Day 37 Thoughts
US COVID-19 Deaths: 67,448
I broke my leg on January 11th, and before I could get off my crutches Governor Walz instituted StayHomeMN#, of which we are currently in day 37. This is the longest I’ve ever gone without driving a motorized vehicle in my adult life. I have spent a good deal of 2020 watching television and reading books. I discovered a site called GoodReads that helps you connect with with friends and authors and discover new books to read. It works kind of like Netflix in a way in that you rate books that you have read, and then some algorithm takes over and suggests books that you might read. I have had mixed success with reading the books that the site suggests, some have been winners and some have been stinkers. Overall, I have enjoyed the site and would recommend it to anyone that likes to read. I’m going to list five of the winners, books that I may have never read if it wasn’t for GoodReads and really enjoyed. In no particular order:
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We are Legion (we are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor – A completely original sci-fi story about a guy who dies and ends up becoming a computer AI that controls interstellar spacecraft. Great book, and available to read for free if you have Kindle Unlimited membership.
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Slaughterhous-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. – I’ve enjoyed every Vonnegut book I’ve ever read. I don’t know why it took me until I was 48 to read this one. Perhaps it was the strange title. It’s the kind of book I usually end up reading more than once.
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UNIX: A History and a Memoir by Brian W. Kernighan – This book was a fascinating and inspiring tale that I enjoyed immensely. Many of the men and women described in the book were the legends and giants of computer science when I was an undergrad, and I found I had a hard time putting this book down. Also available with Kindle Unlimited!
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Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder – Stories about the Stasi and how it affected the lives of ordinary citizens in East Germany fascinate me. This book is more horrifying than any dystopian novel out there because this stuff happened and its hard to believe.
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And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie – Another famous book, by perhaps the most famous mystery writer of all time. I have read most of her Hercule Poirot books, and I enjoyed this one as well.