In the beginning…

Back in the dim & distant when I started work I’d buy a paper on the way to work each morning. A proper paper, not a tabloid rag. Free newspapers didn’t exist at that point (yes, I’m that old) and even if they had I don’t think I could’ve read one every day. So little meaningful content…

I’d read the more science-based articles or more uplifting news items whilst trying to ignore the doom and gloom.

…then

I got sick of the tube’s minor delays and having to pretend to be a sardine each morning. So I bought a 50cc hairdryer (aka scooter / moped).

It wasn’t what you’d call fast. But my journey to work became way more predictable.

I’d been bitten by the (motor)biking bug so one four day intensive course and bike test later I ordered a proper motorbike. A small step up from the scooter you might say. A CBR600 sports bike. Ok, it wasn’t a small step.

I loved riding it to work for the next ten years. I occasionally wondered when I’d give up. Not yet I thought.

BUT

Then I got knocked off.

Bugger. An ar*ehole in a VW ruined that party - I knew there’d be no sense trying to argue my case (with SWMBO) for a replacement.

So back to the tube it was. Ah well, it was fun whilst it lasted. As some recompense I bought myself an iPad (model 2) and subscribed to my old newspaper.

Half the price of the real paper version. Electronically delivered so no recycling required. All very good.

At least it would be it they’d got the delivery mechanism sorted. Shocking. Makes me embarrassed for the world of software development.

Complaints fell on deaf ears so part way through last year I decided to save the monthly ten quid and spend my time doing something else instead.

And now for something completely different…

Read a book.

No, not on a kindle. They’re a good idea & all that and a logical choice for a geek. But for this geek there’s nothing like a real, actual, paper book.

I like the way they feel.

I like the speed with which you can skim through without any annoying page flash as e-ink updates.

I even like the way they look on the shelf.

Old fashioned and not particularly eco-friendly I know but at least I can loan them out as many times as I like without Big Brother limiting how often or for how long.

And if I fall out with Amazon / Apple / etc. I’ll still have my books.

So in 2014 I read…

I can’t remember all of the books (although I reckon I’ve captured most of them having had a quick look at my bookshelves and seeing which books have just been lazily stacked on) and I didn’t read them in this order. But that hardly matters…

Now that my girls no longer go to gym each weekend (one’s horse-riding, the other stealing herself for ice skating without a penguin) I get just under an hour each (work) day to read and it’s very stop start: wait, overland train, tube, escalator, tear eyes from book, walk. Of course holidays can be different - large family holidays can mean I get away with a decent amount of me time and thus books can be devoured. If it’s just the four of us however…

• Switch - Chip & Dan Heath
  • Some unbelievable stories. Read how we’ll eat more from a “large” bottomless bucket of popcorn than we will from a “small” bottomless bucket. Or how we’ll eat free popcorn even if it’s free…
• A Whole New Mind - Dan Pink
  • Excellent. There’s hope for me yet…
• The Design of Everyday Things - Donald A. Norman
  • Common sense explained. Often not applied…
• The Pragmatic Programmer - Andrew Hunt & David Thomas
  • Mandatory reading for those with a career in IT.
• Rocket Surgery Made Easy - Steve Krug
  • Who couldn’t pick up a book with such a title? If you’re in IT, it’s a good read. If not…
• Don’t Make Me Think - Steve Krug
  • The predecessor to Rocket Surgery Made Easy (who said I have to read books in the order they’re written?) with useful insights to anyone wanting to design anything. Especially websites.
• Making Software - various
  • A terminally dull book. It’s on the shelf and will likely stay there.
• Coders At Work - various
  • Far more interesting than Making Software yet still on the shelf with bookmark…
• Bad Science - Ben Goldacre
  • Brilliant. Should be required reading for all journalists. And their audiences.
• Homeward Bound - Harry Turtledove
  • I picked this up randomly in the second hand book stall under Waterloo bridge. I’m glad I did but it wasn’t a particularly exciting, fast-paced book and with no major action at the end it felt anti-clamactic.
• Managing Oneself - Peter Drucker
  • Project management is dull as ditch water. But this book somehow make it interesting. Makes me sad to see how rarely the ideas are put into practise.
• Turing - Andrew Hodges
  • Nothing really new but a good overview of a genius.
• Drive - Dan Pink
  • The book behind this fascinating cartoon. Another must read.
• Habit - Charles Duhigg
  • Great stories, well written although a bit long. Still trying to figure out how to change my chocolate habit loop…
• Adapt - Tim Harford
• The Economic Naturalist Robert H Frank
  • A lot of it is obvious. A lot isn’t. Explains why so many things are the way they are.
• Personal - Lee Child
  • I love a bit of escapism with Reacher.
• Flash Boys - Michael Lewis
  • An eye-opening insight into the dark pools of insider trading and just how far firms are prepared to go to save tiny fractions of a second.
• My Autobiography - Guy Martin
  • For my money Guy Martin is the James Bond of ordinary blokes.
• The Mythical Man-Month - Fred Brooks
  • I didn’t read this at university so I’m glad my first manager taught me a lot of what’s in this book. If you manage projects (or suffers those that do) then read this. Ignore the fact it was likely written before you were born. Read it.
• How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog - Chad Orzel
  • A mind-bending topic made simple. Well, sort of. Ok, I’ll stop pretending … I didn’t get all of it but it’s still a worthwhile read.

Update 3rd Feb … books I’d forgotten I’d read

• The Quarry - Iain Banks
  • Weird. Never really got going enough for me. A reasonable read to drift along to though.
• Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson
  • Great fun. I want that skateboard

/update

Hmm, that’s more books than I would’ve guessed

This year…

I fancy a bit of fast-paced fiction (I like books to grab me by the short & curlies and not let go) but so far have completely failed in that regard so instead January has seen:

• Zero to One - Peter Thiel
  • An easy short read about startups and VCs.
• The Year Without Pants - Scott Burken
  • An interesting account of how a different approach to running a company can work.
• The Art of Possibility - Roz & Ben Zander
  • A slow read for me (interrupted by Zero to One), perhaps a bit poetic/fluffy for my tastes but has some interesting stories and insights to improve one’s outlook on life.
• Think like a freak - Stephen J. Dubner & Steven D. Lewitt
  • Excellent, may need to re-read Superfreakonomics. I wonder if it’s worth reading Freakonomics too…

In the end

It’s been a revelation. I stay in touch with the real world via the ‘net. More than that though, I’m learning. From books.

Who’d’a thought?