater autonomy. However, the northerners wanted to remain part of Britain, while the southerners wanted full independence. Resolving this conflict proved to be difficult. The English public was also becoming tired of the conflict in Ireland. As a compromise, Britain drew a border and gave the two parts of Ireland separate control. There remained various conflicts and civil wars. After World War I, a complete boundary commission was set up to fix the boundary. They went through detailed analysis and moved certain areas around. However, this was pretty much ignored and the boundary remained as is. There has been an understanding that Northern Ireland could join with Ireland whenever the public voted for it, however, they have remained part of the UK.

Today, Ireland is an independent country, member of the EU and not a member of the Commonwealth. Northern Ireland is part of the UK and not a member of the EU, but in a special situation that allows free movement of goods to the EU. Northern Ireland is becoming more Catholic. However, Northern Ireland continues to receive significant financial assistance from Britain. Joining with the Republic of Ireland would result in the loss of tens of thousands of government jobs. Northern Ireland have a bit of both worlds, being able to be part of Ireland and the UK. Ireland was one of the first of the European powers "geographic partitionings". The impact is still felt.

The book focuses on the partition. The resultant civil wars and unneeded deaths are mentioned in passing. The focus is instead on the politics and process that lead to the partition. It feels that something is lacking, but does make for a much more readable book on the event it is covering.

Unraveled

Unraveled Book 9.5 (Keeper of the Lost Cities) by Shannon Messenger

Keefe the elf is meandering around the human world trying to find his way to London to allay some guilt. We stops by Seattle and sees the gum wall. he goes around many different cities. Eventually he discovers maps and uses it to make his way to London. He runs into Alber and then they go voyaging to try to get Keefe's spirits up. They explore Australia and a zoo there. It seems that the main goal is to show as many different locations as possible. They also seem to be drawn to contemporary human standards (like finding your own spouse instead of matchmaking.) If they don't understand details of human culture, why would they seem to adapt to "in vogue" social details?  He eventually discovers that Eleanor, a person that he thought he helped to have killed, is actually alive. (He meets her.) He later runs into Sophie Foster, which ties it into the main series. In the end, Sophie and Keefe meet together, even if she is unmatchable and his mom wants her dead. They kiss and now things are different. The book is an "alternate view" of the events of the main series, with the view from Keefe instead of Sophie. It feels like it must have been fun to write in order to explore details of different locations.

This is Not Enough

This Is Not Enough (You Are Not Small Book 6) by Anna Kang and Christopher Weyant

Two friends try to give each other super big presents because they think the other is giving something really big. They end up giving things they made themselves.

Simon Says Good Night

Simon Says Good Night by Orit Bergman, translated by Annette Appel

A kid plays "simon says" with their animals and other "friends". After one does the action without them saying "simon says", they are sent out to bed. Then the kid goes to bed.

Campingland

Campingland by Ame Dyckman and James Burks

A family attempts to go camping. They are ill-prepared, and have too much stuff, but not the right stuff. They have a miserable experience. One kid even hugs a skunk. They are done with camping and are excited to see "Campingland". It is like camping, but indoors where everything is perfect. At first they like it, but then realize it is not worth it. They decide they like the experience of camping. This time they try it while being properly prepared and have a great experience. It is a tale of being prepared and enjoying nature. There is also societal comment on how everything is commercialized and homogenized. It seems to make a "safe" experience, but without the full joy.

The Truth About Stacey: A Graphic Novel

Mary Anne Saves the Day: A Graphic Novel (The Baby-Sitters Club #3) (The Baby-Sitters Club Graphix) by Raina Telgemeier and Ann M. Martin

The Babysitter's club series continues to be adapted for new media. The graphic novel is fairly faithful to the original book (while the Netflix series seems to make a lot more significant changes.) This story starts out fairly straightforward. The girls meet and get some clients. Then things go downhill. The girl the answers the phone for a job babysitting a baby immediately takes it. This makes everyone mad. They have difficulty even communicating together. Because of this spat, Mary Anne eats lunch by herself. Luckily, this gives her the chance to meet Dawn, the new girl from California. They become good friends. They also discover that their parents (Dawn's divorced mother and Mary Anne's widowered dad) dated each other in high school. As part of a babysitting job, Marry Anne has an emergency with a 104 degree temperature. Dawn comes to help her after she couldn't get in contact with any of the emergency numbers. They end up going in an ambulance to the hospital and both end up getting paid. (Seems they didn't bother to update this "telephone no-contact" problem to the days of cell phones.) Mary Anne ends up getting more privileges from her father after this experience.

The babysitter club girls work together for a kid's birthday party and nearly ruin the party. After that experience they finally agree to make peace. (Mary Anne had written apology letters to help make peace. She even wrote one to Dawn after having a falling out when Dawn discovered that Mary Anne had lied about her friends.) Dawn joins the club and everyone is happy. It is a simple message of how a simple conflict can get out of hand - and be hard to resolve. Often it requires a big stressor to realize how bad the problem is.

Antimatter Blues

Antimatter Blues: A Mickey7 Novel, Book 2 by Edward Ashton

The Mickey7 series continues to show it's Ender's Game influence. The first book witnessed contact and "victory" over the hive-mind aliens. In this second one, the hero attempts to better befriend and understand the aliens.

Mickey had told the gruff colony leader that he had made a truce with the aliens and given them the antimatter bomb. This has bought him his freedom and the end to "death missions" as an expendable. However, he didn't mention the whole story. While he had given them the bomb, he later asked for it back and then hid it under a rock in one of the alien caves.

Two years later, the colony runs into energy problems. He is asked to get the bomb back from the aliens to use as a power source. He is conflicted. He feels he could go pick it up, but this will reduce the leverage that he has. He and his girlfriend eventually decide to get it, however it is not there. They reach out to the aliens and finds they have traded it to another group to the south. After negotiations (which go south in due to the forwardness of his girlfriend), they  get one alien to come with him to try to get it back.

Half the novel consists of the quest to get the bomb back. They get a few people from the colony to accompany them. Mickey's friend Berto has a paragliding device that comes in handy. They try negotiations and eventually use warfare to defeat the aliens and get the bomb back. Mickey is willing to be an expendable again to inject the bomb's fuel into the power reactor. However, before he can do it, the colony leader loses his life doing it.

The "fights" are fairly typical. The sentient life on the planet are two primary species. One is the friendly aliens that adapt to many different shapes using metal and other sources. The others are parasitic and have adapted to the lifestyle of the friendly aliens. They are both "hive"-type live forms that think of most of their members as ancillaries that are somewhat expendable. They also have fairly developed technology and are able to learn human language by monitoring radio transmissions. However, they do have difficulty understanding concepts that are foreign to them.