
Do you read? - Ardit20
I enjoy reading. I have actually devised a time table to organise all of my activities and reading takes most of the time (although not easy to stick to it).<p>I was wondering though if you read and by read I mean books. If so what are you currently reading and why? What is your most favourite book and why? How many books would you estimate you read a month and finally do you think all this reading is worth it, would it not be better if you spent your time doing something else and why?<p>Now I know that's a lot of question, I am not doing a study or anything, I am just curious to know what you guys (I assume slightly more intellectually curious that most) think about engaging in reading.
======
danteembermage
I read and I read fiction for the most part. I want to make the case though
that fiction is not necessarily non-educational and is rather uniquely
educational or educates in a unique way.

One common excuse for fiction reading is to suggest you learn passive facts
about the setting as you progress pleasantly through the story, but that's not
a particularly strong argument in favor or reading fiction. Sure I could pick
up a book about Austen-era England or I could read an Austen novel and get a
slightly inferior product education wise with a nice romantic chaser.

That's not what I'm talking about. Specifically I think fiction is a way to
learn though experience vicariously, and I think there are some things learned
best and perhaps only that way.

For example I could read a terse description of objectivism or I could read a
Rand novel and walk a moment in the shoes of her characters. I would argue
that the chance of fundamentally understanding what her philosophy is about
through channel one is very low, although it takes a lot less time.

Another example: I could say "Sentience is not mutually inclusive or exclusive
of understanding" or alternatively read Speaker for the Dead. "Morality
resides entirely with intent rather than result" or read Ender's Game. "What
is self?" or read Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.

The deepest and perhaps most important topics can best be addressed this way.
Regardless of how you feel about the historical accuracy of the Bible or
Qur'an, certainly someone found it valuable to tell stories and parables to
covey abstract concepts.

~~~
decode
Here's the problem with learning through fiction: the only thing you can learn
about through fiction is the mind of the author. When you read a Rand novel,
you don't learn anything about how objectivism works, you only learn about
Rand's imagination of how it works. Similarly, sentience may in fact be
mutually inclusive or exclusive of understanding; just because you can
describe a circumstance in which something is true doesn't mean it can ever be
true.

This doesn't mean that fiction is useless for learning about the world. It
just means that fiction does not contain the tools necessary to decide if
something is true (or accurate, or possible). Fiction may spark an idea or
make an argument, but you must go outside of fiction to see if those ideas
have merit.

~~~
falien
Granted most fiction wont provide an objective audit of views on any subject,
but to say that the only thing you can learn is the mind of the author
oversimplifies the cognitive process that takes place during reading, as well
as the issues addressed by fiction. Reading in any non-topical sense forces
you to evaluate what you are reading and helps create those new connections in
your brain. At the same time, many of the deep issues addressed in fiction are
completely outside the realm of factual verification.

------
DanielBMarkham
I love books and reading, although I'm finding as I get older I'm much more
willing to "bail out" of a book. I also find myself in multiple books. Quite
honestly I think this is due to a decreasing attention span.

I think there are two types of reading. The first type is conversational or
fun reading. It's like having a dialog with the author. The second is
structured reading, where the goal is information transfer at the expense of
readability. It's great when you can get a book that does both, but the trick
is to be able to make yourself read the second type when the information is
worth getting.

So the books I have open right now are "Expert F#", "Getting past Ok"
(recommended by another HN'er). "Practical ML", and "When Genius Failed"

I'm also watching a series of college lectures on the history and evolution of
spoken language -- very interesting!

I read 2-4 books a month. It's definitely worth it to me. Many times
consulting is just being able to consume and process information that most
people don't have time for. That means a lot of reading. So while everybody
else is watching football or dancing with the stars, I'm either working on
startup stuff or learning.

~~~
phr
"...as I get older I'm much more willing to "bail out" of a book."

I used to feel honor-bound to finish any book I started, but now I'm smarter
than that. Life is too short to keep slogging through something that doesn't
interest me.

~~~
bloch
"Another way to read quickly is to cut bait on the losers. I start ten or so
books for every one I finish. I don't mind disliking a book, and I never
regret having picked it up and started it. I am ruthless in my discards."

