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I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

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Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#211

Post by DoingSomeThings »

padobson wrote: post #168
sibeliuss wrote: post #144

For me its easy: Sitting on the computer reading makes me feel depressed. Reading books makes me feel happy. And so I've gradually reduced my footprint on the internet to basically zero -- no social media, only a few sites (mostly HN) bookmarked -- in an effort to make the internet less of a thing. It's working. Sometimes I'm staring at my screen and I have no clue what to even do or where to go, and I close it and t…

+1 for getting away from the screen. I've stopped buying eBooks for exactly this reason. A glass of wine or bourbon and a book with a soft lamp is a much better way to power down at the end of the day then doom scrolling or vegetating to Netflix. It is a lonely thing though, so YMMV when considering your spouse or roommates.

I've found that Kindle gives me the same effect as physical books. For narrative-driven fiction specifically & light non-fiction. Physical still wins out for reference material and things I need to flip around.

It keeps me away from "screens". My page count skyrocketed this past year when I started checking out ebooks from the library and reading before bed. Works even better with a partner who can go to sleep with lights off while I use the warm backlight.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#212

Post by vorpalhex »

thumbelina wrote: post #155
vorpalhex wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been on a kick of reading parenting books. I do a thing when I read where I fact check books when I read them (only things which are claims, usually only if cited or very specific). Out of 7 or 8 books, only a minority have passed without deep deep factual errors. One specific one comes to mind - a book on "Danish Parenting" that cited a monkey study about kids and peer groups. I looked up the original study and…

Any parenting books you recommend? Thanks!

"The Montessori Baby" by Simone Davies and Junnifa Uzodike. Even if you don't intend to go Montessori, the book will teach you a lot of alternatives you won't hear about in the standard literature. Did you know instead of a crib, you can give your kid a floor bed? That way when the kid wakes up in the middle of the night (as all kids do!) they can quietly self entertain and go back to sleep. Also just good advice on how to interact with kids - cooperatively.

"Expecting Better" (pregnancy), "Crib sheet" (infant) and "Family Firm" (family dynamics) by Emily Oster. Dr Oster (economics, not md) reviews guidelines, their underlying evidence and talks about alternatives. She provides sensible recommendations (and does frequently support the guidelines!). She is the most quoted in our house, especially the "It can't just work for the child. It has to work for the whole family."

Half hearted recommendation for "Secrets of a baby nurse" by Marsha Pod. Some of what she says is no longer SIDs guideline aligned (it was when she wrote it) but she does clearly have a lot of insight and experience and passes that on well. Her method is very experiential ("This is what works for me") and not study based, but some of her tips have saved my butt (hold your kid upright after feeds!).

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#214

Post by tristor »

I only read fiction or low-density non-fiction books now, any of the denser non-fiction books that aren't considered classics usually are full of fluff. For that, I heavily rely on Blinkist, which is basically like Cliff Notes as an audiobook.

There's just way too much fluff stuffed into a lot of the books you see marketed for professionals to read, in particular. I definitely enjoy the quality of prose in classic works of non-fiction, especially histories, but most of the new stuff I'd never make it through without a summarization app.

I guess I'm almost the opposite, I read HN every day, and I usually read the articles, and then that's about it. I might check article of the day on Wikipedia. I just don't read as much anymore unless it's for enjoyment, which is usually fiction.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#215

Post by jtsnow »

runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

"So why is reading books any better than reading tweets or wall posts? Well, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes, you need to put down your book, if only to think about what you’re reading, what you think about what you’re reading. But a book has two advantages over a tweet. First, the person who wrote it thought about it a lot more carefully. The book is the result of his solitude, his attempt to think for himself.

Second, most books are old. This is not a disadvantage: this is precisely what makes them valuable. They stand against the conventional wisdom of today simply because they’re not from today."

Thank you for reminding me of this excellent essay.

https://theamericanscholar.org/solitude-and-leadership/

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#216

Post by JohnBooty »

Georgelemental wrote: post #123
JohnBooty wrote: post #122

Are we slowly losing a joy of reading blog post because there are so many? Yes, but... What are your thoughts? I think it's inarguable: 99.x% of blog posts are trash, and a lot of that trash is specifically SEO-bait trash where the author wasn't even trying to produce something of value. That said, the remaining 0.x% of blog posts is insanely valuable. The low-stakes environment of blog posts (and tweets, etc) someti…

If everyone followed your solution, nobody would ever read any interesting blog posts!

I guess now that I think about it, there's also a small subset of blogs I actively follow, having previously discovered them via (1) or (2).

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#217

Post by tester457 »

CodeIsMyFetish wrote: post #154
peepee1982 wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like this really depends on the topic. When I see a 1000 page tome about every single feature of Photoshop, then nope. I'll google it thanks. History is non-fiction, too. And I'd definitely rather read a book than some blog, because there will be a long thread of things that build up on each other, and I think books are just better suited for that. So, things that require prolonged attention because of an over…

Couldn't agree more. And with tools such as Photoshop, it's much more efficient to learn as you go after being able to understand enough to navigate around the tool and its basic associated terminology.

Definitely if it's not your job and it's just a hobby. Just like how a hobbyist coder can get by without reading any books or learning about design patterns, etc.

But if it is your job to use photoshop on a daily basis it's worth going deep into that tome.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#218

Post by ajmurmann »

runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

I'm on the fence about this. For the longest time I'd have 100% agreed with you, but more recently realized that there is value in just having my mind be exposed to the subject for a prolonged amount of time. Sometimes the more interesting insights will be mine, rather than what the content of the book was. It also helps with retention. Of course some books just still aren't worth it. My canonical positive example would be Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance which is a very high bar and obvious example.

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#219

Post by tomhallett »

thumbelina wrote: post #155
vorpalhex wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been on a kick of reading parenting books. I do a thing when I read where I fact check books when I read them (only things which are claims, usually only if cited or very specific). Out of 7 or 8 books, only a minority have passed without deep deep factual errors. One specific one comes to mind - a book on "Danish Parenting" that cited a monkey study about kids and peer groups. I looked up the original study and…

Any parenting books you recommend? Thanks!

* The Whole Brained Child - https://www.amazon.com/Whole-Brain-Child-Revolutionary-Strat...

* "How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t with Your Kids: A Practical Guide to Becoming a Calmer, Happier Parent" - https://www.amazon.com/How-Stop-Losing-Your-Kids/dp/15235054...

Re: I don't read web articles anymore, but I read books

#220

Post by pnf »

runjake wrote: post #125

I feel the opposite. I'm reading fewer non-fiction books and more articles and blog posts. Non-fiction books are bloated with fluff to increase the page count to increase the perceived marketability of the book. A lot of the ideas presented in those books could be adequately presented in a 10th of the number of pages. A huge time-saver has been reading the article versions of stuff that has been turned into a book. Y…

That's true for most nonfiction with the caveat that you miss out on the lingering mood of a full book if all you get are the executive summaries. It is definitely not true for works of genius, which should be ready in full, if possible. Also, textbooks or instructional guides that build over each chapter lose a lot when turned into a series of shorter, discontiguous blog posts
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