What are you reading?
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Do you folk keep a pile of books 'on the go', to dip into as the mood takes?
Bedside table has these:
I'm actually reading the chimney sweep and samurai spirit books. The other humour & poetry as my mood takes.Meanwhile downstairs on the arm of a sofa is another pile of mostly recently bought books that I'm looking at rather than reading:
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I just finished The Time Traveller’s Passport (only available on Audible). It’s a collection of six short stories all related to time travel. I picked it up because one of my favourite authors (John Scalzi) wrote the first story. I absolutely loved three, liked two, and hated (DNF) one. Not bad for a short story collection!
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Am adding this to my list of books to read. Watched an interview with the author on Fareed Zakaria GPS this morning.
Nicholas Thompson, 49, isn’t wanting for accomplishments—personal nor professional. The CEO of The Atlantic ran a 2:29 marathon at 44 years old, shattering his years-long plateau of 2:43s. Thompson is a former editor for The New Yorker, where he covered the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, and the former editor-in-chief for Wired, for which he wrote about trying out the recently launched Nike Zoom Vaporfly 4% super shoes.
Thompson holds the American record in the 50K for the 45-49 age group (3:04:36), which he ran a few minutes behind his friend, Des Linden, who set the world record in 2:59:54.
The father of three prides himself on a close relationship with his wife and his sons, always prioritizing them, but still finding a way to be on top of his work and running games. For example, Thompson, who lives in Brooklyn, never rides the subway to his lower Manhattan office. He runs to and from work, logging eight miles while listening to podcasts and audiobooks. He tries to be as efficient as possible, which is, perhaps, how he managed to write his second book: The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports (October 2025).
https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a65058548/nicholas-thompson-the-running-ground/
Fareed made the observation that you don't have to be a runner to find value in the book, but I imagine it would be of special interest to runners.
@kluurs - have you read it?
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There might be something of interest to WTF crafters in this review of a book called Patchwork: A Sewist's Diary. Also had some links to other books that I'm putting on my "to read" list. Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmerman, for one.
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Finished reading Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss.
I think it was intended to be an indictment of the food industry but I read it as a fascinating discussion of how the industry has to adapt to changing circumstances. How do you square what people want to eat with what they really should eat for health?
I recommend it!
