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P1: Read 4 Books in 10 Days — Log

Status: Failed

Oz Akan
Project Me

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I chose these books:

I have already finished 25% of Blind Spot, so I will have to read 1244 pages in total. This means ~120 pages every day. If I read a page in 30 seconds (oh, can I?), it is an hour a day. With the amount of work I have, I am not sure if this is possible but, that is the point. If I was sure to accomplish this, what would I learn from this experience? So, hoping I won’t fail but knowing the likelihood of failure, I am committing to finish these four books in 10 days.

I plan to write a few words about each book when I am done.

PS: P1 is, Project #1

Day 1 of 10: Early Start

I woke up 4:50 am this morning using jetlag to my advantage and started with Ghost in the Wires. I have 4 books to finish in 10 days. For simplification in math, ignoring the fact that I had read 25% of Blind Spot, I need to read 10% of each book every day. My plan was to read each book, one after another and see 10% progress but Ghost in the Wires is a very exciting read and couldn’t drop it.

Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker

amzn.to

I am at 28% which is less than 4 x 10%. Although this book is one of the longer ones, I think today I didn’t read as much I should. It is almost 9 pm at the moment, I was reading for the last 30 minutes and I am sure the time Kindle predicts it will take me to read a chapter is a little shorter than I really need. I find myself thinking about what I read. I think that is why anyone reads, to think and reflect what is written. Maybe I am slow thinker…

After a few e-mails, I will drive home and try to read some more. Probably I will start another book though.

I decided to continue with Ghost in the Wires as it is pretty interesting and easier to read before bed time. I stopped reading at 34%.

Status update

Day 2 of 10: Time, not will, is the challenge

This morning while having a quick breakfast I was able to read a few more pages which moved my progress from 34% to 35% on Ghost in the Wires.

The challenge I have with reading four books in ten days is not about the will or lack of interest in reading but time. I have not more than an hour to read each day as work is pretty time consuming. I have other functions to maintain as well. Sleep is the most daunting one, then comes healthy eating, running, working out, recovering from jetlag, dealing with headaches…

I am working on an amazing project these days something that will benefit many. There is a chance it will be open source, maybe I could create a project for it here as well though I am not sure if it is a good idea to have two projects going at the same time. Maybe, if these two projects are in different areas of my life and doesn’t really push the limits of my “will” reserves.

I will write an update towards end of the day once I read some.

I was able to read for ~2 hours before sleep and this took me to 60% on Ghost in the Wires. I plan to switch to a different book tomorrow as I also want to experience reading four books at the same time and finish them around day 9 & 10. I had read somewhere that reading multiple books in parallel helps to improve something in the brain or maybe I haven’t read it. It even has a name: poly-reader.

Status update

Day 3 of 10: Starting The Third Book

This morning after breakfast, I started to read Grain Brain. It was a short session about 15 minutes but I felt the author’s style is far from boring as sometimes it is with these kind of nutrition books.

Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar — Your Brain’s Silent Killers

amzn.to

I like reading on nutrition and recently changed my diet from low fat to high fat / low carb diet. I was not really thinking about my brain health while doing so but was more interested in the effects on my body. I had heard some people had good responses to not consuming gluten even though they were not allergic to it. Grain Brain focuses on brain health and how gluten & carbs affect brain in the long term.

After some push during the night hours, I was able to get to 12% with Grain Brain which is less than I should have done. I am going pretty slow if I want to finish these books in 10 days.

Status update

Day 4 of 10: Saturday is Long Enough to Finish a Book

My grand plan was to read for 3–4 hours on Saturday. Only then, I would be able to be on track and have a chance to accomplish my goal. Having a plan is one thing, executing the plan is another. Then came the news which kept me awake until 5 am in the morning. Eventually I woke up, had a breakfast and went out to Starbucks to read some.

I started with Grain Brain and read for about two hours. Then I had to work for the next several hours. Before dinner, I reserved another hour for reading and continued with Ghost in the Wires.

Ghost in the Wires is starting to get closer to the end which I expect to be the most exciting part as @kevinmitnick is about to be arrested. I always know who Kevin Mitnick is but never knew really about his story. Fascinating book.

Status update

Day 5 of 10: Sunday for Fourth Book

As soon I woke up, without leaving the bed I started to read How Children Succeed. This is the last book of four I set a goal for myself to read in ten days. So, as of today, I am reading four book in parallel.

In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough argues that the qualities that matter more have to do with character: skills like perseverance, curiosity, optimism, and self-control.

Book is based on research and tries to provide a new perspective which I like. I like these paradigm shift moments when you learn something that invalidates everything you knew for so many years. Grain Brain does the same, about cholesterol.

These books are based on new research, like all “most recent search reports” they are the best until someone comes out and invalidates all the claims. It is common sense to take them with a grain of salt. Asking questions is always important but since the real truth is very difficult to figure out, it is all about choosing an action plan based on the information as one can process to his capabilities.

