What are You Reading?

I rotate between fiction and non-fiction. Currently I’m reading some good science fiction. Iain M. Banks, “The Hydrogen Sonata”. I’m a big fan of The Culture series, which apparently isn’t that popular because they are hard to find and generally out of print.

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Have you tried James Ellroy?

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Not yet. Looks promising, though. Thank you!

Elon Musk is evidently a fan.

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OTOH most of them are available on Kindle.

One of our issues is that we are out of shelf space. Our house has floor to ceiling shelves in 2 rooms (complete with a library ladder) and not a single room is without some shelf space with books, even the bathroom! All the books have been read one or more times and just last year I donated several hundred books to the library that I didn’t think I would re-read. My list of paper books owned is 56 pages long for non-fiction, 26 for fiction and 31 pages for kindle. These are ODS files in in 12 pt font :sunglasses:

I don’t have a house big enough to hold all the books I have if I didn’t use electronic books.

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I hadn’t thought about that but It is definitely true for me too.

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During a move about 15 years ago, one of the movers said to me, “You must be a lawyer. Lawyers always have too many books.”

(I’m not a lawyer. And I don’t think I have that many books. But I took it as a compliment.)

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There’s a great quote by John Waters:

If you go home with somebody, and they don’t have books, don’t @&$- 'em!

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Bowline’s Corollary: If you invite John Waters to your home, first hide your books.

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That’s amazing! Do you use Goodreads? That’s amazing one has as many books as you do.

Finished Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance and enjoyed it. Had to abandon a book a friend gave me as it was a short story collection translated from Russian, much of it had references I didn’t understand. I’m now on to reading Digital Minimalists by Cal Newport! I’m considering making a separate thread for this but still thinking.

I would be interested in that thread. My book should be here today.
I like(d) Cal’s books in the past, but he’s kind of gone off the deep end on anti-social media. I agree with him, but don’t need to read about it over and over. He also argues one side, and I think (and have told him) that it would be nice to hear the other side’s arguments, and his rebuttals of their arguments.
Maybe I should have saved this for the new thread :slight_smile:

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No. I track it myself in DEVONThink as notes for each year.

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Recent reading:

  • Build Your OmniFocus Workflow by Ryan Dotson and Rosemary Orchard - Great for anyone who uses or wants to use OmniFocus. My extended thoughts here
  • Atomic Habits by James Clear - great advice about ingraining good habits and breaking bad ones.
  • The Bullet Journal Method by Ryder Carroll - Trying out a bullet journal as part of my rededication to time blocking.
  • Work Clean by Dan Charnas - Interesting, though I found the practical applicability for me varied quite a bit among the various practices he recommends.
  • The Long Way Home by Ed Dover - Interesting book about a PanAm flying boat crew who were in New Zeland on December 7, 1941 and made the flight back to the U.S. by flying westward around the world.
  • The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette - Picked this up based on Jason Snell’s recommendation. Good alternate history book for anyone who has an interest in the early space program.

Next up, Digital Minimalisim by Cal Newport. As @JohnAtl said, I’d be interested in that thread @Jonathan_Davis proposed.

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@ChrisUpchurch and @JohnAtl I just made the thread

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  • What device do you use to read books?

iPad and phone for Kindle and audio books… Print books on occasion when that format seems best… Have used Kindle readers and appreciate the display…

  • Do you keep a list of books to read?

No. But make notes and write blog posts …

  • What about what you have read?
  • Neil Gaiman reading his book of short stories Trigger Warning
  • Philip Pullman, audio version, La Belle Sauvage
  • Cheryl Strayed, Wild
  • John Green, audio, Turtles All The Way Down
  • Starbird and Burger, The Five Elements Of Effective Thinking

Finished Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport (my thoughts here) and The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday.

Anybody still reading the classics? I am reading Crime and Punishment. Also, for nonfiction, the Orion Mystery bubrobert buval. …among others. All on kindle paper white
Happy reading one and all!

Guess it depends on your definition of classics but I’m powering through re-reading all of Robert A. Heinlein, C.M. Kornbluth, Anthony Boucher, Arthur C. Clarke, E.E. Doc Smith, George O. Smith, Clifford D. Simak and Aldous Huxley I can get on kindle or have in my paper library. :wink:

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