Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

 This book came highly recommended from a former coworker of mine. I picked it up on Audible, and then ended up buying a physical copy somewhere along the line, and got to the physical copy before the audiobook. I've been really interested in this topic as a parent and a teacher. Like Haidt, I've seen progressively alarming trends in student well being and mental health in recent years, and it was accelerated by the pandemic. The Anxious Generation  discusses what happened to teens in the wake of the transition away from flip phones to smart phones starting around 2012. Haidt discusses the effects of social media, and how these apps are designed to be addictive. He discusses solutions that parents, schools, and governments should take to help build resilience in our children and teens and protect them online. First of all, I thought this book was very thorough. I felt that Haidt addressed so many aspects of this discussion. I think it was helpful that he presented his research...

 OK, I'm back through my rotation again. Here's where I'm at with everything: Fantasy:  The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  by V. E. Schwab (59%) Sci-Fi:  Legend  by Marie Lu (21%) Realistic Fiction:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe  by Benjamin Alire Saenz (49%) Brandon Sanderson:  Isle of the Emberdark  (11%) Nonfiction:  The Anxious Generation  by Jonathan Haidt (76%) Classic:  Les Misérables  by Victor Hugo (10%) Mystery/Thriller:  The Brothers Hawthorne  by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (100%) Historical Fiction:  Apeirogon  by Colum McCann (9%) Audio:  The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece  by Tom Hanks (16%) English Department Book Club: We didn't pick anything for the summer... Neighborhood Book Club:  The Winter of the Dollhouse  by Laura Amy Schlitz (26%) So I finished The Brothers Hawthorne , so I need to roll for a new mystery book. I rolle...

 Since I finished the Psychology of Zelda , I need to roll for another audiobook. I rolled a percentile and a D10 and got: But, bad news... 59 doesn't appear on my sheet. So I re-rolled and got 28! This time that's on my sheet. 28 is The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece  by Tom Hanks. I think I originally thought this was nonfiction, but as I'm looking at it now, it's definitely fiction. I still think it'll be really interesting, and I'm excited to read it. It is a bit longer (almost 16 hours) than some of my last reads, so it'll take a bit for me to get through.

My husband really enjoys The Legend of Zelda games, and I've liked watching him play them, though I'm not as interested in them as he is. I found this book on Audible (I think it was included with membership) and thought that it sounded really interesting. The Psychology of Zelda  is a collection of essays from various people (mostly with doctorate degrees in psychology and related fields) about how The Legend of Zelda  games are impacted by psychology. From topics ranging from projection to the stages of grief, this book picks apart the games, the music, the characters, and the players to show why the games are so impactful and popular. This book was interesting, and was generally easy to follow. I didn't fully know what I was getting into when I bought the book, so I didn't realize that it was a collection of essays. Still, that didn't overly bother me, except that it made the audiobook version a little hard to follow. I couldn't keep track the author biograp...

 OK, I finished Sunreach , so now it's time for another dice roll.  I again rolled a percentile for the tens place and D10 for the ones place. I use 00 as nothing in the tens place, so this roll is 8. On my list, this corresponds to: The Psychology of Zelda . It's a collection of essays diving into why The Legend of Zelda  games are so satisfying.

 This was a result of my roll for audiobook. The audiobooks split the novellas into separate works, but I also have the book in which these novellas are included. Sunreach  follows the story of FM, Rig, and Jorgen on Detritus while Spensa is off exploring her Cytonic powers. FM is the viewpoint character, and after the battle where the Delver appears, becomes the keeper of the slugs - the little creatures like Spensa's Doomslug. They quickly discover that these creatures are the secret to hyperjumping and long range communication. Can they gain allies against the Superiority with this new knowledge? I personally really liked this novella. I thought it was short and sweet, and was purposeful in continuing the Skyward  storyline. I liked FM as a viewpoint character and how she was contrasted against Spensa (who I also love as a character). This is particularly seen as the novella explores FM's budding relationship with Rig. That little hint of a romance was cute, and I like...