Mike Munhall

I’ve been crazy busy with photography and some new programming tasks recently, and as a result I haven’t finished a book in over a month. (It’s not like I actually do book reviews here anyway). So, for the sake of something different, here’s what’s on my “to be read” shelf (which grows much faster than I can keep up).

What’s on your “to be read” shelf?
Do you have an opinion on any of these books?

My second journey through the Ender’s Game series continues with Ender’s Shadow. I’m still surprised at how much I enjoy reading these books. My ultimate goal is to re-read each book in the series so I can start the only book I haven’t read, Shadow of the Giant, with everything I need to know but just don’t remember. At the rate I’m reading, that should be some time in 2015. My unborn kid will probably finish the books before I do.

I particularly enjoyed this book because of its concept. It’s the same story as told in Ender’s Game, but from the perspective of another character. That’s unique. The book isn’t any less enjoyable because you know how it ends. It’s just as captivating because you learn why and how certain things happen in Ender’s Game, and because there are other stories happening with the main character of this book.

I had been working on a really long post of an analysis of why I haven’t been producing great photos the last few years. The post was centered around a few things that I picked out of this book, On Being a Photographer. I ended up trashing that post because it just wouldn’t come together. I think it was because, while I thought the book made some valid points, I enjoyed reading it more than I actually believed what was being said.

The book has two authors. One is a well-known Magnum photographer. The other isn’t so well-known (but still talented and accomplished). Who the authors are doesn’t matter so much for the purpose of this paragraph. What does matter is that they wrote the book in a style that was very fun to read. The entire book is a conversation between the two authors. They discuss their topics as if the reader is ultimately the audience, but they rarely mention their audience. I’m sure this method has been used before, but it was the first time I had read a book written this way and it helped me get through (very quickly) a book that was, at best, just good.

On Being a Photographer contains not a single photograph or illustration. It is not a technical manual on how to use a camera or how to process images. It is a discussion between the two authors on how to think and act like a photographer. For that reason it is a different kind of book on photography and it is that reason that made it worth reading. If you want to know more, you’ll have to read it. It’s only 160 pages. You’ll get more out of the actual read than you would from a summary from me.

I recently finished (over a long weekend at Steamboat Lake, details later) the second book in the Ender’s Game series, Speaker for the Dead. Just like when I reread Ender’s Game a few weeks ago, the second reading of Speaker for the Dead was even better than the first. For some reason though, the first reading of Speaker may have been as the last book in the series rather than the second. My (admittedly hazy) recollection of the Ender’s books finishes with Speaker. I think I read them out of order. No matter.

I have never really reread any books. Normally I read a book, put it away and forget about it. I was surprised by one thing in rereading Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead. I was surprised by how accurate my original interpretation of the events and storyline were. I don’t often pick up or understand in detail what is happening or how we got to where we are in a story. That’s just an indication of my inattentive and slow reading style and it’s something that I’ve been trying to figure out how to fix. But, with these two books - especially Speaker - I remembered the events and the storyline from the first reading and they played out the same way in the second reading. This may not be a big deal to most people, but to me it was a reassuring feeling to know I’m probably not the horrible reader that I thought I was.

A final note: Remember the new, crappy cover on Ender’s Game?  The cover for Ender’s Shadow is no better.  Oof.  That blows.

I have a pile of books on my to-be-read shelf, but I had no desire to read any of them after I finished my last book. So, I picked up Ender’s Game to read again. It was even better the second time. This was the first time I have ever re-read a favorite. I’m going to re-read the entire series at some point because I hardly remember any of it. That’s a shame, considering Ender’s Game is my favorite saga of all time. (Thanks again, Laura, for introducing me to these books.)

For those of you that have read Ender’s Game, did you happen to see this version? “At Battle School Fighting is Compulsory.” Oh, my God. Give me a break.

I was about halfway through Dreaming in Code when Harry Potter arrived in the mail. When I put the book down to start Deathly Hallows, I was somewhat dissatisfied with it. The story, to that point, was an account of a group of rather well-known programmers and visionaries with the goal of producing an open source personal information manager (PIM) application–like Microsoft Outlook–that would revolutionize the way we use PIM software. A lofty ambition for sure, but with the talented team that was assembled to write the software, you would think they could accomplish just about anything. It wasn’t the case.

The first half of the book chronicled the problems and the struggles of the organization its first two years. The story didn’t necessarily drag on and on, but you could see from a mile away that the team was going to have problems so there were no surprises, nothing to look forward to; Just day in, day out problems with developing software.  So, after I finished HP7, I was tempted to just leave Dreaming in Code where it was and move on. I decided to finish it however, since I had only a couple hundred pages left. I’m glad I did.