How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character

amzn.to

PS: I am running fever, feeling not well. Last week I had the same for 3–4 days. I hope this one will not last that long…

Status update

Day 6 of 10: Monday, sick, unplanned

Life as it is, always creates obstacles. A hard to accomplish goal becomes a miracle to finish. Maybe not that bad, but there are so many things out of our control, that long term plans usually don’t work.

Now I learn that, in my “4 books in 10 days” challenge, high fever and nausea would be the unexpected factors to make it ever harder for me to accomplish my goal. Yesterday (Sunday) I went to bed around 8 pm and slept until 7 am in the morning. According to fitbit 10 hours of it was sleep. I think I hadn’t slept 10 hours for many many years. Sleeping is good, helps recover I guess but for the sake of my challenge, it is not good.

Today feeling better, I read Blind Spot for 1–2 hours during the evening. Switched to other book. Overall, after a long day, I think I couldn’t read more. Tomorrow evening, assuming I’ll feel better, I will try to read 2–3 hours. Maybe then, I will have a chance to accomplish my goal.

Status update

Day 7 of 10: Some Progress but Hopeless?

Feeling better today, I read Grain Brain for half an hour right after the breakfast and another hour after dinner. I liked the book for the details it provides and the way it reads.

Below is a passage about antioxidants which is an industry on its own by now. Author describes how these elements won’t neutralize oxidized molecules on their own, as we can never get enough of them if it was the case, but instead how body uses them to make oxidized molecules ineffective.

Several natural compounds that turn on antioxidant and detoxification pathways through activation of the Nrf2 system have been identified. Among these are curcumin from turmeric, green tea extract, silymarin (milk thistle), bacopa extract, DHA, sulforaphane (contained in broccoli), and ashwagandha. Each of these substances is effective in turning on the body’s innate production of key antioxidants, including glutathione.

Just before sleeping I read a few pages of Ghost in the Wires as I wanted some action. I kind of don’t want to finish this book before finishing some others as it drives me to read.

Looking where I am with the books, it doesn’t look like I won’t succeed in my first project. (While writing this negative statement, my optimistic side say, come on you can do it, just don’t sleep Friday night! And I prioritize sleep these days over anything as my health seems to require more sleep than I usually get)

Status update

Day 8 of 10: Last Three Days

It is time to start believing in miracles. As with all projects, when the inevitable end gets closer but still haven’t knocked out us, we tend to have hopes in something great to happen that will save the day. It won’t happen. Never happened, likely won’t happen.

Today I read from 6 to 8 while having dinner then coffee. Then, I wanted to work on this amazing project I have for a while. It is getting closer to be materialized so I couldn’t stop myself from working until late night on it and didn’t read long enough.

How Children Succeed turned out to be a book not as practical as I expected. It is full of research, very well written but so far, it is all some ideas I will remember but not enough action items. I read more than half at this point, can’t wait to see how the final two chapter will develop.

As seen below, I have a desperate reading pace. I am about to accept, I’ve lost. I don’t even have another weekend day with enough hours to dedicate to reading. Let’s see…

Status update

Day 9 of 10: Thursday Reading Night

I planned the day, to come from work around 6 pm, eat very quick and dive into reading and I did as I planned.

I started with Ghost in the Wires and finished pretty quickly.

Then I moved on to How Children Succeed. I was at 75% of the book and I found that rest of the book was just the references to the sources used in the book. It is amazing to see one fourth of the book is dedicated to the references. I liked this though as it proves how reliable the content is or how much research was involved in writing this book. I am disappointed in the book as I couldn’t find my prescription like advices in the book but overall it is a very good read, exciting at time, educational most of the time.

Status update

Day 10 of 10: Final Day

Failed. Not that it was unexpected but I still had the hope. I read many hours to finish remaining books but couldn’t finish all. Blind Spot is half way done. It is fun to read so, I will finish it in the next few days.

While reading these books I highlighted many sections from these books on my Kindle. Highlights and notes are great features of Kindle. I think Kindle is the single most useful technology dedicated to a single purpose I have ever used. I love it.

Below is a section from How Children Succeed. I highlighted on my Kindle and copied from the web interface on kindle.amazon.com to paste here.

This is about modern life stress;

…our stress-response system, like that of all mammals, evolved to react to brief and acute stresses. That worked well when humans were out on the savanna running from predators. But modern humans rarely have to contend with lion attacks. Instead, most of our stress today comes from mental processes: from worrying about things. And the HPA axis isn’t designed to handle that kind of stress. We “activate a physiological system that has evolved for responding to acute physical emergencies,” Sapolsky writes, “but we turn it on for months on end, worrying about mortgages, relationships, and promotions.”

Status update

Books
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P1

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Oz Akan
Project Me
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Written by Oz Akan

263 Followers
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Passionate about automation, event-driven computing, relativity and running.

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