An In-Progress Problem

I was watching a video clip of Ken Schwaber talking about scrum software development, and he got into an interesting problem. (Well, interesting to some of us.) This was the "in-progress problem." It arises when you find that you have many tasks started, but few or none of them are being brought to a conclusion.

For the rest of my comments on this problem, as it relates to my reading list, go here.

This takes one in a rather different direction than Mortimer Adler's classic How to Read a Book. I don't think it ever occurred to Adler to provide instructions on how to read fifteen books at one time. Is that because Adler was so systematic that he read only one book at a time? I find that hard to believe. I think all of us like some variety, and what we're reading in the daytime in pursuit of some project may not be what we want to read before going to bed.

I think I got into the habit of having a number of books underway at one time in college, when I was reading textbooks, and other works, for a number of courses at once. I had to have several books going in parallel.

I'd be interested in hearing about other people's experiences and approaches to this reading in-progress problem.

Where'd Everybody Go?

Here it is the 28th of January, 2009, and this is the first post to the Cafe Third Edition since December 30, 2008. Thirty dry days, people. I think it's time to make a little racket to find out if anyone is out there checking in on the blog from time to time.

I haven't been as busy as I'd like to have been over at my blog, Knight's Castle. (There's a link from here to there over on the right-hand margin.) I have only posted one item of substance in January: some thoughts on Obama's cabinet selections and what that portends for his administration. I have continued my "Knight's Reading List" series with the numbers for April and May 2008. Those were both pretty short, but June is a whopper, and I hope to publish that one before the end of the month.

I also started a new series of pieces to attract the addicted reader: Foreign Affairs Bestsellers. Those of you who don't subscribe to the premier magazine of American foreign policy and international affairs may not be aware that each bi-monthly issues contains a list the fifteen best-selling hardcover books in the field. There is some overlap from month to month, but new books do come onto the list as older ones fade away. I have published the lists from the January/February, the March/April, and the May June issues of Foreign Affairs. Somewhere in there I hid a link to the Foreign Affairs website, so that you can see the current list without waiting for me or the magazine.

Finally, I've decided to spread out into full-length book reviews. (That means about two pages in 12-point type.) I have published two so far, both on important aspects of the conflict between the West and the Islamic world. The first was Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed, by Evans and Phillips (2007). The second was Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism: A Call to Action, by George Weigel.

Y'all come by Knight's Castle and see what we're doin' over there. Comment on our posts. If you'd like to be a contributor, just let me know, and I'll set you up.

While you're thinking about blogging, make a contribution to Cafe Third Edition, too.