avocado8

In the Five Minutes Before I Turn Out the Light, and the Forty It Now Takes Me to Fall Asleep

What I'm reading right now:

1. Code Complete by Steve McConnell
   This is surprisingly absorbing so far. I carried a copy of the first edition—which I got through work—around with me through 3 or 4 cube (and two house) moves, always intending to read it but never getting around to it. Apparently I finally gave it away, because when I looked for it a few weeks ago, I couldn't find that copy. I ended up buying the second edition for $45 or so (!), and so far I haven't regretted it. It's relevant to current projects and future endeavors.
2. Dealing With Difficult People, by Dr. Rick Brinkman and Dr. Rick Kirschner
   Shawna got this for me from the library this afternoon, and I bet I'll be able to finish it in one sitting; it's pretty slim. I got it confused with the somewhat more substantial Coping With Difficult People, which a friend gave me years ago and I never got around to reading.
3. A Few Seconds of Panic by Stefan Fatsis
   I started this back in August, when I was still going to the gym regularly and had a routine of reading non-fiction at the gym and fiction at home. I stopped going to the gym when I started working late with the new job, and this book languished. I need to fit it back in somewhere, because it's great. (So great that Fatsis' other recent book, Word Freak, is already waiting on my nightstand.)
4. David Copperfield (audiobook) by Charles Dickens
   I had to abandon this audiobook last night—I hope temporarily—in favor of the more cheerful Sense and Sensibility. I haven't read David Copperfield since 10th grade (and even then I only skimmed and didn't finish it), but already I was starting to feel sorry for the little chap, and if I remember correctly, it gets worse by the time he gets to London. It's just too sad for me right now.