Reading at Random

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"Not all who wander are lost." - J. R. R. Tolkien
I am one of the Random Readers(RR) . If you don't know who is qualified as a RR, please continue reading the description of a RR below. This piece is taken from a pocket-size book Reading At Random by Ben Ray Redman.

"To pluck a book from the shelf, open it at hazard, read a paragraph or page, thrust it back again only to dip into another of totally different character, and to continue this random reading so long as the wandering spirit lasts, directed only by whim or by some odd quirk of mnemonic association, this, I contend, is one of the true and legitimate enjoyments that a library affords."

Redman's succinct argument continues, explaining how random readers enjoy their unique style of reading at random.

"The random reader never reads for long in vain, and he is never bored, because a mere hint of boredom is enough to make him discard the offending volume. His way is unpremeditated, unpredictable, and exciting; he is for ever making small finds that are the dearer to him because they are accidental and the more memorable because of they are unanticipated;surprise lurks around the turn of every paragraph, and at any moment he is likely to find himself involved in a literary adventure of the first magnitude. And when that happens, of course, he ceases to be a random reader until he has followed the adventure to its conclusion. A single phrase persuades him to devour a volume, a page convinces him that he will not be happy until he is familiar with all its author's works.

The true random reader is a creature of chameleon temperament and flexible mind, quick to grasp shifting points of view and contrasting values, apt at intellectual acclimatization, happy in any literary atmosphere that is good and pure of its kind."

I also maintain a small library at home, and I am willing to lend to anyone who wants to take a look at any one of these books [ and promises to return. :) ].

Mummoorthy's Home Library
Book Title Author Language
Science: A History 1534-2001(06/2008-) John Gribbin English
The bridge of San Luis Rey(01/2008) Wilder English
Isaac Newton (01/2008) James Gleick English
Jonathan Livingston Seagull (12/2007) Richard Bach English
Cousin Phillis(01/2008) Elizabeth Gaskell English
Liber Amoris(12/2007) William Hazlitt English
Gilead(10/2007) Marilynee Robinson English
And Then There Were None(10/2007) Agatha Christie English
Journey to the Center of the Earth(2007) Jules Verne English
The Da Vinci Code Dan Brown English
A Mathematician's Apology(2005) G H Hardy English
The Tipping Point(2005?) Gladwell English
Life Of Pi(2004) Yann Martel English
A beautiful Mind Sylvia Nasar English
A Father's book of Wisdom H. Jackson Brown English
A Streak of Luck: Thomas A. Edison Robert Conot English
Advanced Compiler Design and Implementation Steven S. Muchnick English
Artificial Intelligence Patrick Henry Windston English
As a Man Thinketh James Allen English
ASP in Nutshell A. Keyton Weissinger English
Bioinformatics Computing Bryan Bergeron English
C++ How to Program Deitel and Deitel English
Classic Operating Systems Brinch Hansen English
Computer Algorithms Sara Baase, Allen Van Gelder English
Computer Architecture: A quantitative approach John L. Hennessy, David Patternson English
Computer Culture Heinz R. Pagels English
Cryptography and Network Security: Principles and Practice William Stallings English
Data Structures and Program Design Robert L. Kruse English
Design and Implementation: 4.4 BSD Operating Systems Marshall McKusick, Keith Bostic English
Design Patterns Erich Gamma Richard Helm English
Discrete Mathematics and its applications Kenneth H. Rosen English
Distributed Systems : Principles and Paradigms Tanenbaum, Van Steen English
Essential Computer Mathematics Seymour Lipschutz English
Eternal Quest Abdul Kalam English
Fifty(50) Ideas that can change your life Robert Anthony English
First things first Stephen Covey English
Fundamentals of Computer Algorithms Ellis Horowitz Sarjat Sahni English
Great Dialogues of Plato W H D Rouse English
Hacking Exposed Stuart MacClure Joel Scambray English
How the mind forgets and remembers Danieal L. Schacter English
How to solve it by computer R. G. Dromey English
Ignited Minds Abdul Kalam English
Inquiry: Questioning, Reading, Writing Lynn Bloom, Edward White English
Introduction to Design and Analysis of Algorithms Levitin English
Leadership Unknown English
Life's Little Instruction Book Vol I H. Jackson Brown English
Life's Little Instruction Book Vol II H. Jackson Brown Jr. English
Lord of the rings: complete J R R Tolkien English
Management Thoughts Pramod Batra, Vijay Batra English
Mastering C++ K R Venugopal, Rajkumar, T Ravishankar English
Microprocessors and Microcomputer-based System Design Mohamed Rafiquzzaman English
Modern Educational Psychology Dr. S. P. Chaube English
Object-oriented analysis and design Grady Booch English
On writing the college application essay Harry Bauld English
Operating Systems H M Deitel English
Operating Systems Tanenbaum, Woodhull English
P.S. I Love you H. Jackson Brown English
Pascal User Manual and Report Jenson Niklaus Wirth English
Prey Michael Crichton English
Program Style, Design, Efficiecny, Debugging and Testing Dennie Van Tassel English
Programming Embedded Systems Michael Barr English
Programming Microsoft Windows with C# Charles Petzold English
Remarkable Discoveries Frank Ashall English
Schaum's Computer Architecture Micholas Carter English
Schaum's Digital Principles Roger L. Tokheim English
Schaum's Discrete Mathematics Seymour Lipschutz English
Schaum's Operating Systems J. Archer Harris English
Software Engineering Roger S. Pressman English
Sun Signs: Linda Goodman Linda Goodman English
Teach yourself networking in 24 hours Matt Hayden English
Technical Communication John M. Lannon English
Technical Writing Sharon J. Gerson, Steven M. Gersen English
Ten(10) Secrets for Success and Inner Peace Dr. Wayne Dyer English
The 7 habits of highly effective people Stephen Covey English
The 80/20 Individual Richard Koch English
The C Answer Book Clovis L. Tonbdo Scott E. Gimpel English
The C Programming Language Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie English
The complete Reference Java 2 Patrick Naughton, Herbert Schildt English
The Complete Reference C Herbert Schildt English
The Complete Reference C# Herbert Schildt English
The craft of research Wayne C. Booth Gregory G. Colomb English
The existential pleasures of Engineering Samuel C. Flroman English
The expanded Quotable Einstein Alice Calaprice English
The HTML Example Book Edward Farrar Norman E. Smith English
The power of intention Dr. Wayne Dyer English
The Stages of Life Clifford Anderson English
The story of My experiments with Truth M. K. Gandhi English
They did what!? Bob Fenster English
Thiyanamum Athan Muraiyum Swami Vivekananthar Tamil
Thought for Today Prajapita Brahma Kumaris English
Tough times never last but tough people do Robert H. Schuller English
Turbo Prolog : Step by Step Ralhp Cafolla Albert Daiel Kauffman English
Unix network Programming Richard Stevens English
Using Active Server Pages Scot Johnson English
Using Structured Design Wayne P. Stevens English
Vazhkkaiyai Amaikkum Ennangal Dr. M. S. Udhayamoorthy Tamil
Word Power Made Easy Norman Lewis English
Writing a Successful College Application Essay George Ehrenhaft English