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Good Books for a Lousy Year

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Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#51

Post by codq »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #48
rorykoehler wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you share a little about how you read a book? Do you do it cover to cover or do you skim it and then read the sections you find especially compelling?

I don't have strict rules, methods, or patterns. However, I follow common themes such as skimming (or speed-reading) boring/mundane sections, change books and come back later, read multiple books at a time. Personally, I feel something missing if I totally skip something, so I tend to or try to finish what I read. I was known to be that kid who read Newspapers top to bottom of all pages, so that is that. My tricks; -…

Re:your point about kids, as a brand new father, I think about this a lot. Kids model and mimic what they see, for better and for worse.

Up to a certain point 'reading from a Kindle' looks exactly the same as burying your face in a phone. Do you prefer physical books at home to model the reading behavior? Or have you found that young kids understand that e-book reading is not the same as phone-use?

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#52

Post by mhh__ »

russellbeattie wrote: post #2

I've read The Spy and the Traitor, and it was quite good. I had just come off a binge of spy novels written by John LeCarre and it was amazing to read the same exact sort of craziness, but in a real life situation. I would actually recommend doing something similar, as the fiction definitely help set the mental stage for the history. That said, Roger Federer is a generalist?!? Why, because he has trouble beating Rafa…

Read Spycatcher by Peter Wright.

It's an opinionated tale of someone actually doing the business of catching spies.

Even better for the HN crowd, the author was an engineer so there's some tidbits about just how advanced spook technology was even in the 50s and 60s (i.e. using acoustics to lift encryption keys through embassy walls as they were being typed)

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#53

Post by purple-again »

happy_path wrote: post #11
jcynix wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your free time should be the time when you do things unrelated to your professional work. A healthy advise I got from Usenet a long time ago is that one should have a hobby unrelated to computers. That advise was given when there where no eBook readers, Smartphones or other mobile stuff. But it's still a good advise IMO as long as you use these tools for mainly recreational activities. So long note, short answer: rea…

Well, my native language is not English, so I could think that reading in English improve that language skill. What about if I feel I'm not a good software engineer?

I will go against the grain here a bit because on anonymous forums humans (myself included) have this nasty habit of forgetting they might be talking to a 12 year old child and instead imprint a vague version of themselves on the people they talk to.

If you are close to the beginning of your journey, like say 1-3 years ago you didn't know how to program at all, them I would take the advice you are getting with a grain of salt. I would recommend pouring your free time into your trade, gaining both a breadth of knowledge about software engineering (like spending 3 hours learning about C++ not to write a program in it but to be able to understand what it is and what it isn't so you can carry a brief conversation when the topic turns to it) and a depth of knowledge with your preferred toolset (like 200+ hours going through 3-4 ground up resources on Python because its your most reached for language to get work done).

Once you have that strong foundation, the other advice here is very sound. Turn your computer off and go do wood working, or read a comprehensive history series that tackles each decade (and then do it again from an Asian focused author rather than a Western focused one), or find a solid podcast to listen to while you go for long walks in nature, etc. Pretty much anything other than sitting at your computer for both your job and your hobby.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#54

Post by rramadass »

happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

>I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

This is very harmful to your "intellectual growth" and you should break out of the mindset that everything you read should be oriented towards your job and career only. Something from the book The 7 habits of highly successful people which i had read a long time ago stayed with me. There is a concept of P (for Production) and PC (for Production Capability/Capacity) mentioned in that book. P is what gets you a job in the present time since you are employed to "Produce" something for the Company immediately. However your future growth, both professionally and personally depends on how well you cultivate your "Production Capability/Capacity" so as to take advantage of whatever the future might throw at you. This is why expanding your mind and intellectual horizons by reading on widely different domains is so important. Don't limit yourself by reading only job/career related stuff. Go outside your comfort zones and expose yourself to various ideas and concepts. Life is much more fulfilling that way.

One thing to note is that you don't read all books cover-to-cover. You skim and jump back-and-forth to quickly identify the gist and essentials. Only then do you sit down for serious study of the identified sections. Also don't try to remember everything you study; only the essence/core is to be assimilated, for everything else keep a mental bookmark so that you know where to look for when you need the details later.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#55

Post by chiefalchemist »

happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

Reading is rarely a waste of time. Who knows, maybe you won't be an engineer forever? Maybe you'll become management, or leadership? Reading will help. Maybe you'll read something that will inspire you to switch careers? More reading will help you get there. And then of course there's reading to start and carry conversations. You'll be surprised what asking, "Have a book you recommend?" can do.

