Favourites
I wanted to read Caro’s books on Lyndon B. Johnson, and Robert Moses, but I started with this short one first. I wanted to see if I could enjoy Caro’s writing, before committing to one of his 1200+ page books. Well, I’m glad I did, because Caro is the real deal.
Essentially, he wants to give some context of how he approaches his work on these biographies (Lyndon’s is still ongoing), in case he never gets to write his proper memoir due to his old age. Next up, "The Power Broker".
A tiny book, that packs a punch. In short, Rothbard considers the "State" to be a predatory/parasitic entity, that produces nothing. He then goes into detail on how it sustains itself and tracends its limits.
This will probably a controversial book for many, (what about health care, public infrastructure, social benefits, etc) but it’s worth reading if you’re interested in the libertarian mindset. Here’s a link to various free options to read it.
It’s a memoir of Vance growing up in a poor, working-class family in the Rust Belt. I found it fantastic. It focuses on the self-inflicted wounds of the "hillbilly" culture, and how Vance managed to escape it. There’s nothing controversial about it. It’s an honest account of his life.
I say this because Vance was nominated as the Vice President to Trump, and then he won the election. Even though he was critical of the Republican party in the book, praised Obama, and voted third-party in the 2016 election, this book will get a bad rep. Anyway, I recommend it.
Simply put, it’s an amazing collection of science fiction stories. My favourite stories were "The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate" & "The Lifecycle of Software Objects". Chiang has that special something that makes his stories feel complete and satisfying. I particularly like the technical aspects of his stories that feel real and probable; I don’t know how to explain it.
Similarly to "Exhalation", it’s another collection of SF stories. I think I liked this one more. I specifically liked "Hell Is the Absence of God", "Story of Your Life" and "Understand". Very looking forward to more of his work.
I decided to learn Elixir, and this book was a great introduction. I would recommend it as a starting point to anyone who wants to pick up Elixir. Good pace, pragmatic, and covers a lot of ground.
Everything else
Having read the Earth’s Past trilogy (most commonly known by the title of the first book "Three Body Problem"), I wanted to read more of Liu’s work at some point. Eventually, I found this in a bookshop in Valencia, and bought it. It’s nothing like the trilogy, but it kind of scratches the same itch. I don’t think I will ever find a SF book that will make me feel the same way as "The Dark Forest", but this one was a good read.
I read this book as an e-book many years ago, and I wanted to have a physical copy of it. I was at a different space at the time, looking for motivation at the beginning of my career. While I didn’t get the same feeling re-reading it, it was an important book for me at the time.
It’s a classic, and I wanted to read it for a long time. I like how Huxley approaches the dystopian future, where control is achieved through pleasure, rather than fear (see 1984). I’ll probably pick up the "sequel", "Brave New World Revisited" at some point. But to be honest, I was expecting more.
This could really be 50 pages long. The idea is simple, but it drags too long. Essentially, focus your online presence on things that matter to you, and cut out the rest. Stuff that might seem indispensable to us, might not be as important as we think, and are engineered to keep us hooked. Again, this should be a blog post, not a book.
There’s a plague of blindness that spreads through the city, and the government decides to quarantine the infected. How will society react to this? As you expect, not well. A good book, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
I read the first two (prequel) books of the Witcher series last year, and I wanted to continue. So here’s me continuing with the 3rd one.
... and the 4th one. I’ll pick up with the series again when I’m looking for some non-science fiction fantasy.
I’ve been playing chess for a bit, and I stash up on books to improve my game. This is very beginner-friendly, and it didn’t give me much, but it’s a good book to have around.
And these I didn’t finish
- The Mental Game of Poker - Every year I delude myself into thinking I’ll get into poker. I start, get bored and stop. This book is good and I should finish it, as I can carry over most of the concepts to chess.
- The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - I started this book and it’s great. I just got distracted and couldn’t pick it up again.
- Winning Chess Tactics - Last year I dropped the "Winning Chess Strategies" book and this year I dropped this one.
- A Short History of Byzantium - I tried reading it during summer, but that didn’t go well. I’ll try again in the future.