Reading In/Out 10/6/2026

Yay for October! Sure. Why not. The weather has finally improved. It's still getting into the 80s in the afternoons, which is not my favorite, but it's better than the 100+ temps we had a month ago.

I read stuff. Let's discuss.

OUT

A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones - I enjoyed this one. The only paranormal thing is a kid who has predicted her own death since she was six. She's had dreams about it. Let me back up. The story here is that Sunshine Vicram is the new Sheriff in her hometown of Del Sol, New Mexico. Her parents put her on the ballot, and she won by a landslide. It is now her first day on the job. She and her 14-year-old daughter live in an apartment behind her parents' house. Just a few minutes into the day, a woman drives her Mercedes through the front plate glass of the sheriff's office. She is distraught because her 14-year-old daughter is missing. This is the girl who has predicted her own death since she was six. The daughter just happens to be one of the few people who have been nice to the new sheriff's kid. Aurora (Sunshine's daughter. There are a lot of sun-related words in this book.) gets involved in the investigation at the school (what could go wrong?). Let's not forget that Sunshine has had a major crush on a man who runs a successful moonshine distillery and whose entire family was historically deeply involved in organized crime, making them highly antagonistic to "the law." The plot moved so quickly, I had to take breaks to bring my heart rate down. It jumped from one crazy event to the next. I really liked it.

Blockers: Rebels in the Deep State by Michael Lewis - This was really well done, but it repeatedly made me angry as hell. Not a good look while driving. Each chapter focuses on a different government employee who was specifically targeted by the Trump administration and DOGE. These employees were regularly highly praised for their work, and frequently were the glue that held the department together. One guy is the scientist who discovered the gene that controls cystic fibrosis. They were labeled "blockers" when they refused to break the law to give the new administration access to files and data they should not have access to. It's a good thing it was only 250 pages. I don't think my blood pressure could take much more.

CONTINUING

Humble Pi by Matt Parker - I'm still picking my way through this one. Sometimes the math gets away from me, but I can mostly figure out the problems being described. Recently, we reviewed a problem with the soccer ball images on street signs in England. Instead of white hexagons and black pentagons, all the shapes were hexagons. The people were unhappy. The government decided it was just a sign and didn't require geometric accuracy.

IN

The State of Sequoyah by Donald L. Fixico - I am almost halfway through this one. It's pretty dry, still. I have some quibbles with some things depicted. Like, it goes way too easy on the whole Indian relocation situation, in my opinion.

As You Wake, Break the Shell by Becky Chambers - This is my new audiobook. It is science fiction. It tells the story in two timelines. The earlier timeline chapters start at chapter 1. The later timeline chapters start at, like, chapter 760. I really hope we are not going to have to read 759 chapters to catch up. I'm not really sure what is going on, but one of our main characters is a quarry pilot with a disease that would jeopardize her job if she tried to get it treated by a doctor. The other main character is a botanist who "prints" plant seeds for medicines and is trying to create a medication that will help the first gal. 760 chapters later, they are married and live on a completely different planet from the first weird planet. Also, the aircraft the pilot flies is some kind of animal called a rorqual. It kind of sounds like dragon riders in fantasy books. This is a very long book, but my app says I'm 22% through it already.

And there it is. I am working late tonight and tomorrow, so the at-home book will probably not get much attention until Thursday, when I have a day off. Otherwise, I can work on my at-work book and my audiobook.