{"id":9444,"date":"2020-11-19T02:16:07","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T07:16:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/?p=9444"},"modified":"2026-03-26T17:00:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T21:00:56","slug":"off-topic-the-joy-of-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/embedded-software\/2020\/11\/19\/off-topic-the-joy-of-reading\/","title":{"rendered":"OFF-TOPIC: The joy of reading"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For as long as I can remember I have liked books and reading. As a child, I was a keen user of the local library. I would commonly be seeking books to give me information about my latest hobby; I recall that some of the books on chemistry gave details of things that would be frowned on nowadays! But I also liked fiction and would work my way through a whole series of books. My school used to issue a reading list just before the summer vacation, which we were expected to read in the months that followed. I noticed that, when they recommended a book that was part of a series, it was never the first book in the set; the result was that I would end up reading the whole series, which I think was the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My enthusiasm and capacity for reading varied over the years, but reading has always been part of my life. In my early adult life, I might commonly have 2 or 3 books on the go simultaneously. Nowadays, that seems too difficult, but perhaps I should try to resume that reading style. Some years ago, I realized that, soon after I had finished reading a book, my memory of it would fade. So, I started keeping notes to remind myself. As it took no extra effort, my notes because a blog<\/a> that I continue to maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like to have a broad range of reading, more or less alternating between fiction and non-fiction [including biography]. Fiction is normally by contemporary authors, but I am picky. I like to feel that I am learning something about the world while I am reading. So, if an author is lazy in their research and I see an error, it shakes my confidence in their integrity. For example, I recently read a well-respected book that I enjoyed, though my enjoyment was marred by 2 or 3 errors; at one point someone tunes into a radio station in Pakistan, a country that did not exist until 3 years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To manage my reading, I keep a reading list – a queue of books I have ready to read. This list currently has 32 entries! It is a \u201cliving document, so I move things around and add books when it suits me. Here are the first six books on my list, starting with the one that I am reading now:<\/p>\n\n\n\n