Posts Tagged ‘anne bishop’

July 15th, 2009

What am I going to do now?

Bear with me, please. I am going to be thinking out loud. I have a lot on my mind, and am feeling overwhelmed.
I am reading more than 5 books concurrently, because I am not able to focus. Reading may be too strong a verb.

I am rereading Storm Born, Dreams Made Flesh (Black Jewels, Book 5), and The Shadow Queen (Black Jewels, Book 7). I am also reading Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your Wetware (Pragmatic Programmers), Test Driven Development: By Example (Addison-Wesley Signature Series), The Productive Programmer (Theory in Practice (O’Reilly)), Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship (Robert C. Martin Series), and just got Head First Web Design. I need to study Discovering The Mind Of A Woman: The Key To Becoming A Strong And Irresistible Husband Is.… and The Five Love Languages of Children. Some side projects that I should be delving into, but haven’t, are The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (3rd Ed.) and The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had. And of course, the Bible.

It should be obvious that I cannot really be getting much out of any of these. I am rereading the Black Jewels books because I like them, they are upbeat and they seem to be filling a need in my heart for some good thoughts. I am rereading Storm Born because the second book in the series is due out soon, and I wanted to refresh my memory of the first book. The programming books, I am ‘reading’ to help me with work. Honestly, I am having a great deal of trouble really getting into any of them extensively. I have been sampling sections, not systematically reading them. The two relationship books are to help me be a better husband and father. I really want to improve my classical background, and have a 4 year old we are preparing to home school.

I have no real plan for any of this. That is changing. The purpose of this post is to begin the planning / organizing process. The first step is to define the problem.

I want to increase understanding of

  • The Bible
  • classical works
  • concepts and skills for computer programming (my profession)
  • childhood education
  • relationships (wife and child)

Will you join with me as I document my personal travels from unfocused, prodigious wishes to organized, self-directed personal education achievements?

Cool, thanks!

July 15th, 2009 | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged with , , , , , , |

December 30th, 2008

Catching up (in a haphazard way)

Kindle:

Was reading Sebastian (Ephemera Book 1) by Anne Bishop, but that has been delayed until I finish At Grave’s End (Night Huntress, Book 3) by Jeaniene Frost. Really like both so far. Anne Bishop is becoming one of my top five or so favorite authors. Her characters are interesting, and the worlds novel and engrossing. But I just love the Night Huntress books, because they have a great mix of action / humor and great characters, so I am going to get through Grave’s End in a few hours later today.
 

Finished: 

Orcs by Stan Nicholls. Average, about 2.5 of 5. Interesting point of view, but otherwise straight forward tale. I like Glen Cook’s Black Company series (especially the first couple of books)  much better as an examination of the dark side of the fight.
 

Audio:

Finished several: 
Making Money  by Terry Pratchett. Great book. 4.5 of 5 stars. Haven’t really been a fan of Discworld, but I loved this book. I think I got it because of a Grammar Girl reco. 

Karen Chance’s three Cassandra Palmer books: Touch the Dark, Claimed by Shadow and Embrace the Night. I enjoyed these, but I didn’t think they were great. The first  was probably the best, 3.5 of 5 stars, but the next two were probably 2.5 or so. I read Midnight’s Daughter and I liked that one a lot, 4 of 5 stars. Dorina is just a better heroine than Cassandra. Cassandra is never in control and whines too much for my tastes, too much of a victim. Whereas Dorina kicks some ass and doesn’t take any crap from anyone. It’s nice to see some of the crossover characters, Mircea and Claire (from Buying Trouble). Mircea needs to re-evaluate his plans, because I don’t think they are working out so well.
 


Listening to:
Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. A classic I never read. About 60% done, and I have enjoyed it. I find the actual character of Oliver very thin. The really interesting stuff is the people around him. It’s like Oliver is just a prop for the examination of the other characters.

Next  in play list: 

Sunshine By Robin McKinley 
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
With the Lightnings by David Drake
 

Podcasts I really Enjoy: 
BS Report 
Maximum PC 
Grammar Girl
 

December 30th, 2008 | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged with , , , , , , , , |