Tyler Cowen
[http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2006/12...](http://www.marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2006/12/how_to_read_fas.html)

------
petercooper
I'm a book collector, if that counts! Some months I only buy a few books, some
months I will buy 30. Very few are technical. Most are non-fictional on topics
such as marketing, PR, design, information theory, grammar and language,
anthropology, social sciences, and art. I am not particularly good at
_finishing_ books but I read dozens of books each month in terms of pecking
out chapters here and there where it seems appropriate.

I find it necessary to have books covering a wide range of topics - even those
I have no practical use for - to act as a sort of "mental compost" to inspire
me in my usual pursuits. I find that books on art, architecture, graphic
design, medicine, and fashion all help me be more creative in other
disciplines. This also goes for magazines. I'm no yuppie, but I subscribe to
both Wallpaper and Monocle, simply for the inspiration.

------
hardik
I _love_ reading; to the point that I avoid buying books when I am in middle
of any important projects, just get too obsessive about it. In fact I remm as
a teenager I used to have "reading marathons", would finish entire book in one
go sitting on my window for 12-15 hours. I used to be a fiction guy and only
recently have started to heavily dabble into non-fic also.

At the moment I am reading The Black Swan by Nasim Nicholas Taleb. In the
fiction category I last read Haruka Murakami's (hope I spelled it right) After
Dark.

~~~
matthavener
Is the black swan worth reading? The first couple pages were fairly
interesting in b&n

~~~
toby
Absolutely. Some people have trouble with the style, I found it amusing. If
you're willing to accept its message, it's definitely a book that can change
your approach to life.

Also, anything by Murakami is worth reading.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
So I bailed out of Swan. I got about 150-200 pages in and it seemed like he
was saying the same thing over and over again, as if it got more profound with
re-telling.

I must have missed something. To me the premise seems like something you could
communicate and grasp in like 5 minutes or so.

~~~
wheels
I find Black Swan and its ilk perfect audio-book material. Not important or
complicated enough that I care if I miss some details in one pass, but with
enough ideas in them to merit passive attention while doing something else
requiring my eyesight.

------
swombat
I'm currently re-reading _Joseph and His Brothers_ , a 1200-page heavy-weight
monster of a book by Thomas Mann (himself a heavy-weight monster of an
author).

Do I recommend it? Yes, but not for everyone. The preface itself is one of the
heaviest essays on theology/philosophy out there, but the whole book is
crammed with brilliant ideas/wisdom and is a masterpiece of literature (but
it's heavy and the story moves fairly slowly).

Something lighter along those lines would be _Narziss & Goldmund_, by Herman
Hesse - also heavy-weight, contemporary and compatriot to Thomas Mann, but
capable of a lighter style!

But yeah, I love to read (and not just German literature... those are just the
examples that spring to mind right now out of the countless ocean).

To answer your other questions...

 _What is your most favourite book and why?_

What's your favourite movie? If you read any significant number of books,
naming a single favourite is impossible - unthinkable, even.

 _How many books would you estimate you read a month?_

It really depends on the books and the time of my life... sometimes I've
finished a book in 3 days, but other times it's taken me months to get through
a single book (such as the Thomas Mann brick I'm currently reading).

 _do you think all this reading is worth it?_

I think life would be pointless without it. At the very least, it would reduce
my mental freedom to not read books. I made an argument for that on my blog:
[http://inter-sections.net/2007/12/13/sapir-whorf-books-
and-y...](http://inter-sections.net/2007/12/13/sapir-whorf-books-and-your-
personal-freedom)

 _would it not be better if you spent your time doing something else and why?_

It really depends on what you're reading. If you spend your time reading
Dragonlance novels (I've done that, it's nothing to be ashamed of, so long as
it's a phase that passes), then yeah, you could probably do something better
with your time. But books are still far and away the deepest and most fruitful
repository of human wisdom that we have available to us. Sure, you can learn
all you can learn from books, from your own life. But you'd be a fool not to
climb on the shoulders of those giants who have come before us if all it takes
is a few hours of comfortable, enjoyable time with a good book.

~~~
colortone
I read Mann's "Doctor Faustus" and it was SO rich...every sentence needs to be
read 2x to be internalized. 2400 pages of Mann sounds insane!

