Smoke City: A Novel by Keith Rosson

 This is another book that I discovered through my library's recommendation page.  It didn't really seem like one of my usual books, but the premise was so bizarre that I decided to pick it up anyway.

There are two main characters: Marvin Deitz and Mike Vale. Marvin Deitz believes to be the reincarnation of the man who lit the pyre of Joan of Arc. Because of this act, he's been cursed to countless reincarnations with a perfect memory of every life that came before. His curse has several rules, but one of them is that he never survives past the age of 57. That birthday is about a week out at the beginning of the narrative and Marvin is fatalistically ready for whatever horrifying death is coming for him. However, when he sees a woman claiming to be the reincarnation of Joan of Arc on a talk show, the possibility of redemption sends him hitchhiking from Portland to L.A.

Mike Vale is the man who picked Marvin up from the side of the road. Mike was once considered the most important young artist of the 80's and 90's. His paintings made him famous but his drinking problem made him a disaster. His wife left him and his agent tricked him into signing over the rights to all his work. He's been on a tragic downward spiral ever since. However, when his ex-wife Candice dies suddenly, Mike decides he needs to get to LA to attend the funeral. 

These two unlikely road trip companions run into a series of problems getting from Portland to L.A. In the background are the smokes. Apparently a plague of ghost-like apparitions have appeared centered on L.A. They appear, flicker around a bit, and disappear. No one can communicate with them and no one knows why they appear. It ends up being important, but mostly it's just part of the backdrop.

Smoke City reads a lot like a Tim Dorsey novel. It's zany and weird. There is violence peppered throughout but it isn't over the top the way a Dorsey novel can be. I enjoyed it even though I couldn't for the life of me figure out where the story was headed for most of the book. The ending, while not what I expected, was satisfying and strangely up-beat. While I wouldn't recommend this to just anyone, it was a good read and worth the time.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

 This here is the sequel to A Psalm for the Wild-Built which I read and reviewed last month. I picked it up because I enjoyed the first so much and it looked like another quick read.

This book picks up almost almost immediately after the first volume. Dex, the tea monk, is trying to shepherd and guide Mosscap, the robot, around the human settlements.  Mosscap's goal is to answer the question, "what do humans need." Dex doesn't have an answer for this question but finds themselves facilitating Mosscap's interactions in the human communities nonetheless. Slowly they wind their way through the various outlying communities as they slowly progress towards the central city. 

I honestly have a hard time describing this book. On it's surface, it is a simple travel narrative. Dex and Mosscap go from community to community where they run into various people and some lowkey problems. Mosscap or Dex (or both) deal with the issues and they move on. It's a pretty straightforward premise, yet it doesn't really cover what the book is truly about. This is a deeply philosophical book that explores what it means to be friends or have direction. What mortality means and how identity works. We get to meet Dex's parents.

As much as I like this volume and found it an easier read, it is a much different book than A Psalm for the Wild-Built. These are deeply thoughtful books and worthy of a read. 

Belated Saturday Post #6 and #7

 I have come to the conclusion that nothing tempts the fates like making a plan for self improvement. I've kind of fallen off the rails for all of my goals except reading. Reading has always been a constant for me. The rest of it takes more work, and it's hard to adapt new practices when things keep coming along to knock us sideways.  To sum it up, in this first 6 weeks of school:

• My cat has lymphoma - and got very sick
• 2 snow days
• 2 days out of school sick
• I had my final GACE test on Saturday (cross your fingers for me)

However, that's enough whining. I'm going to try to get things back on track this week and report on Saturday. Thank you for bearing with me. 

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

 I've always had a policy of reading any book that a student hands me. This is one of those and it was recommended by two students. Of course, it is also the first book in a six book series. (Looks like I have another series to wade through lol)

Red Rising is a science fiction novel set on Mars. The premise is that society has become highly stratified by class. Each class is designated by color with red at the bottom and gold at the very top. Our main character, Darrow, is a red. At the beginning of the novel, Darrow is a miner who is pretty much the best of the best for his clan. They live in tunnels under the surface of Mars and mine helium-3 for use in the terraforming process. They are told their whole brief lives that their sacrifice is for a better future and that in the generations to come, Mars will be fully terraformed and open to all. Darrow finds out pretty early in the story that they've all been lied to and that Mars is already fully terraformed and full of the higher classes living a life of relative ease.

As a result, Darrow ends up going in disguise as a gold to ultimately infiltrate the highest levels of the governing body. However, to do that he has to survive the institute which is a one year grueling war game played by all the elite gold teens who are competing with each other in a fatal game of 'capture the flag.' To complicate matters, the game is rigged. 

