https://mjladd.com/reading/Recent content in Reading on Michael Ladd (mjladd)Hugoen-usMichael Ladd 2020-2026Wed, 31 Dec 2025 12:00:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2025_reading/Wed, 31 Dec 2025 12:00:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2025_reading/<h2 id="jan-2025">Jan 2025</h2> <ul> <li>A Fighter&rsquo;s Mind : Sheridan, Sam</li> <li>Atomic Habits : Clear, James</li> <li>The Engineering Executive&rsquo;s Primer: Larson, Will</li> <li>Mathematics for Human Flourishing: Su, Francis</li> <li>Analog Days - The Invention and Impact of the Moog : Trocco, Frank</li> <li>How to Build a Healthy Brain : Wilson, Kimberly</li> <li>The Mind Gut Connection : Mayer, Emeran</li> <li>Practical MLOps : Gift, Noah</li> <li>Designing Machine Learning Systems : Huyen, Chip</li> <li>Introducing MLOps : Treveil, Mark</li> </ul> <h2 id="feb-2025">Feb 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Achieving Real Business Outcomes from Artificial Intelligence: Kureishy, Atif</li> <li>Ikigai: Garcia, Hector</li> <li>This is Going to Hurt : Kay, Adam</li> <li>Master Your Emotions: Meurisse, Thibaut</li> <li>Numb and Number: Hartson, William</li> </ul> <h2 id="mar-2025">Mar 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Behind Her Eyes : Pinborough, Sarah</li> <li>Picks and Shovels : Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>Source Code: Gates, Bill</li> <li>Data Management at Scale: Strengholt, Piethein</li> <li>Data Quality Fundamentals : Moses, Barr</li> <li>Data Pipelines with Apache Airflow: de Ruiter, Juliann</li> <li>Building Event-Driven Microservices : Bellemare, Adam</li> <li>Jazzology : Rawlins, Robert</li> <li>Data Engineering with AWS : Eagar, Gareth</li> <li>Practical Data Ops : Atwal, Harvinder</li> <li>The Self-Service Data Roadmap : Uttamchandani, Sandeep</li> <li>Building Machine Learning Powered Applications : Ameisen, Emmanuel</li> <li>Data Engienering with dbt : Zagni, Roberto</li> <li>Unlockinng dbt : Cyr, Cameron</li> <li>James : Everett, Percival</li> <li>Head First SQL</li> <li>Dope Thief : Tafoya, Denis</li> <li>Just Beyond the Light : Blythe, D. Randall</li> <li>Good Game, No Rematch : Drucker, Mike</li> </ul> <h2 id="apr-2025">Apr 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Co-Intelligence: Hollick, Ethan</li> <li>Deliver Me from Nowhere: Zanes, Warren</li> <li>Careless People : Wynn-Williams, Sarah</li> </ul> <h2 id="may-2025">May 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Sharing Space: Coleman, Cady</li> <li>Dark Days : Blythe, Randall</li> <li>God, No! : Jilette, Penn</li> <li>Picks and Shovels : Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>Every Day is an Atheist Holiday: Jilette, Penn</li> <li>Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends : Penn and Teller</li> <li>Delta-V : Suarez, Daniel</li> <li>Grokking Continuous Delivery: Wilson, Christie</li> <li>How to Play with Your Food: Penn and Teller</li> </ul> <h2 id="jun-2025">Jun 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Effective Machine Learning Teams: Tan, David</li> <li>How to Play in Traffic: Penn and Teller</li> </ul> <h2 id="jul-2025">Jul 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Fever Beach: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Automated Machine Learning on AWS : Potgieter, Trenton</li> <li>Cults Like Us : Borden, Jane</li> <li>Polostan : Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>The Thinking Machine : Witt, Stephen</li> <li>All the Pieces Matter : Abrams, Jonathan</li> <li>Cracking the Data Engineering Interview : Bryan, Kedeisha</li> </ul> <h2 id="aug-2025">Aug 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Futureproof : Roose, Kevin</li> <li>Random : Jilette, Penn</li> <li>Engineering in Plain Sight : Hillhouse, Grady</li> <li>The Nvidia Way : Kim, Tae</li> <li>Space X : Bergan, Brad</li> <li>Space Race 2.0 : Bergan, Brad</li> <li>Space-X Dragon : Bergan, Brad</li> </ul> <h2 id="sep-2025">Sep 2025</h2> <ul> <li>A Physical Education: Johnson, Casey</li> <li>Practical Machine Learning with AWS: Singh, Himanshu</li> <li>The Let Them Theory: Robins, Mel</li> <li>Stolen Focus: Hari, Jonathan</li> <li>AWS Certified ML Engineer Complete Study Gude: Rozman, Daniel</li> <li>AWS Certified Machine Learning Study Gude: Subramanian, Sheyas</li> <li>String Theory: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Revolution in the Valley: Hertzfeld, Andy</li> <li>Machine Learning System Design: Babushkin, Valerii</li> <li>Good Gut</li> <li>The Gut-Loving Cookbook</li> <li>Happy Healthy Gut</li> <li>The Good Gut Guide</li> <li>Clever Gut Diet Cookbook</li> <li>The Happy Healthy Gut Cookbook</li> <li>The Complete Gut Health Cookbook</li> <li>The Gut Health Diet Plan</li> <li>The Magic of Code: Arbesman, Samuel</li> </ul> <h2 id="oct-2025">Oct 2025</h2> <ul> <li>Engineering MLOps: Raj, Emmanuel</li> <li>Implenting MLOps in the Enterprise: Haviv, Yaron</li> <li>MLOps Engineering at Scale: Osipov, Carl</li> <li>Rip it Up and Start Again: Reynolds, Simon</li> <li>Accelerate Deep Learning Workloads with Amazon SageMaker: Dabravolski, Vadim</li> <li>Getting Started with Amazon SageMaker Studio: Hsieh, Michael</li> <li>Learn Amazon SageMaker : Simon, Julien</li> <li>Data Model Scorecard: Hoberman, Steve</li> <li>Signifying Rappers: Wallace, David Foster and Costello, David</li> <li>The Blues Brothers - An Epic Friendship, The Rise of Improv : De Vise, Daniel</li> <li>Slow Horses: Herron, Mick</li> <li>Grim Begins: Miesok, Wiktor</li> <li>A Visual Introduction to Deep Learning: Amer, Meor</li> </ul> <h2 id="nov-2025">Nov 2025</h2> <ul> <li>The Uncool: Crowe, Cameron</li> <li>AI Agents in Action: Lanham, Michael</li> <li>Prompt Engineering for LLMs: Berryman, John</li> <li>Machine Learning Yearning: Ng, Andrew</li> <li>The Butcher of Anderson Station: Corey, James S. A.</li> <li>The Real Animal House: Miller, Chris</li> <li>Fast Times at Ridgemont High: Crowe, Carmeron</li> <li>Train Dreams: Johnson, Denis</li> <li>Muscle: Fussell, Samuel</li> <li>Dead Horses: Herron, Mick</li> </ul> <h2 id="dec-2025">Dec 2025</h2> <ul> <li>The List: Herron, Mick</li> <li>Hands on Large Language Models : Alammar, Jay</li> <li>Beginning Database Design Solutions: Stephens, Rod</li> <li>Learning SQL: Beaulieu, Alan</li> <li>Machine Learning and Data Science Blueprints for Finance: Tatsat, Hariom</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2024_reading/Tue, 31 Dec 2024 12:00:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2024_reading/<h2 id="jan-2024">Jan 2024</h2> <ul> <li>The Sentient Machine : Husainn, Amir</li> <li>The Computer Music Tutorial 2nd ed : Roads, Curtis</li> <li>The Overstory: Powers, Richard</li> <li>IQ: Ide, Joe</li> </ul> <h2 id="feb-2024">Feb 2024</h2> <ul> <li>The Pinned Butterfly: Mack, Johnny</li> <li>Righteous : Ide, Joe</li> <li>My Effin Life : Lee, Geddy</li> <li>Quantum Criminals : Pappademas, Alex</li> </ul> <h2 id="mar-2024">Mar 2024</h2> <ul> <li>The Canadian Miracle: Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>Lawful Interception: Doctorow,Cory</li> <li>All the Marvels : Wolk, Douglas</li> <li>The Bezzle: Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>The Nightfly - The Life of Steely Dan&rsquo;s Donald Fagen: Jones, Peter</li> <li>The Curse of Lono: Thompson, Hunter S.</li> <li>Prisoner&rsquo;s Dilemma : Powers, Richard</li> <li>HHhH : Binet, Laurent</li> </ul> <h2 id="apr-2024">Apr 2024</h2> <ul> <li>Formation: Mehldau, Brad</li> <li>Chairman of the Board: Schnee, Bill</li> </ul> <h2 id="may-2024">May 2024</h2> <ul> <li>Are We Still Rolling? : Brown, Phill</li> <li>Building Evolutionary Architecture</li> <li>Wrecked: Ide, Joe</li> <li>Fifty Shade of Crimson: Tomsett Pete</li> <li>Why has Nobody Told me This Before: Smith, Dr. Julie</li> <li>Deming&rsquo;s Journey to Profound Knowledge: Willis, John</li> </ul> <h2 id="jun-2024">Jun 2024</h2> <ul> <li>Uncle Petros and Goldbach&rsquo;s Conjecture: Doxladis, Apostolos</li> <li>The Housekeeper and the Professor: Ogawa, Yoko</li> <li>Impact Engineering: Ali, Junade</li> <li>Fundamentals of Analytics Engineering</li> <li>Data Pipelines Pocket Reference - Moving and Processing Data for Anaytics : Densmore, James</li> <li>Data Management at Scale : Strengholt, Piethein</li> <li>Termination Shock: Stephenson, Neal</li> </ul> <h2 id="jul-2024">Jul 2024</h2> <ul> <li>The Antisocial Network: Mezrich, Ben</li> <li>What is Chat GPT Doing: Wolfram, Stephen</li> <li>The Data Detective: Tim Harford</li> <li>The Good Boss - 9 Ways Every Manger Can Support Women at Work : Walker, Kate</li> <li>Some Remarks : Stephenson, Neal</li> </ul> <h2 id="aug-2024">Aug 2024</h2> <ul> <li>All the Birds in the Sky: Anders, Charlie Jane</li> <li>Bad Monkey: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Wellness: Hill, Nathan</li> <li>The Art of Lifting: Nuckols, Greg</li> <li>Unwelcome Songs: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Fight Me: Grossman, Austin</li> <li>Earth to Moon: Zappa, Moon-Unit</li> </ul> <h2 id="sep-2024">Sep 2024</h2> <ul> <li>Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: Zevin, Gabrielle</li> <li>How to Write Funny: Dikkers, Scott</li> <li>Stealing the Network - How to Own the Box</li> <li>The Smartest Kids in the World: Ripley, Amanda</li> <li>Leon Russel - Master of Space and Time: Janovitz, Bill</li> <li>Creating a Data Driven Organization: Anderson, Carl</li> <li>The Master Algorithem: Domingos, Pedro</li> <li>Introducing MLOps : Treveil, Mark and Dataiku Team</li> <li>Data Science at the Commnd Line: Janseens, Jeroen</li> <li>The Enterprise Data Catalog: Olesen-Bagneux, Ole</li> <li>Playground: Powers, Richard</li> </ul> <h2 id="oct-2024">Oct 2024</h2> <ul> <li>Cryptonomicon: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>The Enterprise Big Data Lake: Gorelik, Alex</li> <li>Creating Sounds from Scratch: Pejrolo, Andrea and Metcalfe, Scott</li> <li>Deciphering Data Architectures: Serra, James</li> <li>Machine Learing Engineering: Burkow, Andriy</li> <li>Vigilant: Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>Polostan: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>Spill: Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>Playground: Powers, Richard</li> <li>Stay Fanatic Vol 4: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Brothers: Van Halen, Alex</li> </ul> <h2 