;-)

(thanks for the tip, I'll try and peep the preface at least)

~~~
swombat
Make sure you take a peep at Hesse too. Narziss and Goldmund is a must-read -
the kind of book that changes your perspective on life. He's Thomas Mann's
intellectual equal, I would say.

As for _Joseph_ , a word of encouragement: the further you get into it, the
more the story starts to come together and pick up pace. The first 300 pages
or so, it feels like you're reading random shreds of a story... but keep
faith, it's all packed with mental wealth and well worth it!

~~~
colortone
Narziss... looks good, I put it on my list. It's going to be a good while
before I get back into classic fiction though ;-)

You might like Eco's "The Name of the Rose" since you seem to be into really
good fiction set in Medieval Europe ;-)

~~~
swombat
Read it, of course :-)

I still need to read his other book, the Pendulum...

------
jlc
I don't just read books; I wallow in them. I remember well the acute pain of
not knowing how to read and the relief when my mother taught me. I was five,
and I just haven't stopped reading since. I'll be 38 in a couple of months.

I'm reading _Wise Blood_ by Flannery O'Connor, because O'Connor is wicked and
funny. Favorite book? As others have pointed out, this is a ridiculous
question -- my favorite kind! Some books I love: _Lolita_ , _As I Lay Dying_ ,
_The Ghost Writer_ , _Goodbye, Columbus_ , _Blood Meridian_ , _Anna Karenina_
, _Where I'm Calling From_ , _Huck Finn_ , _Dubliners_ and on and on. I read
mostly literary novels, but I read fairly widely -- genre stuff (skiffy,
crime), history, philosophy, pop science, whatever's good. I average around 1
book per week, but I read in jags and sometimes go a couple of weeks without
reading anything but blogs and news.

I'm sure there are any number of studies that will show the benefit of
reading, but I much prefer to classify books with whiskey and cigarettes. How
do you measure the utility of whiskey and cigarettes? I like the Romantic idea
that books are bad for you. You know, the kind of thing that destroyed Emma
Bovary and robbed Señor Quixote of his sanity. Maybe I just need to
manufacture a vice. I don't like cigarettes, and a beer (and a book) after the
kids are in bed is about all I can handle these days.

------
truebosko
I'm trying to read more as of late. Sure, I read a lot online but it's usually
smaller articles and quick tidbits from my RSS reader. My girlfriend has even
urged me to read atleast 20-30 minutes before bed but most of the time mental,
and sometimes physical exhaustion just kicks in and .. oh god bed is so comfy
:)

I always find a lot of great PDF books but it's hard to read them on the PC. I
really want a Kindle, but its price range is too much for me just yet.

~~~
pchristensen
AirSharing + <http://www.pdfsam.org/> makes an iPhone/Touch a pretty good lay-
in-bed reading platform. I have SICP, Patterns of Software and other books
split into chapters and I can read them a little at a time.

------
nazgulnarsil
Probably too much (in that the expected utility of reading more books
significantly drops off after a certain point). I own way too many books.
about 1/3rd literature and non-fiction and 2/3rds science fiction. I can't
bear to part with the really good ones. But the problem is that at 4-8 books a
month my collection grows on average 50-60 books a year. Since i started when
i was 8 or 9 I'm up to about 600 books (a couple reductions here and there)
that i don't want to get rid of. this is a hassle for moving and for space
planning.

But it is worth it. Science fiction authors and computer scientists (lots of
overlap there) seem to be only people on Earth that have zero respect for
bullshit. Ideologically, those are the people who raised me. One of the ways
in which I've been very lucky is that I have pursued very few blind alleys
compared to most people. I can go back to the material I consumed at a young
age and not shake my head in disapproval at my younger self as many other
people seem to do. My life has largely been a continuous iterative process of
ever better approximations of reality with no restarts (so far, i might still
decide to live in the mountains and contemplate the pebble).

~~~
swombat
_Science fiction authors and computer scientists (lots of overlap there) seem
to be only people on Earth that have zero respect for bullshit_

I call bullshit on that statement and point you in the direction of a certain
L Ron Hubbard.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
What's wrong with L. Ron Hubbard? He made a bet with a friend that he could
start a religion. so he did, and got rich. You wouldn't do the same? I would.

