I'm sure you'll get all the classic HN recommendations so I'll pick two that are a little different:
* Nobody's Perfect: Writings From the New Yorker, by Anthony Lane. Lane was responsible for writing reviews of many prominent movies from the 90s. We now know which of those movies hold up (Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction) and faded away into cultural oblivion despite insane amounts of hype (Godzilla from 2000, Pearl Harbor), and I enjoyed reading contemporary treatments of both. Why spend the time to read such reviews? Because Lane is a master of his craft. The blend of dry British humor, insightful critiques, and his surprising accessibility makes for really enjoyable prose. Also, the pieces are quite short, so I can read two or three before bed and have natural points.
* Meet Me in the Bathroom -- an oral history of the NYC music scene from 2001 to 2011. You can make the argument that the Strokes are directly responsible for the money-soaked Manhattan we have today. The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem, and TV On The Radio were hugely inspirational to me growing up so it was really neat to watch them look back on this crazy time in their own words. But really, it's a story about transitions. New York transitioning after 9/11 to what it is today; the transition of the music industry (the author makes a compelling point that although the Strokes and Vampire Weekend were both NYC-based bands that blew up 5 years apart, their trajectories couldn't have been more different); the influence of blogs and the kids who ran them had on this global industry. It's a fascinating to reflect on what is really just the not-so-distant past and see how much has changed.
Fiction, English
Reading: The Dispossessed, Ursula Le Guin.
Fiction, Spanish
Non-fiction
I have other books started lying around the house, but these are the ones I’ve been actively engaged with in the last couple weeks. When I can type properly again (two to three weeks) I’ll resume Lisp in Small Pieces, Christian Queinnec. And at the office I have The Pragmatic Programmer, I’ll be back there next week and bring it home so I can continue with it.
If I have one piece of advice for you, please try to completely avoid reaching for the dictionary (app or physical) while reading your books. Not only will avoiding the dictionary make the reading faster, your pattern matching will improve because your mind will be forced to “fill in the blanks” where there is insufficient understanding. I know there are polyglots out there that advise the opposite of “don’t go to the next page until you know everything”. Bah humbug, reading should not be a homework assignment.
Finally, buying the audiobook and reading along with the book will help train your ear for faster pattern recognition and signal/noise differentiation. Be advised though that audio books may not be one to one exact with the printed text.
I also recommend “Charlie y la fábrica de chocolate”.
I selected Harry Potter because I know the stories decently (read the books whenever book 7 came out, saw all the movies at least once each, maybe twice for a couple). But I’m not familiar enough to be able to read the Spanish version and really just be recalling the English version (why I’m avoiding translations of my favorite authors, I know the books too well).
And yeah, I’m skipping the dictionary while reading. I tried that, it was awful. I’m identifying words (sometimes asking my wife) and looking them up after finishing a chapter. I plan to reread the book (possibly restart before completing) to see how much of what’s new has stuck. I already have homework since I’m working through a college Spanish textbook and have signed up for online courses (weekly, but it’s practice and I’m getting to hear the Argentine accent which is the one I need to understand most, my wife is from there).
After this book, I’ll probably continue picking up the rest of the series (we want a bilingual library anyways for when we have kids), and then some non-fiction. Ideally I want to find some non-fiction histories or technical content in Spanish by native Spanish writers. I’m also trying to read Spanish-language news, but I haven’t made it a regular habit yet.
(Tease: the audio of the second book is done with different actors and have a interview with Cory Doctorow )
Buy while supporting local bookshops:
- Audiobook: http://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm208662 (referral link)
[0] with the great full names being "An absolutely remarkable thing" and "A beautifully foolish endeavour"
The Peregrine by J.A. Baker Englishman follows a few peregrines around the English countryside documenting everything he can. Past the first quarter or so it's just a log of his days which has no real narrative and is hard to get through. I'm not going to finish it
I just finished Oracle Bones by Peter Hessler. Really good book about ancient China and it's relationship to the near present day (it was written in the late 90s and early 2000s)
Can't go wrong with the classics like "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" along with "How to Win Friends and Influence People." For motivation: "Can't Hurt Me" by David Goggins... it's impossible to read that book and come up with a good excuse why you cannot achieve your goals.
Things Hidden Since The Foundation Of The World by Rene Girard explores through dialogues his theory of mimesis. Barely have made a dent into it and so am not sure if I’d recommend it yet but it’s had polarizing reviews.
Fantastic walk through his six factor model of human morality. It's as revolutionary to me as learning about the five factor model (& HEXACO) of human personality.
If you want to see the other face of Cold War and have some fun, here you go.
Seems moderately depressing so far.
Do you have one that's targeted to citizens and covers the same concepts minus the LEO-specific aspects? Most of the ones I've seen only cover specific subsets of the topics.
"What You Don't Know Can Kill You: How Most Self-Defense Training Will Put You into Prison or the Ground"
or the longer more detailed
"In the Name of Self-Defense: What it costs. When it's worth it"
The only caveat, which I should have mentioned in my book suggestion too, is that any book dealing with potential legal matters on self-defense is only written generally and one should also read their state's statutes/code.