Hodge Podge reading

With my new job, I have a longer commute. In the morning it's about 45 minutes. In the evening, it's between 45 and 65 minutes, depending on a variety of factors which are completely out of my control (and we KNOW how much I hate that). And, once school starts back up, I've been told to expect the traffic to worsen my commute in both directions.

However, the up side of this is that I LOVE listening to audio books in the car. If the book as even a little bit good, I can ignore whatever traffic snarl I happen to be sitting in the middle of.

Here's what I've listened to so far in the last two weeks:

• The Stationary Bike by Stephen King


• The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Diddion


• Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

The King book is a very short story (just 2 CDs). Not very frightening. Though it was a little tense in spots. The Diddion book us an interesting memoir recounting her first year of widowhood and the reflective state of mind it put her in. And, the Patterson book is a Young Adult SF tale told mostly from the first person perspective of genetically engineered girl. I enjoyed it so much that I ordered the second book in the series.

I'm going to have to wait to listen to that one (Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever) since I'm committed to finishing Matthew Perry's The Dante Club by August 29th for my church book group. Also on my 'to listen' list are Stephen King's Cell and Jennifer Traig's Devil in the Details.

As a juxtapostion to my audio 'reading', I've been immersed in a boatload of professional reading. My new boss recommended a book that is turning out to be the best book I've ever encountered on networking, though it's goal is ultimately to be the best book on intrusion detection, which it succeeds at. If you are into network security, I highly recommend Stephen Northcutt's Network Intrusion Detection.

My other non-fiction reading has still been focused on the "whole foods" and "natural foods" topic. I've been reading a lot about the organic movement as well, not just for foods, but for all sorts of products (household cleaners, clothing, etc.)

Any way, it's past my bed time. Need to try to get eight hours. Remember? The Impossible Dream!