serendipity on S Anand https://www.s-anand.net/blog/tag/serendipity/ Recent content in serendipity on S Anand Hugo -- 0.164.0 en-us Wed, 11 Jan 2023 03:20:40 +0000 Picking books to read https://www.s-anand.net/blog/picking-books-to-read/ Wed, 11 Jan 2023 03:20:39 +0000 https://www.s-anand.net/blog/picking-books-to-read/ <p><img alt="Picking books to read" loading="lazy" src="https://www.s-anand.net/blog/assets/book-hunter-1.webp"></p> <p>I add book recommendations to my <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/39713492-s-anand?order=d&amp;ref=nav_mybooks&amp;shelf=to-read&amp;sort=avg_rating">GoodReads – To-read list</a>. Then I sort by rating and pick the first one I like to read.</p> <p>In 2023, I&rsquo;m <a href="https://www.s-anand.net/blog/my-year-in-2022/">reshaping my environment</a>. Picking books I usually won&rsquo;t pick. (Read <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21913640-the-unknown-unknown">The Unknown Unknown: Bookshops and the Delight of Not Getting What You Wanted</a> if you want to be similarly inspired.)</p> <p>So here are 4 approaches I&rsquo;m adding to my process.</p> <ol> <li><strong>Algorithmic</strong>. Sort <a href="https://www.kaggle.com/datasets/bahramjannesarr/goodreads-book-datasets-10m">Kaggle books</a> based on popularity, rating, and age. Pick the top 10 (or 50)</li> <li><strong>Serendipitous</strong>. Go to bookstores and libraries. Pick the most popular books</li> <li><strong>Award-winning</strong>. Pick from the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize">Pulitzer</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booker_Prize">Booker</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature">Nobel</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Award">Hugo</a>, and other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_awards">award</a> winners</li> <li><strong>Challenges</strong>. Pick from <a href="https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/reading-challenge-2023-49013480">Popsugar</a>, <a href="https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2023/">Book Riot</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/genres/reading-challenge-2023">Goodreads</a>, <a href="https://www.the52book.club/2023-reading-challenge/">The 52 Book Club</a>, and other <a href="https://www.girlxoxo.com/the-2023-master-list-of-reading-challenges/">challenges</a></li> </ol> <p>FYI, here are algorithmic results (for books with 100+ ratings and a 4+ average on Goodreads):</p> <p><strong>Top rated books</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24812">The Complete Calvin and Hobbes</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8">Harry Potter Boxed Set, Books 1-5 (Harry Potter, #1-5)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/95602">Mark of the Lion Trilogy</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24814">It&rsquo;s a Magical World (Calvin and Hobbes, #11)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54741">Toda Mafalda</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/165068">The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/70489">There&rsquo;s Treasure Everywhere (Calvin and Hobbes #10)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/862041">Harry Potter Series Box Set (Harry Potter, #1-7)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59715">The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes: A Calvin and Hobbes Treasury</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10">Harry Potter Collection (Harry Potter, #1-6)</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Most popular books</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767052">The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19063">The Book Thief</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4667024">The Help</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3">Harry Potter and the Sorcerer&rsquo;s Stone (Harry Potter, #1)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3636">The Giver (The Giver, #1)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43641">Water for Elephants</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2429135">The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium, #1)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/136251">Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Harry Potter, #7)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28187">The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #1)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99561">Looking for Alaska</a></li> </ul> <p><strong>Oldest books</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100779">Reminiscences of a Stock Operator</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/773951">The Story of Ferdinand</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/356321">The Story of Babar (Babar, #1)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/105097">Ten Little Niggers</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/153542">Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/153540">The Little House</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/156871">Christianity and Liberalism</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7777">McElligot&rsquo;s Pool</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133526">Blueberries for Sal</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2549">A Tear and a Smile</a></li> </ul> https://www.s-anand.net/blog/autocorrect-is-serendipitous/ Fri, 16 Sep 2022 05:16:24 +0000 https://www.s-anand.net/blog/autocorrect-is-serendipitous/ <p>I built an internal app that nudges people to respond to calendar invites in Gramener.</p> <p>A colleague replied, &ldquo;&hellip; this is really helpful for improving hobbits&rdquo;.</p> <p>#Autocorrect is delightfully serendipitous. I promptly watched all three #films in the Peter Jackson Hobbit series 🙂</p> <p><img loading="lazy" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4f/The_Hobbit_-_The_Desolation_of_Smaug_theatrical_poster.jpg"></p> <p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Ashare%3A6976408425404518400">LinkedIn</a></p> Top 20 dictionary searches https://www.s-anand.net/blog/top-20-dictionary-searches/ Thu, 24 Jan 2002 12:00:00 +0000 https://www.s-anand.net/blog/top-20-dictionary-searches/ <p>The <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/top20.htm">top 20 dictionary searches</a> on Cambridge&rsquo;s dictionary puts <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?dict=B&amp;key=serendipity*1+0">serendipity</a> on top. It means &ldquo;the lucky tendency to find interesting or valuable things just by chance.&rdquo;</p>