Chart of books read in October - 9 in total

Was traveling, so I’m a couple of days late with my October @thestorygraph.com - some good reads this month!

Chart showing 4 books read in September

My September @thestorygraph.com wrap up …

August reading summary, showing 3 books finished

My August @thestorygraph.com summary. I also had a rare DNF (“Salt: A World History”).

a woman in a suit and tie says " i 'm positively bedeviled with meetings et cetera ... " Alt: Moira from schitts creek in a suit and tie says " i 'm positively bedeviled with meetings et cetera ... "

(Heavy on the et cetera)

July reading stats… just three books this month!

My July @thestorygraph.com … I think that’s the fewest books in a month since I retired 🤣

Chart showing 7 books read in May. Top ratings to All the Beauty in the World, and Book Lovers

My May @thestorygraph.com reading summary

I had a Best Girl There Ever Was, Niall. I was lucky enough to have her for six years, until she died 20 years ago. She changed me forever, and I miss her still. Thank you for honoring Tina - your Best Girl There Ever Was - in a way that will live forever.

I received word on Monday that my copy is on its way & should arrive tomorrow. I watched Tina’s story online from the first day she came into your life. You helped us all feel as if we knew her. I’ve lost a beloved dog, and I know the grief it leaves in your soul. I can’t wait to read this book. 💔❤️

This is amazing and I’m in tears. Watching her tail wag as she walked down Hope Avenue to her forever home 🥰 Niall, you did that

US weather forecasting is more crippled than previously thought as hurricane season nears | CNN Several current and former agency meteorologists and staff told CNN they are concerned warnings won’t be issued in time as hurricane season nears.

NEW: US weather forecasting is in worse shape than previously known, with 30 NWS forecast offices missing meteorologists-in-charge and about a dozen offices at risk of no longer serving their communities 24/7. www.cnn.com/2025/05/02/w...

Graph showing 5 books read, with an average rating of 4.0

My April @thestorygraph.com I read a couple of dense books this month, so my pace was a little slower than it has been. But good stuff, nevertheless.

She accepted pets! And then looked at you! She’s going to be okay. Maybe not tomorrow, maybe not next week, but she’ll get there. You’re amazing, Niall.

What a precious, precious girl. She and her forever family are going to be equally lucky 🥰

i am sure there is nothing wrong that the current secretary of defense is not only sloppy with security but also is an online gambler its not like blackmail or coercion are an issue for guys like that

I’m curious why none of the plans cited in the article to “fix” the problem include examining how implementing a wealth tax might help. Why wasn’t that even an option on the “bipartisan interactive tool”?

When “Hands ON” Means “Leadership OFF”: How to Flip the Script in your School System  - The Breakthrough Coach Learn how The Breakthrough Coach can help you redefine leadership in your school system. Explore strategies to shift from hands-on management to empowering leadership for greater success.

My epiphany was when I realized what my job was: 1) ensure a safe campus, so learning can occur; 2) manage the budget so my school has the resources it needs; 3) coach, mentor, support, & develop my staff, who are the ones doing “the work”. That’s it.

www.the-breakthrough-coach.com/when-hands-o...

This is a very good thread

StoryGraph graphics showing 7 books read, average rating 3.14

My March @thestorygraph.com - two good memoirs this month!

The difference in his eyes between his bath and at the end is absolutely remarkable 🥰

Niall, you’ve thrown yourself into this work knowing that with it comes heartbreak & sadness. Yet with this work, you make life better for so many other creatures, & you inspire others to do the same. I’m so glad to know you can balance your heartbreak with the joy you find w these animals. Namaste.

School leaders, you can’t do it all.
You’re not SUPPOSED to do it all.
So stop trying.
Do the work that is yours to do - coaching, mentoring, supporting, guiding, and providing resources to your staff.

#edusky
#schoolprincipal
#leadership

www.instagram.com/reel/DG0zxPc...

One Agency Tried to Regulate SpaceX. Now Its Fate Could Be in Elon Musk’s Hands. The Trump ally and DOGE chief is expected to turn his budget-slashing sights on the FAA’s little-known commercial spaceflight office, which has proposed fines and grounded SpaceX after explosions and ...

Another SpaceX oopsy seems like a good occasion to share this @propublica.org piece from a few weeks back

America is ruled by gangsters now Three takeaways from Trump's disastrous meeting with Zelensky.

open.substack.com/pub/noahpini... It’s been evident for some time to anyone paying attention that Trump is a gangster turning the US into a gangster state. The ambush in the White House on Friday morning should make even conservatives sit up and take notice Noah Smith argues

Chart showing readjng stats: 8 books read, 3496 total pages, average rating 3.81. Chart has images of the covers of my 3 highest rated books for the month: Big Little Lies, Rule of Wolves, and Pictures of You. There are also full color pie, bar, and graph charts showing fiction/nonfiction percentages, print/digital format percentages, genres read, and pages read per day.

My February StoryGraph. Expanded repertoire this month thx to @thestorygraph rdg challenges. Some of it has been great- read a terrific nonfiction book about modern art I’d usually never have read- & some of it not so great (currently reading a book that may actually become my 1st DNF book in yrs)

If @darthbluesky.bsky.social were here we know what he’d say… INNOCENT

Musk and Trump Are Cutting Popular Programs. That’s Deliberate. This is how you sever the positive relationship between people and government—ensuring there’s nothing left to defend.

By going after the most popular government programs, they are thinking long-term, planning for a world where no one defends government agencies because these agencies don’t do anything that we value.

60 MINUTES: “Utter nonsense. The most accountable aid agency in the world is USAID… DOGE fired their top 58 officials within an hour of arriving…”

This was never about efficiency.

Full: www.instagram.com/reel/DGLXa9r...

What you and @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social and @sociabledog.bsky.social have done for Sophie is beautiful and nothing short of miraculous. I suspect there were times on your journey with her that you never thought she’d get to a place like this. I’m so happy for all of you. 🥰

So many years consumed

building the barricades,
fortifying the battlements,
mastering deflection and evasion,
stockpiling armories of words and wiles -

All to be disarmed by a gentle smile

#vss365
#disarm

Embracing the “Captain of the Ship” Mental Model for School Leaders - The Breakthrough Coach By Andy Johnson, Superintendent, San Marcos Unified  School District, San Marcos, CA, and Jill Pancoast, President, The Breakthrough Coach Embracing a mental model of the principal as ‘captain of the ...

This is the perspective shift that changed my view of my role as a #schoolprincipal, and that shift then radically altered what I spent my time doing at work. I was happier & more effective. I wish all school leaders could experience the shift. #EduSky 5.workingdemosite.com/breakthrough...