Do you still read books? I mean, printed on paper, not on a kindle, iPad or audiobooks. The real stuff. The ones that smell nice when you open them for the first time. Oh, by the way, I've been curious and asked, that nice smell is not from the ink but from the glue... sorry if this breaks the myth a bit.
My reading habits are really irregular. I very often get books with my on trips and they often remain untouched in the back of my bag. I bring them thinking I will read on a flight, or during another quiet or dull moment and end up doing something else. And then, all the sudden, I get so captivated by one of those books that I read through it within one or two days. One of the latest was Autonomy by Lawrence Burns. This recounts the beginning of autonomous driving, from military-funded research in the desert to thousands, if not millions of miles driven on the roads of California. This is a real page reader, which was published in 2018. The technical details are not the latest anymore but a great book nevertheless, showing how technology evolved, from research labs to the general public, and what it took to reach it.
But I digress, this post is not about recommending books, this could come at another time. What I find fascinating with my reading habits is the time aspects of it. I can start multiple books, switch from one to another, and read very quickly. And then, don't touching a book for weeks, if not months. What does drive it? Hard to say as I don't really understand it. What I can say is that it does not depend on the books waiting.
My book purchases are totally uncorrelated from my reading. Some books wait on my nightstand, on my bookshelf or in my bag for a long, very long time. I could end up not reading some books I purchased nevertheless. Professional activity, time available, nothing seems to drive how I read. Sometimes, I pick a book just to read the next chapter and sometimes I can spend hours reading.
The only activity which follows a similar pattern is toying with software development. It comes and goes, and when it comes, it is pretty high-priority, whatever the reason behind. When I "click" with a book, I just have to finish it and the rest of the world can wait...
I received two books this week, one was on my order waiting list for half a year and the second was just purchased in a split second. The first one is The Psychology Of Money by Morgan Housel and the second is The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufamn. The later arrived on Wednesday and I can hardly let it down (but for some toying for software...). One of the things I like is how it is written in really short chapters.
What about the second? It is still in its Amazon package. Its time will come, may be tomorrow, may be next year. Because I'm an unpredictable reader.
Are books like good wine and get better with time? Let us hope so...