I go back and forth between reading novels and difficult non-fiction books. Also, I read in the morning with coffee and in the evening with non-caffeinated tea.
When I fall out of my reading habit, I restart it by reading a page-turner. Stephen King, Neal Stephenson, whoever.
When reading a difficult book (philosophy) I treat it like a serious undertaking, something I might not be ready for. I have a dictionary nearby. I'm here to learn, to struggle. And it's like a sport. But an extremely edifying and satisfying sport. It's like climbing a mountain. Some philosophy books require reading like three other philosophy books first. These are geniuses talking to each other, and I just get to watch.
And when I'm done with a difficult book, I follow it up with a page-turner. Alastair Reynolds, some comedy novel, or whatever.
I never read a book "just because it's a classic." That's no fun. There has to be something about the book that makes me want to read it.
And I try not to read multiple books at the same time. I'm currently breaking that rule.
Edit:
Also, find your niche. I never feel guilty about not reading. I just love all the experiences and ideas I get from books. You do it for the love of it. So find the kind of book you love. History (of Europe, of technology, of whatever), spy novels, whatever!
We try to discourage siloization of projects and emphasize cross-training
This is how my work has been and it allowed me to touch every part of the repo while still a junior dev and gain lots of experience. So I also like that. But lately I'm trying to specialize more and go deep into things, and I like the idea of being an expert on something. So I appreciate the trade-offs.
all bets are off with offshore contractors. Some want to learn, some simply don’t care and will do the bare minimum.
As a guy who was replaced by offshore contractors, and who hasn't had a single interview in 7 months while offshore contractors are (probably) still getting lots of work... I find this observation both heartening and disheartening.
That works when the docs are good and clear. Otherwise, we'll have to revert to communicating with each other for brief periods while the chat-bots train themselves on the new data.
I really liked the "Baron's" brand workbooks. I re-did some high school math with those. They explained the concepts and also there were many exercises to do by hand.
I don't think it makes sense to be walking on top of a thread of time, as if we are separate from time. Our being is inseparable from the thread of time. The fibers in the fabric are our experience, we are the fibers, and we still travel through a one-directional thread, no matter how tangled.
Also he learned to open doors. I have handles instead of knobs and he reaches up and paws at it until the door swings open. It's adorable but I can't keep him out of anywhere now.
I put up a toddler gate to keep him out of my bedroom but he leaps over it like a racehorse. So I had to buy a second one. He's desperate to explore this place that he's already explored countless times.
It sure do.