Better than the first one I read as this one seemed to move a little faster. I have read other adventure novels that move faster than this and that is my preference. Lots of explanations and descriptions here. I think it slows the story a little too much.
Ian Fleming may be the brilliant person who came up with James Bond, but from what I’ve read in the first two James Bond novels the movies are far more exciting that the novels. I’m not sure if I will continue to read his work as they just move to slow for me.
Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
A non-fiction adventure. Better than some fiction that I’ve read. I wonderful telling of Shackleton and his crew’s unforgettable adventure! This is a great adventure story and I’m sure you will enjoy it. I listened to this book and really enjoyed checking in with the adventure as I listened to it over a week or so.
Copenhagenize: The Definitive Guide to Global Bicycle Urbanism
by Mikael Colville-Andersen
This book offers an interesting and new (to US residents) look at bicycle infrastructure. The author suggest a build it and they will come philosophy to bicycle infrastructure. I whole-heartedly agree with this and 90% of what he offers in the book. My one major complaint is his stance on bikes. I feel they have a place and get more people on bikes. Anything that does that is a plus in my book.
The US has different challenges that the rest of the world, getting butts in saddles is one of the things we need to change. While the COVID-19 pandemic definitely sold bikes, it did not increase the amount of people doing everyday activities, like running errands and grocery shopping on bicycles. At least not from what I see daily. Commuting is also down, so commuting via bicycle at least for those already working from home didn’t change.
What we may have increased with the pandemic is recreational riders and not those who ride because it is the easiest way to get around which is what Mikal talks about in his book. For this to change in the US it means that we need to drastically change our infrastructure. Mikal talks about a lot of different ways to do this. If you want to see what needs to change in the US and places like it to make them more bicycle friendly, then this is a great book.
I loved this book and it only loses a star because of his stance on ebikes.
The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World
by Jeff Goodell
Excellent work on sea-level rise and what its impacts are and will be in the future. Something everyone should read.
This is an important read for those who live on the coast, California, Florida and anywhere were the land is threatened by ocean level rise.
Climate change is something we all need to be learning more about. For me, 2020 was about learning about climate change to a point, still lots to learn. I hope that in 2021 I can start making changes. From what I have learned the most powerful thing I can do is vote, but I can also make other large changes in my life that will have a small positive impact on the environment.
Some of those things I hope accomplish in 2021 are:
Go vegan (started in October 2020, had been vegetarian for 3 years)
Reduce plastic use
Be minimalistic and very thoughtful about everything that comes into the house
Vote with my purchases, by purchasing products containing and packaged with minimal or no plastic, by purchase plant-based products, shopping with vendors that are climate-friendly
Stop buying gasoline vehicles, this one is hard because while there are a lot of electric vehicles out there, there are no full EV minivans which is a must for my partner, also since we don’t need a new car, this will probably not be something we do for at least another year. Part of what I have learned is to use what you have as long as you can
Lead by example, hopefully, by doing the above I will have a chance to change some minds of those around me
The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own
by Joshua Becker
Maybe the single best book on minimalism I have read. Detailed without being boring. Entertaining, but also very useful. Joshua Becker did an amazing job with this book. An added plus is that he reads his own book in the audio version. Wonderful.
You can learn much more about this book by watching this video
I’m a fan of Joshua Becker’s. I watch his youtube channel and I read his blog. If you want to learn more about minimalism Joshua is a good person to follow. You can catch up on his youtube videos, which are short and sweet as you would expect from a minimalist.
I gave this book 5 out of 5 stars! I listened to the audiobook version, but I want to get a copy as well for reference. Just a great resource for those wanting to explore or implement minimalism in their life. Best yet Joshua has kids and has still managed to make this happen. He speaks specifically of how to attack this challenge.
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
by David Wallace-Wells
A very detailed and thoughtful look at our current situation. Greatly disturbing and I wish there had been more about what we can do, however, the author does state that the most powerful thing we can do is vote. I agree, but I also think that there are other things we can do in addition and would like more discussion around that.
This was an audiobook listen for me. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars, as I wanted to hear more about how we can all impact climate change. This was discussed on a recent podcast I listened to that Bill Gates does with Rashida Jones. If you are interested in this topic this podcast is worth listening to. Also, Gates has a new book out called How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need that I plan on reading soon.
Much more about this book, The Uninhabitable Earth on this Talks at Google. Embedded below.
The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming | David Wallace | Talks at Google
This was great. It followed where the last book left off and it did an amazing job. This is great sci-fi. If you like sci-fi or just robots you will like this series. Very entertaining! I can’t wait to see where the next book will take us.
This is the follow up of the first book Sleeping Giants, which you can read my full review of that at the link above. This is one of the series that I keep coming back to because of its great writing and amazing science fiction. The only problem is I have so many books to read, I keep taking breaks between the books in the series, and by the time I get back I’ve forgotten a lot of what was in the last book.
Five stars for this book. Read this series you will like it! The next book in the series is, Only Human.
I read this at the same time as my 5th grader. We both really enjoyed it. It is the wonderful journey of a little girl (13) who goes to sea and has the adventure of a lifetime. This juvenile historical-fiction work will appeal to all ages!
I really enjoyed this and I’m glad I was able to read this along with my oldest daughter. This year we are reading another one of her books at school together and I’m also enjoying that. I’m happily surprised by the choices her school/teachers are making. This is a fun book to read no matter your age. Five stars!
Quick tip, looking up vocabulary words on a kindle is a lot easier than in a print book!
Follow the Geeks: 10 Digital Innovators and the Future of Work by Lyndsey Gilpin, Jason Hiner
I originally picked this book up because Leo Laporte was featured in it. I have been a fan of his for years and watched him on TechTV, the listened and watched his podcasts. I still try to tune in from time to time and listen or watch a podcast. But a treat I didn’t expect was to learn about many others who crossed Laporte’s path and some that didn’t. Lisa Bettany, Tom Merritt, and Veronica Belmont are some of my favorites in this book. If you enjoy these geeks and want to get a short biography on them then this is a great book for you.
Four out of five stars here! I bought this in 2016 just as it was published, but didn’t get around to reading it until 2019. Bummed it took me that long, but so happy I ended up reading it.
Ride Your Way Lean: The Ultimate Plan for Burning Fat and Getting Fit on a Bike by Selene Yeager
I ordered this book as a Zip Book. My library ordered it from Amazon and shipped it directly to me. When the library opens again I will return directly to the library and it will become part of the circulating collection. Very cool option!
I’ve been wanting to read Selene’s book for some time after listening to her on the Paceline Podcast. She is also known to Bicycling Magazine readers as the Fit Chick. She breaks down losing weight while cycling in an easy to read and digestible way. I can also tell you from my experience she is absolutely correct.
I’ve lost over 30 lbs mostly riding on my bike. During the COVID pandemic, I’ve been riding indoors and you can burn a huge amount of calories riding if you stick with it. Indoor tools like Zwift make it easier to stick to riding by gamifying the whole thing.
If you are a cyclist or interested in how the low-impact exercise of biking can help you lose weight this is a great read!
