Books: What are you reading tonight?
We have ongoing threads on t.v. and movies we're watching lately; it's time for one for books. daveT's thread on favorite books covers ones we've already read, but let's put ones we are reading/going to read soon or have just finished(i.e., let's make this thread more like a log than a resume) here.
Below is some stuff I've pulled from daveT's thread, where I felt compelled to talk about my recent book-buying craziness, with some new comments.
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I'm one of those guys who will often read many books at once. Right now I'm at various depths into:
Stephen King -- On Writing
textbook on real estate
Ode to Kirihito - supposedly best graphic novel ever done by Japan's best graphic novelist ever
American Splendor (second collection put out after the movie) -- Harvey Pekar, graphic short stories
various meditation books -- Mantak Chia
How to Cheat Your Friends at Poker -- Penn Jilette
Cosmicomics -- Italo Calvino -- another re-read of it
On the burner to read next:
From Hell -- Alan Moore, graphic novel
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and The Palm Wine Drinkard -- some African dude won a Nobel prize for this I think; supposedly absolutely fantastic; the album by Brian Eno and David Byrne certainly was
God is Not Great -- Christopher Hitchens
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Zero desire to read Gatsby. I think I read it in high school and hated it.
i found the great gatsby tolerable
so later in life i downloaded some audiobooks by him figuring i needed to give "one of america's greatest writers" another chance and it was some carribbean sailing thing and was just the most boring and awful thing i ever listened to and could not bring myself to maintain focus and listen because my own random thoughts of "oh there's a tree" were so much more interesting
eventually gave up and hit eject and went on to something else
I am happy to admit that I did not get Gatsby when I read it in high school. It made a lot more sense twenty years later.
I am also happy to admit a recent Did Not Finish, Middlemarch by George Eliot. It's one of those big literature things you're supposed to have read but my god.
Three hundred pages in, all I had were multiple uninterestingly pious county English folk and nothing whatsoever had happened. A guy borrowed some money [massive spoiler]. I had to go read a hundred pages of Blood Meridian to get the taste out of my mouth.
I enjoyed Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Definitely a vibe. Like you're in an unsettling dream. The main character overthinks absolutely everything, so relatable.
in high school, i was told my english teacher that reading steppenwolf as a young person will be wasted on me and i should wait until i'm middle aged or an old man to read it, i think i may finally be ready
Steppenwolf was in fact the only one of Hesse's books that didn't resonate with me. I remember even enjoying the rambling around drinking wine bildungsroman things like Peter Camenzind or whatever.
Steppenwolf was just a weird old guy in an apartment iirc and I didn't get very far with it. Even the Glass Bead Game made more sense.
If you didn't like Beneath the Wheel , you didn't attend a tough enough high school.
Read Tender Is the Night, not Gatsby.
Polostan by Neal Stephenson
Similar tone & very well researched like Cryptonomicon but 1/3 the length.
On the Edge by Nate Silver
Fun read. What you expect from this is probably what you'll get. Too much FTX for my taste.
Staff Engineer by Will Larson
His book An Elegant Puzzle (2019) is better known (written for engineering managers). Instead, read Staff Engineer if you're a talented software developer not interested in the typical "get promoted to management" track.
Polostan by Neal Stephenson
Similar tone & very well researched like Cryptonomicon but 1/3 the length.
On the Edge by Nate Silver
Fun read. What you expect from this is probably what you'll get. Too much FTX for my taste.
Staff Engineer by Will Larson
His book An Elegant Puzzle (2019) is better known (written for engineering managers). Instead, read Staff Engineer if you're a talented software developer not interested in the typical "get promoted to management" track.
I'm looking forward to Polostan. I got it when it came out, but there's a queue of books I want to finish before I get to it. I'm re-reading Fall by Neal Stephenson. It hits a bit differently after some years have past since it came out.
I liked On the Edge. I enjoyed the poker portions the most, but I liked reading more about FTX. With respect to FTX, I also read the Michael Lewis book about it (last year).
I'm currently reading God, Human, Animal, Machine by Meghan O'Gieblyn. I like how she writes. It's hard to describe. It's part memoir, part philosophical analysis. I like how she can connect certain modern ideas like transhumanism to older religious ideas.
The most recent book I finished (two weeks ago) is First lie wins by Ashley Elston. I liked it. It reads quickly and the main character is very likeable. Easy, fun read.
Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker.
A look at errors people have made over the years. Not necessarily math-related always: some software engineering, some communication errors, et cetera.
Interesting to read of these example, and Parker does a good job of getting under the surface-level problem, analyzing and explaining the underlying, systematic problems that lead to whatever went wrong.
A good read, especially for anyone in an engineering-related discipline. Always a good idea to think up front, "well how could this go wrong?" and reading these examples might get more of that thinking going.
Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller.
A road trip book. Miller takes off from Houston with an acquaintance, setting out for Oregon, in a beater Volkswagen van.
Usually, this is the kind of book that appeals to me, but it didn't work. It seemed like they were pretty much unprepared at first, then the author got metaphysical, writing about God's influence on their trip. Meh.
Wasn't bad; those sort of things probably bothered me more than they should have.
Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller.
A road trip book. Miller takes off from Houston with an acquaintance, setting out for Oregon, in a beater Volkswagen van.
Usually, this is the kind of book that appeals to me, but it didn't work. It seemed like they were pretty much unprepared at first, then the author got metaphysical, writing about God's influence on their trip. Meh.
Wasn't bad; those sort of things probably bothered me more than they should have.
Well, if he got out of Houston, maybe there is a God after all.
Heh. Good point, Mack.
Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, I like it. 4th chapter is especially good.
Did the Philippians write back?
Yeah, if you consider a couple of SMSes "writing back."
Humble Pi: When Math Goes Wrong in the Real World by Matt Parker.
A look at errors people have made over the years. Not necessarily math-related always: some software engineering, some communication errors, et cetera.
Interesting to read of these example, and Parker does a good job of getting under the surface-level problem, analyzing and explaining the underlying, systematic problems that lead to whatever went wrong.
A good read, especially for anyone in an engineering-related discipline. Always
Enjoyed this one. I listened on audiobook and it was very funny.
