Thanks to having little kids and going to the public library every 3 weeks, I read 4-12 books every 3 weeks. During these 3 weeks I also re-read books I previously read.
Seriously, if you're thinking about upgrading your book read count, I highly suggest having kindergartners.
Now if you want something I'm reading without the kids around: Witchblade Compendium 2. I read 21 out of 50 chapters. Been reading since early/mid June. Would not recommend so far, but I heard that after chapter 30 (issue 80 of the series) it gets good, we'll see.
I second this. We haven't gone to the library since COVID but before that I was reading a lot more. I think the last library book was either Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance or Getting Stoned with Savages
Book Yourself Solid Started sometime last year, haven't touched it in months.
Westward Ho been meaning to read it since I was about 10 years old and this spring I remembered I had a 100 year-old copy that's been sitting on a shelf for 20 years so I started it. Again, haven't picked it up in months. Thanks for reminding me.
"The Ugly Chickens" (novella from "1981 World's best SF" collection). My 12 year-old still likes it when I read to him at bed time, so we've been reading it for the last two nights. At least this one I know I'll finish soon, or I'll hear about it :-)
Howard Waldrop. We stopped about half way through because it's pretty boring for a 12 year-old. Switched to Avram Davidson's "The Golem" instead, which he liked much better.
Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. Since last week. Good read I recommend it even if you are not into gardening understanding life in the soi is important.
Just finished the Foundation, I just couldn't put down the kindle. I don't know how I missed this gem.
It is really social-science fiction if that makes sense - the premise is a mathematical model that can predict the future of an intergalactic civilization, with social and technological decline, dark ages and recovery.
The plots are various political intrigues the characters participate in to move civilization forward.
I was also really excited about The Wheel of Time series that came out on Prime (especially since Sanderson was consulting on it), but it really disapointed for the same reasons. The Expanse was spot on though. I hope someone picks the show back up so they can finish out the series.
The early episodes of the Expanse were easily the best Sci-Fi TV I can remember watching. Was still good towards the end but definitely didn't keep me as glued to the screen as the first series.
Yeah. I read that they went over budget and had to rewrite the last couple episodes to finish our season 6. It was good but felt more rushed and incomplete.
I haven't yet read the books (they're in the queue, but I'm currently going through Peter Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga/Universe[0] first)... but the show was both really interesting and really awful, imo. It had a good premise initially, the bit about mathematical formulae that can guide humanity through existential struggle, and then it just kinda dropped the ball on that concept beyond a few scenes. The show apparently introduced a concept not really emphasized in the books, according to others I've talked to, in the form of "Empire" - a singular man, cloned multiple times, with a youth version (Dawn), an adult version (Day), and an elderly version (Dusk), some of which overlap beyond just the 3 generations. That was one of the more interesting bits of the TV series to me, since the rest was somewhat muddled and incoherently presented. Acting ranged from decent to awful. Too much mystery building for a show with no guarantee of a renewal. Worth a shot if you're bored and into SF though.
Yeah it's quite watchable. To the point I signed up to Apple TV just for that show (and promptly unsubscribed once I'd finished, been meaning to check when the next series is out).
Oh The Foundation is such a beautiful read. Anytime I think about the longevity of our civilization, I think of it. I'm sure the creators of Horizonte Zero Dawn were inspired by it.
The characters are just obviously incompetent and/or malicious. I know it's supposed to be a story about the power of DevOps transformation or whatever but like... you could also just not suck at your job maybe?
That's so interesting...when I read it I started having micro-panic-attacks because they were describing exact scenarios I've been in and exact people I've worked with. The single-threaded dev and the malicious ladder-climber stood out especially well/poorly.
> The characters are just obviously incompetent and/or malicious.
Maybe Sarah, but I think the book makes at least three good points: (1) It is challenging to get an organization to change and to stop viewing IT/Ops as a cost center; (2) It is critical that IT/Ops understands how the business works; (3) Getting the organization to the point that The Thee Ways of DevOps are implemented requires cooperation between Dev and Ops to create the feedback loops necessary for both improvement of daily work and continual experimentation. This necessitates buy-in from management to try new things.
