Multi book reading

I have a habit that I wonder if others do as well. And I wonder if it is productive or counter intuitive.

What I do is multi-book-reading. By that I mean I read several books at once.

How I do this is by having different books in different locations. And also several books in the same location. I have a preference for printed books. PDFs of books are handy occasionally for specific searches, but I really cannot read page upon page on a screen. Kindle may be nice, but I have not yet jumped on that bandwagon.

This multi-book effect is partially due to laziness, as when I am in the lounge I do not want to have to walk back upstairs to my study if I get a sudden urge to read or fetch a book. So I always have a half read book in the lounge. (Currently in the lounge I am re-reading the Kanban book by Anderson).


In my study I naturally have bookshelves loaded with computers books, especially java, and always a couple on my desk. I tend not to read too long in this room (then why is it called a study?), but a quick few paragraph while the pc is rebooting etc a few times a day. The reference books however might be referred to when needed. (Current study books are Seven Languages in Seven Weeks by Tate and Continuous Delivery by Humble & Farley)

On my bed side table there may be a fiction book. I don't really want to think too much when trying to sleep.

At work I would also have a mini library as I also tend to evangelise and lend books to colleagues. So I usually have a half read book or two or three there as well. Again for quick glances while rebooting etc, but also for longer reads during lunch if I go by myself. (Just finished ReWork by Fried & Heinemeier Hansson and Linchpin by Godin)

When I am out-and-about e.g. queuing for the till in a shop, waiting for the bus or at lunch when I forgot a book, I use the Aldiko e-book reader on my Android phone. Being a sucker for offers at O'Reilly for epub formatted books I have quite a few on my phone. Aldiko is excellent, but the small phone format is in essence rubbish for reading books over time. It is good for quick 1-5 minutes reads but no longer. And useless for reference books as the overview of the page is difficult. (97 Things Every Programmer Should Know by Henney is good for 5 minute reads)

For longer commutes by train or plane I tend to bring an actual book. If I do this regularly I should probably invest in a Kindle. (Read bits of Specification by Example by Adzic on the plane recently)

I tend do a lot of quick reads. As a stop gap filler between other events. Maybe work interrupts, maybe it is some element of ADHD, or probably our 6 months old daughter. This means I constantly waste time remembering the context of where I am in the book.

Longer reading periods is usually a holiday pattern. This would then often involve more fiction books. I read the Night's Dawn trilogy^[2][3] over the last few holidays.

Some books I might skim read chapters to get a gist of but I know I can revisit them if I need to know those sections in detail in the future. Some books I never finish. I would say a good third or more in library I have not finished or barely read. Some turned out just not interesting, some are just skim read while others are consequences of multi-book-reading and lower down the reading priority list.

So this multi-book-reading means I do read a lot of books. But it also means I do not finish enough books. Not very "kanban" or "one-piece-flow" :)

Required reading

Should a development team/department have a required reading list?
A list containing books (articles etc) that each member should read.


I think so.

Required

I am not sure if “required” is the right concept, “strongly encouraged”, incentive linked or similar is perhaps enough emphasis.

Also “Should read” does not mean all books have to have been read before joining the team, more a list of books to read while in the team.

Why

To gather a common basis for discussions and choices within the team. To grow the competence of the team and ensure more correct decisions by having more relevant information. By reading and updating themselves the team is exposed to new ideas and can discuss and grow their understanding of this at work.

Unanimous agreement

It should not be requirement to agree with the contents and aim of every book, however it should be a requirement to have read it so that it can be discussed. In favour or quite the opposite only adds to the discussion quality.

Never read them all

You should never be finished with the the “Reading list”. If the list is too short and you have read all of them (or even based it on your own previously read books) then you become complacent and not open to further competences and ideas.

List evolution

The list should grow continuously and irrelevant/outdated items should be pruned from the list. The list should perhaps be put into sections, and also prioritised if large.

No reading

Team members that does not read nor update themselves in other ways, do you want them in your team? They may be great right now, but will they stay that way? I am always wary of people that do no expose themselves to new thinking. Can I really trust their convictions on a solution for an issue is the most prudent solution?

Some people are very productive and valuable without updating themselves. It is rare and uncommon however.

Pretend readers

Some colleagues will perhaps say they have read or reading books from the list, but have no intention of reading anything. There should probably not be any need to quiz them to ensure knowledge, in due time their evaporating competences will show their true colours anyway.

Book qualification

How do you select books on the list? Initially perhaps senior team members, architects etc could select a small selection of relevant books. But as the team grows the list should probably be suggested and voted on by the whole team to ensure common consensus and introduce newer not mainstream suggestions.

Reading speed

An interesting issue would be how to ensure that people do actively read. That is not just up to the individual, but should perhaps be part of incentives, part of project cost and time allocations. That is a harder sell, but will pay itself over time.

Some people though can read fast others not, some have no life and can read all weekend, others have 15 kids and no spare time. As long as they “are” reading I would be happy. 1 book per year or 10, it is all good.

Not related titles

Perhaps the list could contain subjects not related to the specific teams function. Fictional, philosophical books? Perhaps not.

My reading list

If I were to list books I would probably include many items I have not read, just skimmed or even agree with. I also do not have a great amount of time to read books either, but I force myself. I get the odd for free for reviewing, buy a few related to projects and a few hobby subjects, totaling 4-8 per year.

To list suggestions for teams similar to mine (enterprise Java, finance sector):

• Design patterns (Gamma, Helm, Johnson, Vlissides)


• Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture (Fowler)


• Enterprise Integration Patterns (Hohpe, Woolf)


• Mythical Man Month (Brooks)


• Peopleware (DeMarco, Lister)


• Agile Project Management With Scrum (Schwaber)


• Succeeding with Agile (Cohn)


• Kanban (Anderson)


• Kanban and Scrum (Kniberg)


• Clean Code (Martin)


• Working Effectively with Legacy Code (Feathers)


• Effective Java (Bloch)


• Java Concurrency in Practice (Goetz)


• ReWork (Fried, Heinemeier Hansson)


• 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know (Henney)


• REST in Practice (Webber, Parastatidis, Robinson)


• Seven Languages in Seven Weeks (Tate)


• UML 2 for Dummies (Chonoles)

Any comments or suggestions are welcom.