Books I've read, and mean to read

I read the Steve Jobs biography, of course. The most interesting discussion that's arisen from the book has been whether Steve succeeded because he was such a maniacal asshole, or in spite of it.

I also read The Checklist Manifesto. It will merit a re-read shortly. It's one of those books that gets you all fired up, and you can't sleep if you read it right before bed, but then doesn't quite turn into action without re-reading and embedding a little more deeply in your psyche. I've made exactly one checklist so far.

It's not a book, but I've become addicted to longreads.com + Instapaper on my iPad. What an incredible combination. Plus Instapaper stores everything locally on the iPad (barring any unforeseen deletions), so I can stock up on lots of reading material for plane rides without paying the in-flight wifi ransom. I am a raving fan of Instapaper. It seems the reading app space is getting increasingly crowded (hello Readability), but I have no interest in trying anything else.

On the fiction front, I just finished Mailer's The Naked and the Dead. I loved it and I am changed, but I'm not sure yet how. It is going to be very difficult to move on from this book. Revisiting The Stranger seems somehow appropriate.

Nonetheless, read on we must. I'm thinking Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (Why not? Inspired by this article on Steve Jobs' Buddhism. Read on Instapaper on my iPad, of course.)

One thing I haven't read as much of lately is The New Yorker. I've been a loyal subscriber for years, but their iPad app crashes constantly - so much so that it is quite literally unusable. And I've been travelling like crazy recently and neglecting to bring the dead tree version. Lucky for them their content is completely irreplaceable and it will not affect my subscription standing one bit. Also, if you are reading this and from Conde Nast, I would love to help you do better with your app. Please be in touch.

Also on tap is The Right Stuff, in honor of the recent openings for Astronauts (applications due January 27th!). I feel almost obligated to apply to keep my geek credentials, but my academic career almost certainly doesn't cut the mustard and academics appear to be pretty much all the application is based on. So I'll read Tom Wolfe instead.