AustinAg2K said:
Well, this pandemic has ended up leading to the most "reading" I think I've ever done. I put reading in quotes, because a lot of it has been audiobooks while I work on projects around the house or go for walks.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (5 of 5 stars) -- The Song of Ice and Fire is one of my favorite series (I even enjoyed "A Dance with Dragons"), and it was really great to return to the world even if it wasn't "The Winds of Winter." The tales of Dunk and Egg are as good as any of the Song of Ice and Fire books, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of George RR Martin.
Avengers: Everybody Wants to Run the World (Audiobook 3 of 5 starts) -- This was a interesting audiobook to listen to. The book is basically a comic book in novel form, and the audio book added an extra level by having different voice actors and essentially playing like a radio show. It was a quick fun listen, and probably good for anyone with kids who are into the Marvel world.
Masters of Doom (Audiobook 5 of 5 stars) -- This was probably my favorite read/listen of the last year. As someone who grew up in the 90s playing a lot of Doom and other Id Software games, this was a great look behind the curtain at the development of a lot of impactful games to my childhood. I really can't recommend this book enough to any video game nerd from the 90s.
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels (Audiobook 4 of 5 stars) -- Another book about the development of various video games. This one focused on more modern games like Uncharted 4 and Diablo 3. I'm more of a retro gamer, and didn't know much about some of the games mentioned, but as a software developer, I was still able to relate to a lot of the stories in the book.
The Guest List (Audiobook 2 of 5 stars) -- Probably my least favorite book I read in 2020. I was really excited about this one, because I love Agatha Christie, but I ended up finding this book a major slog to get through. I didn't find any of the characters likeable, and the twists were all fairly predictable for me. By the end of the book, I was hoping everyone would die.
The Phoenix Project (Audiobook 3 of 5 stars) -- A software development book written in novel form. It tells the story of Parts Unlimited and how it was able to transform its IT work culture. I found a lot of the book contrived, and things seemed to work out a little too easy, but I still think it's probably a good book for Executive management to read, because they don't necessarily need all the details. For hands on technical people, I suggest reading The DevOps Handbook (below).
Console Wars (Audiobook 4 of 5 stars) -- Another video game history book for me, this about Sega vs Nintendo in the 90s. Really presented from the view of Sega's Tom Kalinske. Even though I pretty much knew the outcome of everything, I found this book gripping. It definitely brought back a lot of memories for me of playing Sonic at friends' houses. This was another big hit for me.
Jurassic Park (5 of 5 stars) -- This was a re-read for me. One of my favorite books of all time, and I still found it just as good after reading it for the fourth or fifth time. I haven't been able to find a writer to replace the void Michael Crichton's death left.
The Big Sleep (Audiobook 2 of 5 stars) -- I enjoy film noire, so I thought I'd try out one of the books that helped launch the genre. Overall, though, I just found this book too outdated for my tastes.
The DevOps Handbook (4 of 5 stars) -- This was a very technical book. It's mostly a lot of case studies about how Google, Facebook, etc. implement their development process. As a software developer, I feel like this is a must read.
The Unicorn Project (Audiobook 2 of 5 stars) -- A sequel to The Phoenix Project. I think, maybe, at this point I was kind of burnt out on technical/Dev Ops books, because this book was very repetitive of the lessons I'd already learned. The situations were even more contrived than the Phoenix Project, and somehow they were able to solve problems over a weekend that would take months to resolve. I recommend skipping this one, as it provides no new information from the The Phoenix Project.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (4 of 5 stars) -- Another re-read for me, although I originally read this book close to 30 years and didn't remember any of the plot points. I definitely enjoyed it again, although some of the silliness is now a bit took much for me.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (5 of 5 stars) -- The last re-read for me. I don't know if I need to say much about this. You either love Harry Potter or hate it. I personally love it.
Dune (Audiobook 4 of 5 stars) -- At times, I felt like this was incredible, but other times it seemed to flash over points very quickly. Sometimes I kind of wondered if the audiobook was maybe an abridged version. The best way I can describe this book is Game of Thrones in space. Another strange thing, the audiobook at times was a cast of characters with different people voicing each character's lines and thoughts. At other times, it was a single author voicing everyone. It was almost like I had two different audiobooks. I think I probably would have liked this one more if I had read the book.
Fahrenheit 451 (3 of 5 stars) -- I was familiar with the overall story (burning books), but I had never read the book. I found it interesting that the reason society was burning books wasn't because of some totalitarian government that didn't want people to think on their own. Rather it was that people didn't like how books made them feel bad about things, and might make them think about past atrocities society had committed. It seemed very relevant to today's cancel culture. If you don't agree with something, just get rid of it. I would have liked this book better, though, if it was more fleshed out. It was really short and I felt like it left a lot unexplored. Also, I didn't particularly like the writing style. I get why it's considered a classic for the concept, but the execution could have been better.
Ready Player Two (2 of 5 stars) -- I really like Ready Player One, but this one was just too over the top. It's like the author thought all anyone liked about the first book was pop culture, so he quadrupled down on it. There were a couple of points where I felt like it was getting back to more like RP1, but it never stuck. I would recommend anyone who enjoyed RP1 to skip this one.
Currently reading
A Promised Land (Audiobook) -- I've never read a President's memoirs, so I don't really know how to compare this to others. I was interested in it, because I want to understand the inner workings of politics better and understand our foreign relations better. Those parts of the book are excellent. Obama goes into great detail about the Financial Crisis, Health Care, and The War on Terror. Even if you disagree with Obama's political stance, I don't see how someone could read this book and not think he's very intelligent. He definitely has a good understanding of history and the issues. My big complaint with the book is parts of it seem to be a political ad trying to gain my vote for him, which is obviously pointless at this point. I guess it's probably hard for a politician to stop pandering for votes.
Except for probably finishing A Promised Land, I doubt I'll complete anymore books this year. Definitely the most I've completed in one year.
Finished A Promised Land (Audiobook 4 out 5 stars). Really interesting the get the insight of a past President.
Also, I snuck in The Red October (Audiobook 4 out of 5 stars). I'd read two Clancy books many years ago ("Patriot Games" and "The Sum of All Fears." This one was probably better than those (definitely better than "The Sum of All Fears"). Even though Jack Ryan is probably the main character, I don't know that I'd really call this a Jack Ryan book. The boat and its captain are really the main characters. I've never read a "submarine book" before. I guess I'm an old man now.
18 books in one year is definitely a record for me, although a lot of them were audiobooks, so that's kind of cheating.