It really reads like a version of Hunger Games. My students assure me that the similarity fades moving forward and the set up bears that out. Darrow is an odd kind of protagonist. He's angry all the time and filled with self-loathing. He should be a tedious point of view to get stuck in, yet I liked him anyway. I always appreciate intrigue in a story and there is plenty of that going on.  

I really enjoyed this first volume, so I plan to continue on. My two students are ecstatic

Tomatoes Vinnigrette

This simple side dish is off a card labeled "Reen" which I believe means that it originated with my Great Aunt Reen. I'm not sure though. I have to admit, I picked this one less because it appealed and more because I needed something from the boxes this week. I was pleasantly surprised though. While Thomas found the dressing oversweet, Ryan and I liked it. I think part of the success of the dish is in the time spent resting in the fridge. The dressing pulls liquid out of the tomatoes which softens the acidity and sweetness of the dressing. All in all, surprisingly refreshing.

Tomatoes Vinaigrette

• 3 tomatoes, sliced
• 1/4 cup onions, chopped (although I think half moon slices might be better)
• 3 Tbs cider vinegar
• 2 Tbs light brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a shallow dish, arrange the tomato slices. Sprinkle with onion, combine rest of ingredients. Pour over tomatoes and onions. Cover. Chill 1 hour. (6 servings)

Enlightenment is an Accident by Time Burkett (Nonfiction #5 - 2025)

 (February List)

Occasionally, in life, people hand you books. People hand off books because it says something about themselves, but also something about how they see the person they hand the book to. A small but significant proportion of the books in my stacks and stacks of To-Be-Read books are a result of this. I love it when someone hands me a book because it's like a little puzzle on top of the book itself. Reading such a book gives me insight into the one who handed it to me, but also shows me something about how they see me. Sometimes these insights are simple, sometimes they are complex, but they are always interesting.

My mom handed me this one. For those of you who don't know, my mother is a Zen Buddhist teacher with a community in Finland. We were talking one day about how I view my role as a teacher and general life stuff. Next thing I knew she was ordering me a book. 

I don't generally read spirituality books. It's not that I don't see value in them, I just have a hard time getting into a flow with them. If they are thought provoking, it means that they take time to process. Typically if I put such a book down for a minute, I often forget to pick it back up. I have started many, many spirituality books, and finished maybe four. 

I did finish this one, although there was a dicey bit in the middle where I almost put it down. I can see why my mom handed me this book. Much of what Burkett talks about in the first part of the book echoes things I said in the conversation that inspired the gift. I am nominally Buddhist in a more philosophical sense. I don't go to services and it's been a very long time since I sat in meditation. Yet, many of the ideas resonate with me. They feel true.

This book runs through many of the underpinning ideas of Zen Buddhism and suggests practices for a person to try along with advice about sticking with it. I suspect the intended audience was a person relatively unfamiliar with Buddhism but with a basic understanding of spirituality. However, I think it helps to have a little background in Buddhism. Burkett moves through topics very quickly. 

Burkett also does a very good job presenting and explaining many of the seemingly paradoxical core ideas of Zen. He includes several stories/koans to illustrate various ideas. His explanation of various practices is clear and he does a good job of explaining what to expect. Often he shares snippets of his own journey with Zen which makes it all feel easier to relate to. 

My one real complaint is that he spends a large chunk of time talking about the heart sutra's effect on him. He comes back to it again and again, but he doesn't really give the reader the whole text or even enough of it, in my opinion, to really get a feel for it. I had to look it up. It is as Burkett noted rather frustratingly complex hidden under a veneer of simplicity. Pairing the whole sutra with Burkett's comments made the some of the information more accessible. In the end, this isn't a big thing. I just think he could of put it in an appendix to good effect.

Overall, this was a good accessible text and I will be sitting with some of the ideas for while. Something like this doesn't get processed in a hurry, but I feel comfortable recommending it to anyone curious about Zen Buddhism. 

Saturday Post #5 - January retrospective

 Technically this is the first day in February but the rest of the week was all January. So instead of thinking about what happened last week, I'm evaluating the previous month.

Board Games 

Ultimately, we only played 5 board games in January. There were five-ish weeks in the month so we should have ended up around 10. We actually started off strong, but fell off midway through the month. It's something to continue working on, luckily my son is pretty invested in this one, so I might be able to lean on him to help initiate.

Nonfiction 

I am well ahead of pace on nonfiction. I've read 10 books so far and 4 of them were non-fiction. My next read book is likely to be a nonfiction as well. So, strangely this goal I'm doing well on. I actually thought reading 1 nonfiction in 10 was going to be a stretch, but evidently not.