id="nov-2024">Nov 2024</h2> <ul> <li>Stealing the Network</li> <li>Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: Fairbanks, Brian</li> <li>Quantum Theory Can&rsquo;t Hurt You: Chown, Marcus</li> <li>Logicomix: Doxiadis, Apostolos and Papdimitriu, Christos</li> <li>The Third Door: Banyan, Alex</li> <li>Breath Becomes Life: Toussant, Varda</li> <li>The Gut Stuff: Macfarlane, Lisa</li> <li>You&rsquo;re Too Good to Feel This Bad: Dallas, Nate</li> </ul> <h2 id="dec-2024">Dec 2024</h2> <ul> <li>The Mathematics of Love: Fry, Hannah</li> <li>Fiber Fueled : Bulsiewicz, Wil</li> <li>Our Band Could Be Your Life: Azzenrad, Michael</li> <li>Strong On!: Flynn, Pat</li> <li>Why Study Maths: Neale, Vicky</li> <li>The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: Jorgenson, Eric</li> <li>Make Time: Knapp, Jake</li> <li>Principles: Dalio, Ray</li> <li>Outlaw - Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville: Streussgoth, Michael</li> <li>Zen - The Art of Simple Living: Masuno, Shunmyo</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2023_reading/Sun, 31 Dec 2023 12:00:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2023_reading/<h2 id="jan-2023">Jan 2023</h2> <ul> <li>How Magicians Think: Jay, Joshua</li> </ul> <h2 id="feb-2023">Feb 2023</h2> <ul> <li>The Passenger: McCarthy, Cormac</li> <li>Stella Maris: McCarthy, Cormac</li> </ul> <h2 id="mar-2023">Mar 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Dilla Time: Charnas, Dan</li> <li>The Subversive Guitarist: Gore, Joe</li> <li>The Disney Monorail: Jurtii, Jeff</li> <li>Producing Country: Jarrett, Michael</li> </ul> <h2 id="apr-2023">Apr 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Liberation Day: Saunders, George</li> <li>Write One Song: Tweedy, Jeff</li> <li>Red Team Blues: Doctorow, Cory</li> </ul> <h2 id="may-2023">May 2023</h2> <ul> <li>A Cultural History of the Prostate: Johnson, Erika</li> <li>Harold: Wright, Stephen</li> <li>Dream It, Do It: Sklar, Marty</li> <li>The Least of Us: Quinones, Sam</li> </ul> <h2 id="jun-2023">Jun 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Breath: Nestor, James</li> </ul> <h2 id="jul-2023">Jul 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Tonechaser: Rosen, Steve</li> </ul> <h2 id="aug-2023">Aug 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Doom Guy: Romero, John</li> </ul> <h2 id="sep-2023">Sep 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Contact High: Tobak, Vikki</li> </ul> <h2 id="oct-2023">Oct 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Crazy From the Heat: Roth, David Lee</li> <li>MTG Strategy and Deck Building</li> <li>How to Play MTG : Johnson, Richard</li> <li>How to Play MTG - Step by Step : Wright, Marcus</li> </ul> <h2 id="nov-2023">Nov 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Unfuck Your Anxiety : Harper, Faith</li> <li>What Happened to Make You Anxious: Castillo, Jaime</li> <li>Creative Quest: Questlove</li> <li>What Happend to Make You Anxious: Castillo, Jaime</li> <li>Fundamentals of Data Engineering : Reis, Joe</li> <li>Efficient Linux at the Command Line : Barrett, Daniel</li> </ul> <h2 id="dec-2023">Dec 2023</h2> <ul> <li>Wrecker: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>The Practice of Practice: Harnum, Jonathan</li> <li>The Async-First Playbook : Moghe, Sumeet Gayathri</li> <li>The Loop Files: Kaempfer, Rick</li> <li>Music is History: Questlove</li> <li>The Jazz of Physics : Alexander, Stephon</li> <li>The Lost Cause: Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>The History of Bones : Lurie, John</li> <li>In Love With the World: Rinpoche, Yongey Mingyur</li> <li>Pyschotic Reactions and Carborator Dung: Bangs, Lester</li> <li>Mo&rsquo; Meta Blues: Questlove</li> <li>The Charisma Myth : Cabane, Olivia Fox</li> <li>Strong Enough? : Rippetoe, Mark</li> <li>The Software Developer&rsquo;s Career Handbook : Loop, Michael</li> <li>Tommorrowiand : Kotler, Steven</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2022_reading/Sat, 31 Dec 2022 12:00:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2022_reading/<h2 id="jan-2022">Jan 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Void Star: Mason, Zachary</li> <li>Devil Take the Hindmost: Chang, Ed</li> <li>Springfield Confidential: Reiss, Mike</li> </ul> <h2 id="feb-2022">Feb 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Termination Shock: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>Twilight of the Gods: Hayden, Steven</li> <li>Building a Career in Software: Heller, Daniel</li> <li>This Isn&rsquo;t Happening - Radiohead&rsquo;s Kid A: Hyden, Steven</li> <li>Ode to a Tenor Titan: Milkowski, Bill</li> <li>The Nineties: Klosterman, Chuck</li> <li>Electric Don Quixote - The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa: Slaven, Neil</li> <li>Frank Zappa - The Biography: Miles, Barry</li> <li>Zappa and Jazz - Did it Really Smell Funny Frank: Wills, Geoff</li> <li>Peak Mind: Amishi, Jha</li> </ul> <h2 id="mar-2022">Mar 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Mao II: DeLillo, Don</li> <li>The Power of Regret: Pink, Daniel</li> <li>Resilient Management: Hogan, Laura</li> <li>Humankind: Bregman, Rutger</li> </ul> <h2 id="apr-2022">Apr 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Eddie Van Halen A Definitive Biography: Dodds, Kevin</li> <li>Understanding Distributed Systems: Viillo, Roberto</li> <li>The Hitchiker&rsquo;s Guide to Python: Reitz, Kenneth</li> </ul> <h2 id="may-2022">May 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Bill Frisell - Beautiful Dreamer: Watson, Philip</li> <li>Eruption: Brannigan, Paul</li> </ul> <h2 id="jun-2022">Jun 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Termination Shock: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>Nothin&rsquo; But a Good Time - Uncensored History of 80&rsquo;s Hard Rock Explosion: Beaujour, Tom</li> <li>Running the Light: Tallent, Sam</li> <li>Seven Brief Lessons in Physics: Rovelli, Carlo</li> <li>Happy Birthday, Wanda June: Vonnegut, Kurt Jr.</li> <li>Stormbringer: Moorcock, Michael</li> <li>How I Learned to Understand the World: Rosling, Hans</li> <li>Creating a Data Driven Organization: Anderson, Carl</li> </ul> <h2 id="jul-2022">Jul 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Powerful Teaching - Unleash the Science of Learning : Agarwal, Pooja</li> <li>Man Without a Country: Vonnegut, Kurt</li> <li>A Divine Language - Learning Algebra, Geometry, adn Calculus: Wikdinson, Alec</li> <li>So Long, See You Tomorrow: Maxwell, William</li> <li>Armegeddon in Retrospect: Vonnegut, Kurt</li> </ul> <h2 id="aug-2022">Aug 2022</h2> <ul> <li>How to Take Over the World: North, Ryan</li> <li>The Playbook - How to Deny Science, Sell Lies, and Make a Killing in the Corporate World: Jacquet, Jennifer</li> <li>Breakfast of Champions: Vonnegut, Kurt</li> <li>Build: Fadell, Tony</li> <li>How to Be Perfect: Schur, Michael</li> <li>On Bowie: Sheffield, Rob</li> <li>Midlife: Setiya, Kieran</li> <li>Acid for the Children: Flea</li> </ul> <h2 id="sep-2022">Sep 2022</h2> <ul> <li>A Dream About Lightning Bugs: Folds, Ben</li> <li>Mount Chicago: Levin, Adam</li> <li>Inside the Star Wars Empire: Kimberlin, Bill</li> <li>Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master: Kushner, David</li> <li>The Art and Science of Arrival: Lapointe, Tanya</li> </ul> <h2 id="oct-2022">Oct 2022</h2> <ul> <li>The Peripheral: Gibson, William</li> <li>Ugly Americans: Mezrich, Ben</li> <li>It&rsquo;s Kind of a Cute Story: Crump, Rolly</li> <li>Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Tarantino, Quentin</li> <li>Cult of the Dead Cow: Menn, Joseph</li> <li>Making the Cut at Pixar: Kinder, Bill and O&rsquo;Steen, Bobbie</li> <li>Long Road: Hyden, Steven</li> <li>The Haunted Mansion - Imagineering a Disney Classic: Surrell, Jason</li> <li>One Day at Disney: Steele, Bruce</li> <li>Building a Better Mouse: Alcorn, Steve and Green, David</li> </ul> <h2 id="nov-2022">Nov 2022</h2> <ul> <li>Stay Fanatic Vol 3: Rollins, Henry</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2021_reading/Fri, 31 Dec 2021 12:00:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2021_reading/<h2 id="jan-2021">Jan 2021</h2> <ul> <li>Twentieth-Century Music: Morgan, Robert P.</li> <li>Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: Max, DT</li> <li>End Zone: DeLillo, Don</li> <li>Infinite Jest: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Galatea 2.2: Powers, Richard</li> </ul> <h2 id="feb-2021">Feb 2021</h2> <ul> <li>System Design Interview: Xu, Alex</li> <li>Last Orgy of the Divine Hermt: Leyner, Mark</li> <li>Less Than Zero: Ellis, Bret Easton</li> <li>Unwelcomed Songs: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Free Roll: Tobler, Brandt</li> <li>Priestdaddy: Lockwood, Patricia</li> <li>The Art of Leadership: Lopp, Michael</li> <li>Post Offce: Bukowski, Charles</li> </ul> <h2 id="mar-2021">Mar 2021</h2> <ul> <li>AMORALMAN: DelGaudio, Derek</li> <li>Medallian Status: Hodgeman, John</li> <li>Jazz, The Basics: Meeder, Christopher</li> <li>Eddie Van Halen: Zlozower, Neil</li> <li>Van Halen Visual History: Zlozower, Neil</li> </ul> <h2 id="apr-2021">Apr 2021</h2> <ul> <li>Distrust That Particular Flavor: Gibson, William</li> <li>Everybody Want&rsquo;s Some; Christe, Ian</li> <li>Van Halen Rising: Renoff, Greg</li> <li>Ted Templeman - Platnum Porducer: Templeman, Ted</li> <li>What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: Murukami, Haruki</li> </ul> <h2 id="may-2021">May 2021</h2> <ul> <li>A Love Supreme - The Story of John Coltrane&rsquo;s Signature Album: Kahn, Ashley</li> <li>Fanatic Vol 3: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>97 Things a Cloud Engineer Should Know: Freeman, Emily</li> </ul> <h2 id="jun-2021">Jun 2021</h2> <ul> <li>The Premonition: Lewis, Michael</li> <li>Kind of Blue - The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece: Kahn, Ashley</li> <li>Fanatic Vol 2: Rollins, Henry</li> </ul> <h2 id="jul-2021">Jul 2021</h2> <ul> <li>Pat Metheny - The ECM Years, 1975-1984 (Oxford Studies in Recorded Jazz): Cooke, Mervyn</li> <li>Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: Schreier, Jason</li> <li>Fighting for Space: Teitel, Amy Shira</li> </ul> <h2 id="aug-2021">Aug 2021</h2> <ul> <li>Elric of Melbone: Moorcock, Michael</li> <li>Astroball: Reiter, Ben</li> <li>The End of Everything (Astronomically Speaking): Mack, Katie</li> <li>Elric - Sailor on the Seas of Fate: Moorcock, Michael</li> <li>The Sabermetric Revolution: Baumer, Benjamin</li> <li>The New Ballgame - Understanding Baseball Statistics for the Casual Fan: Guzzo, Glenn</li> <li>Watching Baseball Smarter: Hample, Zack</li> <li>Making Smarter Decisions When You Don&rsquo;t Have All the Facts: Duke, Annie</li> </ul> <h2 id="sep-2021">Sep 2021</h2> <ul> <li>Thank You for Coming to Hattiesburg: Barry, Todd</li> <li>Thinking in Bets: Duke Annie</li> <li>Big Data Baseball: Sawchick, Travis</li> <li>Storytelling with Data: Knafic, Cole</li> <li>The Weird of the White Wolf: Moorcock, Michael</li> <li>Behind Closed Doors: Rothman, Johanna</li> <li>The MVP Machine: Lindberg, Ben</li> <li>Numbers Don&rsquo;t Lie: Smil, Vaclav</li> <li>The Only Rule is it has to Work: Lindberg, Ben</li> <li>The Power of the Dog: Savage, Thomas</li> <li>How to Take Smart Notes</li> <li>Future Value: Longenhagen, Eric</li> <li>In the Tall Grass: King, Stephan and Hill, Joe</li> </ul> <h2 id="oct-2021">Oct 2021</h2> <ul> <li>Bewilderment: Powers, Richard</li> <li>Stationary Bike: King, Stephen</li> <li>Ur: King, Stephen</li> <li>The Gingerbread Girl: King, Stephen</li> <li>Secret Windows: King, Stephen</li> <li>Project Hail Mary: Weir, Andy</li> <li>The Vanishing Tower: Moorcock, Michael</li> <li>Elevation: Stephen, King</li> <li>New Teeth: Rich, Simon</li> <li>Carrie: King, Stephen</li> <li>A Good Marriage: King, Stephen</li> <li>Power Ball: Meyer, Rob</li> <li>Staff Engineer: Larsen, Will</li> </ul> <h2 id="nov-2021">Nov 2021</h2> <ul> <li>LT&rsquo;s Theory of Pets: King, Stephen</li> <li>Prince of Thieves; Hogan, Chuck</li> <li>Docs for Developers</li> <li>The Missing README: Riccomini, Chris</li> <li>The Organized Mind: Levitin, Daniel J.</li> </ul> <h2 id="dec-2021">Dec 2021</h2> <ul> <li>Range - Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World: Epstein, David</li> <li>When we Cease to Understand the World: Labatut, Benjamin</li> <li>Alone with Fritzh Haber: Hasak-Lowy, Todd</li> <li>Zappa the Hard Way: Greenaway, Andrew</li> <li>Desinging Cloud Data Platforms: Zburivsky, Danil</li> <li>Led Zeppelin - The Biography: Spitz, Bob</li> <li>X: Klosterman, Chuck</li> <li>Farsighted: Johnson, Steven</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2020_reading/Thu, 31 Dec 2020 12:00:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2020_reading/<h2 id="jan-2020">Jan 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Chasing the Moon: Stone, Robert</li> <li>It&rsquo;s a Slippery Slope: Gray, Spalding</li> <li>Zappa Gear: Ekers, Mick</li> <li>Morning, Noon and Night: Gray, Spalding</li> <li>The Right Kind of Crazy: Stelzner, Adam</li> <li>Monster in a Box: Gray, Spalding</li> <li>Terror&rsquo;s of Pleasure: Gray, Spalding</li> <li>Swimming to Cambodia: Gray, Spalding</li> <li>Gray&rsquo;s Anatomy: Gray, Spalding</li> <li>The Hot Rats Book: Gubbins, Bill</li> <li>Impossible Vacation: Gray, Spalding</li> </ul> <h2 id="feb-20">Feb 20</h2> <ul> <li>Consider This - Moments in my Writing Life: Palahniuk, Chuck</li> <li>Disney&rsquo;s Land: Snow, Richard</li> <li>The Blind Side: Lewis, Michael</li> <li>Agency: Gibson, William</li> <li>Unnecessarily Beautiful Spaces for Young Minds on Fire</li> <li>Pattern Recognition; Gibson, William</li> </ul> <h2 id="mar-2020">Mar 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Humble Pi: Parker, Matt</li> <li>Stay Fanatic Vol 1: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Before the Chop IV: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Boom Town: Anderson, Sam</li> </ul> <h2 id="apr-2020">Apr 2020</h2> <ul> <li>The Book of Ralph: McNally, John</li> <li>Big Problems: Boyle, Andy</li> <li>Spook Country: Gibson, William</li> <li>Troublemakers: McNally, John</li> <li>Isaac Newton: Gleick, James</li> <li>The Good Parts of AWS: Vassallo &amp; Pschorr</li> <li>Making Music - 74 Creative Strategies</li> <li>The Boy Who Really, Really Wanted to Have Sex: McNally, John</li> <li>Always Day One: Kantrowitz, Alex</li> <li>How Linux Works: Ward, Brian</li> </ul> <h2 id="may-2020">May 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Get Together: Richardson, Bailey</li> <li>Ultralearning: Young, Scott</li> </ul> <h2 id="jun-2020">Jun 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Moonwalking with Einstein: Foer, Joshua</li> <li>Reprogramming the American Dream: Scott, Kevin</li> <li>The Making of Prince of Persia: Mechner, Jordan</li> <li>The Biggest Bluff: Konnikove, Maria</li> </ul> <h2 id="jul-2020">Jul 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Packing for Mars: Roach, Mary</li> <li>I&rsquo;m thinking of Ending Things: Reid, Iain</li> <li>The Math(s) Fix: Wolfram, Conrad</li> <li>Reamde: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>The Rise and Fall of DODO: Stephenson, Neal, and Galllaird, Nicole</li> <li>The Fear of Everything: McNally, John</li> <li>Stubborn Attachments: Cowen, Tyler</li> </ul> <h2 id="aug-2020">Aug 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Off the Planet: Linenger, Jerry</li> </ul> <h2 id="sep-2020">Sep 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Squeeze Me: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Exhalation: Chiang, Ted</li> <li>Eat a Peach: Chang, David</li> <li>Quicksilver: Stephenson, Neal</li> </ul> <h2 id="oct-2020">Oct 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Coders: Thompson, Clive</li> <li>The Confusion: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>The Office: Greene, Andy</li> <li>Attack Surface: Doctorow, Cory</li> </ul> <h2 id="nov-2020">Nov 2020</h2> <ul> <li>Petty - The Biography: Zanes, Warren</li> <li>Birth of a Theorem: Villani, Cedric</li> <li>Lost Stars: Gray, Claudia</li> </ul> <h2 id="dec-2020">Dec 2020</h2> <ul> <li>David Foster Wallace&rsquo;s Infinite Jest Reader&rsquo;s Guide: Burn, Stephen</li> <li>Understanding David Foster Wallace: Boswell, Marshall</li> <li>The Listening Composer: Perle, George</li> <li>Shop Class as Soulcraft: Crawford, Matthew</li> <li>David Foster Wallace - Fiction and Form: Hering, David</li> <li>Intro to Post-Tonal Theory: Straus, Joseph N.</li> <li>Generosity: Powers, Richard</li> <li>Stay Fanatic Vol 2: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>A Reader&rsquo;s Companion to Infinite Jest: Dowling, William and Bell, Robert</li> <li>The Legacy of David Foster Wallace: Cohen, Samuel and Konstantinou, Lee</li> <li>Poetics of Music: Stravivnsky, Igor</li> <li>String Theory: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Zero History: Gibson, William</li> <li>DFW - and the Long Thing: Boswell, Marshall</li> <li>Consider David Foster Wallace: Hering, David</li> <li>The Cambridge Companion to David Foster Wallace: Clare, Ralph</li> <li>Oblivion: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Nature&rsquo;s Nightmare: Carlisle, Greg</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2019_reading/Tue, 26 May 2020 18:30:28 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2019_reading/<h2 id="2019">2019</h2> <h3 id="jan-2019">Jan 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Grunt: Roach, Mary</li> <li>The Ghost Box II</li> <li>Zero to Maker: Lang, David</li> </ul> <h3 id="feb-2019">Feb 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Space Case: Gibbs, Stuart</li> <li>Let&rsquo;s go so we can get Back: Tweedy, Jeff</li> <li>Anathema: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>I Drink for a Reason: Cross, David</li> <li>Life of the Party: Kretscher, Bert</li> <li>Galveston: Pizzolato, Nick</li> <li>Playing Changes: Chinen, Nate</li> <li>Math with Bad Drawings: Orlin, Ben</li> <li>Paddle Your Own Canoe: Offerman, Nick</li> <li>Magic is Dead: Frisch, Ian</li> </ul> <h3 id="mar-2019">Mar 2019</h3> <ul> <li>The Real Frank Zappa Book: Zappa, Frank</li> <li>Good to Go: Aschwanden, Christie</li> <li>David Foster Wallace - The Last Interview</li> <li>Dad is Fat: Gaffigan, Jim</li> </ul> <h3 id="apr-2019">Apr 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: Lipsky, David</li> <li>Conversations with David Foster Wallace: Burn, Stephen</li> <li>Signifying Rappers: Wallace, David Foster and Costello, Mark</li> <li>Vacationland: Hodgeman, John</li> <li>Working: Caro, Robert</li> </ul> <h3 id="may-2019">May 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Failure is an Option: Benjamin, H. Jon</li> <li>Every Tool&rsquo;s a Hammer: Savage, Adam</li> <li>Both Flesh and Not: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Rocket Men: Kurson, Robert</li> <li>Attempting Normal: Maron, Marc</li> <li>Bossypants: Fey, Tina</li> <li>A Supposedly Fun Thing I&rsquo;ll Never Do Again: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Satan is Real: Louvin, Charlie</li> <li>Flush: Hiaasen, Carl</li> </ul> <h3 id="jun-2019">Jun 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Fall: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>The History of the Future: Harris, Blake</li> <li>Chomp: Hiaasen, Carl</li> </ul> <h3 id="jul-2019">Jul 2019</h3> <ul> <li>What the Heck is EOS: Wickman, Gino and Bouwer, Tom</li> <li>One Giant Leap: Fishman, Charles</li> <li>The Ordinary Astronaut: Anderson, Clayton</li> <li>The Lady from the Black Lagoon: O&rsquo;Meara, Mallory</li> <li>Managing Humans: Lopp, Michael</li> <li>Being Geek: Lopp, Michael</li> </ul> <h3 id="aug-2019">Aug 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Endurance: Kelly, Scott</li> <li>Some Remarks: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>Cryptonomicon: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>Mind and Matter: Urshel, John</li> </ul> <h3 id="sep-2019">Sep 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Riding Rockets: Mullane, Mike</li> <li>Girl Code: Gonzales, Andrea and Houser, Sophie</li> <li>Some Other Frequency: McGaffrey, Larry</li> </ul> <h3 id="oct-2019">Oct 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Ready Player One: Cline, Ernest</li> </ul> <h3 id="nov-2019">Nov 2019</h3> <ul> <li>Mindf*ck - Cambridge Analytica and the Plot to Break America: Wylie, Christopher</li> <li>Creativity, Inc: Catmull, Ed</li> <li>The Paper Chase: Jay Osborn Jr., John</li> <li>Moneyball: Lewis, Michael</li> </ul> <h3 id="dec-2019">Dec 2019</h3> <ul> <li>October Sky: Hickham, Homer Jr.