Books I read recently

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I realize I haven't done a book review post recently. The last one was from September 2021. But I have been reading (and listening to) books. Well, recently mostly unsuccessfully. Here are some of them in reverse chronological order. (I think there must be some other non-fiction books I read, but I can't remember now.)

It (Stephen King, 1986)

The horror. Oh my God, it doesn't end... The book doesn't end.

I won't spoil the book for you, because I couldn't get to the ending. I borrowed the book in audiobook, and extended twice. It was good listening at the car, while driving for chores. But I only have so much stamina. The book keeps dragging on. I gave up. I will just watch the movie with my son this weekend.

Build (Tony Fadell, 2022)

This is another book that won't end. The book felt massive. I extended the renewal for 2-3 times, but I couldn't finish the book.

This book is actually multiple books bundled together. You can learn about product management. You can learn about history of Silicon Valley, General Magic, iPod, iPad. And I guess many other things, from Tony Fadell's narration.

Being a product manager is about having empathy with the user (in this case the book's reader), and being able to cut ruthlessly, and focus. But then why didn't Tony apply these principles to this book?

One more thing. Every time I saw the cover of the book, two things happened: One, I felt guilty still not having finished it, and Two, I read the book's name as "Buidl" to myself with my inner voice and had a chuckle. I am a simple man.

I still recommend the book(s). Very useful information.

The Neuroscience of You: How Every Brain Is Different and How to Understand Yours (Chantel Prat, 2022)

I thought I would love this book more, but I failed to connect with it. Maybe it was my ADD acting, maybe the audiobook format was not working for me. The writing had clever parts, I think it was a good effort. But somehow this didn't work for me. I am a practical guy, I won't try to psycho-analyze why it didn't work for me.

The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman, 2008)

This was great writing. I enjoyed this book a lot. And I did get to finish this one. Probably the last book I had finished fully. I highly recommend it.

It doesn't bore you. It is engaging and interesting. It is a child's story but it is also very adult at the same time. It starts with murders of this toddler's parents, and the toddler getting adopted and raised by the graveyard nearby. The book deals with death, which is a taboo topic in Western world. This book was superbly done.

Going Postal (Terry Pratchett, 2004)

I enjoyed this as well. Easy and fun listening. It doesn't tire you, but you don't get much value from it either.

Exhalation (Ted Chiang, 2019)

This book is a collection of sci-fi stories. I had read several of these short stories before. They are fantastic. I highly recommend the book.

The story on "the lifecycle of software objects" was great. It didn't feel like science-fiction at all, but rather a reality that we will have to deal with soon. It felt stressful at times, because I felt like I have to find a solution to this problem, and pondered what would a good solution be like.


The Long Earth (Terry Pratchett, Stephen Baxter, 2012)

This was a surprise hit! There are so many good ideas in this book, and in the follow up book Long War (2013), which I gulped right after this one.

The books have impressive world building. And, dare I say plausible theory. The book's world building (in its own internal logic) provides explanations for  trolls, Bigfoot, elves, leprechauns, djinns that are ubiquitous in folk tales. These are versions of humans who were natural steppers and evolved differently. What is a "stepper?" you ask. It is a device or thing that takes you to a parallel version of the earth (solar system) effortlessly.

I found the abundancy-thinking of parallel worlds very interesting. The governance of parallel worlds in the series were also very interesting. Character development could have been better though, I felt it was shallow.

In any case, this is a very good book series. I highly recommend it. It makes for a great thought exercise.

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