Books I Am Reading

Reading Time: 4 minutes
According to Goodreads I am currently reading 97 books but in reality I am reading between three to five books consistently at the moment. I read several books at once because it gives me time to absorb ideas from one book whilst reading a second book, and then a third, and so on.

I, Robot

Although the book was written in 1950 it is still worth reading today. It shows the way people thought about computers back then. It shares the idea of huge robots, because of how big components were at the time, but it also theorises about how robots could seem irrational but have rational reasons for such behaviour. “Why are the robots dancing? I won’t continue down this topic because I don’t want to spoil the book for those that are not reading the book yet.

The Hidden Life of Trees

I should have finished this book by now. I have been reading it consistently for weeks, or even months by now. I find the idea that trees can live so long, that they can communicate through their roots, that they can be hollowed out and still be strong fascinating. It’s also interesting to note that the Giant Redwoods we see in Europe, if they grew as a forest would be even more massive.

It’s interesting to read that some trees, that, when growing alongside trees of the same age, misbehave, by growing branches where they shouldn’t and more. It’s also fascinating to think that a tree can take years, or even decades to die.

Trees don’t go for pipes on purpose in cities. They’re looking for non-compacted soil and that is usually above water pipes. If their roots end up in those pipes, it is by accident, and lack of choice.

Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War II

I am also reading Big Week: The Biggest Air Battle of World War II. The title is self-explanatory. It’s interesting to read, in detail about the history of the use of spitfires, Mustangs, fighter bombers and more. If we look at ordinary conversations we think the spitfire is a wonderful aircraft, and it is, but with extra fuel tanks, and the right leadership it could have become a long range fighter, rather than limited to the skies over England.

Total Recall

Over a few days I read Total Recall, by Arnold Schwarzenegger, while walking. Through this book I learned more about the individual. I learned about his lakeside summers, his buying an apartment, rather than a house, his passion for sets, repetition, but also writing down goals, on a daily basis, and reaching them. It’s interesting to read about his links to the President, the Pope, and others. It’s the type of book that you don’t consider reading, until you see that he wrote be Useful, and that’s what encouraged me to read Total Recall first.

On Reading in General

I am in the habit of starting books, and either never finishing them, or forgetting about them for a few weeks, before I continue reading them. I can read some books within a few days, and others within a few weeks or a few months. I find that I often finish audio books much faster than printed books, because I can read them while I walk, while I drive or while I do other things.

Although it is absurd I like to get reading streaks on the Kindle App and the Apple Book app. It serves no purpose, other than to ensure, with the Apple Books app, that I read five minutes per day, every day, for as many days as possible in a row. The real benefit of the stupid habit of trying to get long reading streaks is that it encourages me to do more reading.

With the Kindle App on Amazon France my longest streak is 126 days. I am currently at day 95 on this app. With Amazon Germany my longest streak is 194 days. By accident I lost my streak yesterday. I’ll take a break. It frustrates me to break streaks

With the iOS Books app my longest streak is 121 days, and I am 26 days into my current streak

The Absurd Habit of Reading Streaks

I find the concept of counting reading days in a row absurd because it’s limited to a single app. I should set something up to count reading streaks independently from the Kindle, Books, and other apps. If you read a physical book you don’t need to read every day. If you read from five or six different apps, every day, you won’t see a consistent streak.

A Consistent Life

Usually reading streaks, and other types of streaks change, according to how consistent our lives are. My reading streaks usually vanish when I’m distressed about something, or distracted. If my life was completely stable I’d have a 20 year reading streak by now. Maybe.

The Reading Habit

What counts is the habit of reading. This year I have read 27 books. On Goodreads you have the “pages read” metric, per year. I find this stat interesting. This year I read 8498 pages and my best is 8892 pages. I think that this is the year I added the books I read to GoodReads.

I find that measuring the quantity of books we finish, along with the number of pages we read, far more interesting. The genre should also count for something.

And Finally

I really like Audible. I love buying and reading books while I walk, drive or do other activities. With audio books reading becomes as easy as watching television, if not easier. That’s why I can read books within days rather than weeks. I might read a book for a few pages at a time, but I will listen to a book for an hour or two, for the entire duration of a walk, or while cooking.