Active Days & Walks 

We managed this goal in January mainly by dint of the month starting while we were on a school break. Organizing 2 active days in the month isn't impossible, but it does take some planning. Our weekends get pretty busy and I really haven't decided if our school based bi-weekly trips count. 

Step Goal

In terms of step goals, I managed 160,069 steps. That averages out to 5,164 steps a day. That's under my goal but an improvement over December of 2024 which was an average 2,550 steps a day, so it's a step in the right direction.  I'll keep working on it.

February List

 Ok! January was a fantastic reading month. I read 10 books which is right on track for 120 books in the year. Two of those 10 were 500+ page monsters, so it was really more like reading 12 books. On top of all that, I'm almost done with another 2 books (1 nonfiction and 1 fiction). I read a total of 4 nonfiction which puts me well with in my 10% ratio. I reviewed every book I read too. Great month.

My favorite books last month were A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers and My Plain Jane by Hand, Ashton, and Meadows for fiction. Notably, I am also really enjoying the Expanse series that starts with Leviathan Wakes but so far I'm in rereads. I'm looking forward to Abaddon's Gate which will be new to me. Secrets of the Octopus by Sy Montgomery was far and away my favorite of the nonfiction but they were all good reads.

The February List ended up big, at 20 fiction and 5 nonfiction. I couldn't figure out why at first. 12 books came off the list, so I dutifully stacked up 12 books to add only to find that my list was suddenly at 24 instead of 20. It's the series that are doing it to me. I've set it up so that when I read a series book, the line doesn't come off my main list until I finish the whole series. In effect, the read book is automatically replaced by the next book in the series. I'm a little torn about how to handle this. I like that the system keeps me on track for series books but I need new 'blood' each month to keep me engaged. Additionally, I keep accidently starting series. First books are often not marked to indicate that they are parts of series.

This month, at least, I'm going to leave it and maybe take advantage of my series loophole to bump up the series books and get those series off my overall list. I'm on the last book for 4 out of the 5 series. I'll look at getting back to a 20 book list in March.

1. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite - 16
2. Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown
1. Red Rising  (Finished 2/10/2025)
2. Golden Son
3. Morning Star
4. Iron Gold
5. Dark Age
6. Light Bringer
3. Enlightenment Is an Accident by Tim Burkett - (Finished 2/4/2025)
4. Quiet  by Susan Cain -NF 4
5. A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall (Dropped for 2025)
6. Monk and Robot Series by Becky Chambers
1. A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Finished 1/15/2025)
2. A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Finished 2/11/2025)
7. LitenVerse by Nino Cipri
1. Finna  (finished 1/25/2025)
2. Defekt (Library) - 13
8. Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman (Library) - 18
9. The Expanse Series by James S.A. Corey
1. Leviathan Wakes (Finished 1/9/2025)
2. Caliban's War (Finished 1/25/2025)
3. Abaddon's Gate - 6
4. Cibola Burn - 11
5. Nemesis Games-  
6. Babylon's Ashes
7. Tiamat's Wrath
8. Persepolis Rising
9. Leviathan Falls
10. Atlas of AI by Kate Crawford - NF 3
11. A Grim Reaper's Guide to Catching a Killer by Maxie Dara (Requested out from under me at the library)
12. The French Girl by Lexie Elliot (Borrowed - Dad) - 20
13. Normal by Warren Ellis -19
14. Lady Janes series by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
1. My Lady Jane (Finished 11/4/2024) 
2. My Plain Jane (Finished 1/12/2025)
3. My Calamity Jane - 15
15. The Girl From Everywhere Heidi Heilig -21
16. House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (TBR) - 9
17. YouSpace Series by Tom Holt (Fantasy)
1. Doughnut (Finished 3/5/2024)
2. When It's A Jar (Finished 7/6/2024)
3. The Outsorcerer's Apprentice (Finished 1/15/2024)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Smug (Finished 1/1/2024)
5. An Orc on the Wild Side - 10
18. Fairy Tale by Stephen King - 8
19. Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie (Library) -12
20. The Story Behind by Emily Prokop (Finished 2/25/25)
21. Smoke City: a Novel by Keith Rosson (Finished 2/16/2025)
22. The Writing Rope by Joan Sedita - NF 5 
23. The Night Ends with Fire by K.X. Song (Finished 2/26/2025)
24. John Cleaver Series by Dan Wells
1. I Am Not a Serial Killer
2. Mr. Monster
3. I Don't Want to Kill You
4. The Devil's Only Friend  (Finished 2/17/20250 
5. Over Your Dead Body
6. Nothing Left to Lose
25. Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell (TBR) - 7 

Assigned or otherwise pre-scheduled Reading:

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (class novel) 
2. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (Thomas Book)