#15: Jason Fagone, The Woman Who Smashed Codes

[kareila]

Subtitled A True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America's Enemies, this is another biography of Elizebeth Friedman, the pioneering cryptanalyst who basically invented the fundamentals of codebreaking during World War I along with her husband, William. Although much of the subject matter was already familiar to me, this book contains a much more detailed account of her World War II exploits than I had seen related elsewhere. If Fagone's sources are to be believed, she and her team were more or less solely responsible for preventing the establishment of a Nazi foothold in South America, no thanks to J. Edgar Hoover, who apparently cared more about making the FBI look good in the press than actually maintaining national security.

#16: Becky Chambers, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk and Robot #2)

[kareila]

The previous book introduced us to Sibling Dex, a monk on a pilgrimage, and Splendid Speckled Mosscap, a robot on a quest, who crossed paths in the wilderness and forged a solitary partnership. Now the pair becomes reacquainted with the rest of civilization in a series of lovely anecdotes. What little tension exists in the story revolves around Dex's inner crisis of conscience, contrasting the idyllic backdrop of their post-industrialist society with the inexplicable dissatisfaction Dex continues to feel with their place in life. The ending feels insufficiently resolved, and I hope that a third volume will be announced soon.

P.S. It's not a spoiler to say that crown-shyness has nothing to do with royalty.