Category: Books

What we read to our kids in May
My wife and I love reading, and we may very well be some of the last in our generation that do not allow our kids to use tablets or similar screen technology. We spend dedicated time reading to our kids each day, and in turn, they read too.

This is an actual photo of my kids that I took today, I just had AI paint it Ghibli style. They’re reading Elmo’s big lift-and-look book and Tad and Dad, respectively.

In May, our kids’ school asked us to log everything we read to them, so we did. For the month of May we read a total of 280 stories to the kids, spanning 137 unique titles. The busiest day was May 13th, when we powered through 20 reads. Here’s a look at the month’s volume by day:

Interestingly enough, Friday was the day we read the least. I guess by the end of the week everyone needs a little break 😊. Perhaps unsurprisingly the middle of the week, Thursday, followed by Tuesday were the most popular days for reading:

Day Total reads Days in May ’25 Avg. per day
Thursday 61 5 12.2 ← busiest
Tuesday 46 4 11.5
Saturday 53 5 10.6
Wednesday 37 4 9.25
Sunday 32 4 8.0
Monday 31 4 7.75
Friday 20 5 4.0 ← quietest

Our top‑five most requested books were:

Llama llama nighty night (15 times), Where’s spot (11 times), Look look (9 times), I’ve loved you since forever (8 times), 123s of thankfulness (8 times):

Both of the kids bring us books, with my son being the oldest bringing us longer, more intricate titles like Disney Junior Storybook Collection which is a densely worded, 304 page book with 16 individual stories where each story is about 17 pages and takes about 5-7 minutes to read. On the other hand, our daughter brings us simpler titles like the frequent favorite Llama Llama Nighty Night which is only 14 pages and is a 1 minute read. We like to extend the reads by taking extra time on the shorter books, asking the baby questions like “what are they doing?” to which she would reply “tubby!” “tubby!” or ask her to interact: “pop the bubbles baby!” and she’ll take her finger and go “pop!” “pop!” “pop!”

Some ways we help encourage these habits are by:

1) Keeping a rotating list of books available at all times on the coffee table in the living room, where they can either bring a book to us to read, or start reading themselves:

2) Have them observe us reading from our adult library:

3) Keeping books in other places like the dining table, our vehicles, and in the kid’s backpack that contains other essentials like snacks and wipes.

Here’s an image of some of their books that are pending placement in a bookshelf that I need to build for them:

I talked to my wife, and we both agree we probably read to them less than normal because keeping the log was additional cruft that no one wanted to do 😆. In the first week of June it seems like we’re already reading a lot more.

We also traveled across the country to multiple states this May, which probably accounts for some of the reduced frequency towards the end.

One additional parenting hack/bonus is that, pretty much every day, the older one reads books to the younger one, though we didn’t count them here. Here’s the full log:

