Books Bought:
- A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Nonfiction – Terry Pratchett
- Views: Art & Industrial Design of Roger Dean – Roger Dean
- Anasi Boys (Audiobook) – Neil Gaiman (Read by Lenny Henry)
- Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid – Douglas Hofstadter
- The Elegant Universe – Brian Greene
- In Search of Frankenstein – Radu Florescu
- Lycanthia, or The Children of Wolves – Tanith Lee
Books Read:
- Kraken – China Mieville (unfinished)
- The Dispatcher – John Scalzi
- The Rooster Bar – John Grisham
- Black Klansman – Ron Stallworth (unfinished)
- The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham (Revised Edition) unfinished
- Godel, Escher, Bach – Douglas Hofstadter (unfinished)
The month was busier than the last, and I wasn’t able to commit as much time to books as I would like. The only reason Dispatcher and Rooster Bar were finished was owing to their relatively short page counts. Black Klansman was a shorter one also, but I didn’t get it finished in the last week of the month.
I spent some time with Benjamin Graham’s book, one of the seminal works on investing. I had first purchased it back in the early 00s, possibly at the recommendation of my father. But I didn’t give it that much attention.
Since I started investing again maybe eighteen months ago, and this was on my to-read list, I picked up another copy used (the first one is somewhere in storage). The advice has stood up over time owing primarily to its simplicity – invest in companies that have good value for the price. I’m maybe five chapters in, and it’s got some heft to it.
A lot of these books were revisits. Anasi Boys, Godel et al., and Slip of the Keyboard were all something I had at least perused in the past. The first two I’ve owned, but repurchased for convenience. Pratchett’s I had read some selections from, but not owned previously.
Most of the month was spent reading grants, rather than books. It was scoring time for one of the committees I’m on, and I had thirty organizations to score. So I bought a few books to remind me that I will eventually read everything I own (I hope).
Hofstadter, Greene, Florescu, and Lee were purchased secondhand at a little book store I found. The latter two I was unfamiliar with, but picked them up owing to my preoccupation with the supernatural. Lycanthia is supposed to be a fun werewolf novel. I’ve come across Tanith Lee once or twice, but am otherwise unfamiliar with her work.
I greatly enjoyed Rooster Bar. I’m not sure what it is about the prose style Grisham uses, but it flows easily and moves quick. It had been several years since last reading but me of his novels, and I had forgotten what I liked about them. This was a nice refresher.
Elegant Universe I may take with me on my trip tomorrow, but I’m always conflicted about which book to bring on travels. I try and go light, and who knows what bookstores I may find while out and about.
Michael's Musings 