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Great read on how Catmull and crew built a successful creative culture in Pixar and continued to nurture it over the years. Also a balanced view of Steve Job's intensity with his willingness to compromise when others showed passion for areas where they were the SME. Detailed stories of movie production are mixed well with overarching concepts that can be applied anywhere.
Microsoft offered $90 million to Steve Jobs to buy Pixar - Jobs walked away.
Some select key themes from this book:
- Great teams are better than great ideas. Great people can make a mediocre idea into an awesome product (or throw it out and come up with a better idea). Mediocre teams might not be able to deliver even the best idea.
- Candid feedback on projects is critical. Everyone should be comfortable sharing negative feedback so we can deliver our best work.
- Failure will happen. Learn from it. Trust doesn't mean that people won't make mistakes; it means you stick with them even when they do.
The neighborhood background data is incredibly helpful. There's so much you can learn from just a few paragraphs that you'd otherwise miss if you just look at a map. It did help me find focus areas when searching for an apartment.
There is a mix of “antiquated” information in the book. Who needs a list of banks anymore?
First things first, I love cycling and thus books about riding. Instead of this book, I'd highly recommend [b:The Big Book of Bicycling: Everything You Need to Everything You Need to Know, From Buying Your First Bike to Riding Your Best 8311710 The Big Book of Bicycling Everything You Need to Everything You Need to Know, From Buying Your First Bike to Riding Your Best Emily Furia https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1317792211s/8311710.jpg 13160862]. My goal for reading this book was to hone my skills and pick up a few techniques. To say this book left me wanting more is an understatement. It reads like a collection of blog posts pasted together then bound into a book. The intended audience is unclear - it's as if Sumner tried to throw in a little bit for everyone, but that's going to confuse beginners and frustrate veterans. After only 4 pages dedicated to “Basics of Buying a Bike,” Sumner jumps into bike fit and throws in technical terms with little to no explanation (a beginner isn't even going to know what a stem is let alone how to determine if it's 70mm +/- 20-degree or why that's good/bad).Sumner repeatedly quotes the same few folks throughout the book, but reintroduces them every.single.time. It's a very quick read, so kill the filler words! Spend some time introducing each source the first time, then use only their name subsequently. When discussing on-bike nutrition, Sumner glazes over why some people will crave salt more than sugar, but goes relatively in-depth about the different metabolisms that fuel muscles. If this book is for beginners, it would make sense to explain the importance of replacing salt lost through sweat (and that sweat saltiness varies person-to-person). If it's for advanced riders, then an explanation of alternative low-carb diet options such as ketogenic would be valuable.I don't like writing negative reviews, but this is one book I'd never recommend. Get the Big Book instead.
Poor editing with some repeated sections. Other books in the 101 series have been a great entry point, but I wouldn't recommend this book.
I've been reading Cal Newport's blog for over a decade, so while his hypothesis/theory/philosophy wasn't new to me, I was curious how he'd organize his thoughts in a longer book format. I was not disappointed.
For those not familiar, Newport's ideology boils down to “put aside the question of whether your job is your true passion, and instead turn your focus toward becoming so good they can't ignore you.” Whatever you set out to do, do it to the fullest and always bring your best to the table.
I'd be interested in reading a direct rebuttal to this book, because I find the arguments straightforward and logical. That said, there was one example in the book where Newport failed to recognize survivorship bias (executive assistants on the job longer are happier with their jobs). This isn't necessarily because they grew to love their jobs over time, but rather could be due to people who don't like the job leave early.
Cracking the Coding Interview is a book everyone in tech has heard about (if not already read), but I was surprised that Gayle wrote a PM one too!
Want to land a PM/TPM position at a top company? Read this book.
Great example questions and resume advice, and a detailed breakdown of the interview process for major tech companies (and I can attest to this book's accuracy on that front). This is a book I'll re-read anytime I'm looking for a new role or when I become an interviewer myself.
The more I read and learn, the more I lean toward trying a low carb diet. Since cycling and general fitness/activity is important to my life, the insights from this book on the performance effects were particularly interesting. Maybe I'll try to convert after the summer?
4 stars for the content, but really only 2-3 stars for the writing and editing.
Thrilling! If you've never read this book, you should! I've never seen an author introduce characters the way Goldman does it. Truly a unique and exciting writing style. I enjoyed the intermixed plot lines and the “tangents” Goldman explores along the way.
I will say that I almost gave this book only 4 stars because of the epic and distracting length of the 30th anniversary intro, the 25th anniversary info, and postscript. Jump straight to page 1.
Another great Mistborn book!. Sanderson continues to develop the worldbuilding skills from the first book and expands upon the universe here. Still lacking is character development, or at least some that I'd like to see. Vin's emotions in this book are classic Young Adult fiction and overly done for my taste. That and the romance excluded, truly an awesome book. Word on the street is that book 3 is better. So far so good.
WARNING! The appendix of the book contains spoilers for book 3. Seriously, who let this through editing?
I picked this up because it was referenced in Deep Work by Cal Newport (which I'd definitely recommend). I feel bad for rating this book so low, but it seemed to just reiterate concepts and research I've already heard. Carr wrote this from 2007-2009, and it's age showed given it's focus on technology. I probably would have rated it higher if I had read it closer to the publishing date, but it was super interesting to read about technology of the last decade as “innovative” and “on the leading edge.”