The second half of the book left the development team and began an investigation of why software projects–all software projects–have such difficulty. Without going into too much boring detail, it essentially boils down to software development being as much a creative process as it is engineering, and you can’t really rush the creative process.  There’s a lot more to it than that, but nobody wants me to try to rehash the analysis.  Trust me.  The point is that the second half of the book was much more enjoyable the first half.

Although I enjoyed part of this book, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it unless you are really interested in the day-in, day-out functions of a software development organization or you want an analysis of 30+ years of software engineering problems, what we’ve learned from them and what we haven’t.

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while in British Columbia last week. (I’m working on a draft for that post.) Overall, I really liked it and I think the series ended just as it should have.

At the end of the last HP, I learned of a theory from Zablanc that Harry was the seventh horcrux. I thought that idea was brilliant and it turned out to be correct. We also learned at some point before HP7 was released that “someone dies.” My two (albeit minor) disappointments in the Deathly Hallows come from these two pieces of the plot.

I wish that the horcrux idea had been introduced earlier rather than later in the story. I was on pins and needles for months before Deathly Hallows was released wondering how Harry would deal with being the last and most crucial horcrux (assuming, of course, that it were true). I could only imagine how much more fun the book would have been to read if more of the plot was centered around that idea.

My other disappointment (again, very minor) was that it felt sort of “cheap” that Harry was the one to die in this book, but was able to come back. Not that I’m disappointed that he lived, but it just felt too easy.

It’s been a long time since this slow reader has been able to plow through half of a 750+ page book in two days. The second half of the book really fun. Just like when I finished the Dark Tower series, I am having a hard time deciding what to read next that will stack up to the book that I just finished.

I know I’m beating a dead horse when I say how glad I am to have time to do things now that I’m out of school, but man, I’m really glad to have time to do things that don’t involve getting ready for exams or studying a subject I don’t care to study.

Right now I’m on a kick to be more organized and productive and actually do things rather than daydream about them.  A couple weeks ago, as I started to list all the things I needed/wanted to accomplish, I came across some information on the web about one of David Allen’s book Getting Things Done.  Getting Things Done (or, GTD, as it’s devoted followers refer to it) is essentially a system for getting all of the things floating around in your head into a variety of lists on paper or in a computer.  And the lists aren’t just a series of to-do items, the lists are actually comprise a system for accomplishing the things you need or want to do.

Now, I’m not real big on self help manuals, but the posts I was reading struck a chord with me, particularly because I was already doing many of the things that GTD proposes.  The book is a fairly quick read (for those of you that can read at anything quicker than snail pace).  So, even if you don’t feel you need a kick in the ass to get organized or be more productive, you should be able to get get something out of the book by just spending a few hours getting through it.

Being out of school is especially nice because my To-Be-Read shelf was filling up with things to be read and I was running out of room to put new things to be read.  It’s too bad it took me nearly three months to actually finish a single fecken book.  (I’m a sloooooooow reader.)

Endymion is the continuation of the Dan Simmons’ Hyperion.  I really like Hyperion when I read it four or five years ago.  I thought that the second book in the Hyperion series was the end.  Somehow I stumbled upon Endymion a few months ago and it was then that I realized that I had never finished the Hyperion series.

Endymion is the beginning of a brand new story, not a continuation of the Hyperion saga.  There are some familiar characters and it is good to know the Hyperion story, but you could really just pick up Endymion without reading Hyperion and be just fine.

I think I liked Endymion much more than Hyperion.  And since I really like Hyperion, I guess you could say that I loved Endymion.  I can’t say that it was flawless, though, so let’s say… 4 out of 5 stars.

So, there’s one more Endymion to tackle.  I’ll get to that after Deathly Hallows.

I finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince yesterday. So many twists, turns, unanswered questions… I shouldn’t talk about the story in the event that somebody reading this post hasn’t read the book yet. Half Blood Prince is easily one of the better books in the series, if not the best.

Dorrie had been waiting for me to finish this book so she could share with me Zablanc’s theory on what is going to happen. Hey, Zablanc, have you shared that theory with the world yet? I don’t want to do it here if you’re keeping it to yourself. But, it’s a good idea and I think it’s worth sharing.

We ordered the last Harry Potter book from Amazon when they announced it was available for pre-order. Hopefully we’ll be reading it 3-5 days (no delivery on Sundays and holidays) after it’s officially available.