Dear Bob and Sue

Dear Bob and Sue by Matt Smith and Karen Smith

After a couple's children left the home, they decided to quit their jobs and spend time visiting all US National Parks. They struggled in writing down their experiences. However, they found it easy to write letters to their friends, Bob and Sue. Thus, they decided that the best way to record their experiences is by writing a book of letters to their friends. They take turns writing about the experiences. Sometimes, one of them will be the only voice. Other times, they will each provide their experience with the park. In the case of caves, they had very different feelings (with she loving them and he not caring for them.) In the process, we learn of quirks. He is obsessive and overpacks and wants everything in order. She runs more spontaneous and will break a rule or two, but does not like rodents. They both love to hike and enjoy a drink. 

They drive to parks in packs. They will fly out to some areas and visit a few parks. Getting a picture of the sign and "passport stamp" are the important step. They start with the parks near Seattle. Then hit the popular parks, and then move out to other parks. The last ones they visit are the remote Alaskan ones north of the Arctic Circle. They do hit one more that became a park after their initial publication voyages. There have been a few additional ones since the book was written.

They came across as "mid-tier" park visitors. They are not the RV types, but they will not go on extended backpacking trips. They are likely to stay at the park lodge and then get a backcountry permit for a long day of hiking. They focussed on parks, with little interest in other "non-parks" in the National Parks system. (Though he does seem more interested than she does.) The book makes it clears that there is a large variety of parks, with varying degrees of popularity. There are also plenty of politics involved in deciding what is a national park.

The Year Without Summer: 1816 and the Volcano That Darkened the World and Changed History

Mount Tambora erupted in 1816, spreading large amounts of ash into the atmosphere. This had impacts on the weather throughout the world. The Year Without Summer brings that all into context. Rather than just focus on the direct weather impacts, it brings in the entire historical context. Both Napoleon and Frankenstein make appearances. Sunspots are often postulated as a theory for the strange weather. Others proclaim it is a sign of the end of the world. There are summer snows and massive crop failures.

Ireland suffered from crop failures due to heavy rains. New England and Canada suffered due to cold weather. There was some hope of a late growing season that was quickly dashed by a frost. Countries that did have sufficient food stores started to clamp down on exports to help preserve for themselves.

There were difficulties, but the world did continue to function. Jane Austen wrote her final book before passing away in 1817. Joseph Smith Senior's family moved around in a struggle to farm in New England. His son would go on to found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other government and literary figures continued to go about their lives. It is interesting to see how this weather event did trigger changes in the course of history. 

The Sparrow

A crew goes off to meet up with a foreign species. The crew includes Jesuits who are relating their religious experience to the new discoveries. The new sentient life seem somewhat similar to humans. However, there are some key differences. Eventually this lead to destruction of most of the humans with the Jesuit priest surviving after some bad things occur. There are some interesting things that happen, though I got lost in the details.