I thought I'd do a reading update post of the books I cranked through while my family was gone. It's actually quite a few, truthfully, even though I am rather busy with Team Phoenicia and work. I still tried to squeeze in book time and a good chunk of it was while I was on the exercise bike.
I actually gulped some fiction. I needed some escapism being a bit lonely and stressed at the same time sucketh. I read His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. This was a Xmas gift from my teenage cousins. They knew I was an avid SF reader and they loved this. I liked it. I'm not much of a fantasy type, but it wasn't bad at all. I'll have to drop them a thank you note. Despite my antifantasy leanings, I also read A Feast of Souls by CS Friedman. I rather like Friedman's work. It was good, far better than The Wilding, but fell short of In Conquest Born and other vivid works of hers. I also tackled Alastair Reynolds' Galactic North. It was okay. Certain things tripped and broke the nose of my WSOD.
In Team Phoenicia related reading, I tackled Principles of Real-time Software Engineering and Real-Time Systems Development. I've hit my OD point on reading about embedded theoreticals and such. I'm actually in the down and dirty phase anyways. The former had some interesting points on how to approach RT development from a software engineering PoV. The latter was a more detailed version of all the other books I'd read on the subject. If I have time, I'll put up a post about what someone ought to read if they want to get a good background on the subject (and what's missing) based on my experiences with Team Phoenicia and my reading.
In things paleo related, I read The Eocene-Oligocene Transition by Dr Donald Prothero. The book is getting a bit long in the tooth since it was published almost a decade and a half ago. He does do a good job of pointing out what was definitely not the mechanism for causing the Eocene extinctions. However, tehre has been a lot of research in the mean time and a lot more has been figured out than back in the early 90s when Dr Prothero was writing this book. I also tackled Supercontinent by Ted Nield.
I also worked my way through Puerto Rico by Fernando Pico. I was dismayed by the lack of discussion of the Insular Cases and their effect on Puerto Rico. There was an extensive background for the pre-US involvement though. That was good, but I found unsatisfying a number of spots. Far too many statements thrown out without examples (frex, interventions by the US prior to the invasion. He said they happened. But what? When? How?)
Right now I am seeing if I can swallow Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence before Lyuda and Avrora arrive.
Not too bad, but nearly the rate I read prior to getting married. ;)
I actually gulped some fiction. I needed some escapism being a bit lonely and stressed at the same time sucketh. I read His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman. This was a Xmas gift from my teenage cousins. They knew I was an avid SF reader and they loved this. I liked it. I'm not much of a fantasy type, but it wasn't bad at all. I'll have to drop them a thank you note. Despite my antifantasy leanings, I also read A Feast of Souls by CS Friedman. I rather like Friedman's work. It was good, far better than The Wilding, but fell short of In Conquest Born and other vivid works of hers. I also tackled Alastair Reynolds' Galactic North. It was okay. Certain things tripped and broke the nose of my WSOD.
In Team Phoenicia related reading, I tackled Principles of Real-time Software Engineering and Real-Time Systems Development. I've hit my OD point on reading about embedded theoreticals and such. I'm actually in the down and dirty phase anyways. The former had some interesting points on how to approach RT development from a software engineering PoV. The latter was a more detailed version of all the other books I'd read on the subject. If I have time, I'll put up a post about what someone ought to read if they want to get a good background on the subject (and what's missing) based on my experiences with Team Phoenicia and my reading.
In things paleo related, I read The Eocene-Oligocene Transition by Dr Donald Prothero. The book is getting a bit long in the tooth since it was published almost a decade and a half ago. He does do a good job of pointing out what was definitely not the mechanism for causing the Eocene extinctions. However, tehre has been a lot of research in the mean time and a lot more has been figured out than back in the early 90s when Dr Prothero was writing this book. I also tackled Supercontinent by Ted Nield.
I also worked my way through Puerto Rico by Fernando Pico. I was dismayed by the lack of discussion of the Insular Cases and their effect on Puerto Rico. There was an extensive background for the pre-US involvement though. That was good, but I found unsatisfying a number of spots. Far too many statements thrown out without examples (frex, interventions by the US prior to the invasion. He said they happened. But what? When? How?)
Right now I am seeing if I can swallow Alan Greenspan's The Age of Turbulence before Lyuda and Avrora arrive.
Not too bad, but nearly the rate I read prior to getting married. ;)
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