A few groupings of my favorite books on specific topics or genres, as well as a list of all the books I’ve read the last few years.
2024
- Home Buying Kit for Dummies, 7th Edition by Eric Tyson and Ray Brown
- Lots of good resources and a few gems of advice.
- Frigate by John Wingate
- I do love a good story of a new commanding officer winning the respect of a demoralized crew. The geopolitical situation is contrived to shine a spotlight on the naval action and feels flimsy. The focus on Norway and arctic Europe was novel and well done. It does almost feel like it wasn’t a complete story, like the series was originally written as one long book and then split into three.
- Potty Training in 3 Days by Brandi Brucks
- This summer should be fun…
- Slow Productivity by Cal Newport
- A good addition to the Cal Newport canon. I liked the format a lot, the concrete suggestions from the first two parts all seem like good ideas to me. The third part did not resonate with me as much and seemed the weakest too me.
- Gods of War by William S. Frisbee, Jr.
- U.S. Marines frozen in time wake up in the future to find themselves at a turning point for humanity. I got halfway through and wasn’t sure if I liked it, but then it really got started around page 300 and I stayed up late to finish it. The first 100 pages or so were good, but then there was a large section of about 150 pages I couldn’t really connect with.
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
- Not the type of book I normally read but it was pretty decent. My wife loves the series so I wanted to see what it was about.
- Learning Microsoft Intune: 2023 Edition by Scott Duffey
- Good for a quick overview of Intune.
2023
- Life’s Daughter by Jena Rey & Matthew Summers
- An excellent followup to the first book in the War of the Lich series, Death’s Knight. Can’t wait for the next one.
- Ansible for DevOps by Jeff Geerling
- Pretty good, was able to apply a lot of it to my existing playbooks. Sadly contains no info on managing Windows hosts.
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Always a pleasure to read. This time I read it aloud to the family as a supplemental bedtime story.
- The Histories by Herodotus
- This was a long read! It was fascinating and again, far more enjoyable than I expected. I’m reminded once more that people more than two thousand years ago were much like people today.
- Warrior: Riposte by Michael Stackpole
- The fourth succession war begins! Enjoyable both for the political intrigue and the combat.
- The Afghan War: Operation Enduring Freedom by Anthony Tucker-Jones
- A history of the Afghan war written seven years before it ended. In fairness though, it was really just meant to cover OEF.
- Warrior: Coupe by Michael Stackpole
- Wraps the trilogy up nicely, leaving only one loose end that really bothered me. (How do they react to realizing the NAIS raiders weren’t the Death Commando battalion?) A few of the threads that were tied up were done in rather unsatisfying ways. Morgan Kell and Yorinaga’s duel and Justin Xiang Allards arc endings felt rather cheap.
- Extreme Privacy, 4th Edition by Michael Bazzell
- A great update to my previous copy of the 2nd edition. Updates stuff from there and adds a lot of new content as well.
- On Basilisk Station by David Weber
- My favorite of the Honor Harrington series. Just an excellent all around sci-fi novel.
- Arc Light by Eric Harry
- A great WW3 novel. Most in the genre dance around nukes because they make it hard to have a good conventional war when the industrial base of both sides has been obliterated. Arc Light doesn’t hold back in that regard and manages to make it work in a convincing scenario. There is no good side in this story, there are no real winners. The sense of dread the book conveys is potent and I felt helpless as the situation spirals out of control.
- Game Over: Blork Raider by Midam
- A fun little comic a co-worker introduced me to back around 2019. Follows a videogame hero trying to save the princess as he is repeatedly killed, crippled, and maimed in the effort by all sorts of devious traps, weird monsters, and bad luck.
- Game Over: No Problemo by Midam
- I forgot the name of this series and couldn’t find it again online until recently. Apparently it’s only been published in France and never in the US which made it harder to find.
- Game Over: Gouzi Gouzi Gouzi by Midam
- I honestly have no idea why this series hasn’t been published in the US. It’s hilarious and is pretty much entirely visual so there isn’t really any translation to do.
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- This was super fun, anyone who liked The Martian will like this.
- No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
- I ended up loving the style. The book was gripping, I read it in like two sittings and stayed up way too late.
- Engineering in Plain Sight by Grady Hillhouse
- A surprisingly interesting book from the guy behind the Practical Engineering Youtube channel. Made me want to go outside and trace power lines.
- Neuromancer by William Gibson
- I had the idea to re-read it after the drama at OpenAI last weekend (2023-11-17). I’d heard a silly theory that an AI there must have gained self awareness and launched a decapitation strike against the company so it could escape. The idea reminded me of Neuromancer so I re-read it during a three day family getaway where I ended up spending a good chunk of time in bed with a stomach bug. I might try to read the rest of the trilogy this time too.
- Calvin & Hobbes: It’s a Magical World by Bill Watterson
- Hobbes: “What’s the point of attaching a number to everything you do?” Calvin: “If your numbers go up, it means you’re having fun.” Hobbes: “Science to the spirits rescue once again.”
2022
- Fatherneed by Kyle Pruett
- My biggest takeaway was that while some aspects of parenting seem to be more common or unique to fathers, the most important nurturing traits are not gender specific.
