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https://opensea.io/collection/books-39
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
@msms
A mega-thread of all the books I read in 2024. The setup: one cast per book (from oldest to most recent)—title, author(s), an impression and a link. Comments, questions and further recommendations welcome.
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
@msms
Here's the thread from 2023. My personal site also has my active reading tracks, quake books and top reads from 2022 and 2021. 2024's will go up once I've done the year's annual review. https://warpcast.com/msms/0x71239ef2 https://www.msweet.net/
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
@msms
Now, let's kick off my 2024 reading mega-thread. First up, the texts begun late in 2023 and finished in early January 2024...
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
@msms
Being-Time: A Practitioner's Guide to Dogen's Shobogenzo by Shinshu Roberts. A fun text which highlights (amongst other things) one of the central tenets of Dōgen's Sōtō school of Zen: that the duality between enlightened and unenlightened is BS. I'm kinda convinced—it helped nudge me away from "happy" and "unhappy" as dominant "inner game" labels, at least. https://wisdomexperience.org/product/being-time/
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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How to Grow a Robot by Mark H. Lee. This one's about developmental robotics and how we may facilitate the growth of machines, rather than merely building them. With the increasing pace of developments in AI, I suspect we're going to have to begin thinking in these sorts of paradigms by default, especially at the end user level. https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262043731/how-to-grow-a-robot/
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Illustrated) by J.K. Rowling. I didn't realise I had this on the shelf—it turned out to be a fun, lightweight holiday season read. https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix-9781408845684/
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
@msms
Adaptive Oncogenesis by James DeGregori. I really enjoyed this. The proliferation of cancerous cells is more than just the accumulation of cellular biological trials. Evolutionary dynamics—such as occupying reproductive lifecycle phases or being at the upper end of human lifespan—and the enveloping tissue macro-environment are big factors. The biggest factors, perhaps? https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674545397
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Every Man for Himself and God Against All by Werner Herzog. Herzog is the epitome of an unreliable narrator. All the same, this was interesting and contained some harrowing autobiographia—like knife fights with a sibling. I enjoyed the earlier set of interviews produced in collab with Paul Cronin more. https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/447206/every-man-for-himself-and-god-against-all-by-herzog-werner/9781529923865 https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571259779-werner-herzog-a-guide-for-the-perplexed/
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Memories of Ice (Malazan Book of the Fallen III) by Steven Erikson. I mean, it's Malazan. I've read it multiple times and I will shill it to anyone who 1) likes epic fantasy and 2) can stomach long reads. Just read it, goddammit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memories_of_Ice
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
@msms
Leftovers from 2023—done. Moving onto the proper 2024 texts...
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell. My second foray into the work of Alan Moore. It's easy to see why he's cited as a seminal artist. From Hell was a real blast, blending thriller vibes was Masonic ritual and London history and geography. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Hell
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Meeting the Universe Halfway by Karen Barad. I'm no physicist, nor a philosopher, but this text resonated—it argues for viewing phenomena as entangled and actions as embodied. It seems to present a different path forward for meta science. https://www.dukeupress.edu/meeting-the-universe-halfway https://newmaterialism.eu
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Once and Future Vols. One to Five by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, and Tamra Bonvillain. My final sequential art read before I switched back to regular texts. A dark, Arthurian romp that places the power of narrative at the core of the story. Gorgeous visuals, too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Once_%26_Future
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Cancer affects practically every person in some way or form and it was fascinating to see how it evolved from an almost unacknowledged phenomena of sufficiently advanced biological systems into an organising force for much of modern medicine. https://siddharthamukherjee.com/the-emperor-of-all-maladies/
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
@msms
Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World by Malcolm Harris. Reality is not history is not lore—this applies to Silicon Valley, too. Harris is by no means a neutral observer, but his recounting of the region's arc from gold rushes through railroads, defence, personal computers and contemporary Big Tech provides a good start for sensemaking SV's position today. https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/malcolm-harris-2/palo-alto/9781529430875/ https://contraptions.venkateshrao.com/p/on-lore
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick is a simple approach for doing product discovery and understanding end users. TL;DR: their life is more important than your idea, past specifics are more valuable than generics / opinions about the future, and one should talk less and listen more to what they have to say. It's definitely impacted my thoughts and actions concerning a lot of things. https://www.momtestbook.com
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Talking to Humans by Giff Constable is similar to the Mom Test in some respects. It offers a bunch of tactics and tools for the latter half of the pre-PMF discovery arc; "build s*** and talk to people". https://www.talkingtohumans.com
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Microhabitable by Fernando Garcia Dory, Lucia Pietroiusti and others. It's a reader focused on the micro—scopic, political, economic. My favourite essay was by Marisol de la Cadena and concerned the irreconcilable conflicts concerning the Amazon—what exactly a territory is and what relations make it is the ground truth that none of the parties can gain consensus on. https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/microhabitable/ https://www.marisoldelacadena.com
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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House of Chains (Malazan Book of the Fallen IV) by Steven Erikson. I'll say it again. Malazan; epic; read it. And this is one of my favourite in the original ten book series—so much happens, and the array of characters is just divine. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Chains
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Effectuation: Elements of Entrepreneurial Expertise (2nd Ed.) by Saras S. Sarasvathy. To some degree, the mythologising of entrepreneurs (a practice that should have a wider scope than tech founders) is correct. There's disproportionate risk assumed in a lot of cases, which I think is the main myth-making requirement. But, as this text helped me realise, what's really valuable about such endeavours is the audacity. The knowhow required to do it? That can be learned. Effectuation is one approach for doing that. https://effectuation.org/effectuation-books-and-chapters
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Galileo Unbound by David D. Nolte. If you want to speedrun the history of the science of motion, this is the way to do it. https://galileo-unbound.blog
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate. I came to this text looking for ways to help me focus more easily on the most important thing, and to learn how to unattach from things that get stuck in my attention. That kinda happened? At the least, I picked up a new frame of reference for some of my long-held tendencies and dispositions. https://drgabormate.com/book/scattered-minds/
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Matthew McDowell-Sweet
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The Infinite Machine by Camila Russo. I didn't know much about the world of Ethereum—either technically or historically. I still don't, really, but I'm in a better state than before. https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-infinite-machine-camila-russo?variant=32123333836834
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