May 01
- Bambi
- Don’t push the button
- I can’t wait until Christmas
- Look at the animals (x3)
- Look look!
- Mickey’s Christmas Carol
- Sleep tight polar bear
- The lion king
- Very hungry caterpillar (x2)
- What do smurfs do all day
- Where’s spot (x3)
May 02
- Magic carpet ride
- The little mermaid
- Twinkle twinkle little star and other nursery rhymes
May 03
- A day on the farm (x2)
- Ernie and the twiddlebug town fair (x2)
- Hungry caterpillars first summer
- Little Dino’s don’t yell
- Llama llama nighty night
- Look look (x2)
- Very hungry caterpillar eats breakfast (x2)
- Where’s spot (x2)
May 04
- Don’t push the button
- I can’t wait til Christmas
- Jungle book (x2)
- Llama llama hide’nseek (x3)
- Llama llama nighty night (x3)
- Mickeys Christmas carol
- My first book of learning (x2)
- What do Smurf’s do all day
- lion king
May 05
- Llama llama hide and seek (x4)
- The little mermaid
- The littlest Christmas elf (x2)
- Words (x2)
May 06
- 1 2 3 with the little rubber ducks (x2)
- Don’t push the button
- I’ve loved you since forever
- Little blue truck Christmas
- Llama llama nighty night (x4)
- On the farm (x2)
- Rubbles big wish
- The littlest Christmas elf
- The very hungry caterpillar (x2)
- Very hungry caterpillars first summer
May 07
- Birding for babies
- Little Dinos Don’t Yell (x3)
- Elmo (x3)
- How are you – Como Estas (x2)
- If you give a mouse a cookie
- Little blue truck Christmas
- Little blue truck Valentine
- No butts
- Pajama time
- Sleep tight polar bear
- Twinkle twinkle little star and other nursery rhymes
- Where do diggers sleep at night
- Where is your nose
- Wild animals
May 08
- 1 2 3 with the little rubber ducks
- A day on the farm (x2)
- Don’t push the button
- I can’t wait until Christmas
- Into the unknown
- Tod and Boddington – The chiefs dilemma
- Twinkle twinkle little star
- Very hungry caterpillar eats breakfast
- Where’s spot
- Wish (x2)
- Words
- frosty the snowman
May 09
- Hello my world
- Little blue truck leads the way
- Llama llama hide and seek (x2)
- Look look (x2)
- Where is your nose
- Where’s spot
- the little red caboose
May 10
- A porcupine named fluffy
- Brown bear
- Butt out
- Don’t push the button
- If you give a mouse a muffin
- If you take a mouse to school
- Junior woodchuck jamboree adventure in the USA
- Little blue truck leads the way
- Llama llama hide & seek
- Llama llama red pajama
- Look look
- My first book of learning
- The big orange splot
- The dog I love best (x2)
- The little mermaid
- The runaway kite – adventure in Japan
- This is baby
- Wild animals
May 11
- 123s of thankfulness
- Elmo
- Twinkle twinkle little star and other nursery rhymes
May 12
- 123 with the rubber ducks
- A day on the farm
- How are you
- Little Dino’s Don’t yell (x3)
- The Prince and the pauper
- The big orange splot
- Where’s spot
May 13
- 123s of thankfulness
- A day on the farm (x2)
- At the farm
- Good night biscuit
- Little traveler landmarks
- Llama llama babysitter
- Llama llama nighty night
- Look Look
- Porcupine named fluffy (x2)
- Sleep tight polar bear
- The big orange splotch
- The rescuers
- The very hungry caterpillars first summer
- This is baby
- Twinkle twinkle little star and nursery rhymes
- Very hungry caterpillar eats breakfast
- Where is your nose
- good night biscuit
May 14
- 123s of thankfulness
- Twinkle twinkle little star and other nursery rhymes
- Where is your nose
- the wonderful things you will be
May 15
- 123s of thankfulness
- A day at the farm (x3)
- Baby’s first library words
- I’ve loved you since forever (x4)
- Llama llama nighty night (x4)
- Sleep tight polar bear
- The big orange splot
- the very hungry caterpillar
May 16
- 123s of thankfulness (x2)
- Llama llama nighty night (x2)
- Twinkle twinkle little star
- We love kindergarten
May 17
- Elmo
- I’ve loved you since forever (x2)
- Little blue truck Christmas
- Llama llama babysitter
- Llama llama hide and seek
- Llama llama red pajama
- Sleep tight polar bear
- Smitten with a kitten
- The dog I love best
- The last PupIcorn
- Wild animals
May 18
- 123s of thankfulness
- My first book of learning
- Oh the places you’ll go
- Tarzan
- The big orange splot
- Where’s spot
May 19
- A little emotional
- Big book of learning
- If you give a mouse a cookie
- If you take a mouse to school
- K is for kindness (x2)
- Olivia
May 20
- Dirt lift and flap
- Very hungry caterpillar
- Where do diggers sleep at night
- christmas on Sesame Street
- oh the places you’ll go
- sit stay love
- where’s spot
May 21
- A walk in the park
- Disney Junior Storybook Collection – Hawaii PugO
- Little blue truck valentine
- The last pupicorn
May 22
- 123s of thankfulness
- Disney junior storybook collection – panda excess
- Disney junior storybook collection – the last pupicorn
- Disney junior storybook collection – vampire for president
- One leaf two leaves count with me
- The ghost in dobbs diner
- The last pupicorn
- Very hungry caterpillar eats breakfast
- Where’s spot
May 23
- Alice in Wonderland
May 24
- A little emotional
- Llama llama red Pajama
- The little red caboose
- Twinkle twinkle and other rhymes
May 25
- Dear boy
- Pup pup and away
- Rumble in the jungle
- Sleep tight polar bear
- a little emotional
- Disney junior storybook collection – hawaii pug-o
- gazpacho for nacho
- where’s spot
May 26
- Brown Bear brown bear
- Curious George and the puppies
- Elmo
- First words
- The dog I love best
- Where’s spot
May 27
- The Hungry caterpillar eats breakfast
- The last pupicorn
- Twinkle twinkle little star
May 28
- 10 little piggies
- A walk in the park
- First words
- Good night moon
- I’ve loved you since forever
- Look look (x3)
- Looking for mommy
- The last pupicorn
May 29
- How much I love you
- It’s pajama time
- Look look
- This little piggy
- You’re my little sweet pea (x2)
May 30
- The very hungry caterpillar eats breakfast
May 31
- Let’s go to the zoo
- The last pupicorn
- The very hungry caterpillar eats breakfast (x3)
This post was written without the assistance of AI.
June 6, 2025
Reading list second half 2019 + update

Howdy 🤠

It’s been a while since I’ve written a post. Things have been extremely busy at work and I’m excited for what possibilities 2020 has in store Automattic as a company and for me as a professional.

