Book Recommendation – Dark Matter

After seeing this book come up as a recommendation on Goodreads, Facebook and Tik Tok, I finally had the chance to read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch.

I was on the fence as to whether or not I wanted to read it. I wasn’t sure I could get into the “sci-fi” of it. I kept seeing people saying how great it was and how it was the best book they had read all year, etc.. So when I saw it on the shelf at Goodwill for a buck, I figured I would pick it up.

It sat on my “To read” pile for a while before I began to read it, but I recently finished it. Before I give my thoughts, here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Dark Matter is a brilliantly plotted tale that is at once sweeping and intimate, mind-bendingly strange and profoundly human–a relentlessly surprising science-fiction thriller about choices, paths not taken, and how far we’ll go to claim the lives we dream of.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad book. It certainly held my interest and I wanted to see how it all wrapped up. At times, I felt the scientific jargon was a bit over my head. I found myself reading a paragraph twice a couple times to be sure I got what was being said.

Honestly, as much as everyone loved this book, I didn’t feel it lived up to the hype. I went into it expecting to really be blown away by the story. I wasn’t. I’m not saying it was a waste of time to read, I just expected more based on the reviews and suggestions. If I had gone with my gut and what I felt before seeing all the hype, I probably wouldn’t have read it.

If I had to compare it to something, I would say it is like comparing it to your favorite TV show. I love the Twilight Zone, but there are episodes that just didn’t live up to those classic ones. This would compare to the “not so good” episodes.

3 out of 5 Stars.

Date Night

I took Monday off work this week so my wife and I could have a date night. We lined up a sitter (Nana) and began to decide what we wanted to do. There have been plenty of things that my wife and I have wanted to do for a while, so I started looking at those. I was truly surprised at just how many things are closed on Mondays!

We’d been talking about going to the Henry Ford Museum/Greenfield Village in Dearborn for sometime and almost booked a visit. However, when I thought about how my wife would be working Sunday night, I didn’t think the trip would be fun for her on little or no sleep. That will be a trip for another day.

She has been wanting to get a pedicure for a while, so I decided that we might be able to do that together. NOT because I like them, as a matter of fact, I’m not too keen on folks touching my feet. I would do it, however, if my wife wanted to because we’d get time together. I couldn’t get an appointment, so we skipped that.

Saturday night, we talked about getting take out and bringing our mattress out to the living room to watch movies. By Sunday we decided that we’d actually go to one of our favorite restaurants and do some shopping.

I made sure that Sam got to sleep through the day. I took the kids to Nana’s in the early afternoon, ran some errands, and was home by 3pm. When she woke up, we showered and got ready to go. We figured we’d shop first and then eat later.

Not too long ago, one of those cheap plastic legs on our couch cracked. We didn’t know at first because it was in the back. When I went to move the couch to sweep, I saw that the screw from the broken leg was digging into the wood floor. The couch was old anyway and we tossed it to the road. So we went looking for couches.

First of all, can I ask why cheaply made furniture is so doggone expensive? Wow! Sticker shock to say the least! We did find a few couches in our budget, but naturally, those were “No Delivery.” Uh, you are a furniture store! No delivery?! What’s up with that?! I was floored. Needless to say, we didn’t get a couch – yet.

Next we went up to the outlets because there were a few things we needed. I was in dire need of work shoes. I tend to wear them out pretty quick. So we stopped at the New Balance store and I picked up a new pair. My wife found some workout type clothes there and picked them up.

Next we stopped at the Goodwill store there. Sam loves thrift store shopping. I do, too, especially when it comes to books, CDs, or albums. She saw that they had all of these Halloween costumes out and they were like $2-$5 each. She loaded the cart with outfits for Ella and Andrew so they could play dress up. She struck gold there.

There was a cool antique shop close by and we strolled through there. I love going through those places. I am always guaranteed to see (1) casserole dishes that my mom and grandparents had, (2) the various glasses that McDonalds have growing up (Smurfs, Shrek, Bugs Bunny, and the McDonald’s characters), (3) some old toy that I had growing up, and (4) plenty of music and movie stuff.

Finally, it was time for dinner. We always say, “We really need to try such and such place,” but end up going to somewhere familiar. We decided to go to our favorite Mexican place. We always get take out from there and have never actually ate in the restaurant before, so we did. It had been so long since we have had a night together I splurged and got queso dip as well as salsa for our chips!

When we left dinner we were stuffed. We weren’t quite ready to go home yet, so we walked around Walmart. Sam wanted to get some containers and Command hooks for the outfits we bought the kids. As usual, we spent more than we intended to, but it was nice to just casually stroll around without having to yell for the kids to “stop touching that.”

At home, we enjoyed the remainder of the evening together. As a parent, you tend to forget just how much you need to share time together without the kids demanding your attention. To just be able to have conversation with each other was something that was so needed by both of us. We both need to continue to make a conscious effort to have those “mom and dad” dates.

Where’s My Belt?

I was up early enough to go for a walk with the family today. I grabbed a pair of shorts that I have been wearing, which I knew were getting too big, and couldn’t find my belt. I asked Sam if she had seen it and she told me no. Then she said, “Don’t you have a box of ‘snug shorts’ that didn’t quite fit anymore?” I told her I did, but didn’t think that I would fit into any of them yet.

I have been holding onto some clothes that used to fit for awhile. I keep telling myself that “when I lose weight” I can wear them. I just have never been to the point where that has happened … until today!

I pulled out the next size down and slipped them on. I grabbed the end with the button in one hand and the end with the button hole in the other and pulled them together. Up until today, those two ends have not met. I was excited that I was able to not only bring the two ends together, but I was actually able to button them!

I cannot even begin to express the feeling of being able to put those on! There is an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and at the same time a feeling of satisfaction. I have been working hard to lose this extra weight. I have about 70 or 80 pounds more that I would like to lose, and seeing the progress today reassured me that I CAN do this.

I was about to take a diaper box out to the trash tonight and stopped. This will be the box that I put all the “too big” clothes in. Once it is filled, I will take it up to the Goodwill. There will be no need to store those, because I resolve to never allow myself to get as big as I was ever again.