Just done reading my first book of the year.

1: Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by K. Anders Ericsson, Robert Pool.

This book summarizes the research of the late K. Anders Ericsson, psychologist and researcher, who studied for decades the practice of professional performers (e.g. musicians, athletes, surgeons, etc.)

Brilliantly redacted, and directed towards regular people, "Peak" seeks to answer all the major questions behind the science of mastering a skill or discipline.

What makes a practice really effective? How much time does it take to master a skill? What's the role of innate capabilities in such process?

"Anyone who wants to get better at anything should read [Peak]"

• Fortune

17. Firebird by Mark Doty

I just finished The Fires of Heaven, book 5 in The Wheel of Time.

This was my favorite book when I read the series the first time and it still is, so much character development happens and there are even character deaths. Originally I made it halfway through book six then went to college so I stopped reading, so once I pick up book 6 I'll be in all new material after a certain point.

Next I'm going to read The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine, then I'll do book six The Lord of Chaos.

34. Radio Free Albemuth - Philip K Dick

Not nearly as good as VALIS, the book it would be rewritten as, but still damn fine PKD.

Read 2, my goal is to read 10, so 8 more I guess

Starting my read-through of the Chronicles of Narnia with The Magician's Nephew!

Having watched the trilogy first, I understood what was going to happen. And by reading the prequel it would help me understand what Lewis was going with.

And honeslty, I am amazed how he handled it. I really enjoyed Polly and Uncle Andrew, by far my favourite characters. When writing a prequel to explain why X and X happens, it sort of loses the magic of "it's there in the first place" - as seen with star wars.

But somehow he still retains it, the sense of whimsy when magic happens. And I'm all here for it.

28. Martha Wells - System Collapse

Well I'm out of books in that series, time to find a new hyperfixation...

Finished reading "The Quilting Cruise" by Miranda Hathaway (actually it's by two sisters writing under a pseudonym).

Another cozy mystery read on the 372 pages podcast.

You dont have to have a dream - Tim Minchin

It's weird, I went into the bookshop picking a present for mum. When I found this book, it instead called to me. Prolly but selfish, but I got a bit distracted.

This book has every single life advice you need. Seriously.

Go read it.

Been away from home due to work getting too dimicky, but here's an update.

10 November 2024, Weekend 1.

Been mentoring someone from the next generation on the art of fiscal responsibility and running a business and while I do have a lot of experience with navigating the corporate world, I don't actually have too much in the way of a formal education on this subject. To fix that, I decided to read up on some books before recommending them.

How to Start Your Business and Make it Work, Published by Dorling Kindersley (multiple authors and editors).

Made for younger readers in mind with colorful illustrations and case studies galore, this book simplifies a lot of complex fancy-talk into a jargon-free format that's perfect for everyone from younger readers to adults seeking to start out in the world of business. Hopefully the existence of these books will drive those fraudulent MBA mills outta business...

Cash and Credit Information for Teens by Karen Bellenir

While I consider myself an absolute cheapskate, I'm still not certain how to explain the entire process of voluntary saving in lieu of save money or you get NO foods!, plus I never bothered with debt for most of my life. This tome goes beyond just saving money, though. It adds several sections on conquering impulse buying, details the snare of the credit card, and even has a section on avoiding predatory lending and other financial scams. And just like a fan-favorite 'for dummies' series, it even has little tips on introductory financial jargon too.

... I needed to read this over a few times to make sure I had the concepts right. Some of the stuff in here was actually completely new grounds for me (hee). Absolute gold, by the way.

17 November 2024, Weekend 2.

Tricks of the Game Programming Gurus by Andre' LaMothe

I've been looking for this tome for a while, and the treasure within was worth all that time and money. Recommended to me by one of my game dev pals when I asked about making small games for DOS (yeap, I started playing DOS games all those years ago and now I want to make'em, cycle of life and all that).

C is no cakewalk, though - and moving on up from actionscript 2 will be a bit of a challenge. But hey, life's boring if there's no challenge.

Which is why my next book is

Head First C by David and Dawn Griffiths.

An excellent introductory book for learning the C programming language. Rather than the dense, blocks of code and text of textbooks of yesteryear, this tome adopts a highly visual and example-rich approach to teaching the language, which is perfect for absolute newbs like me. Rather than waterboarding me with technical jargon, the authors takes a more casual, relaxed and conversational approach to explaining complex concepts.

With the little self-tests and rereading done to make sure I had all the basic concepts down, I began reading

C Programming: Absolute Beginner's Guide by Greg Perry and Dean Miller

A step up from Head First C, but this is another book I recommend for those learning the absolute basics of the C programming language.

