Books I’ve read, listened to on audiobook, or started in Q3, with very short reviews
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Audiobook. Enjoyed this book but I still wonder if it is because it confirmed my own biases, being a bit of a generalist myself.
Digital Minimalism. Audiobook. Already a Cal Newport devotee, there wasn’t much in here that I didn’t already know about from listening to his podcast.
Foreverland: On the Divine Tedium of Marriage. Audiobook. Entertaining take on my phase of life, from a woman’s perspective. Got slow and unrelatable during the childbirth section, but that’s because I’ve never given birth to a child.
Miracle and Wonder. Audiobook. Malcom Gladwell’s biography of Paul Simon, available only as an audiobook, because it’s basically a multi-hour podcast. I did blast through this one, listening every chance I got. And I had to listen at 1x speed (normally I do 1.2x), because there is a lot of music.
Every Tool’s a Hammer. Audiobook. By Adam Savage. Enjoyed this take on making, which applies not just to making physical objects but also has a lot of principles that can apply to all kinds of digital making as well as just managing projects in general. Bought it for my dad, a woodworker and repairer of physical objects.
Only finished audiobooks the entire quarter? Boo. However the keeping a queue of library holds on Libby method is still great.
Unfinished, with no current plans to return to them, but also not technically giving up on them
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. (Was an audiobook.) I suspect this works better as an actual book.
Savage Detectives. Was for my book club. None of us got through it. 1000 characters, impossible to keep straight, rambling, at one point a paragraph goes for pages, kind of gross and misogynist characters. I bought the audiobook to help me keep up and might return to it someday.
Unfinished, with no plans to return to them
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder. Audiobook. I liked the premise and the subject matter, but it quickly became evident that this was going to be an excessively long book (I forget how long the audiobook is, but it is for sure over 10 hours) that could have been a blog post.
Currently reading
The Storyteller. Audiobook. Dave Grohl’s autobiography. My current commute listen, and I’m loving it, of course. He reads it, which is key.
Walkaway by Cory Doctorow. Enjoying quite a bit. I’m a Doctorow fan, having already read his two most popular novels and listened to a number of his talks. My book club’s current read.
Tragic Design. Work book club current read. It’s just ok.
How (Not) to Speak of God. Haven’t made any progress on this one since Q2. Supposed to be reading it with a friend, like a 2-person book club, but the other two book clubs take priority.
Anything You Want by Derek Sivers. Picked up the ebook and a physical copy off of his website. Enjoyable book on business with short chapters that each stand alone, good for picking up and putting down whenever.