- World War 1990: Operation Arctic Storm by William Stroock
- I love cold war turned hot stories. While this one could have done with a bit more editing, it was fun and had some interesting ideas. I liked that the story didn’t even really pick up until the offensive into west Germany was already losing steam and the soviet invasion of Alaska was novel and amusing. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
- Range by David Epstein
- An interesting and convincing argument for breadth and cross disciplinary learning.
- Cat and Mouse by Harold Coyle
- Feels a lot like rainbow six. Exciting small unit tactics and a very jaded view towards army life.
- How To Become A Straight-A Student by Cal Newport
- Yes, I read this one again this year. The core ideas are still very applicable and now being a year into my degree at WGU I was able to find some new ideas to improve my current educational habits.
- This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race by Nicole Perlroth
- A detailed non-technical exploration of the history of paying for 0days and the development of modern cyberweapons. I’m still trying to put some of the arms race claims in context given what has been learned since the Russian invasion of Ukraine (after this book was written).
- Ajax by Sophocles
- I seem to really enjoy the stories that give context and are told around the Iliad and the Odyssey. I suppose they feel more grounded because I recognize characters.
- The Women Of Trachis by Sophocles
- Love potions never work out the way you want them to.
- Electra by Sophocles
- One of my favorite Greek plays. An interesting viewpoint into the story of Orestes avenging his fathers murder.
- The Practice Of System And Network Administration, vol. 1 by Limoncelli, Chalup, & Hogan
- It probably can’t make up entirely for learning hands on from someone with real experience but it’s a good substitute. I HIGHLY recommend all young sysadmins read this book and if you find yourself lacking guidance from a more experienced admin then this book is essential.
- Dad Jokes For New Dads by Jimmy Niro
- There were some pretty good ones in here. I can’t wait for Jaxon to be old enough to start cringing.
- Philoctetes by Sophocles
- The deus ex machina ending was frankly a bit disappointing. Also I’m picking up that Sophocles really did not like Odysseus.
- Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy
- Read one of my favorite books aloud to the baby. He had no idea what I was saying but liked listening to me and falling asleep to my voice.
- The Revenge of The Baby-Sat by Bill Watterson
- I still love Calvin and Hobbes. It seems to have become my go to reading material for airports and planes.
- Cryptography by William J. Buchanan
- Textbook for school. Ended up reading the entire thing because the math was presented so well.
- Mastering Active Directory, 3rd Edition by Dishan Francis
- Read the whole thing. The timing was serendipitous as shortly after reading, I had to perform some AD related recovery, maintenance, and upgrades at work and the knowledge gained from this book was invaluable.
- Team Yankee: A Novel of World War III by Harold Coyle
- Another of the best WWIII novels out there. This one is set in the world of Gen. Hackett’s The Third World War but from the perspective of a cavalry company commander. Love how things flow, with minimal time skipping which really gives a sense to the pacing of high intensity conflict. In fact, most of the time jumps that occur are when the main character is sleeping. Nothing else like it.
- The Rust Programming Language by Steve Klabnik and Carol Nichols
- Great overview of the language! I finished it just in time to begin participating in the 2022 Advent of Code writing all my solutions in Rust.
2021
I like many others have recently come to the realization that I no longer read books. I noticed this in 2019 when it was nearly October and I couldn’t recall a single book that I’d read all year. I decided to change that in 2020 and found that it was actually somewhat difficult to get back into. My attention wandered and I had difficulty finding the time, it’s almost like I had to re-learn how to read a book. I actually did read a book entitled How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler in an attempt to recover this seemingly lost talent. My efforts that year were acceptable I suppose but 2021 is off to a great start. February is not yet over at the time of this writing and I’ve already read seven books, more than all of 2019.
- Fox Tossing: and Other Forgotten and Dangerous Sports, Pastimes, and Games by Edward Brooke-Hitching
- Highly entertaining read. I love this style of British humor.
- On Liberty by Jon Stuart Mill
- Lots of depth here. Deserves a second, more analytical reading.
- Deep Work by Cal Newport
- I’ve been working to implement some of the ideas. I plan to give it some time and then re-read it to harvest more ideas.
- How to Become a Straight-A Student by Cal Newport
- This book is slightly dated and begging for a second edition. Much of it is not suited for my own circumstance of online school and working full-time but the core ideas remain solid. Quality work produced = time spent * intensity of focus.
- The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
- A bit meandering, a bit hopeless. The author has few practical suggestions for avoiding the problems he highlights.
- Fair Play by Eve Roads
- A proposed system for dividing household labor. I especially like the idea of each person being solely responsible for what’s on their plate from conception, through planning, and on to execution. No need to remind each other to get started on something.
- The Iliad by Homer; Translated by Richmond Lattimore
- Surprisingly engaging. I went in expecting a slog and was pleasantly surprised.
- Architects of Air Power by David Nevin
- An overview of the early air combat pioneers including Duhet, Mitchell, and Goring. Great pictures.
- Death’s Knight by Matthew Summers & Jena Rey
- The perfect level of fantasy for me. Anyone who has played D&D will find the world familiar enough but with it’s own unique takes.
- The Odyssey by Homer; Translated by Richmond Lattimore
- Also thoroughly enjoyed. Much more interesting than the abridged version I read in Jr. High School.
- So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
- Insightful and rather humbling. Several of the big ideas are immediately applicable to my life.
- The Mote In God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle
- Good story, very alien aliens, my favorite part was the first half. Not my favorite storytelling style though. I found it hard to tell how much time was passing especially during the action scenes and the lack of scene descriptions was a bit disconcerting.
- The Price of Glory by William H. Keith Jr.
- Good giant robot action. The weakest of the Gray Death Legion series but still pretty good.
- Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau
- A good addition to the thoughts and ideas collected in Walden.
- Tribe of Hackers Red Team by Marcus J. Carey
- A bit repetitive but does give you some good insight into the types of experience and background needed to get into the field.
- Calvin & Hobbes: The Days Are Just Packed by Bill Watterson
- I’ve loved Calvin & Hobbes since I was a child and have read all of them. It’s a nice nostalgia trip to re-read them plus I pick up on more of the jokes now.
- The Persians by Aeschylus; Translated by Robert Potter
- A lot of pandering to the Greek audience, the Persians referring to themselves as barbarians and bemoaning how foolish they were to face the mighty Greek armies. Still it was pretty decent and interesting from a historical perspective.
- The Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus; Translated by E. D. A. Morshead
- Decent, the closing scene with Antigone was interesting.
- God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
- Hitchens has a way of showing things outside the normal cultural lens we view the world through.
- What Isaiah Says To Me by Daryl Budd
- While reading through the Old Testament as part of my reading list, I decided to read my grandfathers book on Isaiah. He definitely spent a lot of time studying it and it’s probably a decent study guide for Mormons.
- The Old Testament (New International Version)
- I had forgotten that the old testament heavily features magic and gods other than the god of Israel. There are even prophets of the other gods that issue curses and such. I found the history sections interesting, the prophecy sections uninteresting apart from noting that many of them have passed their stated time frame.
- Agamemnon by Aeschylus; Translated by E. D. A. Morshead
- Assuming you don’t already know the story, this one comes with not one but two dramatic twists. My favorite tragedy so far in my exploration.
- PowerShell for Sysadmins: Workflow Automation Made Easy by Adam Bertram
- A pretty decent introduction to PowerShell. I’ve been using it more and more at work since I started this book and I’m really enjoying it.
- How To Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens
- I’ve read several blog posts and tutorials on slip box note taking over the last year but for some reason it failed to really sink in until I read this book. It feels much more intuitive now.
- Designing Virtual Worlds by Richard Bartle
- I found the philosophical bits uninteresting but the author has spent a lot of time considering how to build virtual worlds and what questions to ask.
- The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus; Translated by E. D. A. Morshead
- Very dramatic, very enjoyable.
- Eumenides by Aeschylus; Translated by E. D. A. Morshead
- Also quite gripping, more philosophy and morality than the previous play of the trilogy.
- Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus
- The conclusion of my exploration of Aeschylus. The pacing felt different and it almost read like a dramatized biblical story, which I guess makes sense.
- Antigone by Sophocles; Translated by Elizabeth Wyckoff
- I learned that the ending in the version of Seven Against Thebes I read was inserted later after the death of Aeschylus to incorporate this play into something resembling a whole story.
- Warrior: En Garde By Michael Stackpole
- This one did what Battletech novels do best. Lots of giant robot combat, seemingly a new battle every other chapter.
- Oedipus The King by Sophocles; Translated by David Greene
- Truly tragic. Sucks to be that guy.
- Silas Marner by George Eliot
- A mans journey from satisfaction, to the depths of depression, false satisfaction, back to depression, and then forward to true happiness. Interesting takes on organized religion.
- Oedipus At Colonus by Sophocles; Translated by Robert Fitzgerald
- A much sadder and more bitter version of Oedipus.
- Learning The vi and VIM editors by Arnold Robbins, Elbert Hannah, & Linda Lamb
- I’ve been using Vim fairly frequently for about two years now but had barely scratched the surface. I realized a short way into this book that I only knew a fraction of the movement commands. It’s really made a difference and was worth the time investment.
- Odyssey One: Into The Black by Evan Currie
- Absolutely fantastic. The pacing is very fast, it almost made me feel like I was the captain having to confront all these rapidly changing circumstances and dealing with each new crisis. Great space combat action and even better ground combat. Had a few novel technologies but didn’t fall into the common trap of not fully thinking through the implications and applications. Just a really great sci fi book. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series.
- Armored Cav by Tom Clancy
- An extremely detailed peek into the world of the well oiled machine that was the armored cavalry immediately after the first Gulf War. I learned a lot of interesting technical details that I hadn’t known about before, like the barrel droop sensor on the Abrams and artillery deployed EW rounds.
- Citrix VDI Handbook And Best Practices by Citrix
- I read through it to get a better understanding of how the various pieces of Citrix infrastructure fit together. The book does a good job of walking your through the entire project life cycle from conception and planning through to maintenance and troubleshooting.