What books have you read recently?

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

by Bessel van der Kolk

>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693771-the-body-keeps-...

The Expectant Father – was split up in such a way that once a month, I was reading the relevant chapter to keep up with my partner's pregnancy and all the things I need to/should know along the way. Was well worth it for me... there were many things in there that I wouldn't have otherwise been aware of that I think have made the journey a lot smoother (and less mysterious) for me.

One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each – a compilation of Japanese poetry from ~800 years ago. The variety of poems in this were a great read and although the English translations can't replicate the originals perfectly, the translator's notes that go with them in the edition I own described the original techniques and wordplay used and it a lot of it is thoroughly impressive.

Since about the beginning of the year:

Russia Leaves the War, George Kennan (WW I); The Fate of Man in the Modern World, Nikolai Berdyaev; Philosophy of Logic, W.V.O. Quine; Marrow and Bone, Walter Kempowski; White Teeth, Zadie Smith; Bring Up the Bodies, Hilary Mantel; Writing and Difference, Jacques Derrida; Cartesian Meditations, Edmund Husserl (not quite to the end).

White Teeth is charming, and I will read more of Smith's work fairly soon. As for Kempowski's novel, I don't know that I'm a feminist, but the women in his novels (this and All for Nothing) seem to run to the ineffectual.

Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot. Narrowly, about Scottish succession. More broadly, about UK politics.

It’s describes the pro-succession movement in very negative terms, but simultaneously defends the UK political system in general.

I’m like ... if UK politics isn’t that dysfunctional, how did such a dysfunctional movement some about?

Either both UK politics and Scottish succession are “reasonableish”, or neither is “reasonableish.” Because the two are pretty closely connected.

Based exclusively on this book, I’m thinking both are “reasonableish.”

I finished What is the name of this book? by Smullyan and am halfway through The Lady or the Tiger? (also Smullyan). I'd read the latter years ago along with one other book of his. I'll find out which it was when I get to it and recognize the text. They've been a pleasant, light diversion in the evenings the past few weeks (with stretches of not reading them and doing programming learning/side projects).

SQL Antipatterns. I would love for someone to write an extension to this book – Refactoring SQL Antipatterns at Scale. I posted my notes for this book on my website: https://www.briansnotes.io/book/sql-antipatterns/

Also: The DevOps Handbook, Staff Engineer, and 20 YC Lessons

The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson.

Love every page of it. Its ci-fi, climate fiction, plays 10-20years in the future and tells eye whiteness stories about what people experience during extreme weather events. Plus how the global community is failing to address the crisis. It s mixing storytelling with climate science, sustainability, economics, politics, crypto.

All Quiet on the Western Front

It's a quick read, and can be finished in a single sitting if one has the mind to. It had been on my list for a long time, and lived up to its expectations.

The narrator's description of death as, "the skeleton working its way out of the body" is accurate, for anyone who has seen one pass from life to death up close. An emotionally shattering book.

The New Paradigm for Financial Markets — George Soros.

This is honestly more of a philosophy textbook than a book on Finance.

Soros, explains his interesting idea of reflexivity, an extension of the mind-body problem [0]

[0]:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind%E2%80%93body_problem

How to avoid a climate disaster - Bill Gates. I found it extremely comprehensible and well structured, other than I learned a lot. It's the beginning of a new rabbit hole.

That will never work - Marc Randolph. I'm also a big fan of his new podcast, same title.

The dispatcher - John Scalzi. Short, kind of weird, but a nice distraction from tech & startups

(all available on Audible)

Nothing recently. I've been sort of forced to read up on some statutes and case law due to a false charge against my wife (the trooper even admitted he knew that he didn't have probable cause for the charge, but the system doesn't care). Any interaction with the system punishes you in one way or another.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

She is a wonderful writer and her book was an eye-opening journey through the deleterious and ubiquitous effects of caste, which is distinct from class or race, on American society and other societies.

Normal people, sally rooney. Quite intoxicating

Nexus, ramez naam. Good down to earth story for more people, and topic is right on the cusp of being ethically relevant (perception tech)

McLuhan understanding media

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

These are both absolutely brilliant and moving; you can't go wrong with either of them.

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

it's great. seems to be something there for everyone.

fans. musicians. political people. artists. lovers. writers. poets. workers. NJ enthusiasts.

Small Unit Leadership - Col. Dandridge M. (Mike) Malone, US Army (Ret.) Just something I picked up in a thrift shop. It’s alright.

Mythos by Stephen Fry.

Stephen Fry re-tells the ancient greek myths in his own style, adding personal commentary along the way. Recommended.

The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin

Recommend it for anyone interested in the learning process and how to approach new material

Leonardo da Vinci Biography. Crazy how limitless, how curious he was... He also lived one hell of a life.

- The Master and His Emissary

- Personality (Nettle)

- Lonesome Dove

- A First-Rate Madness

- Slouching Towards Bethlehem

- Dune

- At the Existentialist Cafe

Currently working on "The Hot Zone."

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and Born a Crime by Trevor Noah.

Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are by John Kaag

"Cordelia's Honor", a starting point in Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. So good: I'm a fan of space operas, and enjoyed the Expanse novels and Scalzi's Interdependency series. These novels are as enjoyable as those were, though Bujold focuses more on two people rather than chasing multiple different threads. I get a solid "I enjoy this like I remember enjoying Heinlein" vibe from the books, and Bujold's politics is more inclusive and less Curmudgeonly Old Libertarian than Heinlein so that's a win for me too. I'm now guzzling the rest of the books in the series. Each novel stands alone, but there's a timeline and continued characters.

The Queens Gambit - Walter Tevis

Titanic On Trial - Nic Compton

Distributed Systems with Node.js