Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

I have previously joked that if you could somehow combine Neal Stephenson and Douglas Coupland, you’d end up with a dense, well-researched, character driven story.

Over the years, Stephenson has got better at writing people and Coupland has added more plot. Just as I argue that Snow Crash was the sweet spot for Stephenson, I think that Microserfs is for Coupland. (Don’t @ me. That’s an opinion, not an objective truth.)

Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

I’m not sure how much of backstory of this [affiliate link] book I understood when I first read it, but I enjoyed the ride so much that I ended up doing some research into parts of the story. This enhanced my appreciation of the book, since Stephenson had clearly done the same research!

Stephenson’s later books took this mingling of fiction and history and science to the next level, but this was the first of his books that I read and, in my mind, is still the sweet spot.

Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

In many ways, this choice [affiliate link] represents travel writing in general. Theroux has written a lot of books that could fit the bill. The reason I include this one is that, towards the end, there’s a very much warts-and-all description of his return journey. He’s bored and hungry and homesick. Many writers would have skipped this part, or at least glossed over the worst parts, but travel isn’t all glamour. Its inclusion here is what makes it a classic.

Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

Many people in the computer industry don’t understand how we got here. Well, maybe not here. Due to the passage of time, it would be how we got to the mid-nineties.

This book [affiliate link] does not pretend to be objective or complete, but talks about both the technology and the people that got us from the invention of transistors to Windows PC. What I love about it is that it focuses on the people rather than the technology, yet still manages to put the technology into perspective. The writing is also very chatty and full of character. So much tech history is stodgy or dull or inaccurate. Empires is none of those things.

Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

At some point I realised I would never be a great programmer. It’s possible that point came when I read this book, where Bentley [affiliate link] iterates on a number of problems, gradually improving them. Maybe I couldn’t do what the author does, but it’s a fascinating, well written journey.

Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

William Boyd is a great novelist [affiliate link], and this is (possibly) my favourite of his. The impact it’s had on me, in a way, is that the main character is very much flawed. It’s good to be reminded that no one is perfect.

Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

I was given the first edition of Code Complete [affiliate link] in a training course in my first job, post-university. My Computer Science degree covered a number of sophisticated but impractical techniques for software engineering, the most memorable being testing. By comparison, Code Compete was incredibly refreshing. Its advice is practical and pragmatic, yet based on solid research and experience. It also rarely says “this is the way” to do something. Instead, it will list the advantages and disadvantages of various approaches. I treat with suspicion anyone who advocates for One True Way to do something.

Part of the Twenty Books in Twenty Days series.

As I type this I am wearing a t-shirt with the slogan “Don’t Panic” on it. Douglas Adams [affiliate link] was always going to make a “best of” list from me. Might as well get it out of the way at the start. The combination of science fiction, satire, and the quality of the writing just works for me. I am one of those people who is forever quoting the books. Sorry, not sorry.

I’ve been following and participating in the twenty books in twenty days hashtag on Mastodon. It’s described as follows:

20 books that have had an impact on who you are. One book a day for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, just book covers.

I’m going to cheat. I am going to explain my choices. The posts that follow are all part of the challenge. As with my annual reading lists, these are not reviews per se, more notes, observations or thoughts that occur to me as I read them.

For a while, this book [affiliate link] was everywhere. It was recommended on podcasts. Every second person on the Tube was reading it. Friends suggested I take a look.

In the end, I added it to my queue at the library but its popularity meant that I had to wait six months for it to become available!

For various reasons, I wasn’t able to read it in the three weeks loan period. I could have waited another six months to read the end, but I was invested enough to buy a copy.