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Leonardo da Vinci – Walter Isaacson

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My favorite biographer, Walter Isaacson, did it again. He created a gorgeously illustrated book about the quintessential renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci. The book is based on the mind blowing — in number and content — 7200 pages of notes Leonardo left behind (which probably only accounts for one quarter, the rest is lost). As far as I am concerned this biography is the definitive introduction to this left-handed, mirror… Read More »Leonardo da Vinci – Walter Isaacson

The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

On my honeymoon in 2009 I asked the store clerk at the Hemingway house on Key West: “what’s a good book to start with?”. She recommended The Sun also Rises. And I understand why. Because this novel is probably the most accessible summary of the typical Hemingway writing style. Very much set in the 1920s — yet timeless — it is a story about classic themes such as friendship, love,… Read More »The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway

Joy Division and the making of Unknown Pleasures – Jake Kennedy

I picked up this book in the bargain bin of a HMV in Manchester in 2006, when I was on a — sort of — pilgrimage. But I left it on my bookshelf for 12 years, thinking I probably knew most of it already. But books are meant to be read, so I had to get to it eventually. I think I understand why this book was already in the… Read More »Joy Division and the making of Unknown Pleasures – Jake Kennedy

Faith – Jimmy Carter

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I literally received this book from the hands of Jimmy Carter himself at a book signing in New York. I never met a president before — even if only for a few seconds — so I was keen to read his book! Carter always struck me as an interesting person. A multifaceted outlier: deeply religious but pro science and evolution, anti-NRA but pro guns, peanut farmer by trade and a… Read More »Faith – Jimmy Carter

To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf

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This was an exhausting book to read. Because it reads like a prolonged poem with a stream of thoughts about everything and anything and with very little dialogue. Two things are very clear though: Woolf went very deep and therefore this book can not be anything else than autobiographical. Feeling already exhausted as a reader, I couldn’t even imagine what the process must have been for a writer to put… Read More »To the Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf

Ten notable books I read in 2018

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In 2018 I read 24 books (25th in progress). Here is a list of 10 books that stood out in one way or another. Some are recommendations. Besides music biographies, computer history and management/business books, I tend to read bestseller novels from a few years ago. By then the crowd has decided what’s good and thrift stores will carry a lot of these books — which can be an indication… Read More »Ten notable books I read in 2018

Can we replace paper?

Paper always beats rock and scissors. Because one of the few inventions greater than writing itself, is writing on paper. Paper writings are absolute, self-contained and transferable units of knowledge, which after publishing become and stay available and accessible for hundreds of years or more. Don’t take my word for it, there is this great quote by J.C.R. Licklider found in Libraries of the Future and brought to my attention… Read More »Can we replace paper?

The Phoenix Project

When a co-worker handed me a copy of The Phoenix Project, the 8-bit art on the cover looked fun. But the tagline — ‘A Novel About IT, DevOps and Helping your Business Win’ — sounded a bit like the usual buzzword management lingo. But I was clearly wrong, I loved this book! It is unlike anything I’ve read before and it really spoke to me because the situations were so… Read More »The Phoenix Project

Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary

This book had been sitting on my to-read list for way too long! But I finally found a second hand copy, so here we go! You could say this is the official autobiography of Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux. The Operating System that changed the world! You can wake me up in the middle of the night to talk about operating systems. So this book is right up my… Read More »Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary