Here we go. Just finished grad school last semester. This is my attempt at not spending as much time video gaming and more time becoming a more well-rounded designer/creative thinker.

I'll just be updating and adding dates of completion to the books I finish from now on. The first 10 have taken me a bit over a month to get done (I basically started reading anything in sight, and all these things I had not previously had time to read, in June; after realizing my brain was starting to crave a bit more learning than my light summer course load was providing me.).

Oh yeah, I'm aiming for 50 by the end of 2009. Might cut it close, but who knows...

Books Read
1. Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
2. Bonk by Mary Roach
3. Foundation by Isaac Asimov
4. Sway by Ori Brafman
5. World War Z by Max Brooks
6. Architecture and Disjunction by Bernard Tschumi
7. From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe
8. Heretics of Dune by Frank Herbert
9. Thinking with Type by Ellen Lupton

Reading (Eliminating the "reading" category, I find that sometimes I pick up a book and drop it once I become far more interested in another)

Message edited by its author, Jul 29, 2009, 2:49pm.

11. My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor

2.5 stars.

The book has its moments, but all the new age preaching and the last few chapters just ruin what could have been an interesting book. I felt like a lot was lost when she began to use the supernatural to explain things that through a bit of research, could have been explained through science (more than half of her "energy" babble can be explained through non-verbal visual cues and plasticity research).

The first part of her book was acceptable. Halfway through it became very interesting. The last few chapters were not enjoyable.

12. Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs

4.5 stars.

Amazingly fractured, but Burroughs' way of going about the stories (writing style, metaphors, names, repetition) serves as a common backdrop. Non-sensical, but artfully so.

I had forgotten how amazing Burroughs' was when it came to imagery, obscenity and rhythm.

13. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins

5 stars.

First off, I've meant to write about the layout of books I've been reading but I'm always a bit distracted when writing these reviews.. layout and typography definitely have an effect my enjoyment of any book.

The typographic layout of Dawkins' The God Delusion is beautiful. Gray headers, centralized title pages, full-capital section titles, they all work perfectly. This is a stark contrast with the typography and layout of Exterminator!, where it was obvious that the printing press was using far too much ink in their plates; that whole book read as bold, with question marks that were barely distinguishable from exclamation points.

So, The God Delusion: Great read. Up there with From Bauhaus to our House as these summer's best non-fiction reads from my book list.

Dawkins is continuously interesting from page 1 to the end. His prose is light and readable, even witty at times, and (having been raised Catholic and having nearly used the word "defection" to describe my path outwards from religion) the chapter on religion and the education and abuse of children was strikingly persuasive. His open contempt towards religion has made it so that, in a way, I do not think I'll enjoy any book that tries to reconcile science and religion ever again; Dawkins does not do this at all in this book.

Definitely a good read.

Message edited by its author, Jul 8, 2009, 6:17pm.

TBR Piles (reorganized as of 11/12)

Architecture / Art
The Architectural Uncanny by Anthony Vidler
The Cyber Reader by Ed. Neil Spiller
Andre Masson and the Surrealist Self by Clark Poling (re-read)
Architecture Between Spectacle and Use by Anthony Vidler
The Writings of Marcel Duchamp by Marcel Duchamp
The BLDG Blog Book by Geoff Manaugh
Delirious New York by Rem Koolhaas (rr)
Image of the City by Kevin Lynch
Visual Thinking by Rudolf Arnheim

Fiction
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith
Chapter House: Dune by Frank Herbert
Hunters of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson

Technical
Learning Python by Mark Lutz

Non-fiction
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Joseph J. Ellis

Message edited by its author, Nov 12, 2009, 7:40am.

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Message edited by its author, Nov 12, 2009, 7:43am.

July Reads

Books Read
1. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
2. My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor - 7/4
3. Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs - 7/5
4. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins - 7/8
5. Xenocide by Orson Scott Card - 7/12
6. Basics Design Layout by Gavin Ambrose - 7/12
7. Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks - 7/15
8. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card - 7/17
9. Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card - 7/20
10. The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan - 7/25
11. Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card - 7/29

9 + 11 = 20 Books for the Challenge.

Message edited by its author, Jul 29, 2009, 2:54pm.

August Reads

-- Busy month, definitely didn't read as much as I had hoped to. Moved back home. Job search. Hoping to find a job in the next few weeks so I can move out once more. --

Books Read
1. The End of Faith by Sam Harris
2. Shadow of the Giant by Orson Scott Card
3. Giacomo Costa: The Chronicles of Time by Giacomo Costa
4. The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
5. The Simulacra by Philip K. Dick

20 + 5 = 25 Books for the Challenge.

September Reads

Books Read
1. Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman
2. Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card
3. Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke
4. Theoretical Anxiety and Design Strategies in the Work of Eight Contemporary Architects by Rafael Moneo
5. Wrestling With Moses: How Jane Jacobs Took On New York's Master Builder and Transformed the American City by Anthony Flint

25 + 5 = 30 Books for the Challenge.

Message edited by its author, Sep 27, 2009, 2:25pm.

When I finished school in June of last year, I immediately started reading more and more, both non-fiction and fiction... My count went from 32 for all of 2008 to 52 so far for 2009... I also love investing time in non-fiction now that I am not forced to read for school anymore... And I love discovering the topics I seem to like ;)

I agree.

Now that I am not being forced into a particular reading curriculum, I feel the need to keep my brain busy with anything I can get my hands on.

Now, my TBR pile just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I've barred myself from getting any more books until I cut it in half.

I have a slightly more lenient rule. I am not buying any more books until I've read all I bought already this year.
This doesn't count for gifts of course. And since my birthday is friday, and all I asked was books... Not my fault my TBR pile will grow and grow ;)

1. Pamphlet Architecture 15: War and Architecture by Lebbeus Woods
2. Pamphlet Architecture 28: Augmented Lanscapes by Smout Allen
3. Pamphlet Architecture 29: Untold Stories by NaJa & deOstos
4. Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
5. Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 1 by Geoff Johns
6. Green Lantern: Sinestro Corps War, Vol. 2 by Geoff Johns
7. Radical Reconstruction by Lebbeus Woods
8. Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov
9. The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon

30 + 9 = 39 Books for the Challenge

Message edited by its author, Nov 1, 2009, 7:51am.

November Readings

1. Collapse by Jared Diamond
2. The Architectural Uncanny by Anthony Vidler
3. Pamphlet Architecture 20: Seven Partly Underground Rooms and Buildings for Water, Ice and Midgets by Mary-Ann Ray

42 Books for the Challenge.

Message edited by its author, Nov 17, 2009, 7:09pm.