Reading

Moist Von Lipwig’s debut is a Discworld series highlight, and the Industrial Revolution subseries as a whole has been great so far. In Going Postal I particularly enjoyed the cameo from an X-Files-esque trio of hackers 👨‍💻

A man is not dead while his name is still spoken

An incredibly satisfying end to the Mistborn trilogy; there were several moments I had to put the book down and stare vacantly out the window while I processed the story’s latest turn 🤯

In The Hero of Ages Sanderson continues to build and expand upon the world and systems set up in the previous 2 books, before pulling everything together and fully resolving every thread. I’ve really enjoyed Mistborn, and I’ll delve in to another Sanderson series when my head stops spinning.

There’s always another secret.

Insightful anecdotes and valuable tips from three distinct stages of a career in technical leadership - manager, director, and executive.

One of those books that seems to get recommended all the time, The Thursday Murder Club was entertaining and kept me guessing.

A bit of a slower burn than The Final Empire, until it suddenly isn’t. If this series is ever made in to a TV show, I hope the characters “raise an eyebrow” every 20 seconds or so to remain true to the books 🙃

The second book of the Tiffany Aching Discworld subseries, which is fast becoming a contender for my favourite! Pratchett explores the power of stories, belief, and community, in another “young adult” novel that refuses to talk down to younger readers.

Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colours. And the people there see you differently too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.

I hadn’t read Brandon Sanderson before, and The Way of Kings looked a bit long for a new-to-me author at ~1,000 pages. Instead I chose The Final Empire, the first book in the Mistborn trilogy, which turned out to be nearly 800 pages so I really didn’t save much reading! Fortunately it was a great read. Sanderson’s world-building is excellent, and the magic system - Allomancy - was well thought out and made for some incredible action scenes. I’ll continue the trilogy after dipping back in to Discworld for a bit.

An excellent resource for new engineering managers, and probably those that have been doing the job for a while too. I picked up a few tips from this book that I use daily.

Lives up to the title; Dave Grohl tells great stories! Every page overflows with passion for the things that matter most to him in life - family, friends, and music.

The worlds of His Dark Materials are well-built and incredibly imaginitive. I found some of the character development in this last book puzzling; Lyra and Mrs Coulter in particular seemed to undergo quite sudden and drastic personality changes. That aside, The Amber Spyglass was an extraordinary end to a series I really enjoyed.

I felt the story was slowing down a bit as I reached the middle of the book, but it soon shifted back up a gear and I found myself hooked again. On to The Amber Spyglass!

I’d been aware of His Dark Materials for a while, but hadn’t gotten round to checking out the series until a couple of colleagues recommended the first book. I’m glad they did - I loved the intricately detailed world, and appreciated the rapid pace of the story in this first volume. I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

As a lifelong Discworld fan this was an absolute must-read. Anecdotes and memories shared by a man who was by Terry’s side through the good times and the hard ones, right up to the end that came too soon. A joyful read that became a very difficult one as I neared the conclusion of the book, and finishing it felt like losing Terry all over again.

GNU Terry Pratchett

Interesting, sometimes amusing, occasionally eyeroll-inducing during sections casually recounting a breathtakingly privileged life with barely an acknowledgment of it. Perhaps to be expected of an actual prince, though. I thought spoken dialogue was handled a little weirdly - always in italics.

A Discworldly take on the military, gender roles, and sexism. It took me longer than I’d care to admit to spot some of the character… developments, let’s call them 🙈

I have found the book I’ll use to introduce my daughter to the Discworld. Tiffany Aching is a wonderful role model for little girls everywhere and, frankly, everyone else too. Top-tier Pratchett!