~~~
swombat
No, I don't think I would. I don't think starting a nefarious organisation of
religious nuts is an achievement that anyone should be proud of. It's easy to
cause more grief - what's hard is to build something better.

~~~
nazgulnarsil
I think he was too pilled up in the end to care. an easy vice to fall prey to.
But given the chance, yes, I would start a cult and take money from morons for
my own luxury.

------
known
When I was in Phoenix,AZ I used to spend 8 am to 5 pm reading books at Barnes
and Noble every Saturday and Sunday.

~~~
babul
I love bookshops that let you do that. Many near me even have in-store cafes,
but I do wonder if this is effective in increasing sales or if the coffees
subsidise those people who read the book but not buy.

------
nazgulnarsil
since there are a lot of science fiction fans on HN here is an easy way to
find quality sci-fi:
[http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_books...](http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_books_rank1.html)

~~~
fdkz
i'll add <http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Locus.html>

------
colortone
I read non-fiction related to business strategy, sociology, economics, and
technology constantly. In fact I went down the the LA public library and
picked up 10 stellar titles just this weekend, I highly recommend all of
these:

\- Perspectives on Free and Open Source Software [MIT] \- Prisoner's Dilemma
[William Poundstone] \- Thinking Strategically [Nalebuff] \- Co-opetition
[Nalebuff] \- Cluetrain Manifesto [Searls] \- Open Sources 2.0 [O'Reilly] \-
Innovator's Dilemma [Christensen] \- Net Worth [Hagel] \- Democratizing
Innovation [von Hippel] \- Fooled by Randomness [Taleb]

Other books I always keep around are "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" (a
history of DJ's and electronic music), The Singularity is Near, and some
Calvin and Hobbes ;-)

All the reading is most definitely worth it, if you don't feel that way you're
not reading the right stuff.

The best book I've ever read is probably Anna Karenina (Magarshack
translation, not the Oprah version, which is ironically much drier). Other
very influential books on me include The Wealth of Networks, Shaping Things,
and Free Culture. In fact, all 3 of those were given to me at different times
in my life by the smartest person I know (a family friend of my parents)

Maybe the key to the non-fiction reading is having an agenda. I always feel
like I'm downloading knowledge that is going to help me make bank and/or help
people so that keeps me riveted (beyond the intellectual stimulation, which
I'm a total whore for, too ;-)

------
zzzmarcus
Startup Idea: Hacker News reading recs.

I use Goodreads now, but it doesn't really solve the problem recommending
books to me that people like myself enjoy. It shows me what my mom and other
people I know read, which is interesting, but most of the time not
particularly relevant to my interests/career.

If there was a review site that essentially did what this thread does--let
people with common interests recommend books to each other, I'd look there
first when I was choosing what to read next.

------
cousin_it
I read about 5 books a month.

Math books: always worth reading.

Programming books: never worth reading.

Fiction: a pleasant way to spend time, but rarely pays off.

History: mostly crap, but personal memoirs are often insightful.

Books that changed me: Orwell's "1984" (role of words), Hunter Thompson
(personal courage), Henry Ford's "My Life and Work" (work attitude).

Good stuff that should be better known: Eric Hoffer's "True Believer", Jerome
K. Jerome's "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow", Marcus Aurelius.

------
gjm11
Anywhere between a book a day and a book a month (with occasional extreme
outliers in either direction), depending on work pressure, nuisance from small
child, etc. The ready availability of reading matter on the internet --
interesting but mostly unimportant, coming in small digestible chunks, the
reading equivalent of fast food -- has a pernicious effect on the amount of
real reading I do.

Definitely worth it. Probably worth it even in purely financial terms since
some of what I read is job-related, but the main reason is that I (1) enjoy
reading and (2) have omniscience as a primary goal in life.

I usually have several books on the go at once. The two I had open most
recently are Chris McManus's "Left hand, right hand" (a book about asymmetry,
especially in human beings; recommended) and Peter Winkler's "Mathematical
mind-benders" (a selection of mathematical puzzles ranging from tricky high-
school level to harder-than-IMO; highly recommended to those who like such
things).

------
nicko
I’m currently reading ‘The 4 hour work week’ and I just purchased ‘God created
the integers’. I tend to read most of my non-fiction in bits and pieces when i
have spare chunks of time. I tend to do most of my light reading on holiday
