Themes
This year, I’m expecting a good amount of reading on the following topics:
- Photography and art
- Engineering and technological failure
- What I’ll call the intersection of technology and civics
- Fiction
Currently reading
Yes, I have way too many books in progress to meaningfully make headway on all of them.
- Mountain Light, by Galen Rowell
- Source: Gift
- Engineers of Dreams, by Henry Petroski
- Source: Purchase
- Art Fundamentals: Theory & Practice 7th Edition, by Otto G. Ocvirk, &c
- Source: College bookstore purchase
Completed
Things Become Other Things, By Craig Mod
- Completed: Jan. 7, 2024
- Source: Purchase
I’ve been a fan of Mod and his two newsletters, Roden and Ridgeline, for a few years now. This book comes out of some of the same material as Ridgeline and is worthy of the expansion.
What’s been interesting to observe in the last little while is retaining the warmth and excitement on what he’s writing about, but opening up and being more personal. Mod’s images and text are well-selected and paired, his story-telling neat, clean, economical. He uses the material he needs, no more. Friends, that is an under-appreciated skill.
A wonderful and touching memoir through travelogue I was looking forward to since my purchase of his previous book, Kissa By Kissa.
Fine Art Street Photography, by Rupert Vandervell
- Completed: Jan. 12, 2024
- Source: Gift
I’ve enjoyed Vandervell’s YouTube channel and his recommendations queued a few photo book additions to my photography wishlist. I was expecting this book to mostly be his work with minimal description, but it is instead using his work as instruction and inspiration for his brand of street photography. A fast read, good work, but I think his work deserves the treatment Craig Mod gives his.
On Writing, by Stephen King
- Completed: Jan. 16, 2024
- Source: Library
My first read of this was several years ago. Robin read it recently, and seeing it at the Frenchtown Bookshop was a second delightful reminder. The 20th anniversary edition has picked up some additional sections that primarily strike me as curios versus essentials, but I did not mind them.
Two key things I thoroughly appreciated on this read-through:
- Driving work with story instead of trying to drive it with plot
- A second draft is a polished first draft minus 10 percent
Caliban’s War, by James S.A. Corey
- Completed: Jan. 28, 2024
- Source: Library
I was a fan of the SyFy/Amazon Prime streaming series and I’m liking the books just as much. Two books into the series, I think the books were adapted well for television and the characters from the show map well to the characters I’m reading in the books. Fast, enjoyable reads.
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, by Gabrielle Zevin
- Completed: Feb. 27, 2024
- Source: Library
A stunning, and deeply enjoyable novel.
Three Body Problem, by Liu Cixin
- Completed: March 9, 2024
- Source: Library
As with Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, any hype you might have heard from friends or colleagues about the book is well-earned.
Blood in the Machine, by Brian Merchant
- Completed: March 17, 2024
- Source: Library
I picked this one up from seeing it mentioned on Mandy Brown’s site. Brown’s reading notes are incisive about the book’s key points, so I highly recommend reading those and the book.
Being Wrong, by Kathryn Schulz
- Completed: April 2, 2024
- Source: Purchase
My Last Innocent Year, by Daisy Alpert Florin
- Completed: April 14, 2024
- Source: Library
The Art of Leadership: Small Things, Done Well*, by Michael Lopp
- Completed: April 28, 2024
- Source: Gift
Arbres / Trees, by Michael Kenna
- Completed: April 28, 2024
- Source: Gift
Agency, by William Gibson
- Completed: May 7, 2024
- Source: Gift