Update on "Books I Want to Read"

I periodically forget about this website and that it even exists. I re-discovered it again today, and it was really interesting to see my first post, which was a list of books I want to read. Nothing much has changed, I still want to read them! :D

The only book I really read from that list was Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I will write my thoughts on it below. I also kind-of read Turn This Ship Around! by L. David Marquet, but I did not read it till the end. I did read some other books not on the list, but I mostly spent the last few years not reading. Truth is, I find reading to be a bit tedious sometimes and I have to force myself to do it. I have bursts of constant reading daily which last a few months at most, and then long periods of not reading, which also last months and months (every time). Maybe my attention span has been eroded (for sure, not maybe), maybe I have less time, maybe I am choosing the wrong books.

A while ago I listened to a podcast about books Tyler Cowen on Reading. EconTalk is often my favorite podcast, and this episode to me was one of the best in the past few years. The topic was reading, and how Tyler Cowen, who is incredibly well read and a voracious reader, reads. One of the tips that he mentions and that I have heard from a friend who reads a lot is to read many books in the same topic or books related to each other in a row. Given my list is relatively eclectic, it will be hard to get through it with this technique, but I have used this technique in the past, and it definitely does work for me.

I am a bit of a book hoarder as well, I just placed an order for 2 books that I will most likely not read for years. I keep buying books and it’s a problem. I have to freaking read my books.

Books I did actually read

I did read a few books, not many, but a few.

Celebrate your successes ~ Marcus Aurelius

List not in order.

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

I read this book mostly on the tube, on trips to visit a friend. Hilariously, I started reading this book, and as I read to myself, I thought “Hold on, this sounds a lot like Apocalypse Now!". Yeah.. at somepoint I googled it and found out that Apocalypse Now was based on this book, and it made sense.

Anyways.

I honestly thought this book was written in a pretentious style, and I think Joseph Conrad was trying to impress his contemporaries by imitating others who also wrote in a pretentious style that was a bit more complex and harder to parse for no good reason. I know my reading level is not excellent, but I did find it hard to follow at points and I didn’t see the point of writing it in that way. Maybe it’s just me and I’m the jackass here. Apart from that, it was a good story, very interesting look into a very intereting era. I am glad I read it, although I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it too much.

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

Great book. One of a kind. It can sit on the shelf next to Catch 22, but I don’t think they are that close. Loved reading it, I mostly read it on the tube/bus on my way to and from work. Often I wouldn’t want to stop reading it, and I would be very excited every morning to read it. The lore around the book is also dare I say interesting. The author never saw the book published, and his mom, behaving much like the mother in the book contacted people and begged them to read it, which eventually got it published and widely celebrated. It’s speculated that the main character Ignatius is inpart based on the author himself, and if so, it’s a very humble approach to life to portray yourself like that to the public, and I admire that. It’s also amusing that any adaptation to this book almost always fails, although it sounds like there is going to be a good attempt at a movie based on it. Not sure how that will go, and I am not necessarily hoping for a success in that regard.

Maus - Art Spiegelman

Excellent grapic novel. I had heard of it many many years ago when I visited family friends who were massive fans of graphic novels. They talked about it as if it’s common knowledge that it’s a masterpiece and as if everyone knows about it. I didn’t hear much about it since that visit, but their opinion on it stayed with me for some reason. In any case, it’s the first graphic novel I have ever read and it’s great. I got it for Christmas and after a long period of not reading any books it kick started my reading engine, and I read a few books in a row after this relatively easy read. I have since given it to my cousin who has read it and he concurs - excellent book.

Turn This Ship Around! - L. David Marquet

I did not finish this book. It’s more of a guide for managers on how to create teams that want to be excellent. I must say it was very repetitive, but overall a lot of interesting insights.