</li> <li>In Cold Sweat: Wictor, Thomas</li> <li>The Big Short: Lewis, Michael</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2018_reading/Tue, 26 May 2020 18:30:02 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2018_reading/<h2 id="2018">2018</h2> <h3 id="jan-2018">Jan 2018</h3> <ul> <li>The River of the Dancing Gods: Chalker, Jack</li> <li>Hit Refresh: Nadella, Satya</li> <li>Autonomous: Newitz, Annalee</li> <li>Fire and Fury: Wolff, Michael</li> <li>A Billion for Boris: Rodgers, Mary</li> <li>Big Data Baseball: Sawchik, Travis</li> <li>Sex on the Moon: Mezrich, Ben</li> </ul> <h3 id="feb-2018">Feb 2018</h3> <ul> <li>The Soulforge: Weis, Margaret</li> <li>A Truck Full of Money: Kidder, Tracy</li> </ul> <h3 id="mar-2018">Mar 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Pattern Recognition: Gibson, William</li> <li>Anhiliation: Vandermeer, Jeff</li> <li>Packing for Mars: Roach, Mary</li> <li>Who Thought This was a Good Idea: Mastromonaco, Alyssa</li> <li>Dragons of Autumn Twilight: Weis, Margaret and Hickman, Tracy</li> </ul> <h3 id="apr-2018">Apr 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software &amp; Devops: Forsgren, Nicole</li> <li>Bad Monkey: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Strange Beautiful Music: Satriani, Joe</li> <li>Dragons of Winter Night: Weis, Margaret and Hickman, Tracy</li> </ul> <h3 id="may-2018">May 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Dragons of Spring Dawning: Weis, Margaret and Hickman, Tracy</li> </ul> <h3 id="jun-2018">Jun 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Seveneves: Stephenson, Neal</li> <li>Gamelift: Clune, Michael</li> <li>An Astronaut&rsquo;s Guide to Life on Earth: Hadfield, Chris</li> </ul> <h3 id="jul-2018">Jul 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Bad Blood: Carreyrou, John</li> <li>Wonderbook: VanderMeer, Jeff</li> <li>Time of the Twins: Weis, Margaret and Hickman, Tracy</li> </ul> <h3 id="aug-2018">Aug 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Weapons of Math Destruction: O&rsquo;Neil, Cathy</li> <li>Orfeo: Powers, Richard</li> <li>Stormy Weather: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Major Dudes - A Steely Dan Companion : Noskyns, Barney</li> </ul> <h3 id="sep-2018">Sep 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Belly Up: Gibbs, Stuart</li> <li>Middle Men: Gavin, Jim</li> <li>Poached: Gibbs, Stuart</li> <li>Farsighted: Johnson, Steven</li> <li>Spy School: Gibbs, Stuart</li> </ul> <h3 id="oct-2018">Oct 2018</h3> <ul> <li>IQ: Ide, Joe</li> <li>Righteous: Ide, Joe</li> <li>The Fifth Risk: Lewis, Michael</li> <li>Foundation: Asimov, Isaac</li> </ul> <h3 id="nov-2018">Nov 2018</h3> <ul> <li>Here is Real Magic: Staniforth, Nate</li> <li>Quicksilver: Sephenson, Neal</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2017_reading/Tue, 26 May 2020 18:29:19 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2017_reading/<h2 id="2017">2017</h2> <h3 id="jan-2017">Jan 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Wonderland: Johnson, Steven</li> <li>The Undoing Project: Lewis, Michael</li> <li>Old Man&rsquo;s War: Scalzi, John</li> <li>Tools for Titans: Ferries, Tim</li> </ul> <h3 id="feb-2017">Feb 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Sorry, Please, Thank You: Stories : Yu, Charles</li> </ul> <h3 id="mar-2017">Mar 2017</h3> <ul> <li>The One Eyed Man: Currie, Ron</li> </ul> <h3 id="apr-2017">Apr 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Letterman - The Last Giant of Late Night: Zinoman, Jason</li> </ul> <h3 id="jun-2017">Jun 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Walkaway: Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>Razor Girl: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O: Stephenson, Neal and Galland, Nichole</li> <li>Before the Chop III: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>The Hardware Hacker: Huang, Bunny</li> <li>American Kingpin: Bilton, Nick</li> </ul> <h3 id="jul-2017">Jul 2017</h3> <ul> <li>The Impossible Fortress: Rekulak, Jason</li> <li>Native Tongue: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Stephen Florida: Gabash, Gabe</li> </ul> <h3 id="aug-2017">Aug 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Sick Puppy: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>REAMDE: Stephenson, Neal</li> </ul> <h3 id="sep-2017">Sep 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Star Island: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>A Mind for Numbers: Oakley, Barbara</li> <li>The Right Kind of Crazy: Stelzner, Adam</li> <li>One Little Spark: Sklar, Martin</li> </ul> <h3 id="nov-2017">Nov 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Chicago: Doyle, Brian</li> </ul> <h3 id="dec-2017">Dec 2017</h3> <ul> <li>Artemis: Weir, Andy</li> <li>The White Mountains</li> <li>The City of Gold and Lead</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2016_reading/Tue, 26 May 2020 18:28:45 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2016_reading/<h2 id="2016">2016</h2> <h3 id="jan-2016">Jan 2016</h3> <ul> <li>The Absolutlely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian</li> </ul> <h3 id="feb-2016">Feb 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Infrastructure as Code: Morris, Kief</li> <li>Living with a Seal: Itzler, Jesse</li> <li>Deep Work: Newport, Cal</li> <li>Docker - Up and Running: Matthies, Karl</li> </ul> <h3 id="mar-2016">Mar 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Gone with the Mind: Leyner, Mark</li> </ul> <h3 id="apr-2016">Apr 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Do No Harm: Marsh, Henry</li> <li>House of God: Shem, Samuel</li> <li>The Paper Chase</li> <li>A Wizard, A True Star</li> </ul> <h3 id="may-2016">May 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Distrupted</li> <li>How to Listen to Jazz: Gioia, Ted</li> <li>Monitoring Docker: McKendrick, Russ</li> </ul> <h3 id="jun-2016">Jun 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Lucky You: Hiaasen, Carl</li> </ul> <h3 id="jul-2016">Jul 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Fool: Moore, Christopher</li> <li>Your Favorite Band is Killing Me: Hyden, Steve</li> <li>Skinny Dip: Hiaasen, Carl</li> </ul> <h3 id="aug-2016">Aug 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Basket Case: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Nature Girl: Hiaasen, Carl</li> </ul> <h3 id="sep-2016">Sep 2016</h3> <ul> <li>The Nix: Hill, Nathan</li> </ul> <h3 id="oct-2016">Oct 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Homeland: Doctrow, Cory</li> </ul> <h3 id="nov-2016">Nov 2016</h3> <ul> <li>Big Brother: Doctrow, Cory</li> </ul> <h3 id="dec-2016">Dec 2016</h3> <ul> <li>The Book of Strange New Things: Faber, Michael</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2015_reading/Tue, 26 May 2020 18:28:10 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2015_reading/<h2 id="2015">2015</h2> <h3 id="jan-2015">Jan 2015</h3> <ul> <li>A Game of Thrones</li> <li>Puppet Essentials: Felix, Frank</li> <li>Inherent Vice: Pynchon, Thomas</li> <li>Field Guide to the Distributed Deployment Stack</li> <li>Mr. Penumbra&rsquo;s 24 Hour Bookstore: Sloan, Robin</li> </ul> <h3 id="feb-2015">Feb 2015</h3> <ul> <li>A Clash of Kings (1040p)</li> <li>The Magician&rsquo;s Land</li> <li>The Broom of the System</li> </ul> <h3 id="mar-2015">Mar 2015</h3> <ul> <li>The Sculptor: McCloud, Scott</li> <li>Child of God: McCarthy, Cormac</li> <li>Cloud System Administration</li> <li>Ansible Configuration Managment</li> <li>A Storm of Swords</li> <li>Crimes in Southern Indiana</li> <li>Ansible Up and Running: Preview</li> </ul> <h3 id="apr-2015">Apr 2015</h3> <ul> <li>A Feast of Crows</li> <li>Before the Cut Vol 2: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You</li> </ul> <h3 id="may-2015">May 2015</h3> <ul> <li>Here: McGuire, Richard</li> </ul> <h3 id="jun-2015">Jun 2015</h3> <ul> <li>A Dance with Dragons</li> <li>The Martian</li> <li>My Struggle Vol 1</li> </ul> <h3 id="jul-2015">Jul 2015</h3> <ul> <li>Seveneves (Jun 20)</li> </ul> <h3 id="aug-2015">Aug 2015</h3> <ul> <li>The Bone Clocks</li> <li>Math Geek: Rosen, Raphael</li> <li>Skink - No Surrender: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep: Dick, Phllip K.</li> </ul> <h3 id="sep-2015">Sep 2015</h3> <ul> <li>Never Let Me Go: Ishiguro, Kazuo (Jul 27)</li> <li>Redshirts: Scalzi, John</li> <li>Turning Pro: Pressfield, Stephen</li> <li>Silver Screen Fiend: Oswalt, Patton</li> </ul> <h3 id="oct-2015">Oct 2015</h3> <ul> <li>You: Grossman, Austin</li> <li>Lord of the Ralphs: McNally, John</li> <li>Born Standing Up: Martin, Steve</li> </ul> <h3 id="nov-2015">Nov 2015</h3> <ul> <li>Afterparty: Gregory, Daryl</li> </ul> <h3 id="dec-2015">Dec 2015</h3> <ul> <li>The Sisters Brothers: deWitt, Patrick</li> <li>Neuromancer: Gibson, William</li> <li>Between the World and Me: Coates, Ta-Nehisi</li> <li>Best American Science Fiction &amp; Fantasy Short Stores 2015</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2014_reading/Wed, 31 Dec 2014 18:23:02 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2014_reading/<h2 id="2014">2014</h2> <h3 id="jan-2014">Jan 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Infinite Jest</li> <li>Elegant Complexity</li> </ul> <h3 id="feb-2014">Feb 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Team Geek</li> <li>The Son: Meyer, Philipp</li> <li>Apprenticeship Patterns</li> <li>The Goldfinch: Tartt, Donna</li> <li>Nagios Core Administration</li> <li>Monitoring w/ Ganglia</li> <li>Developers Code</li> </ul> <h3 id="mar-2014">Mar 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Intro to Data Science</li> <li>Pragmatic Good Math</li> <li>Learn iPython</li> <li>Puppet 3 Cookbook</li> <li>Why We Fail</li> <li>Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker</li> <li>Season on the Brink</li> <li>Learning Web App Development</li> <li>A Unix Shell in Ruby</li> <li>33 1/3 Selected Ambient Works II</li> </ul> <h3 id="apr-2014">Apr 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Beatles: Rubber Soul</li> <li>Flash Boys: Lewis, Michael</li> <li>Creativity, Inc.