24 November 2024, Weekend 3.

That book took me a while to get through. I got sidetracked with online C tutorials, experimenting and mostly failing on my own learning microprojects. But the rush of dopamine every time my experiments succeeded was worth the trouble. Damn shame I don't have any vacation time lined up, because I know what I doing, for great justice!

I ended the week with an acquisition long in the making, a book I wanted to own in physical form for decades; Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by JK Rowling.

JK Rowling's first foray into the quintessially Bri'ish Wizard experience. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. Always wanted a copy, but never could find it. Sure, there were parts where it did feel rushed, but it's her first novel, I'll cut her some slack 'cause it was as fun a read as it was when I first borrowed the book from a local library, too long ago.

PS: I hope you all had a pretty good weekend too!

+1

Regretting the Rainbow Thieves by Dan Slone

One of the two reviewers on goodreads probably got the book from the same place I did but just misspelled the name of it, which is kinda cool.

I found myself interested in the story but bored as shit reading it. Like I just kept thinking about reading something else instead but I couldn't just not know how it ended. I'm with Kaycee on all of her points about the books issues. Also, I have all 3 books at once instead of just the first because I didn't want to have to hunt down the other two and risk them having mismatched covers that look weird on my shelf. I was so sure I'd love them. $15 each. Oh the stupid things you buy on vacation...

I'll probably take a break from the series and re-read the Inheritance cycle plus the books I didn't get to read. I never got past Brisinger. I started it about the time that school killed child me's bookworm bite and made reading miserable.

40. The Guest List – A mystery thriller about a rich wedding on a private island. The narrative jumps around the key people of the wedding, all of whom have a dark past with the bride and/or groom. It has a strange set-up: the perpetrator, victim, or even crimes are not revealed until the last few pages, so the book is all lead up. It doesn’t really work as I kept waiting for something meaningful to happen, and one character’s motive seemed way too coincidental. I do wish there was more closure for any of the characters.

41. Underexposed: The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made – A quick read about several film projects that, for one reason or another, got cancelled or morphed beyond the original creator’s vision. There are some notable movies that had famous directors attached, like Peter Jackson’s Nightmare on Elm Street and George Miller’s Justice League. The book is not as detailed as to why the projects fell apart, but at least there are what-if movie posters and concept art by hired artists. I found out two major revelations: Harmony Korine is psychotic, and we missed out on Adam West’s Batman fighting Godzilla.

42. The Godfather – The Mario Puzo novel about an Italian crime boss, his reluctant son, and their family. The book has multiple subplots that were not featured in the movies, like Johnny Fontane’s Hollywood career and Sonny’s mistress in Nevada, both of which have no impact on the main plot. The book is good, though I do get caught off-guard by some of the old-world mafia rules and prejudices.

43. Keeper of the Dawn – A fantasy novella about a young woman training to be a high priestess in a strange magical world. This is my second attempt to read this. First time around, I was bored by what I thought was bad writing. Second time, I can confirm that the writing is indeed bad; I powered through it just to get it out of my TBR list. There is a decent enough story somewhere here, but the whole thing moves too fast, with no time to develop any emotional moment or give any proper detail. I had to reread some parts because it wasn’t clear what exactly was going on.

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - C. S. Lewis

Having watched the film about a dozen times during my childhood I was already familiar with this story. Four children stumble into another world through a wardrobe with magical things everywhere.

Gotta say this is already better than most isekai.

I was surprised how quick I went through, I thought it would go into detail of every battle and tragic moments but it was satisfying nonetheless. Lewis did write it for his children anyway, so it's no surprise it skipped the details.

It was a good read though! I didn't like how Susan was handled in the book without any sort of agency (somehow the bow given to her by Father Christmas was never used?)

Oh speaking of I really liked how Santa gave the kids dangerous weapons and a bottle of liquor, I think that's how he really is meant to be.

The end is nigh. Get those November updates out.

@argile @Asandir @Atlas @CarterSterling @CappyCatII @Darklion0 @Dean @detergent1 @door88 @DrSevenSiezeMD @Dr-Freebase @Ganon-Dorf @Gimmick @GonzaloAtWork @Haggard @JerseyWildcard @Joltopus @Malachy @OlTrout @OneThousandMeeps @Pingu @Prinzy2 @PudgieDaFrog @SerebetGM @Sheik13LoZ @SlutasaurusRex @SourCherryJack @StrangInk @TecNoir @TehPoptartKid @Thewolf257 @TopazAzul @UnderWhirl @Urichov @YendorNG @Yomuchan @ZJ @GrecoStone

+3 for me this month. Haven’t had a chance to remember to update!

