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charlie "tremendous" jones “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
I read a number of books this year, but there were two that stood out as the absolute best.
One technical book in particular was fantastic: clearly written & covered the topic (& went beyond the topic) very well:
Microservices in .NET, Second Edition[^]
Many of you may have rolled your eyes bec of the word microservices, but this is a very balanced look & explains details of .NET Core really well. If you're building (or wanting to ) WebAPIs you'll really like this one.
The other book I read this year which was absolutely amazing was Do Hard Things: Why We Get Resilience Wrong and the Surprising Science of Real Toughness[^]
It's about maximizing performance.
This book was so good I listened to it once then went out and bought the kindle version of it so I could make notes and started listening to it and reading it again.
What books did you read (or listen to) this year?
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I don't remember. Probably none.
At times I have looked at Kindle, but...
0) They seem to charge cover price (or nearly), which is insane
1) They now make you use the website to buy the book rather than buying through the app
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: They now make you use the website to buy the book rather than buying through the app
Yeah that is kind of crazy, I think it was a advertising regulation thing because they somehow got an unfair trade advantage. I don't think it was their idea. Not sure.
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Right, I suspect it's to avoid the bad rep of "in-app purchases", but this is not the answer.
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: but this is not the answer.
I agree.  It's really annoying when you actually have made a conscious decision and you want to buy the book.
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Google raised the cut they take from "in-app" purchases so Amazon changed their Kindle App to now allow in-app purchases.
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obermd wrote: Google raised the cut they take from "in-app" purchases
Ok, now that makes sense. I new their couldn't actually be reasons for helping consumers. 
It's a really annoying "feature" (bug).
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: They seem to charge cover price (or nearly)
Not here in the UK. I got the entire works of Dickens for £0,99. Most Kindle versions are very cheap.
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Not of more current works.
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Richard MacCutchan wrote: I got the entire works of Dickens for £0,99.
Copyright on that expired probably about 1880 or so. So certainly one explanation for why it is so cheap.
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I doubt that has anything to do with it. Buying all those novels in paper form would cost well in excess of £100.
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I think it was to avoid paying Apple and Google 30% of the in-app purchases.
If you can't laugh at yourself - ask me and I will do it for you.
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Too many to remember them all. I don’t read technical stuff anymore - I stick with fiction now.
That being said I HIGHLY recommend Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary”.
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fgs1963 wrote: I don’t read technical stuff anymore
I understand that. There's a lot of chaff to sift through to get to the good stuff.
fgs1963 wrote: I HIGHLY recommend Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary”.
I will check it out. Andy Weir is the Mars writer, I think, right?
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Very avid reader, probably read 70-80 books this year.
Last read; "Napoleon Bonaparte" by Alan Schom
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - An updated version available!
JaxCoder.com
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Mike Hankey wrote: Very avid reader, probably read 70-80 books this year.
Wow!! That's amazing. I read a lot, but I'm slower.
You have a lot of info in your head. I always wonder how I use all the info that I read.
It's there, but I'm not sure how it all adds up. 
Mike Hankey wrote: "Napoleon Bonaparte" by Alan Schom
I like biographies a lot, because you learn so much by seeing choices people make in retrospect.
I will check it out.
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raddevus wrote: You have a lot of info in your head.
Somewhere
I buy books so at the rate I read I'm running out of bookshelves. At present we probably have around 500 books.
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - An updated version available!
JaxCoder.com
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Mike Hankey wrote: we probably have around 500 books
Just don't ever move to a new house. 
I had a lot of books until we moved & then I got rid of all but my favorites (admittedly this is still a lot).
Moving books is harsh -- they are so heavy.
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Yes they are but I love the feel of a book.
PartsBin an Electronics Part Organizer - An updated version available!
JaxCoder.com
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I read very little non-fiction. The only tech books I tend to buy are the O'Reilly pocket references. They are compact and concise introductions and references to their topics, and an excellent resource.
I read a lot of science fiction and a minor amount of fantasy. It's a balance of ¾ old stuff I'm re-reading and ¼ new stuff. I can't remember them all, but the following are some of the things I've read in the last year:
William C. Deitz Legion of the Damned series
Alan Dean Foster Journeys of the Catechist trilogy
Robert Heinlein The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, the Future History omnibus collection, Time Enough For Love, The Number of the Beast
Adrian Tchaikovsky The Final Architecture series
Peter F. Hamilton Void trilogy, Chronicle of the Fallers duology, Salvation Sequence, Great North Road
N. K. Jemesin Interitence trilogy, Broken Earth trilogy, The City We Became
My daughter manages a college bookstore and my son-in-law owns the town book store in Athens Ohio, so I have a ready supply of reading material.
Software Zen: delete this;
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Gary R. Wheeler wrote: The only tech books I tend to buy are the O'Reilly pocket references
I understand that. I originally read Petzold's Programming Win 3.1 & a bunch of Steve Holzner books to learn how to program. Those books & Jeff Prosise's MFC book made me kind of fall in love with great tech writing. But, of course, tech books are huge business & 80% or more are just to make money.
Gary R. Wheeler wrote: Alan Dean Foster
I read a lot of Alan Dean Foster in the 80s. I remember reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye[^] (the first ever Star Wars side story) when I was 13 and it just blew my mind to get this additional knowledge about Luke & Leaia & Darth Vader. Of course, later it was all ignored - not part of the SW Canon. I read it again in modern (2000 or so) times and it was interesting.
Gary R. Wheeler wrote: Robert Heinlein
One of my all-time favorites. I loved Red Planet[^], Tunnel In the Sky and many more. 
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I have all of Heinlein's science fiction, a large number of which are no longer in print. I've read a number of them so many times I have to ration myself to only reading them every few years.
Software Zen: delete this;
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raddevus wrote: One of my all-time favorites. I loved Red Planet[^], Tunnel In the Sky and many more.
Do not forget "Friday"
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I love these requests - there is almost always a new author or 2 mentioned. Saves me a lot of hunting through the trash in the SF genre to fine the ones worth reading. I currently have 846 SF books in a calibre library.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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Learned things that are applicable today. (Finishing my own "simulation" - Gettysburg)
Instruction for Field Artillery 1860
Casey's Infantry Tactics 1862
Drill and Maneuvers of Cavalry 1865
Tactical Use of The Three Arms 1865
Strategos 1880
The American Kriegsspiel 1882
"Before entering on an understanding, I have meditated for a long time, and have foreseen what might happen. It is not genius which reveals to me suddenly, secretly, what I have to say or to do in a circumstance unexpected by other people; it is reflection, it is meditation." - Napoleon I
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