Technical Writing World

The social network for technical communicators

How many books are you in the middle of?

Slightly off topic, I suppose, but it is a holiday weekend and the middle of summer -- days made for reading -- and I have a pile of books with bookmarks somewhere between the covers. It's not a small pile:

* David Copperfield (audio book that I listen to on my commute)

* 168 Hours, Laura Vanderkam (time management)

* Algorithms Unplugged, various (computer science)

* Back of the Napkin, Dan Roam (visual communications)

* Tell to Win, Peter Guber (marketing)

* Kristen Lavransdatter, Sigrid Undset (historical fiction)

* Cities of the Plain, Cormac McCarthy (fiction)

* Monastic Life in Anglo-Saxon England c600-900, Sarah Foot (history)

I've decided not to draw any personal conclusions based on either the length or variety of this list, but I would like to know what other people's lists look like.

Ground rules: your list should be active books that you intend to get back to and resume reading at the marked place. Anything long abandoned that you could not resume reading at the place marked doesn't count for this list (thought they might make an interesting list in themselves).

Tags: bookmarks, books

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott Nesbitt on July 4, 2011 at 2:18pm

These ones:

Rogue Economics
Making Ideas Happen
Content Strategy for the Web
Developing User Assistance for Mobile Apps
The Starship and the Canoe

But I'm actually reading all of them -- at least a few pages a day. More or less. In some cases less, much less ...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard Rabil, Jr. on July 5, 2011 at 8:56am

I'd love to hear your thoughts on 'Developing UA for Mobile Apps.' I'm thinking of adding it to my growing list.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Scott Nesbitt on July 5, 2011 at 11:53am

I'll be writing a review of Developing UA for Mobile Apps for my company's blog sometime in the next couple of weeks. I'll post the link on TWW when the review hits the Web.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Richard Rabil, Jr. on July 5, 2011 at 8:55am

What a fun post. Thanks for starting it, Mark. I've read 'Back of the Napkin,' and it changed my approach to tech comm, design, and collaboration quite a bit. How do you like it so far?

Here's my list. An odd mix of fiction and non-fiction.

Style: An Anti-Textbook, by Richard Lanham

Documenting APIs and SDKs, by Manuel Gordon

A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin

Faithful Persuasion: In Aid of a Rhetoric of Christian Theology, by David S. Cunngingham

The next Wired magazine :-)

Books I want to read next:

Just Enough C and C++, by Manuel Gordon

The State of Structured Authoring, by Alan Pringle and Sarah O'Keefe

Conversation and Community, by Anne Gentle

Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narrative, by Jeff Howard

The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Nikki Lounsbury on July 5, 2011 at 5:32pm

This is a fun post, Mark!

I have to say my weakness is audio-books at the moment. I have an HTC Evo with the Audible app, and currently am switching between the following (dependent upon my mood of course...)

The Department of Mad Scientists (Michael Belfiore)
Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates (Tom Robbins)
Linked: The New Science of Networks (Albert-Laszlo Barabasi)
Bossypants (Tina Fey)

I switch between these a few times a week (though I can't listen to the first one at night anymore because I get all pumped up and excited--on a very non-expert level--and find it hard to fall asleep...)

I also have several programming books all over the floor of my office that, though somewhat outdated, have proven helpful in familiarizing me with the basics:

C Programming (Steven Holzner)
XML for the World Wide Web (Elizabeth Castro)
Mixed Language Programming (Matthew A. Telles....1994--haha!)

I pick each of these up at least once a day to thumb through chapters and find specific items. Not what you would call good "sit-down" reading sessions. If anyone wants to recommend some others, that would be great!

By the way, I have heard some great things about Back of the Napkin, please let us know how that one is going for you and if it stands up to its good reviews.

Happy reading to all!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Michael Siebenaler on July 5, 2011 at 6:04pm

The 10 Best Decisions a Couple Can Make: Bringing Out the Best in Your... - Farrells

Be Your Own Editor - Sigrid MacDonald

Connecting in Communities - Eddie Mosley

2:46: Aftershocks: Stories from the Japan...

Reality is Broken: ... - Jane McGonigal

our company's technical library

:-)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Eddie VanArsdall on July 6, 2011 at 7:36am

I have books stuffed into shelves, piled on the floor, and stored on my Kindle. I've managed to finish three in the past couple of months, but meanwhile I have these, many of which are in progress: