One of my favorite “under the radar” authors is Robin Sloan. He’s not a prolific writer, but he has written two of my favorite books: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore and Sourdough: A Novel. If you haven’t read either of these novels yet, I highly recommend. They are both fun, adventurous reads.

When the Goodreads newsletter announced that Sloan was coming out with a new book, The Suitcase Clone, I had to take a look. When I saw that it was part of the Penumbra-verse and a prequel to Sourdough, I had to read it.

Progressive’s Dr. Rick commercials are favorites among me and the family. I suppose it’s because a lot of them hit just a little too close to home. I’ll be the first to admit that he’s nailed more than one of my mannerisms that’s had the kids giving me “the look.”

When I saw that there was a book coming out, Dr. Rick Will See You Now, imagine my surprise. The summary was that it was advice from Dr. Rick himself on how to not become your parents. I figured it would be a fun read. And when it was promoted as a free download from Amazon, I jumped on it.

Turns out, it wasn’t what I expected.

Many years ago, a good friend of mine had me read the Michael Murphy classic, Golf in the Kingdom. I knew how to play the game, but Murphy’s book helped me understand it. On the surface, golf is a silly game. You try to hit a little white ball into a small hole with a bunch of crooked sticks. But at a deeper level, the game can teach you a lot about yourself, people around you, and the world in general. Golf in the Kingdom helped me grasp the depth of the game.

That same friend recently gave me a copy of Rick Reilly’s book, Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump. The book is a collection of stories and anecdotes detailing Trump’s involvement and interest in golf, both on and off the course. I thought it would be an interesting read to test my theories about golf being a generally good indicator of a person’s character.

It’s the year 2002. I’ve lost my phone while on a business trip – a company issued Nokia 6110 that was over 3 years old and showing its age. I usually carried the phone on a belt clip, and it must have popped off while in a cab or rental car. At my next destination, I go to the nearest AT&T Wireless store and purchase the Nokia 8260. A much smaller phone, it fits neatly in my pocket. In my mind, phones have arrived. The technology has peaked.

Fast forward 20 years and it’s hard to believe how far phones have come. That device I kept in my pocket that was only good for making phone calls has evolved into an extension of my life. The advances in mobile technology has changed not only how business is done but also how our society functions. I’m not sure anyone could have had that level of foresight in 2002.

Phones are just one of many radical technology advancements over the last 20 years that have altered how we live. Given the amount of change over that time, imagine how hard it would be to predict what the future will look like 20 years from now. It’s a near impossible task, but one that authors Kai-Fu Lee and Chen Qiufan take on in their book AI 2041. Through ten short stories, they envision what the world may look in the year 2041 and the opportunities and challenges the advances in technology will present.

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut reading the same authors, which is not necessarily a bad thing. For me, I enjoy peering into the imaginations of Blake Crouch, Daniel Suarez, Andy Weir, Eliot Peper, and A.G. Riddle on a regular basis. However, I also find it enjoyable to explore new authors. The storytelling changes. The ideas are different. And who knows, I might even discover a new author to add to my regular reading rotation.

For my latest author exploration, I decided to read Extracted by RR Haywood.