The books not to take with you

Lately I’ve been doing pretty well with the reading. I’ve found some page turners, and I’ve turned them. They’ve even found their way into my shoulder bag, which is something serious, because books are like rocks, and they are not fun to drag around.

And it’s been nice having them in there. I pull them out on the bus or when I’m waiting for people at a restaurant, or even when I’m in my office and I need a distraction.

Recently I put Paul Dourish’s book, Where The Action Is in there. That was a mistake.

It’s not that it’s not a great book… it is. I’ve even recommended it to people. Just that it’s dense and it’s serious, and most importantly: it’s work. Work is great, work is fun, I love work. But the book in the bag needs to be lighter than that. It needs to be a page turner. It needs to be the kind of book that you pull out in the checkout line, and find that you’ve read ten pages by the time the cashier starts scanning your groceries.

I think I’ve read the last chapter in the preface to Paul’s book about ten times. This is not the goal, people.