Greatest Hits - Harlan Ellison.

Collection of about 20 or so short stories from Harlan Ellison, and I think I was about 50/50 on them. The good ones were great, and possibly some of the best short stories I’ve ever read.

The worst ones were just alright, and thankfully short so you’re never slogging through too many pages.

Well worth the time spent reading, highly recommend.

The Trial - Frank Kafka

Not gonna lie, I was pretty lukewarm on this one. It was easy and fun to read, it definitely wasn’t bad. Maybe it’s a case of it being such an influential work that it felt familiar/tired getting to the source so late, but I think I was just not in the right mindset for this type of book. A revisit might be necessary.

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut

I picked this up because it was short, cheap, and I recognized Vonnegut’s name from the “writers I need to get to” file in my brain.

Great read, sharp writing, interesting enough main story, but also has lots of depth underneath that to think about, and just sort of weird in a good way.

November was tough, only got 2 books.

Apostles of Mercy was excellent. A 3rd book in Ellis' Noumena Series.

Empire of Silence was a total slog. It was long and rambling and the plot moved so slowly. It felt like the author was trying to recreate Dune but got too hung up on court intrigue and babbling nonstop about the nature of time and memories.

November (2)

38: Apostles of Mercy by Lindsay Ellis

39: Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio

Kinnikuman Vol.1 by Yudetamago

30 November 2024, Weekend 4.

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders by Louis David Marquet.

I was wondering why there was a book in the executive lounge library that looked like a cold war thriller. Expecting to read about a near-miss scenario set in the cold war, I was surprised to find that it was in fact, a real primer on business and leadership models for use in high-stress situations. Starring David Marquet as a newly-assigned captain tasked with fixing up the abysmal performance of the USS Santa Fe after the last captain quit, this book introduces a brand new leadership method that is not without its initial pitfalls, but it was interesting to read regardless.

So yeah, what I found on the internet about this guy and the situation leaves no doubt that this is a very real, very nonfictional scenario.

Nyoro~n...

Next up is

Money Laundering Awareness Handbook for Tax Examiners and Tax Auditors

New career "internship" (tentative), and new skills to learn. This book provides a basic overview of what to look out for. I had a general idea of what to look out for during the recruitment phase, but seeing it in writing makes things a lot more easier for me. A short read, which is why I managed to finish this book just in time for weekend. Despite its long title, it provides a lot of easily-understood explanations for rookies like me. If you're ever hired for counter fraud operations, I recommend this title.

So yeah, see you all at December's end. The bells of real life toll for me.

25. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - Thomas Kuhn

26. Vilette - Charlotte Brontë

27. The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot

28. Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail - Ashley Herring Blake

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! 🦃

Done reading these books:

103. Sonne über Gudhjem, Michael Kobr, 416 pages

104. Tokyo Traffic, Michael Pronko, 294 pages

105. Der Spion, der aus der Kälte kam (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), John le Carré, 288 pages

106. Das Mondscheincafé (The Full Moon Coffee Shop), Mai Mochizuki, 208 pages

107 Naokos Lächeln (Norwegian Wood), Haruki Murakami, 208 pages

108. Nullnummer (Numero Zero), Umberto Eco, 240 pages

Not wrtiing summaries this time as I just got out of the hospital after almost dying from a pneumonia. I can vouch however that reading Umberto Eco books while on pain meds is even more of a trip than usual. Happy to be back and it looks like my lungs will recover fully in time, I feel already much better now.

I'm sorry, I've shamed myself.

Obviously I'm well on my way to failure for the year.

Big fat zero this month.

LITFAM UPDATE: FINAL COUNTDOWN EDITION

Our biblioscanners indicate someone hasn't been staying cozy. if we're to survive the winter then anyone caught without blanket or beverage on these crispy evenings shall be vaporized on the spot.

Last month we barely dodged the number of the beast!! Also:

• @GonzaloAtWork breached the rickety floorboards of the no-book zone.
• @SourCherryJack pierced the ceiling of goaldom into the gilded attic of the 100% gang.
• Meanwhile @CappyCatII @JerseyWildcard and @OneThousandMeeps are locked in vicious literary combat for the next 100% ticket.

Also welcome last-minute latebooker @GrecoStone to the crew.

