I thought it was about time that I started to better my current game coding practices, so I hunted around for a good book. I wanted something that was different from the normal run-of-the-mill, readable, good reviews, and with a focus on C++. I have eventually chosen "Game Programming Patterns" by Robert Nystrom. I like the guy's style and I'm already inspired after the first couple of chapters! So the next couple of month's are going to see me taking a little breather from Esenthel, whilst I practice what I read!

Always a good idea. As well as often providing inspiration and motivation it helps avoid the wasted time going down 'blind alleys' ... and god knows I've been down enough in my time

Always a good idea, both taking a break and learn, then come back equipped with stronger weapons. Good luck

Yes, us oldies need to clear those cobwebs a little more frequently than most!

This should account for all programmers in general I'd say! It's always good to freshen up on things, or even just read occasionally papers-books on programming, learning other styles etc, heck I even sometimes dig into old books just for fun, you never known what you might learn(to do or to completely avoid) or if you do the extra step like I try to do mostly, is every piece of code you find that you think looks well written - clean, keep those snippets in mind when writing new code allowing you to write better structured code for later use.

I also tend to like breaking code apart making it less flexible and more strict, and the other way around just for fun.