I usually take it easy and read one or two books a month, and if I read more than one, I try to choose different subjects. That way I can spend an evening reading several books in a row and not overload my brain with too much content on the same topic.
When it comes to learning something related to programming, I always prefer hands-on experience over reading theory, so I usually turn to YouTube, FreeCodeCamp, Laracasts, or Udemy first. Then when I want to sharpen my knowledge and become advanced in a subject, I start reading books.
This Month's Book Selection
It is January, the first month of 2023, and I have decided to start the year with two books and a few comics:
Eloquent JavaScript, 3rd Edition: A Modern Introduction to Programming by Marijn Haverbeke (programming)
Unlocking the Keto Code by Steven R. Gundry (healthy eating)
The Amazing Spider-Man Comic Books (2022)
I will go through each book and briefly describe why I chose it and how I feel about it.
Eloquent JavaScript, 3rd Edition: A Modern Introduction to Programming
Progress at time of writing: finished 6 chapters out of 22
I have had this book for about two years now, but I have never finished reading it. I read the first five chapters and then dropped it because of the heavy workload. Now I decided to try again and already reread those five chapters and continued.
This is a great book if you want to improve your JavaScript knowledge. It starts with the basics and gets more complex as you read. But this is definitely not a book for someone who has never coded before, it covers some complex topics and I think it will be difficult for non-technical people to read. If you want to learn JavaScript, I recommend you try it out by watching YouTube or other video tutorials and then return to this book in the future.
Almost every chapter in this book has exercises for readers to complete on their own (it has tips at the end, but if you want actual solutions - you should visit the website mentioned in the book). I use Replit to practice those exercises because it has a great code editor, the ability to run a server and version control, so all my code is synced with my GitHub repository.
Unlocking the Keto Code
Progress at time of writing: finished 5 chapters out of 11
I feel like the title of this book (I mean the second part) is a bit too loud. However, this is a great book if you have had a keto diet experience before or want to try it in the future. Personally, I try to follow a relaxed keto diet, eating more fat and protein and fewer carbs, usually no more than 50-60 grams a day.
I am halfway through this book and for me who does not have a lot of experience in the subject, this book is pretty easy to read. It is not only about the diet itself, but the author also describes how the diet works and what benefits (or harm if used incorrectly) it can bring. I also liked how the author gave some examples of how this diet affected his patients.
In the book, you can find information about the history of the keto diet, ketosis, new information and discoveries about ketones and the role of mitochondria in the human body. The most valuable part for me was the information that helps to achieve the best results on the keto diet (things to do and eat to instruct your mitochondria to uncouple). I am not going to go deep into details (you can read the book), but for those who do not know, some potential benefits of mitochondrial uncoupling include weight loss and fat burning, improved insulin sensitivity, increased lifespan, antioxidant effects and more.
The Amazing Spider-Man Comic Books
I am a huge fan of both Marvel and DC, and reading comics is one of my hobbies. If I read several books a day, I usually read the most difficult book first, then the less difficult one, and finish with the comics. Since I mostly read in the evenings, I find it helps my brain cool down before going to bed.
I recently found some The Amazing Spider-Man 2022 comics at a local comic shop and immediately bought them. Now I want to try to find the missing books so I have a complete collection starting with #1.
The end. I hope you found this information helpful, stay tuned for more content! :)