One of my favorite parts of traveling is making my trip reading list. A little geeky I know, but I love to search out the exact books I want to read and learn from while on my trip. I will literally (no pun intended) spend hours on Amazon and wandering through the aisles at Barnes and Noble to find just the right books for the trip and time. For Holly and my 10 day trip to Alaska, here are the book I chose:
The Post American World by Fareed Zakaria – Looks to be a well-reasoned and centered piece written by Zakaria, a correspondent for Newsweek, on the rise of the developing world and how the US should react. Seems like an important thing to read right now, and I am always interested in international economic development topics.
The Elements of Journalism by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel – The role of journalism has been a growing pet interest of mine for a couple of years now. The news industry is obviously in upheaval these days, but I believe we will see a return to fundamentals as the entire industry reforms itself. I was oddly giddy to find this book.
Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future by Cory Doctorow – Obviously founding MindBites has caused me to think a lot about the past, present and future of content. (I for one think we can learn more from looking at the past than reading the futuristic linear extrapolations popular with the tech press) This series of short essays and talks from Cory promises to provide some interesting thoughts across a range of issues.
Second Nature: Brain Science and Human Knowledge by Gerald Edelman – Another book I was absolutely ecstatic to discover. Cognitive psychology has also been a pet interest of mine for a while, and also something I think about with MindBites. This book, written by a Nobel Laureate, looks to be thought provoking, visionary, and, a key characteristic for vacation books, relatively short (157p). Can’t wait to dig into that one.
Artic Dreams by Barry Lopez – While my vacation reading materials usually almost exclusively focus on the region I am visiting, for this trip Artic Dreams is my sole non-fiction book about Alaska. It is billed as a National Book Award winner and a classic description of the wilderness across the Artic, which to me is what defines the regions more than anything.
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld – Probably the strangest vacation pick I must admit, but this classic has been recommended addition to my “to read” list for some time. As we redesign the MindBites site as well as start on some, as yet announced, new endeavors, it seemed like a great time to dig into a technology classic. Besides, it has a polar bear on the front.
A Deeper Sleep and A Taint in the Blood by Dana Stabenow – Every vacation needs some good easy “beach reads” as well, but even here I like to choose something interesting. In this case, I used Amazon to find the leading detective writer in Alaska, Dana Stanenow, and chose a couple of her mysteries centered in different parts of Alaska.
Usually my vacation reading lists tend to focus more on the history, economics, writing, and religion of the specific region. In this case however, this vacation is in part to enjoy Alaska, but also in part for my own recovery, revitalization and inspiration. Thus, the weighting toward general reading in areas I’m more broadly interested in.
So will I actually read 8 books in 10 days? No, probably not even close. I’ll read a couple of these all the way through, pieces of others, skim others, and probably won’t crack open one or two. But, for me, having the right books from which to choose and contemplate, makes all the difference in the world.
So that’s my reading list for the next week and a half. I will let you know how it goes.
