books i want to read
this blew up so: 1. I wrote a book called How To Be Alone, I recommend buying it from indie bookstores, ideally Black owned indie bookstores. https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781501178832 2. KEEP WEARING UR MASKS AND STAYING INSIDE. Even if we feel like gaslit losers, at least we know we’re not alone.
“Think Black”—A memoir by the son of the first black software engineer at IBM. Big thanks to @professorkim for letting me know about this new book.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-09-20/ibm-nazi-germany-tech-racism-father
This is a very good day to buy a copy of the award-winning “Black and British: A Forgotten History” by David Olusoga. And if you’ve already read it, buy it for somebody else. First 5 people to reply here get a copy: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/david-olusoga/black-and-british/9781509837113
https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1248980489735569410:
@alexwlchan I liked [On the Beach] but found it so uptight! It was an interesting portrait of 1950’s Australian mores. I recommend “We” by Yevgenii Zamyatin https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/1248980489735569410/photo/1
https://twitter.com/hynek/status/1259536982411280386:
“Atomic Habits” is super good. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121378
Recommended in a talk at !!Con 2020 about translating Morse code into Chinese: https://speakerdeck.com/franklinhu/learning-your-ai-bi-xi-s-translating-chinese-into-morse-code?slide=17
See also: https://translate-chinese-into-morse-code.glitch.me/
One of a series of photo books by the author.
They’re @abandonedameric on Twitter.
I’m not sure who retweeted this into my feed, but check out the amazing launch video:
https://twitter.com/kacencallender/status/1257707297389850624:
my kidlit trans and enby fam came together for a #DontRushChallenege to help me celebrate Felix Ever After’s release!!
Felix has: -a trans, queer, Black MC -a whole lot of self-love -summer art camp rivalry -a happy ending đź’–
buy Felix Ever After here: https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062820259/… (video)
https://twitter.com/HanaAyoob/status/1248003867234775040:
@alexwlchan Have you read Built by @RomaTheEngineer? Seems like it might be a good time to!
Recommended by David MacIver.
Recommended in https://fortelabs.co/blog/how-to-take-smart-notes/
I found a preview in Google Books while looking for something else.
Seems more like an academic textbook; over $250! https://brill.com/view/title/35872
I saw a review of this in an issue of Rail magazine (see photo from 25 Nov 2019).
https://twitter.com/DRMacIver/status/1226481634263928832:
I’m currently reading “The Origins of Inequality” and honestly I can’t think of a more on brand book for me to be reading than “Here is how to use mathematics to understand gender”.
https://twitter.com/DRMacIver/status/1227512225914552321:
Just had a massive “Oh shit that’s what’s going on” moment reading this book. About 60% through so thoughts still gathering, but I think this book is going to get rated “strongest recommend” when I’m done.
https://twitter.com/DRMacIver/status/1228233781317734401:
OK, so I’ve just finished reading “The Origins of Unfairness” by Cailin O’Connor. Here’s a little thread about it.
First off: Strong recommend. Requires a little bit of maths, and it would help if you’ve some exposure to theorising about gender but it’s reasonably gentle on both
Spotted in Blackwells in Oxford.
Recommended by somebody in the support group.
Recommended at the support group by Fiona (28 January 2020).
Additionally, it’s the sequel to The Night Circus, and I have a half-memory that kaberett has also read and enjoyed it.
Recommended by Kathy.
Cited by Mike Schur as inspiration for Chidi’s speech in The Good Place:
Preparing for [the finale of The Good Place], I went back to that stuff, and I read more about Buddhism and Hinduism, which are wonderful.
I read this book that I’m holding now, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching, by Thich Nhat Hanh, who’s a Vietnamese guy. I think he might have won the Nobel Peace Prize? If not he should have – ah, he was nominated by Martin Luther King Jr. for the Nobel Peace Prize and apparently didn’t win.
I’ve borrowed a copy from David MacIver, which he lent me a while back when I was figuring out more gender stuff.
The recommendation from him and Alex is to skim it for interesting, but I may not need to read it all in detail.
I spotted this with Jenny in the Bookshop on the Water, by King’s Cross.
Recommended by David Z and Rae
Recommended by Emily Meredith
Recommended by somebody in the #genderfluid channel in the LGBTQ in Tech Slack. “Reading Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl and loving it. I will report back when finished as well, but I assume you will all have bought it by the end of reading this sentence. You are welcome.”
Recommended by Emily Meredith
Recommended by David MacIver
Mentioned by somebody in the #genderfluid channel in the LGBTQ in Tech Slack.
Spotted at Julia G’s house.
Seems like this could be a great bit of research for my Git plumbing workshop at ACCU.
“an absolutely wonderful book I wished I’d read 10 or 15 years before I did” ~ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20504183
Suggestion of Sarah Barnes:
Having a nice coffee and reading @emilyadawson’s excellent book. (Thanks @QMLibrary!)
Of course I want to read Jay’s poetry!
Recommended by Samathy on Twitter:
@alexwlchan I read Edwin Black’s IBM and The Holocaust last year - it is an absolutely terrifying account of how many holocaust pies IBM & Thomas Watson had their mucky hands in.
She’s given me a copy – it’s sitting on my shelf.
@XTaffi and @megjohnbarker have written a book that explores all kinds of false divisions, including the increasing harmful ‘non-binary vs. binary’ binary (what a mouthful): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43818540-life-isn-t-binary They explain it better than I can - read!
Recommended by a bookseller in Blackwells Oxford when I was buying the latest Becky Chambers novella (August 2019).
https://notebook.drmaciver.com/posts/2019-03-09-10%3A13.html
David: “I promise I’m not inviting you to join my cult by recommending this”
“I’m reading “Burnout” by @emilynagoski and never have my twitter habits been so called out before
Great post! Are you familiar with Iain Banks’ “The Bridge”? I read it on one of my last visits to Edinburgh and the bridges. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_(novel)
Have you read The Organised Mind by Daniel Levitin? It’s pretty good on this stuff. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693669-the-organized-mind
[this stuff] = managing life-admin type tasks
Have you read death’s end trilogy, cixin liu? Big ideas and Chinese (though obvs I read in translation)
i really loved reading something set in a culture I know little about. the history of the 60s with the translators notes was fascinating, and the author just introduced it like we all know about struggle sessions. (warning: first chapter is traumatic, it gets less so)
I’m reading Nancy Leveson’s book and am still thinking about it, but one neat thing: a lot of programmers love to explain why software engineering is different from ‘conventional engineering’. Leveson is both kinds and her reasons are completely different from the usual claims. […]
A lot of people who talk about why ‘software is different from other engineering fields’ haven’t actually done other kinds of engineering, so their claims aren’t based on personal experience. To know the differences, we need to talk to the crossovers.
I won’t lie, I’m unlikely to pick up a maths textbook again – but noting this as one in case I do. It’s “short, good enough, and […] very cheap rather than the best choice ever” ~ David MacIver
The Houseplant Expert by Dr DG Hessayon is hands down the best houseplant book out there.
Taught me all I know from age 8. Still never been beaten.
(He’s basically the Attenborough of gardening)
Everything I’ve made from this book has been unbelievable. Bought a copy for my mum because I love it so much. DO IT.
Read This Book About Nazis: Defying Hitler (and all the ways to fail at it) https://theawl.com/read-this-book-about-nazis-5d4471f2ffcd
I took a photo of this in Homerton Library, in Hackney.