and go cover to cover in a couple of days. I’ve followed Grisham for what
seems like forever, and while its a bit hit and miss i’ve liked alot of the
short stories by stephen king / richard bachman. Over the past couple of years
I’ve enjoyed ‘making money’ - Pratchett, ‘The Godfather’ - Puzo, ‘grapes of
wrath’ - Steinbeck, ‘vernon god little’ - Pierre & ‘shogun’ - Clavell.
Whenever I travel I’ll try and read a book set in the country I’m traveling
to.

As a child I just couldn’t put down the Macdonald Hall series of books by
Gordon Korman - they were side splittingly funny. Highly recommend Christmas
present for any child you know.

------
tel
I'm either crawling or racing through _Infinite Jest_ at the moment. Comments
on the book are withheld until I've both finished it and have had about a year
to digest.

I'm also reading _GEB_ , _The Interpreter of Maladies_ , and _Confederacy of
Dunces_ , but, really, I'm reading _IJ_.

------
njoubert
I try to read at least two books per month, and I force place into my schedule
to read. I just finished "Circles in a Forest", a foreign book from South
Africa, and I'm about half-way through "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance". (Lots of parallels to coding in this one). I've read and reread
the Tolkien books as well as Ayn Rand's works multiple times, and they're on
the top of my favorite list.

I can't think of any better activity to spend my time on than reading.
Eloquence in writing and speaking is built partially from reading, reading can
make great practice for formal reasoning, it helps me think of creative
solutions. So much so that often, when I'm stuck, I will sit down and read a
couple of pages, maybe a chapter, before going back to what I was working on.

------
bmj
I read, and as Daniel noted above, I tend to read several at a time.
Generally, I read philosophy and theology (my undergraduate degree is in
philosophy), though most recently I've been picking up some of the collections
of essays my wife is reading for her graduate work. I'm also a huge fan of
anything about the history of Pittsburgh.

Current reading list: _Christianity and Anarchy_ Jacques Ellul _The Gulag
Archipelago_ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn _Third Ways_ Allan Carlson

My reading time seems to come in fits. Some days I won't pick up a book, and
others I'll read for several hours. As for my favorites:

 _The Town and the City_ Jack Kerouac _The Death of Adam_ Marilynne Robinson
_The Presence of the Kingdom_ Jacques Ellul

------
danprager
I too enjoy reading. I commute and read books on the train. I also read a bit
before going to bed and otherwise opportunistically. I read multiple books at
once, and this can be a problem. I have sworn not to buy any more books from
Amazon this year. I borrow books from my local library.

My favorite book this year is The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris, because it made
me think about people and their behavior from a new (to me) perspective. His
autobiography is also good fun.

Why do I read? Reading properly is like entering into a fully immersive
virtual world, where your imagination paints the pictures, sounds, etc. You
also get to learn new stuff and when reading fiction or autobiography
experience many worlds vicariously.

------
unalone
I read. I tend to reread older books nowadays: you get to the point where new
books really stop seeming interesting.

I have Anathem, for instance, and it's not a very pleasurable book for me to
read. Stephenson is not deft enough with words, I feel: he lacks a certain
subtlety. I'll end up reading Anathem, but it's taking me a while. And I find
much value in rereading books that I'm certain I don't fully comprehend. I
read Joyce and Beckett a lot.

I also put lots of books on my Kindle. That's where I get new books, mainly,
unless the new book is special to me in some way.

But yes, I read. I read a lot. I love reading. I devour novels. I also like
nonfiction, though there are fewer nonfiction authors that I enjoy.

------
Angostura
I don't read nearly as many books as I used to, but that's because I now look
after two kids. I used to read on the way to work on the Tube every day.

I am reading two books at the moment though - Iain M Bank's latest - Matter,
and Dennet's Darwin's Dangerous Idea

------
steffanwilliams
Nope!

I really wish I could bring myself to sit down and read, but if its not in my
feed reader (or Hacker News), then I'm probably not going to read it.

I've always had quite a short attention span and when I sit down, open a book
and start reading, within five minutes I'm thinking of everything else I
_could_ be doing instead of sitting there doing virtually nothing.

Don't get me wrong -- I don't consider reading to be doing nothing, but it
just feels that way while I'm doing it... so I have to stop and go do
something else.

I have countless programming books and a lot of Terry Pratchett Discworld
novels... and when I can get over my attention span, I'll hopefully sit down
and read.

------
sgoraya
Love to read - I used to read a lot more fiction, but as of late, have been
reading a lot of non-fic to include magazines like Scientific American, The
Economist and Harvard Business Review. My current reading list includes the
following books, currently on my desk at the office:

 _Good in room_ by Stephanie Palmer About giving good presentations and
pitches

 _The design of future things_ by Donald Norman Many of you have probably read
or heard about his previous book, 'design of everyday things'

 _A class with Drucker_ by William Cohen Lessons learned by a former student
of the renowned business/management professor Peter Drucker

------
dmix
I am currently finishing _Atlas Shrugged_ by Ayn Rand for the first time and
it is has become my favorite book by far. I began reading it after someone
referred it on here.

Next up is _Crime and Punishment_ by Dostoyevsky.

------
bookhuddle
Check out www.bookhuddle.com, a site where you can track the books you want to
read, are reading, your favorite books, etc. Find out what books are newly
released, top selling, in most users' lists, and more, by book category.

Here are the books I want to read: <http://www.bookhuddle.com/list/4/Books-I-
want-to-read> Here are some of the books I've read:
<http://www.bookhuddle.com/list/2/Books-I-ve-read>

------
charlesju
I love reading.

I usually read something to help me further my knowledge base, right now that
means a lot of teamwork and business books. I usually read on the Kindle,
highly recommended, it makes airplane travel a godsend.

My favorite book is definitely Ender's Game. The psychological twists and
turns in that book (plus a very cool concept and game) makes it mesmerizing.
Once I start it, I can never put it down until I finish.

I read about 2 books a month, all books are worth reading, everyone has
something valuable to share. You just need to skim through the fluff.

------
fortes
I read about a book a week, more if I'm traveling.

Currently, I read while working out on the elliptical for an hour every
weekday. This has me going through a lot of books (I have a Kindle, and many
friends who are avid readers as well, so I get new books that way).

Favorite book, if I had to pick one: Guns, Germs & Steel or Omnivore's
Dilemma.

Is it worth it? Yes and no. I think it definitely has expanded my knowledge
and given me interesting perspective, but I've definitely had diminishing
returns quickly (did I really need that fifth book on linguistics?)

------
msg
I read all the time, no matter what my schedule is. It is an anchor in my
life. Mostly sf and time-tested classics.

I'm starting to read Aubrey-Maturin by Patrick O'Brian. I finished Master and
Commander and I'm on the next one, Post Captain.

I'm reading Bad Money by Kevin Phillips, which basically called the market
failures early this year.

I've got A Canticle for Leibowitz and Anathem, which I'm doing as a pair.

I started reading Stephen King in chronological order a while back, and I'm up
to Pet Sematary (early 80s).

Also, Crockford's JavaScript book.

------
lux
Definitely. Aside from reading anything I can online, and coding-related
stuff, neither of which I really count as legit reading, I always have a book
on the go.

I never know where to start with new books, so I just stick mainly to classics
and lately non-fiction as well. My problem lately is I don't find enough time
to read, so I only get through a few pages a day and then "catch up" in spurts
here and there, as opposed to having a set time to sit and really dig in...

------
mrtron
As a kid I probably read 20+ hours a week, half fiction half non-fiction. I
even worked at a library when I was younger.

That dramatically slowed during late high school and university, probably only
a few hours of reading a week (other than coursework).

I am back to reading 10+ hours a week, but all non-fiction. I have basically
stopped reading fiction. I just have too many books I want to get through to
have time for fiction these days.

------
aptimpropriety
A read I found both insightful and interesting:

"How to talk about books you haven't read" by Pierre Bayard

Not only as a result of this book, but during the time of its reading (in my
first year of college) I progressed to a 'style of schooling' in which I no
longer read assigned texts for classes. Call it what you will, but I find
myself learning a lot more, and having many more interesting things to say
when I skip reading the textbook.

------
qeek
Not really. Not proud of it, but I just don't see that much value in reading.
It seems like a waste of time to me. I'd rather use that time to get more
done.

I might start reading about web design and related topics, since that's what I
do and I could probably learn a lot from this kind of books, but honestly I'm
not interested in reading fiction at all.

Maybe it because of all those boring books I was forced to read as a kid at
school.

