---
aliases: ["Summer Reading Sprint"]
Is A: Project
Belongs to: "[[24q3]]"
Advances: "[[responsibility-learning]]"
Status: Done
Owner: "[[person-luca-rossi]]"
---
# Summer Reading Sprint

## Overview

July and August are traditionally lighter months for the newsletter (sponsors pause, audience engagement dips during European summer holidays), which creates space for deeper reading. This project set an intentional reading goal of 6 books in two months, focused on history, business, and philosophy of science — topics that inform the newsletter's intellectual depth without being directly "content research."

The sprint contributed to [[2024-read-24-books]] and was structured around dedicated morning reading blocks (7:00-8:30 AM, before work) and longer sessions during weekends. The mix of topics was deliberate: history for perspective, business for practical frameworks, and philosophy of science for clearer thinking about complex systems.

## Goals

- Read 6 books in July and August (3 per month)
- Topic mix: 2 history, 2 business, 2 philosophy of science
- Write brief reading notes for each book in the vault
- Identify at least 3 ideas from the reading that can be developed into newsletter issues
- Maintain the reading habit: minimum 45 minutes per day, 6 days per week

## Key decisions

- **Curated list, not discovery-driven.** Selected all 6 books before the sprint began rather than picking the next book after finishing one. This avoided the decision fatigue that usually slows down reading between books. The list was finalized in late June.
- **Physical books only.** Committed to reading physical copies rather than Kindle during the sprint. The tactile experience and absence of screen distractions improved focus and retention. Kindle is fine for casual reading, but for a concentrated sprint, physical books won.
- **Notes in the vault, not Goodreads.** All reading notes written as markdown files in the personal vault rather than on Goodreads or a public platform. The notes are for personal reference and newsletter idea generation, not social signaling.

## Notes

- Completed 5 of 6 books (83% completion). The sixth book (a dense history of the Scientific Revolution) was about 60% finished by end of August and completed in early September. Close enough to call it a success.
- The standout read was "The Innovator's Dilemma" (re-read) — it directly influenced thinking about the newsletter's competitive dynamics and informed two Q4 newsletter issues on disruption in developer tools.
- Morning reading blocks worked exceptionally well. The consistency of a fixed time slot made the habit nearly automatic by the third week. This approach has been maintained beyond the sprint.
- [[person-marco-bianchi]] recommended "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (Kuhn), which turned out to be the most intellectually challenging and rewarding book of the sprint. The concept of paradigm shifts maps surprisingly well onto how engineering organizations evolve.
- Three newsletter issues in Q4 drew directly from the reading: one on Christensen's disruption theory applied to DevOps tools, one on historical patterns in technology adoption, and one on mental models from philosophy of science. The reading-to-content pipeline works, but with a 2-3 month delay.
