Book reviews
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An Elegant Puzzle by Will Larson
This book is a nice handbook on how to manage well… for everyone. The book is written for managers in larger companies or start-ups, but the lessons and lessons and tools are easily applicable to anyone. And I do mean applicable. The biggest advantage of the book is that it is very practical. A lot of books on management topics tend to be higher level, Will Larson gives you specific advice.This style shines when the author gives you a framework to work with.What stuck with me was his framework for project management and solving common problems with teams. I also admire his no-nonsense approach to strategy and vision. In his books, these documents sounded like something you really wanted to have, rather than documents full of corporate BS. There are a lot of resources that the author recommends so if you are solving a specific problem it is a great place to start and then dig deeper into the recommended literature. I think this was the best 10 dollars I have spent in a long time.
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Babel by R.F. Kuang
Books are the ideal medium for sharing feelings and experiences that are otherwise unavailable, and Babel is the book that proves it. It is set in colonial England, powered by silver bars inscribed with translations, in a society that on the one hand desperately needs foreigners and on the other will never make you one of them. I really enjoyed the language and style, as I would expect from a book about language. The story itself is good, with a few plot holes that did not stop me from enjoying it. Listen to the podcast with author and then read the book.
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Caliban's War by James S. A. Corey
Almost a year after the first book was released on audio, the second in the Expanse series has finally arrived and I am glad I waited for it. The production is simply epic. The author continues his style of writing from the perspectives of several characters who come together at the end, in this case on a spaceship. Notes Amazon -
Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish
Clear Thinking is one of those books that comes at the subject from a different angle than you might expect: instead of a deep dive into decision making and tools for making smart decisions, the first part of the book is about how to avoid getting into a position where you have to make a bad decision. The second half then focuses on how to make the decision itself. Nice short book full of insight.
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Discipline Is Destiny by Ryan Holiday
Well curated and really well written set of stories about discipline. Do not expect advice or how to’s but if you are looking for inspiration this is the book to read. I personally picked up a few stories/quotes that I find myself repeating quite often, although I am not really a quote person.
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Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt
This book was added to my reading list when I was reading An Elegant Puzzle. The part on engineering strategy was very praising. When I picked up this book, I was joining a new team and one of the problems I faced was what to focus on in the first few months. This book helped me articulate a strategy that was far removed from the usual corporate BS you hear all the time. The book is divided into two parts, the first of which covers what strategy is not and why we have so much bullshit strategy around. The second part covers the how. The key takeaways for me were - Strategy must address concrete problems - Strategy needs to address weaknesses and strengths, both ours and our competitors’. - Strategy must have leverage
Do not read unless you want to get angry every time someone presents you with some BS disguised as strategy.
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Govt Cheese: A Memoir by Steven Pressfield
One of my favourite books on creativity, writing and courage is A War Of Art by Steven Pressfield. In this new book the author reveals how he arrived at his approach to writing. During his life he was at rock bottom, unable to write without money. Through a series of hard, low-paying jobs, he built up the grit he now praises. The book is also about calling, whatever the author is good at, writing books is what calls him in the end. The book is really well written, the short chapters really help and I was able to finish the book in a couple of days. But I was expecting something more, some new idea, but I just got a nice story and a better insight into Pressfield’s mind.
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Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The history of the USA is a fascinating subject and the people who are elected to the highest positions are a great topic to study. Leadership in Turbulent Times is actually a short biography of four US presidents, focusing on the events that shaped the way each president led his people. The most interesting part was the realisation of how much courage the US leadership has lost in the last 50? years. I cannot imagine the things described in the book being dealt with by the current leadership. Do the right thing, even if it is unpopular, and do it in a way that benefits you in the end. Personally I would reduce the number of presidents covered and make the book shorter, I tended to lose focus towards the end of the book.
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Mastery by Robert Greene
I started reading the more famous 48 laws of power and have not finished it. This should warn me before starting another book by the same author. It has exactly the same problems and style as the other books. Too long, too repetitive with few interesting points. I have no problem with most of the points, but the examples chosen were often repeated between chapters or there were two where one would be good enough. I would like to read a more edited version of this book.
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Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple
First book in my own little research into the East India Company and the British Empire. Recommended by Cole Wehrle in the notes for the game Pax Pamir (one of my favourites). The book covers the whole of the British Endeavour with the Afghans, from the spy prelude to the massacres on both sides. The most interesting part was, ironically, the last few pages, comparing the US situation in the region with the one the British created for themselves. Another interesting part was the prelude, which reminded me of the clear thinking part of the book, which was about getting information as close to the source as possible and considering the motivations of the informers, if those things were taken into account by the heads of the John Company, the story might be a lot less bloody. The reason for two stars is that the book did not read well, there were a lot of unnecessary anacrhony words. Add one star if you are interested in the period or want to understand Afghanistan today.
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The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal Ph.D.
If I could read only one book on the subject of willpover, procrastination and all similar topics, this would be it. Based on a semester course at Stanford, each chapter is a lecture with a set of experiments and techniques that will help you with all topics related to willpover. What is great is that the book not only covers the obvious things, but covers willpover as a complex topic with so many ways that we can fail. Fantastic, one of my best books of the year.
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Tidy First? by Kent Beck
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Trillion Dollar Coach by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle
Trillion Dollar Coach left me with three impressions. First, business is about people, get the people right and the rest will be much easier. Second, care about people, let them know when they do something good and also when they screw up, be honest. Finally, build communities, let people be together in informal settings. Fortunately, I used to have a manager who I saw doing these things and the results he had.
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