Finally, if you have children, reading is a great habit to instill in them. Trial and error is a good way to learn, but it's time consuming and sometimes painful. Reading is one of few shortcuts in life that's not a fool's errand.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#56

Post by newdude116 »

rob74 wrote: post #25
happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

There's an (apparently untranslatable) word in German for people who are only interested in amassing knowledge in their own domain and totally ignorant of anything else: "Fachidiot" (see also https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/327748/is-there-... ) - it's not really a flattering term. So, in my book, expanding your horizons is a good thing. Of course, Sherlock Holmes would disapprove ( https://news.ycombinat…

Sorry could not resist: Kraftidioten

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2675914/

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#57

Post by ctrlp »

rob74 wrote: post #25
happy_path wrote: post #3

When I see this kind of lists I always think of getting some of these books and reading them. However, I feel like reading books that have no relationship with my job (software engineer) is a waste. Do any feel the same? Is this a harmful mindset and should stop worrying about "wasting" my free time?

There's an (apparently untranslatable) word in German for people who are only interested in amassing knowledge in their own domain and totally ignorant of anything else: "Fachidiot" (see also https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/327748/is-there-... ) - it's not really a flattering term. So, in my book, expanding your horizons is a good thing. Of course, Sherlock Holmes would disapprove ( https://news.ycombinat…

In English was that person a 'Fachingidiot'.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#58

Post by purple-again »

happy_path wrote: post #31
1e-9 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reading immersive fiction makes me significantly more productive. I believe there are two main benefits: 1) It hones my ability to stay focused, and 2) It exercises the world-simulation part of my brain, which I use heavily for understanding problems and visualizing solutions. Whenever I go more than a few weeks or so without reading fiction, I tend to notice a drop in my productivity and problem-solving ability. Bin…

Could you recommend any fiction books?

If you want a breadth of grounded fantasy (IE takes place in our world but contains elements that don't really exist in our world) then I would recommend picking through Stephen King.

If you want to completely escape our world then I recommend the old Conan books or the modern Brandon Sanderson starting with Stormlight Archive.

You have received plenty of Sci Fi recommendations but I will add my own personal favorite (this is one novel in the series): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Death_Ground

If you want fiction that is grounded in reality with little to no fantasy elements then the murder mystery genre has quite a few gems that are fun to try and guess the twist of when you are reading. Murder on the Orient Express is great if you havn't experienced the story yet.

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#59

Post by Brajeshwar »

codq wrote: post #51
Brajeshwar wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have strict rules, methods, or patterns. However, I follow common themes such as skimming (or speed-reading) boring/mundane sections, change books and come back later, read multiple books at a time. Personally, I feel something missing if I totally skip something, so I tend to or try to finish what I read. I was known to be that kid who read Newspapers top to bottom of all pages, so that is that. My tricks; -…

Re:your point about kids, as a brand new father, I think about this a lot. Kids model and mimic what they see, for better and for worse. Up to a certain point 'reading from a Kindle' looks exactly the same as burying your face in a phone. Do you prefer physical books at home to model the reading behavior? Or have you found that young kids understand that e-book reading is not the same as phone-use?

Absolutely right about Kindle. I did not elaborate that point. My daughter, when she was 5-ish, used to think I do not read because I'm on a Kindle. So, after going fully digital I went back to physical books about 5 years back. Now, I mix about 1 physical for every 4 kindle books. At 11-year, she do gets it now and have her own Kindle with one -- you can read as many books as you want.

I wrote about it at https://oinam.blog/why-physical-books-matter-7a2872c64821

Re: Good Books for a Lousy Year

#60

Post by rramadass »

lentil_soup wrote: post #18
happy_path wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, my native language is not English, so I could think that reading in English improve that language skill. What about if I feel I'm not a good software engineer?

I'd advise you try to not think of all reading as something that needs to "improve" something in you. We do many things just for pleasure; we go on holiday, we have friends, we eat dessert, we go for walks, we read books. If you feel you need to improve your English or your technical skills, that's fine, you can study. But that's unrelated to all the other activities you might do for your own pleasure.

>I'd advise you try to not think of all reading as something that needs to "improve" something in you.

Well said! This is the curse of the modern society/economy that everything you do should be towards some "improvement" either materially or otherwise. The concept and importance of "play" has all but been forgotten. Incidentally, much of Science progressed only because many of the Scientists actually loved "playing" with what interested them. The actual inventions/discoveries were more accidental like.

Knowledge for Knowledge's sake is a very good thing.

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