~~~
Psyonic
Interesting question, but what's so great about "getting things done."? I'm
guessing it's just a matter of personality, but contemplation is at least as
important to me as any accomplishment.

------
tdavis
I pretty much exclusively read technical books. Most recently, _Hacking Vim_
and _Programming Collective Intelligence_. I own all the classic tomes; GoF,
_Refactoring_ , _Code Complete_ and so on which I re-read occasionally. I
haven't read a piece of fiction in quite a while.

Although, when I did read fiction, I enjoyed Chuck Palahniuk, Orson Scott Card
and for pure entertainment, Clive Cussler.

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jpavlik
I try to read a novel a week. All fiction writers should strive for at least
this much, and many times I feel like I should be reading more. I also try to
read books about my career field and personal growth material. I used to have
three books going at a time (one of each), but have reduced it to two. It's
much more manageable that way.

------
paraschopra
I always avoid reading fiction. When there are non-fiction books which are as
gripping as the fiction ones, why read the latter as you get knowledge plus
pleasure reading the former.

Examples of the books I am talking about are: The Black Swan, Brief History of
Time, God Delusion, Selfish Gene, Predictibly Irrational, etc. etc.

~~~
Psyonic
What difference does it make if the events really happened? It's all in the
past anyway, so fiction is just as "real" as non-fiction. What matters is the
insights gained, which are often just as common in good fiction and often more
eloquently presented.

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Ilia
I am an avid reader myself, but it is hard to find free time. I mostly read
technical books these days, currently Cocoa Programmers for Mac OS X by Aaron
Hillegass, excellent book. Other days when I do have a spear 5 mins I usually
go the www.slapastory.com (sorry for the plug). Its one of my little startups.

------
aagnihot
Before reading pg's essays, I believed that any problem that can be solved
using C, must be solved using C. However, after reading pg's arguments in his
essays, I decided to study language design and functional programming. So
currently, I am reading "The Structure and Interpretation of Computer
Programs".

------
chris11
I love to read. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to read right now.
I'm working my way through the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy series for my
first time. I'm listening to the Now Habit right now. Probably my favorite
non-fiction book is Godel Eshcer Bach. Catch-22 is my favorite fiction book.

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zemariamm
I'm an avid reader, I read as much as I can, including computer related books,
economics, fiction and non-fiction.... here's the library link:
<http://www.librarything.com/catalog/zemariamm>

------
keefe
I wish I could read like I used to, but I have a full time job and I'm
building a prototype for a startup simultaneously. I usually get through every
month or two reading in the same spare moments a lot of people take for
reading (:

------
s3graham
Yup, who doesn't?

"Expert F#", "Founders at Work", "Walden", and "On Intelligence" are all part-
finished right now. I read a lot of fiction in high school, but I don't much
anymore.

"The New Yorker" every week. "The Walrus" and "The Economist" occasionally.

------
MikeCapone
I'm currently reading:

The Blank Slate by Steven Pinker

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond

It varies, but I probably read 2 to 6 books a month (really depends on
length).

Two of my recent favorites are Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadster and
The Moral Animal by Robert Wright.

------
jseliger
Yes, and a lot. You can read too much about my reading habits here:
<http://jseliger.wordpress.com> if you're curious.

------
pistoriusp
I read a lot. Everyday. I mostly enjoy fantasy books -- My girlfriend forced
me to read "The Magician" and it's probably the best book I've ever had the
pleasure of reading.

------
zandorg
My favourite ever book as a film buff: High Concept by Charles Fleming. He
mercilessly ribs high-charged, deceased producer Don Simpson and I couldn't
stop laughing.

------
jgrahamc
My reading list is on my web site: <http://www.jgc.org/writing.html>

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feverishaaron
I just finished a 1,000 page novel. It took me 2 weeks. A nice break after
reading 2 or more business books a month.

------
sh1mmer
I sometimes get depressed knowing that I won't be able to read everything, or
even a sliver of a fraction of it.

------
electromagnetic
I love to read, in fact I think reading is the reason I love writing too and
keep looking up jobs in the writing business ever since I left one (money
reasons).

Currently I'm reading New Moon from the Twilight series, my girlfriend got me
to read the first book because of the movie coming out and it's a seriously
great read, hence why I'm reading the second book about 2 years before she
forces me to because of the 2nd movie.

I'm also reading 'What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further
Adventures of a Curious Character', it's the sequel to 'Surely You're Joking,
Mr. Feynman!'. It's based on transcripts from Richard Feynman's conversations
and is a funny but thought-provoking read (both should be read). It's probably
the only book illustrating how a true genius was shaped through his life. He
developed a serious lack of respect to authority, which is why he became such
a monumental figure in science and probably the reason he was the only one on
the Rogers Commission into the Challenge disaster that didn't trust NASA's
engineers.

I'll explain his key point in the Rogers Commission. NASA engineers figured a
rubber O-ring in the SRB's had a less than 1/50 chance of failing. So to avoid
this they installed three O-rings, assuming that 1/50 x 1/50 x 1/50 =
1/125,000 chance of failure, or something equally ridiculous. In reality the
rocket still had a 1/50 chance of failing because 1 O-ring failing would mean
all would fail. He then showed that under the conditions of the Challenger
launch the O-ring had a 1/1 failure rate; the NASA engineers ignored the fact
that material strengths change below freezing, the O-rings shrank and allowed
hot gases on ignition to burn through all 3 O-rings well below the temperature
they were rated for.

I also have Jared Diamonds 'Collapse' on the go. Ender's Game and probably
whatever else is on my bookshelf when it grabs my attention.

The most important book I've read was The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin. I was
around 15 when I first read it. The story starts near the end of his life when
the woman who's been trying to date him for years finally gives up and leaves.
He progresses to the point where he's suicidal, but then he crosses a
magicians house who he knows and goes in. The magician tells him, you can
relive your life and try to make changes or you can work for me and actually
change it. The rest of the book follows his life as a relives it with the
knowledge of what's going to happen, but as he lives it (as the magician warns
him) he gets so engrossed again that he makes the exact same mistakes and only
realizes he knew what he did wrong moments later when he remembers. In the end
he finds himself back at the Magician who basically says 'I told you so' and
says if he keeps going back in time to try to fix things the universe will
eventually overwrite him with someone who'll act. The magician then tells him
he can either serve him for a hundred years (in a very devil-esque scene) or
he can relive his life again and he won't intervene. He takes the deal with
the devil and then the story ends.

This book made me realize that there were no second chances, and that just
doing nothing wasn't an option. That summer (at 16) I got a job as a reviewer,
I decided that I wanted to move to Canada and that I didn't have time to waste
with the 'friends' I had. Now at 20, I've worked as a reviewer for 2 years,
I've had a couple of short stories published and I'm currently writing my
first novel while I can't work because I'm immigrating to Canada.

So for the last part of your question, I definitely think my life would be a
lot worse if I didn't read. In fact, I don't think I'd ever have got the
motivation to actually -DO- something. I'd probably be in university getting
into debt and would have got stuck in the town where I grew up in England.

