&gt; But I learn way more if I find a problem I want to solve.
Me too, that&#x27;s why I only keep recommendations in a list, that I don&#x27;t get&#x2F;buy right away. However, many people have lists of &#x27;totally essentials&#x27; that I try to read first (e.g. Jeff Atwoods recommending Code Complete)<p>&gt; the moment you buy them you commit yourself to learn something from beginning to end
Well, not always, I remember studies (can&#x27;t find the source) where the majority of the books bought are never even started. That&#x27;s why I like subscriptions better, where you can just open a book to the parts that interest you.
Writing a book involves much more work than a blog post, and it&#x27;s also motivated by other factors. Specially in technical books, I&#x27;ve heard the rewards are little, so authors usually write a book to gain reputations, which is fine, but definitely requires much more thought and effort, and some times you can tell.
Relevant articles by Atwood:
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