I like books. And I read quite a lot of them. So I thought I’d list some of the books that I’ve read in the last few months that have left an impression on me for some reason or other.
Rapt – Attention and the Focused Life (Winifred Gallagher)
In a nutshell, this book is about attention and how it influences our life.
Paying attention to not only what we’re doing right now, but to our whole life and the moments we experience has become something of an issue in our modern society. This book detais how attention and lack thereof influences our actions, and all the effects this has on our lifes. Highly recommended.The Time Travelers Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
This one is an intriguing mix of science fiction and romance (with a definitive focus on the latter). The non-linear story telling takes a little getting used to at first, but then it just flows along, sucking you into the story. And even though you know what’s going to happen next all the time, I found myself unable to put the book down until I had finished it.The Ruby Programming Language (David Flanagan & Yukihiro Matsumoto, with drawings by why the lucky stiff) If you’re only a tiny bit serious about programming in Ruby, you’ll want to get this book sooner or later. It’s not much of an introduction to Ruby, but an indispensable companion and guide when questions crop up – especially when it comes to the more obscure corners of Ruby.
The Laws of Simplicity (John Maeda)
Simplicity explained and explored via 10 laws and 3 keys that should be considered in any design. This is the one book I’d designate a must-buy in this list.The War of Art – Break Through the Block and Win Your Inner Creative Battles (Steven Pressfield)
For me, programming has always been an essentially creative process. And as such I also sometimes encounter the same problems creative persons have, like the programmers equivalent to writer’s block (“I have a problem, and no idea how to even approach it”). Steven Pressfield shows how to identify and break through common road blocks on the road of creativity.The Stepsister Scheme (Jim C. Hines) What do you get when you take the three heroes after the events of their respective fairy tales and look at how their lives fare afterwards? This entertaining book about a kick-ass trio of female operatives.
Halting State (Charles Stross)
This book should simply be read on the basis that some of the stuff Stross describes in it has already happened in one way or another. And the rest looks frighteningly plausible. The characters fall a bit on the flat side, but Stross’s ideas and the story will keep you going until the end.His Majesty’s Dragon (Naomi Novik)
What if dragons existed, and had fought in the Napoleonic Wars? This entertaining novel explores an alternate reality through the perspective of former naval captain Will Laurence and his newly hatched dragon Temeraire.
Did you read any books recently that you’d recommend to others?
Tweet