This late in the game it can be tempting to quit while you're behind, but any progress is infinitely better than no progress. On to the next page -->

Top Fam

1. @Yomuchan (8)
2. @Asandir (6)
3. @JerseyWildcard and @OneThousandMeeps (4)

@argile @Asandir @Atlas @AxolotlGav @CarterSterling @CappyCatII @Darklion0 @Dean @detergent1 @door88 @DrSevenSiezeMD @Dr-Freebase @Ganon-Dorf @Gimmick @GonzaloAtWork @Haggard @JerseyWildcard @Joltopus @Malachy @OlTrout @OneThousandMeeps @Pingu @Prinzy2 @PudgieDaFrog @SerebetGM @Sheik13LoZ @SlutasaurusRex @SourCherryJack @StrangInk @TecNoir @TehPoptartKid @Thewolf257 @TopazAzul @UnderWhirl @Urichov @YendorNG @Yomuchan @ZJ

I HAVE ONE LEFT TO GOOOOOOOO

Not me. I even read a cozy mystery about quilting and money laundering!

Thanks for the update, glad I could add another read book to the list. If only I wasn't so lazy, I would finish the other two books I started last month...

I just finished the Rights of Man by Thomas Paine.

What a great book, except for the end where he starts talking about what can be done with the crowns expense's if they're abolished and used to make the nation of England better. The calculus is just too basic and inferences too bland, while I understand it was important at the time and he was trying to galvanize a country against it's government, it just dragged for too long.

Part one, and the first half of part two are great, especially the part about constitutions and charters in part two.

Up next I'm ordering book 6 in the Wheel of Time, before it gets here I'll pick at something else.

The Horse and His Boy - C.S. Lewis

Definitely just a lore dump that Lewis wrote. I liked Aravis, Bree and Hwin who were all funny and well-written. Couldn't really say the same thing for Shasta, felt like a piece of toast.

I also liked how it didn't center around the 4 children but from someone who is born in the world. It was really intriguiing!

Anyways, I'm done.

Managed to finish another book. Well, it's a collection of short stories, which in turn are part of a radio program. It's a short segment in Low German or "Plattdeusch" (or "Plattdüütsch"). Bought the book on a whim, because I really want to read more Platt. Because the problem is, it's the original language of the region I grew up in, but I never learned how to speak it. Nowadays, I can read it quite okay, understand most dialects good enough, but can't speak it to safe my life. So... yeah, I started reading a bit Low German. Maybe I should also listen to the radio segments/podcasts every now and then.

Btw. "Hör mal'n beten to" would be best translated as "Stay a while, and listen". (Any of you who understood this reference: Congrats. You are old!)

44. Batman & Me/ Bill The Boy Wonder– By sheer luck, I got a copy of Batman co-creator Bob Kane’s autobiography. With that, I then got the biography on uncredited co-creator Bill Finger. Since both are very short, I’m counting them as one book entry.

While fan opinion of Kane has fallen dramatically in the last few years, his book does have some interesting notes, like history on 1930s era newspaper comics. Both books do acknowledge Bill Finger's work on much of the early mythos and supervillains.

However, the author of the Bill Finger biography questions some discrepancies Kane made in his autobiography, like his 1934 Bat-Man sketches that strangely looked like Finger's suggested design from 1939.

It is pretty messed up that Kane was aware of Finger's poor financial problems in the 1970s, but he never tried to actually help him, despite being rich himself.

At least now Finger is credited in current Batman media.

40: Impact Winter Season 2 by Travis Beacham

41: Impact Winter Season 3 by Travis Beacham

When we first got audible plus a couple of years ago this was one of our first forays into audio dramas and we liked it. Didn't realize there were 2 more sequels until now. It was good. Felt like old radio serials with a complete voice cast and sound effects.

42: Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Honestly might make this a December tradition - Hogfather is such a good holiday read. Extremely human. Pratchett at his best.

Now that I finished my target, I'm going just to share what I'm currently reading at the moment!

• Prince Caspian - It's a good story so far! I like how it takes place a few hundred years after the second book. Especially when it ties back to themes of colonisation and how it erases the band's history.
• The Sacred and Terrible Air - After finishing Disco Elysium I wanted to check out Robert Kurvitz' first piece in his melancholic parralel world. I've only read a few or so pages but it is a good challenge to read! Each instance switches between characters and time places so much that I need to give my full attention! Not a bad thing actually, it is his first book anyway. I wouldve been confused from the terminology if I hadn't played the game, but I managed to follow some if not most of it so far! This book seems to put the Pale more center stage, and I'm eager to see what happens!