Based on a previous Friday Five, I've fallen way short on my reading goals. Or rather, I've ready plenty — just not the books I set out to read next.

Two of them, Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java and Kenneth Reek's Pointers on C are widely acknowledged as great (moreso the former). They combine lucid explanations, thoughful analysis and technical accuracy.

The problem is I don't work with Java or C and if I've learned anything about language specific books, it's this: if you read through a book and don't actively use the language while you're doing it, you won't absorb the material well. And if you don't use the language afterwards, you forget most of what you've read.

Since I don't plan on extensive use of either in the near future, my copies are collecting dust for the time being.

Then there's Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which seems to be one of those books that many people say everyone should read at some point. I suspect I'll end up with a strong opinion on this one.

And lastly there is Douglas Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach, which I tried to read before, but found too dense for what I was interested in at the time. However, it's at or near the top of almost every programming geek's non-tech book list, so it's probably worth reapproaching the work knowing it isn't light reading.

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