Gregory Mone

This is the book I've been looking for ever since I was a parent. I just never knew it. Now when my children ask how Santa Claus can fit down the chimney or deliver millions of presents across the world in a few hours, I'll have the answer:

Santa is a bio-engineered immortal equipped by aliens with technology from the future.

At least that's the hypothesis of Gregory Mone, a contributing editor to Popular Science and author of The Truth about Santa: Wormholes, Robots, and What Really Happens show more on Christmas Eve. Mone uses his considerable scientific knowledge to explain how Santa, using technology that is still decades away for us mere mortals, can accomplish his herculean feats.

- Delivering presents across the globe in a single night? The work of an army of lieutenants utilizing wormholes built into our chimneys and windows.

- Flying reindeer? A myth; Santa uses a warp-powered sleigh for his personal transportation. (Because of the hazards involved, Santa shuns wormhole travel. His lieutenants are well compensated for the risk.)

- Elves making toys? Actually their main job is maintaining the huge IT infrastructure needed to support Santa's operations.

Mone has crafted a book that combines a wicked (and slightly NSFW) sense of humor with a survey of near-future tech, all wrapped in the peppermint shell of Santa's annual rounds. Adults will get a chuckle out of the science fiction-inspired explanations, but I expect children will suspect the truth: that Mone is just a patsy for Santa, throwing us off the trail.

As every child knows: it's all magic. show less

Very engaging book that has humor, detailed descriptions and trivia, and filled with color photographs and illustrations. Tyson has an incredible ability to turn difficult subjects like astrophysics and space exploration and make them accessible for kids and adults alike. This is a very quick read with so much information packed inside. Subjects like the galaxy, solar system, matter, aliens, light, and the elements to name a few, are what Tyson has filled the book with in kid-friendly show more language and supplies us with a glossary for the terms that may not be so kid friendly. This is great for anyone that is a fan of learning about space and I love the series "Cosmos" originated by the late astrophysicist and astronomer, Carl Sagan. Tyson's voice shines through in this book and the tone is much like it is in Cosmos. show less

Not a simplified version of the wonderful original, but a self-help guide. For the right kid it might make all the difference. But Cain does assume that everyone has at least a couple of close friends, or can easily find them, and that is just not true. Not even in middle or high school, where there are presumably lots of opportunities.

I skimmed, and I just don't think this would have helped me when I was young.

But I do like the reminder that a library can be someone's 'restorative show more niche.'

Dec. 2023 show less

Quiet Power is a book that I decided to buy after I saw Susan Cain's TED talk on YouTube two years ago.
This book has been on my shelf for a while now and I had picked it up once before this but couldn't bring myself to read more than two pages. I was thinking "What's the point? It's for teens." Nevertheless, I got myself to read it a year later and boy! Am I glad that I read it!
The books talks about being an introvert in a world where being a social butterfly is considered normal, where if show more you don't speak up, you're left behind. Most importantly, it tells us to embrace the introversion that we have and how to channel it in a way that will make us superheroes.
Susan Cain and her co authors have done a great job in writing a book which is basically an introvert Bible. It discusses various topics like being active in classrooms, to being leaders, to making friends, to using social media to your advantage and battling FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and even recharging your batteries when you run out of your energy by carefully cruising through an ocean of small talk.
I wish I had this book when I was a teenager. I remember freaking out in front of a crowd as a child and avoiding conversations with people and thinking that it's a lack of confidence than thinking that maybe I am an introvert. I couldn't bring myself to ask questions or speak up in class. I don't know if I regret it or not but I made myself speak up and be a conversationalist that I would like to think I am, today.
This is definitely worth a read. Even if it says teenagers, it helped me, a graduate student, a lot.
Also check out their project Quiet Revolution online to learn more! show less