</li> <li>Aphex Twin Ambient Works 33 1/3</li> </ul> <h3 id="may-2014">May 2014</h3> <ul> <li>How Children Succeed</li> <li>Fletch and the Widow Bradley</li> <li>Fletch Won</li> <li>Fletch</li> <li>Carioca Fletch</li> <li>Fletch, Too</li> </ul> <h3 id="jun-2014">Jun 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Confess, Fletch</li> <li>Bad Monkey</li> <li>Fletch&rsquo;s Fortune</li> <li>A Grim Detail</li> <li>Job Recon</li> <li>Data Storage Networking</li> <li>Shop Class as Soulcraft</li> </ul> <h3 id="jul-2014">Jul 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Tropical Depression: Shames, Laurence</li> <li>Ansible Configuration Management</li> </ul> <h3 id="aug-2014">Aug 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Manage Your Day-to-Day: Build Your Routine, Find Focus &amp; Sharpen Your Creative Mind</li> <li>Son of Fletch</li> <li>Pro Puppet</li> </ul> <h3 id="sep-2014">Sep 2014</h3> <ul> <li>The Magicians</li> </ul> <h3 id="oct-2014">Oct 2014</h3> <ul> <li>Without Frontiers: Peter Gabriel</li> </ul> <h3 id="nov-2014">Nov 2014</h3> <ul> <li>The Year Without Pants: Berkun, Scott</li> </ul> <h3 id="dec-2014">Dec 2014</h3> <ul> <li>The Art of Small Talk</li> <li>The Magician King</li> <li>User Story Mapping</li> <li>Tenth of December: Saunders, George</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2013_reading/Tue, 31 Dec 2013 18:33:17 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2013_reading/<p>Reading List 2013</p> <ul> <li>Making Rumors: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album: Caillat, Ken</li> <li>33 Minutes: Hasak-Lowy, Todd</li> <li>The Signal and the Noise: Silver, Nate</li> <li>Homeland: Doctorow, Cory</li> <li>The Rest is Noise: Ross, Alex</li> <li>Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles: Currie Jr, Ron</li> <li>Skin Tight: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Wilco - Learning How to Die: Kot, Greg</li> <li>Double Whammy: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>The New Kingmakers: O&rsquo;Grady, Stephen</li> <li>A Prefered Blur: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>A Mad Dash: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>McCain&rsquo;s Promise: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Before the Chop: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>A Dull Roar: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Broken Summers: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Math Better Explained: Azad, Kalid</li> <li>Smile, You&rsquo;re Traveling: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Someone Could Get Hurt: Magary, Drew</li> <li>Black Coffee Blues: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>The First 20 Hours: Kaufman, Josh</li> <li>Do I Come Here Often?: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Real Conversations, No. 1: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>American Rust: Meyer, Philipp</li> <li>Now Watch Him Die: Rollins, Henry</li> <li>Ethics of Big Data: Davis, Kord</li> <li>Strip Tease: Hiaasen, Carl</li> <li>Getting Started with Processing: Reas, Casey</li> <li>The Innocence Game: Harvey, Michael</li> <li>The Pale King: Wallace, David Foster</li> <li>Masters of Doom: Kushner, David</li> <li>Eminent Hipsters: Fage, Donald</li> <li>Zero to Maker: Lang, David</li> <li>Free Will: Harris, Sam</li> <li>Lying: Harris, Sam</li> <li>How Music Works: Byrne, David</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2012-12-18-reading/Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:03:01 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2012-12-18-reading/<p>Summary: This was the year of David Foster Wallace. I tried to read/listen/absorb everything I could find on his work.</p> <p>Reading List 2012</p> <ul> <li>Continuous delivery and DevOps A Quickstart Guide - Paul Swartout</li> <li>DevOps for Developers - Michael Hüttermann</li> <li>Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West- Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>Both Flesh and Not: Essays - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Listen to This - Alex Ross</li> <li>So Good They Can&rsquo;t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love - Cal Newport</li> <li>The Victory Lab: The Secret Science of Winning Campaigns - Issenberg, Sasha</li> <li>Telegraph Avenue - Chabon, Michael</li> <li>Future Perfect: The Case for Progress in a Networked Age - Johnson, Steven</li> <li>Leaving the Atocha Station - Ben Lerner</li> <li>Fooling Houdini: Magicians, Mentalists, Math Geeks, and the Hidden Powers of the Mind - Alex Stone</li> <li>Understanding David Foster Wallace - Marshall Boswell</li> <li>Consider David Foster Wallace: Critical Essays - David Hering</li> <li>Every Love Story is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace - D.T. Max</li> <li>Elegant Complexity - Greg Carlisle</li> <li>Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>David Foster Wallace&rsquo;s Infinite Jest - Stephen J. Burn</li> <li>Some Remarks: Essays and Other Writing - Neal Stephenson</li> <li>The Book of Drugs: A Memoir - Mike Doughty</li> <li>Team Geek: A Software Developer&rsquo;s Guide to Working Well with Others - Brian W. Fitzpatrick</li> <li>Ship It!: A Practical Guide to Successful Software Projects - Jared Richardson</li> <li>The Developer&rsquo;s Code: What Real Programmers Do - Ka Wai Cheung</li> <li>Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World&rsquo;s Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself - Rich Roll</li> <li>No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>The Road - Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>Girl With Curious Hair - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Musimathics: The Mathematical Foundations of Music, Volume 1 - Gareth Loy</li> <li>The Legacy of David Foster Wallace - Samuel Cohen</li> <li>Code Simplicity: The Science of Software Development - Max Kanat-Alexander</li> <li>Fitness for Geeks: Real Science, Great Nutrition, and Good Health - Bruce W. Perry</li> <li>The Art of Fielding - Chad Harbach</li> <li>Oblivion: Stories - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>The Broom of the System - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Suttree - Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>Conversations with David Foster Wallace - Stephen J. Burn</li> <li>The Sugar Frosted Nutsack - Mark Leyner</li> <li>The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll&rsquo;s Best-Kept Secret - Kent Hartman</li> <li>My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist - Mark Leyner</li> <li>The Tetherballs of Bougainville - Mark Leyner</li> <li>Managing Infrastructure with Puppet - James Loppe</li> <li>Pragmatic Version Control Using Git - Travis Swicegood</li> <li>Apprenticeship Patterns: Guidance for the Aspiring Software Craftsman - Dave Hoover</li> <li>Et Tu, Babe - Mark Leyner</li> <li>Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog - Mark Leyner</li> <li>Brief Interviews with Hideous Men - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Motti - Asaf Schurr</li> <li>The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides</li> <li>The Pale King - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>A Supposedly Fun Thing I&rsquo;ll Never Do Again - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>On Writing - Stephen King</li> <li>Spiderland - Scott Tennent</li> <li>Consider the Lobster and Other Essays - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Achieving Business Value from Technology: A Practical Guide for Today&rsquo;s Executive - Tony Murphy</li> <li>Although Of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace - David Lipsky</li> <li>The Elements of Style - William Strunk</li> <li>Skippy Dies - Paul Murray</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2011-12-31-reading/Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:03:00 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2011-12-31-reading/<p>Reading List 2011</p> <ul> <li>The Calculus Diaries - Jennifer Ouellette</li> <li>1958: The Year That Changed Everything - Fred Kaplan</li> <li>Microsound - Curtis Roads</li> <li>A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin</li> <li>Scorecasting - Tobias Moskowitz</li> <li>Switch - Chip Heath</li> <li>Ignore Everybody - Hugh MacLeod</li> <li>The War of Art - Steven Pressfield</li> <li>10 Minute Toughness - Jason Selk</li> <li>The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande</li> <li>The Creative Habit - Twyla Tharp</li> <li>Evil Plans - Hugh MacLeod</li> <li>Programming Amazon EC2 - Jurg van Vilet</li> <li>The Talent Code - Daniel Coyle</li> <li>Emotional Intellegence 2.0 - Travis Bradberry</li> <li>A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kenndey Toole</li> <li>A Whole New Mind - Daniel Pink</li> <li>Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott</li> <li>God is Dead - Ron Currie Jr.</li> <li>Practicing: A Musician&rsquo;s Return to Music - Glen Kurtz</li> <li>Coltrane: The Story of a Sound - Ben Ratliff</li> <li>Chasin&rsquo; the Trane - J.C. Thomas</li> <li>The House that Trane Built - Ashley Kahn</li> <li>Ascenion: John Coltane and his Quest - Eric Nisenson</li> <li>John Coltrane - Bill Cole</li> <li>A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane&rsquo;s Signature Album - Ashley Kahn</li> <li>John Coltrane: His Life and Music - Lewis Porter</li> <li>Talent is Overrated - Geoff Colvin</li> <li>Nudge - Richard Thaler</li> <li>Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins</li> <li>Web Operations - John Allspaw</li> <li>The Kingdom on the Waves - M.T. Anderson</li> <li>The Night Gardener - George Pelecanos</li> <li>Discover Your Inner Economist - Tyler Cowen</li> <li>Being Geek - Michael Lopp</li> <li>A Mathematician&rsquo;s Lament - Paul Lockhart</li> <li>Anything You Want - Derek Sivers</li> <li>Cat&rsquo;s Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut</li> <li>Light House: A Trifle - William Monahan</li> <li>Biopunk - Marcus Wohlsen</li> <li>Little Brother - Cory Doctorow</li> <li>God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater - Kurt Vonnegut</li> <li>The Magician King - Lev Grossman</li> <li>Ready Player One - Ernest Cline</li> <li>Vision Quest - Terry Davis</li> <li>The Fucking Epic Twitter Quest of @MayorEmanuel - Dan Sinker</li> <li>Zombie Spaceship Wasteland - Patton Oswalt</li> <li>Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut</li> <li>Reamde - Neal Stephenson</li> <li>Context - Cory Doctorow</li> <li>Medium Raw - Anthony Bourdain</li> <li>Blood, Bones and Butter - Gabrielle Hamilton</li> <li>Life on the Line - Grant