Mert Topcu
My first book by “Thây”.
As the name suggests, the collection of his writings.
It definitely offered new perspectives to expansion of known Buddhist concepts for me.
As my path took me to this book via reading couple books about Buddhism and brain plasticity, based on the title and description, I had big expectations from it. However unfortunately, I was pretty disappointed.
Maybe if you are a beginner for Buddhism, brain plasticity and/or meditation, this book can be a good starting point. However do not expect much about Buddhism other than couple sentences in each chapter with a reference to some concepts which are very deep in nature to cover in couple sentences.
It did a poor job having a good structure explaining the brain, its functions and different parts.
Of course, there were some good paragraphs in it, I especially liked the last chapter about Self. And added “Small Boat, Great Mountain by Ajahn Amaro” to my reading list. But still...
Disclaimer: I don't think Alan Watts' style is for everyone but it is definitely for me. This is the forth or fifth book / audiobook I've read/listened and I continue to be amazed by his style, voice and humor.
This audiobook is a collection of some of his talks. The collection all together is cohesive. However there are some minor repetitions. Which I like because the concepts he talks about are not easy for me to digest with just one pass.
Anyways, I love Alan Watts' works and this is a really great one to listen to.
Good intro to Langston's poems who I believe is a great poet especially given the context .
This is definitely a non-beginner book in the spectrum of spirituality. The reader should have somehow started their spirituality journey even as only in the form of questioning and being open to different realities before reading this book imho.
That said, this book may help to advance the reader to next levels in their spirituality journey or at least equip the reader to do so in a very convincing and meaningful way.
I really appreciated the poems and stories spread out in the book.
Kept the constant but not so intense suspense right from the beginning. It was never super exciting and/or shocking but it was very clear that this was by design.
Ishiguro takes you a very deliberately plotted journey during which little pieces revealed in a steady manner.
“I'm not crazy, I'm just not you”
Not direct quote from the book but it's from DG.
Not for everyone but for everyone.
He's a savage indeed (as he calls himself) and he offers more depth and continuation of his story to his previous book.
Second time around, it did not have the impact it had when I first read it when I was a teenager. Probably that is expected.
Still one of my favorites.
Challenging the rational thinking in a philosophical way against a backdrop of motorcycle road trip.
Very inspiring for everyone who is either already a runner or thinking about starting to run.
I just got a little lost at the beginning for some reason. But really got into it later.
I am a little disappointed with the content of the book with which I'm familiar from his other works, including mainly his talks.
I can imagine a reader who is not familiar with Alan's philosophy in whole not to be able to understand it by just reading this book.
That said, I enjoyed reading this book which gave me a little more deeper look at some of his concepts.
Amazing.
I started listening to Alan Watts' talks in You Tube. Then I bought the audiobook of this book.
Loved it. His style is a little more analytical for some people but it fits to my thinking perfectly.
Before I finished listening to the audiobook, I ordered a hard copy of it so that I can open a chapter (one of his talks) and read again in the future because I am sure every time I read, I will get something new out of it.
3.5
Breadth over depth:
Touches on so many different aspects of a person's career.
Mentorship over stories (although the stories he touches on are super interesting, at least for this Bay Area resident, tech enthusiast, ex-Googler).
Opinionated which is usually great but when you know he misses the mark, it's painful (e.g. coaching vs mentorship means something totally different than what he talks about, etc).
And of course, his opinions are influenced and strongly shaped by his experience, which is quite a journey however it's one journey.
That said I enjoyed parts of it, and learned things here and there too.
A collection of different and very deep ideas, concepts served in a very shallow manner, under a new framework.
There are even misrepresentation of some of these concepts. I'm not an expert but I don't think Nirvana, The Way is same as the flow. Or dopamine is now known to be more than feel good hormone, etc.
If you are at level zero of knowing/understanding compassion, mindfulness, and vulnerability and exercise, it may be a potentially good starting point. Otherwise, nope...
I read “Do Hard Things” by Steve Magness right before that and realized he and Brad S. co-authored another book. The funny thing is that there are a few concepts, examples they use in both of these two separate books. I find that pretty interesting...
Brain plasticity is fascinating to me. It's a very informative book with real stories which I also appreciate.
However there was something about the language or style which I found a little dull.
And +1 (6 stars).
Ruth Ozeki is awesome.
I loved “A Tale of Time Being” too.
Characters, flow, depth and breadth of topics, questions raised, language...
All pretty awesome imho.
The end seemed fast forwarded compared to the rest of the book and some topics sounded too serious and important not to go deeper but all accepted. All fits. All flows.
One of those “I couldn't put it down” books.
If you're seeking the usual time management tactics, this book might not be your cup of tea.
However, if you're intrigued by delving into the intricacies of our connection with time, its profound influence on our existence, psychology, and the possibility of reshaping that connection for a richer life experience, then this book could be just what you're looking for.
What captivates me most is Burkeman's adept blend of philosophical insights with nods to other authors, spiritual figures, and diverse sources.
It's not just about managing time; it's about understanding our relationship with it on a deeper level, and Burkeman navigates this exploration with finesse.
This book is the collection of Jeff Bezos' annual shareholder letters and a few transcripts of his speeches (and articles).
No need to buy a book to access them.
Reading annual letters is almost like a time travel however after a point it gets boring (around when Amazon reaches $100B revenue :)).
Kazuo Ishiguro is an exceptional writer, no questions asked. He has a very unique, clean style and intriguing creativity around fiction stories.
He doesn't disappoint in this book either.
I had a very interesting experience getting into this book though: I had difficulty getting into it when I started reading it first. But things changed when I continued the book while listening to its audiobook version, which was narrated beautifully.
For some reason, the end felt a little flat compared to the build of the story.
First five star review of the year.:)
Literally, read this book in one sitting. I admit that I was on a 9hr plane ride hence had a lot of time on hand but still it's not very common for me to start and finish a book in one sitting. And yes, I did squeeze in a movie at one point but I was done before I landed on Amsterdam.
Loved this book.
My first Elf Shafak book. Easy read and powerful story.
However more importantly, it takes place in the complex city, Istanbul, where I was born. And reading about Istanbul, its different parts and uniqueness I know very well was very nostalgic and enjoyable in a deep way.
I had this very strong feeling of knowing what she was talking about.
I like the friendship story too.
If you take away (a) the video game history (b) some computer structure basics and (c) how many time he wrote his association with MIT, there's a 3-5 pages of an article left where he goes over why Simulation Hypotheses explains some scientific unknowns and aligns well with Anglo-Saxons religions and Eastern beliefs.
That's all there is.
Painful to listen the audio book at times.
If you are into running and especially training and marathons, I highly suggest this unique story from a veteran writer-runner fake pro runner (as he calls himself throughout this book), Matt Fitzgerald.
Missing one start out of five is for the missed opportunity to have a second or third sub story line(s) around one or two pro-runners as well as a slightly smoother writing imho.
If you are training for a marathon or half for that matter, you will find this book inspiring too.