So, the Snell episode prompted me to ask, what are MPU members reading now?
Do any of you have yearly reading goals?
What device do you use to read books?
Do you keep a list of books to read? What about what you have read?
And my answers:
re-reading a lot of Heinlein, reading Kyle Mills, L.T. Ryan, M.L. Ryder, Charles R. Henderson, Raphael A. Mrode and anxiously waiting for Paolo Bacigalupi, Craig Childs and Rob Zieglar to finish their latest books.
2018 I read 109 new books, re-read 11 old favorites and read 9 short stories
Electronic books are all read on my 5th generation iPad Air. The Ryder, Henderson and Mrode books are paper.
Yes, my current already purchased but not yet read kindle books is at about 150. Alot are replacements for paper books I am getting rid of and so may not get re-read for a while. Iām also a sucker for the 99 cent kindle deald and I also have a kindle unlimited subscription.
Yes, I keep a paper journal of all the books Iāve bene reading since 2008 along with notes. There is an electronic index of that journal so I can find my notes on books if I want to revisit them.
Iām on book three (Endymion) of the Hyperion Cantos. (I know its old ā just catching up.)
I donāt have yearly (or any) reading goals, but I read around 100 books / year. My reading list is whatever Iāve purchased for Kindle and havenāt read yet. Iām a sucker for enthusiastic book reviews and will click off to Amazon to grab the Kindle version in a heartbeat.
Science fiction is my treat when I donāt want to dig into serious books, and for night time, holidays and travel. Mainly though I read history, biography, neurophilosophy, and the annual Man Booker short list. I absolutely avoid pop culture, self help and so-called āproductivityā books.
Right now Iām reading Creativity, Inc. by Amy Wallace and Ed Catmull about Pixar (Iāve been listening to old episodes of Cortex and Myke and Grey talked about it there).
I keep a listing of books Iād like to read in OmniFocus. Starting in 2018 I kept a note with a list of books that I read that year. Originally this was in Bear, but Iām giving iA Writer a spin. Just started the new list for 2019.
Apart from reading I have to do for school I donāt necessarily have goals for reading. I think Iām naturally inclined to read a little bit each day and get through what I can. With that being said I am currently reading a couple books:
Currently, I read The Dictatorās Handbook - Why bad Behavior is almost always good Politics. It explains in a funny, yet knowledgeable way why so much bad things happen in politics. I think CGP Greyās Rules for Rulers is based on the book. As a political scientist I really enjoy it. But I would recommend it also to people just slightly interested in politics.
As my reading device I use 40% my Kindle, 40% ārealā books, and 20% iPad/iPhone Kindle app. Oh and my reading goal for the year is just 12 books, as I spend a lot of free time otherwise (i.e. listening to podcasts, reading articles, sports, gamingā¦)
As far as how I read, almost every book I buy these days is an ebook, usually on Kindle. I will occasionally buy a physical hardback book either for certain authors I really like (Neal Stephenson or Neil Gaiman, for instance), because a used physical copy is much cheaper than an ebook, or if itās something like a coffee table book that benefits from the physical form factor (along these lines I just bought a copy of Typeset in the Future).
Most of my ebook reading is on a Kindle Voyage. Iāll read on my iPad Pro if itās a graphic novel or something else with lots of color illustrations.
Last October I moved to a new apartment thatās literally right across the street from the cityās nice new central library, and Iāve been trying to take advantage of that. Now I almost always check to see if the library has a copy of something before I buy it. Despite buying mostly ebooks, a much larger proportion of my reading is physical books from the library.
Being a book buff Iāve always tried to read as much as possible, but just havenāt had the time or the energy to read a book, the past couple of years, but since my New Years resolution this year is to make some fundamental changes in my life, I promised myself I would get back to reading at least four books (400+ pages pr. bookā¦ at least) each year (I use to read 10+ books a year, but youāve got to start somewhere, right).
I just started reading Anthony de Melloās āAwarenessā.
This is only 232 pages, but this came as a recommendation from a friend so Iāll give it a shot.
Previously Iāve always read ārealā books. I say real because most of my books are paperbacks - I find them real but some apparently think lesser of a paperback than a hardbackš
Anyway, this is my first attempt at reading books in Appleās Books, and even though Iām only 31 pages in I kinda like this way of reading, though I think Iāll keep buying some physical books as well. I kinda miss the feel of the paper between my thumb & index finger.
I guess old habits die hard, I guessš
Just stick to it and keep on going. I remember when I were a child/teen where I spent hours reading a single book. Nowadays I struggle to keep concentrating which annoys me. There is something spinning constantly in the back of my mind. It works way better for me if I am in a train/bus. The constant noise somehow shuts off the ādaemonā. Also music helps. Grey talked about this phenomenon in a Cortex episodeā¦ I donāt know if it is because of the internet and its tiny pieces of entertainment or the constant struggle to āget things (simultaneously) doneā my attention span is shorter but I certainly donāt like itā¦ and try to get better at it.
My hope is 19 books this year. I used to read so much more before our son was born (heās nearly 6).
Right now Iām in the middle of a bunch of books:
Becoming - Michelle Obama
Salt Fat Acid Heat - Samin Nosrat
Sing Unburied Sing - Jesmyn Ward
The Best Cook in the World - Rick Bragg
Iām also reading my kid some Odysseus stories.
I donāt read e-books. I love holding a book and turning the pages. Iāve had a kindle and it just doesnāt stick for me. Though Iām always tempted to try againā¦
Just wrapped up my 2nd go-through of Atomic Habits, extremely high quality book in terms of useful material. I suspect it will be a book that I reference repeatedly this year.
Iām lucky enough to get to read a lot as part of my job. I usually read between 50-100 books a year for work. These are usually paper, partly because my annotation system is old school, but also because I find it easier to use my fingers to flip back and forth for endnotes and indexing.
For pleasure, I read a lot on an iPad mini using the Kindle app, though for comics which I read on paper. Because I commute about 10+ hours a week, I also get through a lot of audiobooks (30-40 a year), heavily weighted toward noir detective fiction.
The most recent audiobook I listened to was young adult fiction The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. I recommend it highly.
Finishing Greg Eganās Diaspora and next starting Alan Greenspanās Capitalism in America, A history. I read mostly on the kindle, occasionally on the iPad and iPhone.
I bought this book yesterday and my initial impression is that it is an excellent cookbook with an original approach. (I was inspired to buy it by the series on Netflix.)
Iām not a big believer in fate or getting cues from the universe or anything, but youāre the 3rd person in the last 24 hours to recommend this book (all from separate forums)!
I remember when I were a child/teen where I spent hours reading a single book. Nowadays I struggle to keep concentrating which annoys me. There is something spinning constantly in the back of my mind. It works way better for me if I am in a train/bus. The constant noise somehow shuts off the ādaemonā. Also music helps. Grey talked about this phenomenon in a Cortex episodeā¦ I donāt know if it is because of the internet and its tiny pieces of entertainment or the constant struggle to āget things (simultaneously) doneā my attention span is shorter but I certainly donāt like itā¦ and try to get better at it.