Achatz</li> <li>Recording the Beatles - Kevin Ryan</li> <li>Steve Jobs - Walter Isaacson</li> <li>Pragmatic Thinking and Learning - Andy Hunt</li> <li>Here, There and Everywhere - Geoff Emerick</li> <li>The Nerdist Way - Chris Hardwick</li> <li>All You Need is Ears - George Martin</li> <li>slideology - Nancy Duarte</li> <li>Power Ballads - Wil Boast</li> <li>Pulphead - John Jeremiah Sullivan</li> <li>A Vist from the Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan</li> <li>The Art of Unix Programming - Eric S. Raymond</li> <li>Everyday Scripting with Ruby - Brian Marick</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2010-12-31-reading/Fri, 31 Dec 2010 14:05:05 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2010-12-31-reading/<p>Reading List 2010</p> <ul> <li>Drive - Daniel Pink</li> <li>The Toy Collector - James Gunn</li> <li>After the Workshop - John McNally</li> <li>Spanking the Donkey - Matt Taibbi</li> <li>Anathem - Neil Stephenson</li> <li>The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Vol 1 - M. T. Anderson</li> <li>Smells Like Dead Elephants - Matt Taibbi</li> <li>Switch - Chip &amp; Dan Heath</li> <li>The Logic of Life - Tim Harford</li> <li>You Remind Me of Me - Dan Chaon</li> <li>Next - James Hynes</li> <li>The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Stieg Larsson</li> <li>The Checklist Manifesto - Atul Gawande</li> <li>Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip With David Foster Wallace - David Lipsky</li> <li>Serious Barbecue - Adam Perry Lang</li> <li>Feed - MT Anderson</li> <li>The Girl Who Played With Fire - Stieg Larsson</li> <li>The Undercover Economist - Tim Harford</li> <li>The Big Short - Michael Lewis</li> <li>Girl With Curious Hair - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>For The Win - Cory Doctorow</li> <li>Chicago: A Biography - Domnic Pacyga</li> <li>Bloom County: Vol II - Berkeley Breathed</li> <li>The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet&rsquo;s Nest - Stieg Larsson</li> <li>Florida Roadkill - Tim Dosey</li> <li>Outliers - Malcom Gladwell</li> <li>The Deep Blue Good-By - John D. MacDonald</li> <li>Fletch - Gregory McDonald</li> <li>Accidental Billionaires - Ben Mezrich</li> <li>The Woman - T. C. Boyle</li> <li>Kanban - David J. Anderson</li> <li>Nightmare in Pink - John D. MacDonald</li> <li>Fletch Won - Gregory McDonald</li> <li>A Purple Place for Dying - John D. MacDonald</li> <li>Medium Raw - Anthony Bourdain</li> <li>Web Operations - John Allspaw</li> <li>Being Geek - Michael Lopp</li> <li>The Creative Writers Survival Guide - John McNally</li> <li>Star Island - Carl Hiaasen</li> <li>The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins</li> <li>Moneyball - Michael Lewis</li> <li>Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins</li> <li>Perfecting Sound Forever - Greg Milner</li> <li>Where Good Ideas Come From - Steven Johnson</li> <li>Bear vs. Shark - Chris Bacholder</li> <li>Soul Minings - Daniel Lanois</li> <li>Listen to This - Alex Ross</li> <li>Considering David Foster Wallace - David Hering</li> <li>Kind of Blue - Ashley Kahn</li> <li>Everything Matters - Ron Currie, Jr.</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2009-12-31-reading/Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:05:05 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2009-12-31-reading/<p>Reading List 2009</p> <ul> <li>Understanding Comics - Scott McCloud</li> <li>Reinventing Comics - Scott McCloud</li> <li>Practical Ruby for System Administration - André Ben Hamou</li> <li>Maximum Strength - Eric Cressey</li> <li>Starting Strength - Mark Rippetoe</li> <li>Pulling Strings with Puppet - James Turnbull</li> <li>Let&rsquo;s Play Doctor - Mark Leyer and Billy Goldberg</li> <li>Emergency - Neil Strauss</li> <li>Moneyball - Michael Lewis</li> <li>The Art of Capacity Planing - John Allspaw</li> <li>The War of Art - Steven Pressfield</li> <li>The Pixar Touch - David Price</li> <li>Made to Stick - Chip Heath and Dan Heath</li> <li>Spaceman Blues - Brian Francis Slattery</li> <li>The Design of Everyday Things - Don Norman</li> <li>Linked - Albert-Laszlo Barabasi</li> <li>The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles</li> <li>The Task of This Translator - Todd Hasak-Lowy</li> <li>Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain</li> <li>The Strain - Guillermo Del Toro &amp; Chris Hogan</li> <li>The Black Swan - Nassim Nicholas Taleb</li> <li>Scarecrow - Michael Connelly</li> <li>Sleeping With the Devil - Robert Baer</li> <li>Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>The Magicians - Lev Grossman</li> <li>Infinite Jest: A Reader&rsquo;s Guide - Stephen Burn</li> <li>Brief Interviews With Hideous Men - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman</li> <li>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - Tom Stoppard</li> <li>Superfreakonomics - Levitt &amp; Dubner</li> <li>The Complete Game - Ron Darling</li> <li>Eating the Dinosaur - Chuck Klosterman</li> <li>The Great Derangement - Matt Taibbi</li> <li>Up in the Air - Walter Kirn</li> <li>The Book of Basketball - Bill Simmons</li> <li>Netherland - Joseph O&rsquo;Neill</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2008-12-31-reading/Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:05:04 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2008-12-31-reading/<p>Counting down the weeks to finish up with classes. Hopefully when finished my available reading time will increase. My plans this year include knocking out a list of books that have been gathering dust on the shelves for a few years (I&rsquo;m looking at you Thomas Wolfe).</p> <p>Reading List 2008</p> <ul> <li>Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell</li> <li>The Halo Effect - Phil Rosenzweig</li> <li>Bridge of Sighs - Richard Russo</li> <li>Gasping for Airtime - Jay Mohr</li> <li>Dreaming in Code - Scott Rosenberg</li> <li>The Search - John Battelle</li> <li>Four Days to Glory - Mark Kreidler</li> <li>Coltrane: The Story of a Sound - Ben Ratliff</li> <li>Friday Night Lights - H.G. Bissinger</li> <li>A Feast for Crows - George R. R. Martin</li> <li>Ultramarathon Man - Dean Karnazes</li> <li>Maverick - Ricardo Semler</li> <li>Here Comes Everybody - Clay Shirky</li> <li>The Art of Learning - Josh Waitzkin</li> <li>Bright Shiny Morning - James Frey</li> <li>The Delivery Man - Joe McGinnis Jr</li> <li>Little Brother - Cory Doctorow</li> <li>Tourist Season - Carl Hiaasen</li> <li>Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Ghosts of Chicago - John McNally</li> <li>Brain Rules - Jon Mesina</li> <li>A Supposedly Fun Thing, I&rsquo;ll Never Do Again - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Moving to Higher Ground - Wynton Marsalis</li> <li>American Scream - Cynthia True</li> <li>Super Crunchers - Ian Ayers</li> <li>Captives - Todd Hasak-Lowy</li> <li>Eat Me - Kenny Shopsin</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2007-12-31-reading/Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:05:03 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2007-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>I had originally planned on taking this year to focus on only reading a few select large books (Infinite Jest, Underworld, etc..) but there&rsquo;s just too much out there I want to read.</p> <p>Reading List 2007</p> <ul> <li>Talk Talk - T. C. Boyle</li> <li>The Children&rsquo;s Hospital - Chris Adrian</li> <li>The Sleeping Dragon - Joel Rosenberg</li> <li>The Road - Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>The Immortal Game - David Shenk</li> <li>Sex, Drugs, and Coco Puffs - Chuck Klosterman</li> <li>Bad Haircuts - Tom Perrotta</li> <li>Killing Yourself to Live - Chuck Klosterman</li> <li>Fargo Rock City - Chuck Klosterman</li> <li>Joe College - Tom Perrotta</li> <li>IV - Chuck Klosterman</li> <li>America&rsquo;s Report Card - John McNally</li> <li>A Fistfull of Fig Newtons - Jean Shepherd</li> <li>Freakonomics - Steven Levit &amp; Stephen Dubner</li> <li>When I Was a Loser - Ed. John McNally</li> <li>The War of Art - Steven Pressfield</li> <li>Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston</li> <li>A Dull Roar - Henry Rollins</li> <li>Parasite Rex - Carl Zimmer</li> <li>Nature Girl - Carl Hiaasen</li> <li>Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis</li> <li>Little Children - Tom Perrotta</li> <li>Happy Endings - Jim Norton</li> <li>Tapping the Source - Kem Numm</li> <li>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling</li> <li>Youth in Revolt - C. D. Payne</li> <li>Population 487 - Michael Perry</li> <li>Managing Humans - Michael Lopp</li> <li>Ugly Americans - Ben Mezrich</li> <li>Bringing Down the House - Ben Mezrich</li> <li>Rigged - Ben Mezrich</li> <li>The Rest is Noise - Alex Ross</li> <li>Middlesex- Jeffery Eugenides</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2006-12-31-reading/Sun, 31 Dec 2006 14:05:03 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2006-12-31-reading/<p>Summary: Since I had accumulated a huge backlog of unread books, I had planned out my reading for the entire year. A minimum of a book a week.</p> <p>Update: I got dragged down by a couple of slow books (I&rsquo;m looking at you Thomas Friedman) and school took up a lot of time, I missed by goal by about 14 books.