This extra effort has been synchronous with my reading list. I find myself ending work after long hours with a little more mental exhaustion than I would normally have. As a result, I have spent the vast majority of my reading time exercising via walking while listening to books on tape in order to try and effortlessly kill two birds with one stone.

Virtually all of the books have been fiction, and all from the same series at that. I think my choice of genre is directly related to my workload 😅. Back during my 100 days of running I listened to the first three Dresden Files books and found myself returning to them for more. It turns out there are 15 books already published in the series, so the prospect of having a lot of available content I was already familiar with was another deciding factor (notice a pattern here?) During the time between my last reading list and now, I read 10 books in the series. Book 4: Summer Knight to Book 13: Ghost Story. I’m not sure how long the books are because I listened on audio for the most part. In general though: they average about 50 chapters and 20ish hours recorded, per book. By the way, the narration is excellent…. James Marsters is the narrator in every book, and really brings the stories to life if you ask me.

I didn’t explain it much in the previous post, but possibly the main appeal for me is the books are basically Harry Potter for adults in the Noir genre. Hell, even the main character is named Harry, Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, that is. Harry is a wizard who runs a small private investigation business in Chicago. On the surface you have a fun series that mixes a little bit of crime/mystery with the supernatural, but as the series matures you’re slowly sucked in to the supernatural world at large and the powers at play. As Harry becomes stronger, so increases the stakes in each book. The recurring characters, development, and overarching plot are what keeps me engaged, even 13 books later.

Anyway, without butchering the review: I think Harry Potter for adults is a good baseline if you’re thinking about reading this series. I like simplicity. Did you like Harry Potter? -> You will probably like this. I’ll link the covers + links to the books I read below (don’t you worry those aren’t affiliate links, no one is going to make any money off of your precious clicks – I promise 🙏) — if you’re looking for links to Books 1, 2, and 3 – those are in my previous post.

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication
Leonardo da Vinci

https://www.amazon.com/Summer-Knight-Dresden-Files-Book/dp/B002CSL0C0/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=dresden+files+book+4&qid=1582033391&s=audible&sr=1-1
Summer Knight: The Dresden Files, Book 4

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Masks-Dresden-Files-Book/dp/B002UUDFD2/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=dresden+files+book+4&qid=1582033391&s=audible&sr=1-2
Death Masks: The Dresden Files, Book 5

https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Rites-Dresden-Files-Book/dp/B003CN7DQ6/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=dresden+files+book+4&qid=1582033391&s=audible&sr=1-3
Blood Rites (The Dresden Files, Book 6)

Dead Beat (The Dresden Files, Book 7)

Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, Book 8)

White Night (The Dresden Files, Book 9)

Small Favor (The Dresden Files, Book 10)

Turn Coat (The Dresden Files, Book 11)

Changes (The Dresden Files, Book 12)

Ghost Story (Dresden Files Book 13)

February 18, 2020
Reading list: First Half 2019

I read a lot during my 100 days of running, pretty much every day and mostly via Audiobook. One of the great things about committing to run was I was able to easily get into and finish books on Audio. I read some the old fashioned way as well… pretty much the technical manuals… but for the most part, I listened. This was meant to be a first quarter reading list but I’ve been very busy since it ended, so we’ll call it “first half of 2019.”

Anyway, without further ado: here was my reading list, in the order I read them, along with a short summary of my take on the book and a link to purchase. Full disclosure, these are affiliate links. I don’t run ads on this site 🤷. Comments, suggestions, feedback? Feel free to comment below 👇 or reach out to me here.

Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

This was really the book that inspired me to challenge myself to run in the first place. I talked a lot about this book in my initial “New Year, Improved Me” post. But my words really don’t pay this book its proper tribute. Dive in as David grows up abused and the only, ending up 300lbs and spraying for cockroaches when he decides to change his life forever and become one of the baddest men on planet earth. Amazon Link.