~~~
MikeCapone
Well, that was a bit all over the place, and I would have appreciated a
spoilers warning, but thanks for sharing.

Where in Canada are you going to?

------
bbgun
Yes. Good books are full of ideas. And that is never a waste of time.

------
sonink
skim one, once in a while - mostly directly in the book store and only non
fiction. Severe ADD for fiction - can't stand long prose.

------
dmr83457
reading "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley

just in time to get a kick out of the "brave new obamian world" video

------
kamens
Yes

------
albertcardona
I read lots, mostly randomly what falls in my hands, catches my attention, or
I can pull out of the internet.

Privately, I call it procrastination. It has plenty of good side effects.
Without reading, I would never come up with the list of silly ideas I have per
day; some of which pay off for the rest in excess.

If I was to buy every book I read, I'd be broke. "Public libraries"--in its
most extended meaning--are the best idea ever.

------
ajkirwin
Right now, I am chewing through The God Delusion.

I both read and buy a lot of books. Infact, most of my funny money goes on
books, as I go through them fast. I have a reading speed of around 6 ppm for
fiction and 3-4ppm for non-fiction.

$100 of books barely lasts a few days :(

~~~
maximilian
you read 6 ppm reading fiction! Holy shit! I don't think I read even half
that.

You should get your books at the library. Its much cheaper and then you give
it back and somebody else gets to read it. Far fewer dead trees and moving is
infinitely easier.

~~~
ajkirwin
And even faster if it's a good day and I really get into it.

I tend to read a sentence or paragraph at a time.

