May 28th, 2009
Reading an Listening a lot lately.
Listening:
David Drake’s RCN Series 3.0-3.5 of 5 stars for each book. Overall series is probably 3.5. Enjoyable once through, but I will definitely get the next one.
Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera Series 4.0 of for stars for each book as a stand alone, but overall series is 4.5. Anxiously awaiting First Lord’s Fury in Nov/Dec.
Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW:Wake 3.5 of 5 stars. I liked it, but I doubt I would listen to it again. I will get the next in the trilogy.
Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy 3.5 of 5 stars. I liked it a lot, but I am a little biased because I got some spoilers from the next two books, and I find it hard to remain enthusiastic given the direction of the series. At the same time, apparently there will be 6 books for Rose, and perhaps there will be time for redemption. I’ll at least check to see what happens in book 4 before bailing on the series.
In Progress: Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander. I read this book once a few years ago, but I am hoping the audio version helps me get into the details more.
Reading:
Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy. 4.0 of 5 for books 1 and 2, going to start book 3 today. I think the series is probably a 4.0 at this point, but the conclusion could raise it up. I do like the pacing and the characters.
Some Tech Books
- Clean Code (Kindle) 4.5 of 5.0. Several of the essays really made me think, but a few were just ‘Meh’, but that is more because of what I am interested in / working on than a real criticism of the quality. It may be unfair to downgrade it, but for me when 20% of the book just doesn’t matter, it is hard to give it a 5.
- Test Driven Development No real opinion yet.
- Refactoring (rereading parts) 5.0 of 5.0. I love this book. Each time I read through it (ore even just chapters), I pick up some interesting ideas.
This is just off the top of my head.