Living with a SEAL by Jesse Itzler

This was a re-read. I read this book back in 2015 when it wasn’t well known who the SEAL in the book that trained Jesse was, but after learning it was none other than our man Goggins I had to go back through. This book is an easy read, and hilarious the whole way through. Imagine an uber-rich CEO guy who hires a Navy SEAL to live with him for 30 days. That’s this book. Full of laughs and lessons, I highly recommend this book in it’s audio form. Amazon Link.

Living with the Monks by Jesse Itzler

After finishing my re-read of Jesse’s last book, I found out that he had come out with another one. Admittedly not nearly as good as Living with a SEAL, I still enjoyed the read and Jesse’s narration is always funny. Read as Jesse decides he needs to shake things up again, heading to upstate New York to spend a few weeks with the world famous dog-training monks of New Skete. Amazon Link.

Finding Ultra by Rich Roll

Suprising gem find by browsing Kindle Audiobooks. I loved this read. Rich Roll was a serious alcoholic, at risk of losing it all and almost his life many times. Read as he transforms to an accomplished ultra endurance athlete, doing it all on an exclusively plant-based diet. Amazon Link.

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

This was another re-read, but I couldn’t resist. Red Rising is a three-book trilogy series by Pierce brown and probably my favorite series of all time (start book one here). It’s a mix of Star Wars, Ender’s Game, Starcraft, and Greek Mythology and it’s amazing. I recommend these books to everyone and I’ve never heard negative feedback. If you’re going to read anything on this list – read this series. Amazon Link (This is Book 2/3).

The Plant Powered Diet by Sharon Palmer, RD

After reading “Finding Ultra” I became interested in Rich’s plant-powered diet as an endurance athlete. This was research on a diet with more plants from the perspective of a Registered Dietician. It’s a great read, and I will say we signed up for a weekly produce delivery after I finished this book. Amazon Link.

The Obesity Code by Jason Fung, MD

Going deeper down the rabbit hole of diet, health, and wellness I picked up this read by Dr. Fung. An extremely interesting read, Dr. Fung debunks common myths about health, wellness, and weight loss to include calories in, calories out and macro-nutrient intake. Dr. Fung primarily treated kidney disease before becoming curious about why patients who were given insulin gained weight when it was “common knowledge” that reducing calories and increasing exercise curbed weight gain. Amazon Link.

Meditation by Camelia Gherib

As it’s probably obvious at this point, I was deep deep into a quest to improve myself mentally, physically, and spiritually. I listened to this on Audiobook where the format was 21 days of 10 minute meditation sessions, and I have to say it was excellent. I still use some of the breathing techniques in an attempt to still my mind and push out unwanted thoughts or feelings. Amazon Link.

The Dresden Files – Books 1, 2, and 3 by Jim Butcher

My friend Travis recommended this series to me. Harry Dresden is Chicago’s only openly practicing wizard in a modern day society. These books are sort of like your old detective/private investigator murder mystery books except the protagonist is a wizard and he’s trying to run his own investigation alongside the police. The stories are interesting enough but the Narration by James Marsters is superb. I read the first three books but I won’t spam you with a review of each. Book 1 | Book 2 | Book 3 Amazon Links.

iOS Programming – The Big Nerd Ranch Guide

I switched over at work from WordPress.com to our Mobile Applications and decided to try and refresh on some iOS knowledge. I hadn’t even looked at Swift since 2016. This was my first Nerd Ranch experience and I can’t recommend it enough. If I’m ever breaking into another programming language, framework, or technology I’m going to look for Nerd Ranch first! Amazon Link.

Ascend Online by Luke Chmilenko

This book was alright. LITRPG is usually my favorite guilty-pleasure reading. As far as they go, I thought Ascend Online left a lot to be desired. If you’re interested in the story-is-told-from-the-perspective-of-a-game-player-in-a-VR-world Sword Art Online style, this might be for you… but I recommend a series like Awaken Online first. Amazon Link.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

A surprisingly intimate look into the life of Michelle Robinson and later, the Obama Family as a whole. I really enjoyed this read. It’s extremely long but Michelle is an excellent and engaging Narrator, and the book is split into three parts: Becoming Me, Becoming Us, and Becoming More. Read as Michelle grows up as a Black Female on the South Side of Chicago later attending Princeton, Harvard Law, and eventually landing a position as a corporate attorney at Sidley Austin where she met Barack before working with non-profits. Eventually, Barack runs for the Illinois Senate, the U.S. Senate and well, you know how the rest of the story goes. This book is a strong case for the idea that privilege has almost nothing to do with race but almost everything to do with environment. Michelle’s parents are attentive and engaged throughout her life, and they sacrifice everything to help Michelle find her voice and instill values in her that last throughout her lifetime. Amazon Link.

May 8, 2019