danielsjourney seeking, stories, beauty, meaning

Currently reading

I’ve recently started reading a bit more than I had been in the last few years–due in no small part to having taken over kids’ bedtime duty–and have focused on fiction for the first time in a long time. It’s refreshing and really helps my mind work better.

As always, however, I read at least a handful of books at the same time. This is less to do with attention span or any given book and more to do with the absurd amount of material I consider essential to consume given my various interests and the multitude of things asked of my expertise.

Recently finished:

  • A Spell for Chameleon, The Source of Magic, Castle Roogna and Centaur Aisle, the first four novels of the Xanth series. I read a number of Xanth novels in junior and high school, but I can’t remember which anymore. I didn’t start at the beginning back then, that much I know, so starting there was nice. I eat these things up. They can be a little crude at times (in a Mad Men kind of way), but the plot speed, universe and vocabulary lessons are all great.

Started but not planning to finish:

  • Rising Strong. Seemed like good stuff, definitely some quotable bits, but it became a slog I can only describe with, “Meh.”

Started but probably not going to finish:

Currently reading:

  • Make Something Up: Stories You Can’t Unread by Chuck Palahniuk. Historically I have been a huge Palahniuk fan. Survivor and Invisible Monsters are two of my favorite books. But in the last decade, I’ve lost my taste for his particular brand of shock-horror. Still, there were a couple really good short stories in this collection. I just can’t recommend it because of the chances of triggering for anyone. I am now looking for the equivalent but for the middle-aged parent set.

  • Sword of Shannara. I read this one in junior high as well. It is very long and a little tedious, but I am taking my time with it. No clue when I will get it done. My goal is to finish it before I dive back into the Xanth series.

  • The No Asshole Rule. Read the sample (chapter 1) from Amazon and then got it from the library. So far, it’s good. Need to get back into it before it’s due!

  • Sprint. About the practice of design sprints. I’m fairly familiar with the content of this book, but it’s good to get it all in an organized and edited format.

  • Inspired. About software product design and development. We’re adopting most of the recommendations from this book at work. I’m again familiar with the content but not as familiar as I am with Sprint. I am a big fan of the author’s many talks on the same subject. Obviously, the book goes into a lot more detail.

  • The Nature of Software Development. Kind of what it says on the tin. If I had this in digital instead of hard copy I would be done with it already, as it is a short one. Alas, I do most of my reading in the dark!

Queued:

The queue is impossibly long, but here are a couple in there that I have my eye on:

  • The Letters of Ivor Punch. I’ve been a fan of Colin MacIntyre’s music (aka Mull Historical Society) for a long time. When I found out he’d written a novel I immediately picked it up.

  • Saga. I devoured the first two trades when they first came out and have three and four waiting in the wings. I think there are quite a few more than four at this point.

I just looked again at the queue and not only is it very long, it is full of amazing things I really want to read. Sometimes I think that if I were independently wealthy, I would just read all the time…(that’s not true)…
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