catch up on my reading list.

I might be an engineer, but I’m also interested in how engineers work, and in San Francisco area history. I got this book after a Google search of a old company turned up stories of how Silicon Valley really got started back in the 1930’s by companies doing souped-up vacuum tubes for amateur radio operators. All the craziness we think of in Silicon Valley – engineers jumping between companies at the drop of a hat, odd family-like perks (like HP’s summer camp in the redwoods), crazy hours by engineers trying to figure out the next big thing – have been around forever.

It also highlighted how a lot of the high-tech companies were founded by engineers who’d moved back east, hated, and moved back. (I’m not the only one!) Now I understand what all those companies along the Bayshore Freeway were doing when I was a kid.

When I was in Leipzig, Germany, I visited the Stasi (secret police museum). It was in the old headquarters building, and looked much as it did after the Wall fell when the angry East Germans swarmed the place after realizing that the Stasi were burning all the secret files . Most of the museum consisted of display boards dating from an informal display of what folks found in the first few days. Unfortunately, most of it was in German, and the only English guide had only a sentence on each room.

I wanted to learn more about East Germany and the Stasi; I found a couple books in Berlin, but “The File” was one of the books I read about on the Net that sounded interesting.

It’s definitely a good read. The author, an English academic, lived in East Germany in the ‘80’s but got banned from the country after he published a couple critical articles in the West German press. He writes about what he found when he looked in his secret police file, and tries to remember the events that his watchers had observed and recorded. It’s a nice description of what East Germany used to be like, how the Stasi acted, and a reminder of how fragile our memory of the past can be.

I don’t really want to accomplish this. I like the feeling of working my list down, but to get it completely caught up only to fill it back up again? I’d rather have the choice I want NOW! I did get it down pretty close to caught up and i’m doing better at returning books that I think are lame instead of suffering through reading them, but this goal is just not something I consider to be important in the current way I think about reading, so I release it to the wind!

My library list is way down. True, I haven’t looked at any best of lists to replenish it, but I think between my next week off from school and a few small weekend trips coming up, I may have this under control. And then…I don’t know…maybe I’ll focus on the books I already have in my house before I add more to the library list. But at least I think this isn’t impossibly anymore.

has made this task nearly impossible. I was doing a good job knocking them off when I was reading all the time on my way to work, but now, it’s just impossible. I’ve had a month off, but I’ve been biking home from work (which means no reading) and also listening to a few books on tape, sometimes just staring out the window, and sometimes reading, but just books I have lying around at home. I did pick one out off my library list that i’m going to go pick up today, but man, it’s hard to get this done now that I’m always reading for class. And next years “best of 2007” lists are going to be out again in a flash! sigh.

I’ve been horribly lazy reading-wise, off late… I guess I just haven’t been in the mood in the past few months. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever read less in y whole life. I’m getting back to my normal reading pacenow (well, it’s summer, isn’t it), but I’m still kinda surprised at myself. I’d always been really addicted to reading.

then conveniently added to my husbands ipod (mine, once I get it converted for my new mac). I do like reading, but sometimes, I just can’t read. I stare at a computer screen all day…I like playing sudoku. Listening to a book on tape lets me stare out a window as well as do sudoku, plus reminds me of driving, when I could listen to public radio as I drove. I’m currently listening to Freakonomics, which I ALWAYS wanted to read and never found the time, and I went through my library list and replaced some of my book requests with the same book on CD. That should help a little when I just need a change of pace.

The list i copied was originally titled “recommended reading for the well educated adult.” There are a lot of books on here. But for someone with an English degree… i’ll say i’m “caught up” when i’m at 75%.

my library list is quite full. I know that’s the point…I’ll work it down and then add books that are deemed “the best of 2007” when those lists come out. But still. I have books at home to read and books from the library. I make a concerted effort…this goal is just to remind me.

...my read list increases faster than I can read. I will never achieve this because as soon as I get closer I will buy 2 billion new books, but I will keep trying, no need to promise it, I know it :)