Interested? Stick to the abstract and pick up a book on the “similar” list on Amazon.
One of my new favorite books! That's a hard category to crack these days.
I've never been so excited to have a book be this long. Page after page, Lynch continues to spin an awesome plotline where you never know what's going to come next. READ THIS BOOK!
Locke and Jean find themselves in twisted in so many lies and false-faces that you can just barely keep track of who's in charge - or so you think :)
No spoilers, but I was a little disappointed with a small part of the conclusion, but hey - no book can be perfect. The final ending was perfect though!
Could not finish this book, I put it down midway through Chapter 4. It was overly repetitive and the protagonist was unbearably simple.
Most books draw you in with the first sentence, but I should have stopped after reading this: “A small lizard perched on a brown stone.” Small? Brown? Were these the best adjectives available?
Also, A Spell for Chameleon is sexist. Female characters are generally depicted (~50%) as stupid, but always introduced based on how sexy they are. Completely unnecessary.
I hope the protagonist finds himself in the rest of the book, but I can't stick around to find out.
I got to Page 85 before calling it quits.
Mukherjee rocks. After reading [b:The Gene: An Intimate History 27276428 The Gene An Intimate History Siddhartha Mukherjee https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463591739s/27276428.jpg 46190748], I knew I had to pick, up this book. He has an undeniable skill of bringing complex medical concepts to life for lay-readers. That said, he wrote [b:The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer 7170627 The Emperor of All Maladies A Biography of Cancer Siddhartha Mukherjee https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1280771091s/7170627.jpg 7580942] before The Gene, and there's a clear improvement in his skills over the years. Several sections of this book were drags that took me a long time to get through. I happened to meet a geneticist shortly after reading this book (shoutout to Jon!), and I was able to ask meaningful questions about his research and discuss the historical context of his specific research. Our understanding of cancer is developing very rapidly, but it's far from straightforward. It's hard to believe that only a few decades ago there weren't any known health risks of smoking. Mukherjee mentions several doctors who stopped smoking cold turkey once they recognized the damage smoking was causing to their own patients.
Now that's how you build a world! Sanderson rocked the backstory of the overall universe - although I wish there would have been some more character development. Rumor has it that there are lots of plot twists coming in the future books and I'm looking forward to it. I'll keep reading the series for sure.
I should have written this review a long time ago :)
Exile picks up right where the first book left off, and Drizzt continues to amaze with his battle skills. This book is primarily about Drizzt “finding himself” along with the help of a few others along the way. Not as amazing as Homeland, but a solid sequel.
Satisfying ending that brings this book to a conclusion while still sets the plot well for the next installment.
Drizzt's adventures move to the surface world in Sojourn and Salvatore continues to keep the plot moving. Although it follows a similar format as the previous book (solo Drizzt, fights bad guys, finds new friends, new friendships are challenging because he's a dark elf, etc.), I still found it exciting and will continue the series.
Drizzt is my hero! Seriously, I'm a sucker for “special snowflake” protagonists as well as a good wizard and sword clash. Homeland excelled on both fronts! However, I felt that the elven culture and religion could have used more explanation from Salvatore. But hey- newsflash! Apparently this book fits into the Dungeons and Dragons universe! I didn't know that until after I finished the book, but I think that's for the best.
Definitely would recommend - especially to anyone who enjoys D&D.
Be warned - you won't be able to put it down! Kudos to both the author and the translator for bringing this story to the masses.
Battle Royale constantly shifts perspectives, but you don't get lost at all. That's some serious literary voodoo. Oh, and the plot line is awesome. Sure, you may have already read/watched The Hunger Games which were published 9 years after this book, but I promise you there's a lot of new material here. It's brutal, graphic, and dark but also honest. How else would the Program go down?
And just you wait for the ending :)
Interesting cultural note: I initially found it very difficult to keep track of all the Japanese names. Since nearly every book I read is “English first,” it's not an issue I encounter typically. Always good to be reminded of the biases we face every day - not every book character is going to be named Jill and Jack.
WOW WOW WOW. Recommended by a friend and so glad I picked it up fast. As a sucker for fantasy/scifi with a “special snowflake” protagonist, I couldn't put this one down. Reminded me a lot of the Kingkiller chronicles, The Martian, and Ready Player One. Immediately had to pick up the second book.
Incredibly dry, but very insightful. It reads like an economics book written for economists - except that Studwell does an excellent job of minimizing jargon so us laypeople can understand the concepts being presented.
Transforming a country from “3rd world” to “developed” is an incredibly difficult process, but Studwell breaks down how a handful of east Asian countries did exactly (or oppositely) that - particularly after WWII. Honestly, I feel as if I have a good handle on the steps for success in this situation. For those of us used to free market ideals and never considering concepts such as land reform, How Asia Works is a shocker. However, as you read the book, you'll understand more of the differences between developing and developed country policies and how governments can help society succeed as their countries move from phase to phase.
Slow to start, but talk about a cliffhanger ending. If you are going to read this book, you should make sure you have Abhorsen on hand to start reading immediately!
2-3 stars. It was a fun read, but detective work is a lot easier when you use magic and people answer your questions truthfully and give away more than a normal person.
A fun and interesting read. Definitely not a scientific investigation into the pitfalls of the attention economy nor a self-help book guiding you through the 8 steps to reconnect with the physical world. This book is more of a collection of thoughts that'd typically be shared while meandering through the woods over a series of hikes.