</p> <p>Reading List 2006</p> <ul> <li>Time Management for System Administrators - Thomas Limoncelli</li> <li>A Clash of Kings - George R. R. Martin</li> <li>Consider the Lobster - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Pirsig</li> <li>Chaos - James Gleick</li> <li>Vision Quest - Terry Davis</li> <li>An Unfinished Season - Ward Just</li> <li>A Short History of Nearly Everything - Bill Bryson</li> <li>The One Minute Manger - Kenneth Blanchard</li> <li>21 Dog Years - Mike Daisey</li> <li>What Your CEO Wants You to Know - Ram Charam</li> <li>Slack - Tom DeMarco</li> <li>Staggerford - Jon Hassler</li> <li>Fortress of Solitude - Jonathan Lethem</li> <li>Inside Delta Force - Eric L. Haney</li> <li>Protect Your Windows Network - Jesper M. Johansson</li> <li>The World is Flat - Thomas Friedman</li> <li>Mind Performance Hacks - Ron Hale-Evans</li> <li>Spunk &amp; Bite - Arthur Plotnik</li> <li>The Razor&rsquo;s Edge - W. Somerset Maugham</li> <li>The Nasty Bits - Anthony Bourdain</li> <li>Project X - Jim Shepard</li> <li>Men and Cartoons - Jonathan Lethem</li> <li>Indecision - Ben Kunkel</li> <li>White Teeth - Zadie Smith</li> <li>America&rsquo;s Report Card - John McNally</li> <li>Mind Wide Open - Stephen Johnson</li> <li>Nightwatch - Sergei Lukyanenko</li> <li>Mysteries of Pittsburgh - Michael Chabon</li> <li>Tooth and Claw - T.C. Boyle</li> <li>Wanda Hickey&rsquo;s Night of Golden Memories - Jean Shepherd</li> <li>American Skin - Don DeGrazia</li> <li>Sideways - Rex Pickett</li> <li>This Boy&rsquo;s Life - Tobias Wolff</li> <li>Why Do Me Fall Asleep After Sex - Mark Leyner and Billy Goldberg</li> <li>Everything Bad is Good for You - Steven Johnson</li> <li>Wilco: Learning How to Die - Gret Kot</li> <li>A Storm of Swords - George R. R. Martin</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2005-12-31-reading/Sat, 31 Dec 2005 14:05:03 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2005-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>I remember thinking that I needed to start learning more of the business world, so I drifted a bit away from fiction. Not too many new discoveries, but writers like TC Boyle continued to put out solid books.</p> <p>Reading List 2005</p> <ul> <li>Radio On - Sarah Vowell</li> <li>Take the Cannoli - Sarah Vowell</li> <li>Sock - Penn Jillette</li> <li>The Partly Cloudy Patriot - Sarah Vowell</li> <li>Searching for Bobby Fischer - Fred Waitzkin</li> <li>How We Are Hungry - David Eggers</li> <li>Hoot - Carl Hiaasen</li> <li>The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay - Michael Chabon</li> <li>Will You Please Be Quiet, Please - Raymond Carver</li> <li>The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks</li> <li>The Coen Brothers - Ronald Borgan</li> <li>The Mischievous Art of Jim Flora - Irwin Chusid</li> <li>After the Plague - T.C. Boyle</li> <li>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson</li> <li>The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell</li> <li>Everything is Illuminated - Jonathan Safran Foer</li> <li>Blink - Malcolm Gladwell</li> <li>Transmission - Hari Kunzru</li> <li>Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago - Alex Katlowitz</li> <li>Weirdos in the Workplace - John Putzier</li> <li>The Purple Cow - Seth Godin</li> <li>Wall Street Meat - Andy Kessler</li> <li>Running Money - Andy Kessler</li> <li>Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott</li> <li>Free Prize Inside - Seth Godin</li> <li>New High Intensity Training - Ellington Darden</li> <li>Never Eat Alone - Frank Farrazzi</li> <li>The Automatic Millionaire - David Bach</li> <li>Assassination Vacation - Sarah Vowell</li> <li>Freakonomics - Levitt &amp; Dubner</li> <li>First, Break All the Rules - Buckingham and Coffman</li> <li>White Noise - Don DeLillo</li> <li>A Season on the Mat - Nolan Zavoral</li> <li>Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry</li> <li>Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J. K. Rowling</li> <li>All of Us - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Why Do Me Have Nipples - Mark Leyner</li> <li>My Friend Leonard - James Frey</li> <li>A Love Supreme - Ashley Kahn</li> <li>Chasin&rsquo; the Train - J. C. Thomas</li> <li>Aloft - Chang-Rae Lee</li> <li>Ascension - Eric Nisenson</li> <li>Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2004-12-31-reading/Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:05:02 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2004-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>I left the old job and moved up near Chicago. I was an IT department of one, trying to upgrade and entire office by myself. I&rsquo;m surprised that I had enough time to read the books that I did. I didn&rsquo;t run across many new authors this year, but did manage to read more Richard Yates.</p> <p>Reading List 2004</p> <ul> <li>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - J. K. Rowling</li> <li>Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling</li> <li>Syrup - Maxx Barry</li> <li>The Puttermesser Papers - Cynthia Ozick</li> <li>Kingdom of Fear - Hunter S. Thompson</li> <li>Summer Rain - Jon Konrath</li> <li>Eats, Shoots, and Leaves - Lynne Truss</li> <li>How to Talk Dirty and Influence People - Lenny Bruce</li> <li>Wilco: Learning How to Die - Greg Kot</li> <li>Hacker Cracker - Ejoui Nuwhere</li> <li>Stranger Than Fiction - Chuck Palahnuick</li> <li>Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women - Ricky Jay</li> <li>The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald</li> <li>How to Own a Continent - Ryan Russell</li> <li>Acts of the Apostles - John F. X. Sundman</li> <li>Across the Nightingale Floor - Lian Hearn</li> <li>Crypto - Stephen Levy</li> <li>Teeth - Hugh Gallagher</li> <li>Skinny Dip - Carl Hiaasen</li> <li>Grass for his Pillow - Lian Hearn</li> <li>Brilliance of the Moon - Lian Hearn</li> <li>Zero-Day Exploit - Rob Shein</li> <li>Collected Short Stories - Richard Yates</li> <li>Getting Things Done - David Allen</li> <li>Oblivion: Stories - David Foster Wallace</li> <li>If the River Was Whiskey - T. C. Boyle</li> <li>A Good School - Richard Yates</li> <li>The Inner Circle - T. C. Boyle</li> <li>A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin</li> <li>Going Corporate - Brad Embree</li> <li>MASH - Richard Hooker</li> <li>Tom Waits: Wild Years - Jay S. Jacobs</li> <li>Budding Prospects - T. C. Boyle</li> <li>The Wilco Book - Wilco</li> <li>Mind Wide Open - Stephen Johnson</li> <li>Rain Fall - Barry Eisler</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2003-12-31-reading/Wed, 31 Dec 2003 14:05:02 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2003-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>2003 was the year I finally got back into Literature. There were even several short trips to Indianapolis to load up on used books. The end of my work days were usually spent at a bookstore, either studying or reading. I remember being in school and thinking just how happy I would be to make enough money to afford coffee and a book whenever I wanted.</p> <p>Reading List 2003</p>https://mjladd.com/reading/2002-12-31-reading/Tue, 31 Dec 2002 14:05:02 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2002-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>I finally wised up, left Florida and went back to my old gig. It was a big transition year, and I finally decided that I was going to do the IT thing and give up on academia. I had a lot of insights into the college gig thing and was incredibly disappointed.</p> <p>Reading List 2002</p> <ul> <li>The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien</li> <li>A Cook&rsquo;s Tour - Anthony Bourdain</li> <li>The Nudist on the Late Shift - Po Bronson</li> <li>Vision Quest - Terry Davis</li> <li>Fletch - Gregory McDonald</li> <li>The Deep Blue Goodbye - John D. McDonald</li> <li>Grand Opening - Jon Hassler</li> <li>Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates</li> <li>Fight Club - Chuck Pahlanuick</li> <li>Ball Four - Jim Bouton</li> <li>Choke - Chuck Pahlanuick</li> <li>Mohawk - Richard Russo</li> <li>The Whore&rsquo;s Child - Richard Russo</li> <li>Nightmare in Pink - John D. McDonald</li> <li>Hollywood Nocturnes - James Ellroy</li> <li>October Sky - Homer H. Hickman Jr.</li> <li>Native Tongue - Carl Hiaasen</li> <li>Roadkill - Kinky Friedman</li> <li>Pastoralia - George Saunders</li> <li>Skin Tight - Carl Hiassen</li> <li>Lullabye - Chuck Pahalnuk</li> <li>Porno - Irvine Welsch</li> <li>Wise Guy - Nicholas Pileggi</li> <li>Demonology - Rick Moody</li> <li>My Dark Places - James Ellroy</li> <li>L.A. Confidential - James Ellroy</li> <li>How to Ruin Your Life - Ben Stein</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2001-12-31-reading/Mon, 31 Dec 2001 14:05:01 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2001-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>I was still in Florida, but my time was coming to an end. After a very disappointing first year at school, I attempted one more year, hoping that the teaching opportunity would help. It was good to finally get into writers such as Richard Russo and Michael Chabon.</p> <p>Reading List 2001</p> <ul> <li>Let the Dog Drive - David Bowman</li> <li>The Big U - Neal Stephenson</li> <li>Crypto - Steven Levy</li> <li>Blue Angel - Francine Prose</li> <li>Invisible Mosters - Chuck Palahniuk</li> <li>Secrets and Lies - Bruce Schneider</li> <li>Ender&rsquo;s Game - Orson Scott Card</li> <li>Just for Fun - Linus Tovalds and David Diamond</li> <li>The Risk Pool - Richard Russo</li> <li>Plainsong - Kent Haruf</li> <li>Turned On - James Parker</li> <li>Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut</li> <li>Open Sources - (editors) Chris DiBona, Sam Ockman, Mark Stone</li> <li>Think Unix - John Hassler</li> <li>Big Bad Love - Larry Brown</li> <li>Trailorpark - Russell Banks</li> <li>Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain</li> <li>Straight Man - Richard Russo</li> <li>A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving</li> <li>Wonderboys - Michael Chabon</li> <li>The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien</li> <li>A Season on the Brink - John Feinstein</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/2000-12-31-reading/Sun, 31 Dec 2000 13:43:32 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/2000-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>While work was going well, I was still trying to find a school for a PhD program. I got accepted into what looked like a decent program and left work to live in Florida. My brother introduced me to &lsquo;Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance&rsquo; which was a huge influence on my thinking.