leyton.org

A good few years ago I contributed a couple of chapters to the book ‘Theory and Practice of Relational Databases’, which was the set-text for a number of university database courses. We setup a website to compliment the book for errata and so forth. I do still rather chuckle at the disgruntled student review on Amazon.

Time passes, and people move on. The book was never going to be a best-seller, but the commission – such that I get – no longer really covers maintaining the theorypractice.org domain we used, as universities change their texts and staff retire. But the book is still out there, and folk may still be looking for the content.

So this is just a public way of saying we’ve retired the website now, but you can still find the content at leyton.org/theorypractice.org should you so wish.

It’s not often you get to write about running and books at the same time. The few running books I have are quite technical books, dealing more with the actual process of running and providing a reference point for my questions. They’re not so much in them about what it is to actually be a runner. Consequently, they’re more functional, reference material, and there’s not much to be said for writing about them, much as I don’t really feel the need to write about dictionaries!

Saturday’s Guardian has an extract in the magazine from Haruki Murakami’s forthcoming book “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” therefore jumped out at me. It’s an excellent piece – well worth a read by any other runners – and as a result I’ve got the book in my shopping basket already. There are some superb extracts about the joys of running: the thoughts you have, observations you find yourself making, routines and mantras you go through, and the challenges you face. One section jumped out at me, particularly in light of my comments yesterday about running being every bit a mental challenge as a physical one:

One runner told of a mantra his older brother, also a runner, had taught him which he’s pondered ever since. Here it is: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” Say you’re running and you start to think, Man this hurts, I can’t take it any more. The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand any more is up to the runner himself. This pretty much sums up the most important aspect of marathon running.

Click here for the full article.

Frances is coincidentally currently reading Norweigian Wood, by the same author, which I gave her for Christmas. I’ve heard great things about that book, and hoping to read it when she’s finished. I just hope she doesn’t finish it just before this book comes out!

I’ve been a big fan and customer of Amazon for years, and remember placing orders back in the late 1990’s, not long after they opened up in the UK, for (technical) books that proved hard to get hold of in high-street bookshops.

I find their selection hard to beat, and combined with frequently very competitive prices, and excellent service, they’ve simply slotted in as a trusted company for many of my purchases.

I was intrigued to read about Amazon Prime when it launched in the US, and later over here. For an upfront fee (currently £49), all your purchases are shipped first class for a year.

It didn’t appeal at first, I just figured I didn’t need to order that many things to justify it. But I recently saw there was a free one-month trial available, which I figured was worth a go at, given I did have a few items on my shopping list. Now I’m a bit worried it’s changed the way I buy books for good! I was recently browsing in Borders in town, and saw a book I quite liked. On returning home, I looked it up on amazon, and ordered the book, saving myself £3 on the Borders price. OK, the £49 divides out over the course of the year, but the convenience and speed with which items come (no more batching up big orders to save) makes it a whole different experience.

Well worth considering if you love books as much as I do. Take a look at the details here.