You know you want some.

Oh yeah.....want some? Make your own: Sour Cherry Crumb Pie

Summer Reading

I've made two lists of books that I want to read this summer. One is a list of business or self-improvement books/audio seminars, and the other is a list of fun fiction. I'll probably add things to the list as I think of them, but this is the general idea:

Business/Self Improvement (some of these I've browsed or read partially)

1. Focus: Achieving Your Highest Priorities (audio workshop) - Franklin Covey
2. Book Yourself Solid - Michael Port
3. Little Black Book of Connections - Jeffrey Gitomer
4. Guerrilla Marketing
5. Sales Bible - Jeffrey Gitomer

Fun Fiction

1. Harry Potter Series (re-read)
2. Sin City - Frank Miller
3. 2001 Series - Arthur C. Clarke (re-read)
4. Rendezvous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke (re-read)
5. The Glass Bead Game - Herman Hesse (re-read)

So far I've read Rendezvous with Rama, and I'm on the last book of the 2001 series. I've also started on the Focus workshop. I listen to the audio while I walk on the treadmill, and I do the exercises in a notebook. I'm also writing reviews of each of the books I read, I posted my review of Rendezvous with Rama the other day, and I hope to do that all summer. I tend to be a fast reader, but I tend to slow down a bit and retain more information when I know I need to report about it. It's just like school. :D

Webcomics

I'm a fan of several webcomics. If you're not familiar with the term, webcomics are comic strips that are only available online, as opposed to those that are printed in the newspaper. There are tons and tons of them out there. Here's what I read:

PvP - the adventures of the staff of Player vs. Player Magazine. Appeals to geeky gamers. This is probably the oldest/most well established of the comics I read. I have one of the books and a Skull plushie.
Girls with Slingshots - the adventures of a couple of gals and their friends.
Octopus Pie - another set of adventures of a couple of gals and their friends, but in NYC
XKCD - hardcore math/science/computer humor. Sometimes I have to look things up after reading, but so totally worth it.
Questionable Content - a new find, I spent most of Tuesday reading the archives. Fun story of some messed up 20-somethings in a western MA college town.

So to summarize my webcomics taste, I like stories about geeky people who have better social lives than I do. /cry

Rendezvous with Rama

Yesterday afternoon I intended to sit down on the couch to start reading Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. I say intended because in reality I sat reading until I finished the book, about 2.5 hours later. This is not the first time I had read this book, but it has been several years since I picked it up, so many of the details of the plot and the narrative still retained some freshness. Clarke is one of my favorite authors; I think one reason is that he always gets the science right. If there's one thing that irks me, it's reading a book or watching a movie and seeing science that's not implemented right or is just plain wrong. HERE's a review of the book.