</p> <p>Reading List 2000</p> <ul> <li>Girlfriend in a Coma - Douglas Coupland</li> <li>The Imaginary Girlfriend - John Irving</li> <li>Catch 22 - Joseph Heller</li> <li>To Boulez and Beyond - Joan Peyser</li> <li>The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles</li> <li>The Crossing - Cormac McCarthy</li> <li>A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - David Eggers</li> <li>Geeks - Jon Katz</li> <li>House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski</li> <li>The Hotel New Hampshire - John Irving</li> <li>Sweet Swing Blues on the Road - Wynton Marsalis</li> <li>Glamorama - Bret Easton Ellis</li> <li>Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson</li> <li>Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson</li> <li>Cities of the Plain - Corman McCarthy</li> <li>The Water Method Man - John Irving</li> <li>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert M. Pirsig</li> <li>Soundpieces 2 - Cole Gagne</li> <li>The Man Who Loved Only Numbers - Paul Hoffman</li> <li>On Writing - Stephen King</li> <li>Conversations with Iannis Xenakis - Balint Andras Varga</li> <li>The Very Persistant Gappers of Frip - George Saunders</li> <li>Troublemakers - John McNally</li> <li>The End of Alice - A. M. Homes</li> <li>Music for Torching - A.M. Homes</li> <li>Open Sky: Sonny Rollins and His World of Improvisation - Eric Nisenson</li> <li>Smile, You&rsquo;re Travelling - Henry Rollins</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/1999-12-31-reading/Fri, 31 Dec 1999 13:42:38 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/1999-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>1999 was full of changes. I had finished off the masters program in a year and a half. I had committed to working at a music camp over the summer where I consumed the entire David Foster Wallace collection. I also spent some time traveling and finally had to make a career decision. Although I was accepted into a PhD program, I couldn&rsquo;t come up with the funds, so into IT I went. Since I had no real experience, I spent my time preparing for certification exams and finally got my first real job.</p>https://mjladd.com/reading/1998-12-31-reading/Thu, 31 Dec 1998 13:41:54 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/1998-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>After graduation, I was offered a Teaching Assistantship. Looking back at only having read 13 books over an entire year is almost embarrassing.</p> <p>Reading List 1998</p> <ul> <li>Architects of the Web - Robert Reid</li> <li>My Idea of Fun - Will Self</li> <li>Exegesis - Astro Teller</li> <li>Music Since 1945 - Elliot Schwartz</li> <li>Anton Von Webern - Malcom Hayes</li> <li>The Proud Highway - Hunter S. Thompson</li> <li>Digerati - John Brackman</li> <li>The Neon Bible - John Kennedy Toole</li> <li>High Fidelity - Nick Hornby</li> <li>American Pioneers: Ives to Cage and Beyond - Alan Rich</li> <li>Talking Music - William Duckworth</li> <li>Do I Come Here Often - Henry Rollins</li> <li>Solipsist - Henry Rollins</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/1997-12-31-reading/Wed, 31 Dec 1997 13:40:41 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/1997-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>1997 was an insanely busy year. I spent most of the time preparing for my solo recital, as well as working three jobs at a time while maintaining a full course load. I was living in a great house that I never saw, and spent up to 50-60 hours a week at the recording studio.</p> <p>Reading List 1997</p> <ul> <li>The Little Kingdom - Michael Moritz</li> <li>Being Digital - Nicholas Negroponte</li> <li>Ladies and Gentleman, Lenny Bruce - Albert Goldman</li> <li>Downsize This - Michael Moore</li> <li>Silicon Snake Oil - Clifford Stoll</li> <li>Takedown - Simormura and Markoff</li> <li>Masters of Deception - Slatalle and Quittner</li> <li>The Hacker Crackdown - Bruce Sterling</li> <li>The Fugitive Game - Jonathan Littman</li> <li>A Year With Swollen Appendicies - Brian Eno</li> <li>I Sing the Body Electric - Fred Moody</li> <li>Poloroids from the Dead - Douglas Coupland</li> <li>Tooth Imprints on a Corn Dog - Mark Leyner</li> <li>Elliot Carter: In Conversation with Enzo Restagno</li> <li>Random Acts of Sensless Violence - Jack Womack</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/1996-12-31-reading/Tue, 31 Dec 1996 13:39:45 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/1996-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>I purchased my first computer (Apple Performa) in 1996, and my book reading declined exponentially. I started reading more about technology than fiction.</p> <p>Reading List 1996</p> <ul> <li>The Rachel Papers - Martin Amis</li> <li>Trout Fishing in America - Richard Brautigan</li> <li>The Stranger - Albert Camus</li> <li>The Road Ahead - Bill Gates</li> <li>Mishima - John Nathan</li> <li>True Story - Bill Maher</li> <li>Spike, Mike, Slackers, and Dykes - John Pierson</li> <li>Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot - Al Franken</li> <li>The Grifters - Jim Thompson</li> <li>Microserfs - Douglas Coupland</li> <li>Insanely Great - Steve Levy</li> <li>Screams from the Balcony - Charles Bukowski</li> <li>The Tortilla Curtain - T. Coraghessan Boyle</li> <li>Spirit Catcher - John Fraim</li> <li>Neuromancer - William Gibson</li> <li>The Third Apple - Jean Louis Gasse</li> <li>Soul of a New Machine - Tracy Kidder</li> <li>Crash - J.G. Ballard</li> <li>The Last of the Savages - Jay McInerny</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/1995-12-31-reading/Sun, 31 Dec 1995 13:38:54 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/1995-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>I can&rsquo;t remember what finally got me into Raymond Carver, but he&rsquo;s by far my favorite short-story writer. I remember 1995 as being a very confusing time, and I went through a huge variety of writers that year.</p> <p>Reading List 1995</p> <ul> <li>Short Cuts - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Feast of Snakes - Harry Crews</li> <li>No Minor Chords - Andre Previn</li> <li>Frank Zappa: Negative Dialects of Poodle Play - Ben Watson</li> <li>The Knockout Artist - Harry Crews</li> <li>Tracer - Frederic Barthelme</li> <li>Kentucky Ham - William S. Burroughs Jr.</li> <li>Cathedral - Raymond Carver</li> <li>At Night, the Salmon Move - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Where I&rsquo;m Calling From - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Furious Seasons - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Ranson - Jay McInerny</li> <li>A New Path to the Waterfall - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Sex, Lies, and Videotape - Steven Soderberg</li> <li>The Hawk is Dying - Harry Crews</li> <li>The Loop - Joe Coomer</li> <li>Ultra-Marine - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Where the Water Comes Together With Other Water - Raymond Carver</li> <li>Pounding Nails in the Floor with my Forehead - Eric Bogosian</li> <li>The Road to Los Angeles - John Fante</li> <li>Carver Country - Raymond Carver</li> <li>The Marquis de Sade - Donald Thomas</li> <li>Scar Lover - Harry Crews</li> <li>No Beast so Fierce - Edward Bunker</li> <li>Virtual Light - William Gibson</li> <li>Will you Please be Quiet, Please? - Raymond Carver</li> <li>The Importance of Being Eric Dolphy - Raymond Harricks</li> <li>Gurdjieff: A Very Great Enigma - J.G. Bennett</li> <li>Fires - Raymond Carver</li> <li>The Strange and Terrible Saga of Hunter S. Thompson - Paul Perry</li> <li>Tropic of Capricorn - Henry Miller</li> <li>Brian Eno - Eric Tamm</li> <li>Life After God - Douglas Coupland</li> <li>Mother: the Frank Zappa Story - Michael Gray</li> <li>Suburbia - Eric Bogosian</li> <li>Planet Joe - Joe Cole</li> <li>A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole</li> <li>Perfect Pitch - Nicholas Slominsky</li> <li>The Sadness of Sex - Barry Yourgrau</li> <li>Et Tu, Babe - Mark Leyner</li> <li>The Animal Factor - Edward Bunker</li> <li>Illuminati Papers - Robert Anton Wilson</li> <li>Dead Babies - Martin Amis</li> <li>Rommel Drives on Deep into Egypt - Richard Brautigan</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/1994-12-31-reading/Sat, 31 Dec 1994 13:34:39 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/1994-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>1994 was more of the same, but I started diving into a large number of musician&rsquo;s biographies. It was the first summer that I spent away from home in my first apartment. My roommate and I both worked in restaurants and took classes during the day. I would often hide out in the school library for the free air-conditioning.</p> <p>Reading List 1994</p> <ul> <li>The Most Beautiful Woman in Town - Charles Bukowski</li> <li>The Job - William S. Burroughs</li> <li>Quiet Days in Clichy - Henry Miller</li> <li>Nights of Love and Laughter - Henry Miller</li> <li>Charlie Parker - Brian Priestly</li> <li>Sonny Rollins - Charles Blanca</li> <li>Ornette Coleman - John Litwieder</li> <li>Beneath the Underdog - Charles Mingus</li> <li>Coltrane - C. O. Simpkins</li> <li>Chasin the Train - J.C. Thomas</li> <li>Bird: The Legend of Charlie Parker -</li> <li>Free Play - Stephan Nachmanovitch</li> <li>With William Burroughs - Victor Bockris</li> <li>Mingus/Mingus - Coleman and Young</li> <li>The Fermata - Nicholson Baker</li> <li>Black Spring - Henry Miller</li> <li>Drumming at the Edge of Magic - Micky Hart</li> <li>Music and Imagination - Aaron Copeland</li> <li>The Informers - Bret Easton Ellis</li> <li>John Coltrane - Bill Cole</li> <li>Ascension: John Coltrane and his Quest - Eric Nisenson</li> <li>Bird Lives - Ross Rusell</li> <li>Americana - Don DeLillo</li> <li>Joys and Sorrows - Pablo Casalas</li> <li>A Life on the Road - Julien Bream</li> <li>World&rsquo;s End - T. Coraghessan Boyle</li> <li>Better than Sex - Hunter S. Thompson</li> <li>The Adding Machine - William S. Burroughs</li> <li>Letters to a Young Poet - Rainer Maria Rilke</li> <li>Bright Lights, Big City - Jay McInerey</li> <li>Story of My Life - Jay McIneray</li> <li>Blood and Grits - Henry Crews</li> <li>Body - Henry Crews</li> </ul>https://mjladd.com/reading/1993-12-31-reading/Fri, 31 Dec 1993 18:19:38 -0500https://mjladd.com/reading/1993-12-31-reading/<p>Summary:</p> <p>1993 was an incredible year for finally having the chance to read so many authors that I&rsquo;ve only heard about. I remember spending my typical Friday evenings at college at the Library until it closed at 7:00 pm, and then heading home with a pile of books by Hunter Thompson, Hubert Selby, or Charles Bukowski. I would hole up in my dorm room with a fresh pot of coffee and read for four to five hours before heading out for more typical college fun. During the summer of &lsquo;93 I worked at a golf course, where I would spend my lunch break reading &lsquo;Tropic of Cancer&rsquo; and &lsquo;McTeague&rsquo; while listening to AM radio in a gigantic, 1976 Black Cutlass Supreme.</p>