The book is based on The Goal by Eli Goldrat, and while it may be a bit heavy-handed in the portrayal of some characters, IMO it gets at the point that transforming a company’s culture is hard while also illustrating some of the steps necessary to get there.
I'm working through "The algorithmic beauty of seashells" by Hans Meinhardt and it's fantastic. It's been on my list for quite a while, but I only got around to it about 2 months ago. I'm through the first 90%, which means I got through the seashell pattern modeling. I'm reading the last part more slowly, both because it's not building up the model and because I'm building an interactive implementation of the models.
I'm also reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Started less than a month ago, am at p256/867. It's not my 'priority book', but I've been enjoying it when my brain needed a break from the seashells.
The Ministry for the Future, Rise and Fall of Third Reich, Benjamin Franklin's biography by Walter Isaacson, Leonardo Da Vinci's biography, Crafting Interpreters, The Overstory
I couldn't finish Ministry for the Future; I found it just too depressing. And I like Kim Stanley Robinson but I just couldn't believe in the solutions he proposes for climate change. I think the problem is too big for us to solve and that humanity is almost certainly in for a few rough centuries while we adjust. A lot of people are going to suffer.
I'm not able to continue the book either. I got lost in the carbon coin proposal. And yes it's very depressing. What's depressing is human conduct. As long as politicians are manipulating the situation for their own benefits, it's impossible to come up with a solution.
Highly. I think I've read it a couple (or maybe three?) times in my life and I know the next time I do that I'll get something new out of it. It's a lifetime book.
This week, I'm reading Love is a Choice by Frank Minirth, Paul Meier, and Robert Hemfelt. Read about one third of it.
Last week, I started and finished The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
During the past two months, I read 1) Perfectionism: A Relational Approach to Conceptualization, Assessment, and Treatment by Gordon Flett, Paul L. Hewitt, and Samuel F. Mikail, 2) Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, and 3) Neurosis and Human Growth by Karen Horney.
Definitely. It depends on what you already know and what you'd like to learn, but each one of them added a great deal to my understading of the world and human psychology in particular.
Code by Charles Petzold for a month or so after seeing it recommended here over and over. It's highly recommended for a reason! Petzold's explanations are phenomenal. Can't wait for the 2nd edition so I can reread it.
The Populist Delusion by Neema Parvini started last week finished this week, an overview of political views of Mosca, Pareto, Michels, Schmitt, Jouvenel, Burnham, Francis, and Gottfried
The Elementary Particles by French author Michel Houellebecq finished last week had started about a month ago.
Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard about halfway through
Napolean: A Life by Andrew Roberts started in the spring, about 1/2 way through had to take a break to read shorter books. Will get back to it, great book but very long.
I read about 60-70 books per year, predominantly fiction. I'm currently halfway through _Jade War_ by Fonda Lee, and after that I'll read the third book in that series. Up next would be either Joe Abercrombie's _First Law_ series or maybe pick up the second book in Josiah Bancroft's _Babel_ series.
My TBR pile is about 140 books long at this point, so I don't think I'll run out of things to read. :)
just received & started on Spreadsheet Implementation Technology: Basics and Extensions by Peter Sestoft, upon recommendation by another HN user a few weeks ago. spreadsheets are wild y'all
_The Splendid and The Vile._ My sister recommended it, and it was great on audiobook. I found the stories about Beaverbrook especially interesting. I found the insight fascinating into what Churchill was thinking during the war, how much he leaned on his closest advisors, and how badly some of Hitler's advisors fucked up. I wound up reading (or listening) to it through the lens of how important relationships are in whatever kind of work that we do. Also, in 2021 I read _The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are_ and it was the best book I've read in years.
“The End of the World is Just the Beginning” by Peter Zeihan. Probably needs to be read with a grain (or two or three) of salt, but it’s pretty thought-provoking.
How do you feel about the writing style? I was barely able to finish it. I can't say I agree with most of the speculative non-fiction he wrote in that book (which is also a rehash of the ideas in the previous book, Disunited Nations) but the writing style with all the clichés and the expressions trying to make it funny were absolutely horrible.
Since then, I've read several of the author's other books — and recently I've been re-listening to The First Law trilogy. (Steven Pacey is the best Audible narrator in the game.)
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[ 3.0 ms ] story [ 155 ms ] threadThe Left hand of Darkness - since two weeks
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics - since three weeks nearly finished
Breakfast of Champions - since a month - can't find the damn thing to finish the last chapter
Space 2069 - since two months - half way
Snow Crash - since three weeks - first chapter
Leonardo Da Vinci - Walter Isaacson - two months - nearly finished
I've finished a bunch this year but you didn't ask about those...
Seriously, if you're thinking about upgrading your book read count, I highly suggest having kindergartners.
Now if you want something I'm reading without the kids around: Witchblade Compendium 2. I read 21 out of 50 chapters. Been reading since early/mid June. Would not recommend so far, but I heard that after chapter 30 (issue 80 of the series) it gets good, we'll see.
I liked "getting stoned" better :-)
Westward Ho been meaning to read it since I was about 10 years old and this spring I remembered I had a 100 year-old copy that's been sitting on a shelf for 20 years so I started it. Again, haven't picked it up in months. Thanks for reminding me.
"The Ugly Chickens" (novella from "1981 World's best SF" collection). My 12 year-old still likes it when I read to him at bed time, so we've been reading it for the last two nights. At least this one I know I'll finish soon, or I'll hear about it :-)
I thought it was really good too. Though personally I liked Dark Matter and Recursion more.
It is really social-science fiction if that makes sense - the premise is a mathematical model that can predict the future of an intergalactic civilization, with social and technological decline, dark ages and recovery.
The plots are various political intrigues the characters participate in to move civilization forward.
[0]: https://www.goodreads.com/series/108563-commonwealth-univers...
Read the Robots series and then Foundations Edge and sequels.
I took a break to read At The Mountains Of Madness. That made me feel a little better by comparison.
Why?
Maybe Sarah, but I think the book makes at least three good points: (1) It is challenging to get an organization to change and to stop viewing IT/Ops as a cost center; (2) It is critical that IT/Ops understands how the business works; (3) Getting the organization to the point that The Thee Ways of DevOps are implemented requires cooperation between Dev and Ops to create the feedback loops necessary for both improvement of daily work and continual experimentation. This necessitates buy-in from management to try new things.
The book is based on The Goal by Eli Goldrat, and while it may be a bit heavy-handed in the portrayal of some characters, IMO it gets at the point that transforming a company’s culture is hard while also illustrating some of the steps necessary to get there.
I'm also reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. Started less than a month ago, am at p256/867. It's not my 'priority book', but I've been enjoying it when my brain needed a break from the seashells.
About half the way through it. Would recommend
The Ministry for the Future, Rise and Fall of Third Reich, Benjamin Franklin's biography by Walter Isaacson, Leonardo Da Vinci's biography, Crafting Interpreters, The Overstory
Worth the time?
Last week, I started and finished The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel.
During the past two months, I read 1) Perfectionism: A Relational Approach to Conceptualization, Assessment, and Treatment by Gordon Flett, Paul L. Hewitt, and Samuel F. Mikail, 2) Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, and 3) Neurosis and Human Growth by Karen Horney.
The Elementary Particles by French author Michel Houellebecq finished last week had started about a month ago.
Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard about halfway through
Napolean: A Life by Andrew Roberts started in the spring, about 1/2 way through had to take a break to read shorter books. Will get back to it, great book but very long.
My TBR pile is about 140 books long at this point, so I don't think I'll run out of things to read. :)
Haha, my main list of books to read is 748 books long... :|
I highly recommend First Law, one of the better fantasy series I've ever read.
Since then, I've read several of the author's other books — and recently I've been re-listening to The First Law trilogy. (Steven Pacey is the best Audible narrator in the game.)