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I enjoyed Ramit's Netflix show and podcast, but this book fell short for me. I was expecting more case studies exploring the phycological/emotional connections to money (like the show/podcast).Looking for a getting started book? I'd recommend [b:The Simple Path to Wealth: Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life 30646587 The Simple Path to Wealth Your road map to financial independence and a rich, free life J.L. Collins https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1466299641l/30646587.SY75.jpg 51187846]
Almost 4 stars. A unique take on the popular “startup” story - selling physical goods and the challenges of international distribution before the internet. Knight draws you into the cheap, cramped, and messy offices where the world-renowned Nike brand was born and has you rooting for the Portland underdogs as if you were watching a championship match. Since I used to follow the running circuit, I was excited to recognize a number of names - Bowerman and Prefontaine to name the biggest.
The one thing that held this book back was Knight's blatant disregard of historical accuracy. There were several times where he explicitly calls out remembering an event differently than what he/others had documented, but Shoe Dog only shares the version in his memory. A major disappointment to be left hanging at these moments.
Would recommend. Doubly so for anyone interested in getting a physical goods business off the ground and/or big Nike fans :)
I've enjoyed other books from Gretchen, but this book did not inspire me the same way [b:The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing 22318578 The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Marie Kondō https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1418767178l/22318578.SX50.jpg 41711738] did.
Claude Shannon is one of the names I wish I had known a long time ago. He's credited as the “father of Information Theory” and was the first person to apply Boolean logic to electrical circuit design. His life was one of straightforward success, and Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman do an excellent job of transcribing Shannon's relatively secluded life into this biography. I'm impressed this book was a collaboration; the writing style and vocabulary is consistent throughout.
Shannon didn't seek fame or fortune. He dove into problems because he personally wanted to find solutions. A practical mathematician, he frequently built his own gadgets and devices to model and demonstrate solutions.
THIS is how you write a technical book to reach the masses. Tyson goes deep where necessary and only highlights the rest to connect the dots.
Condensed, focused, and to the point, this book is a very fast read given the technical nature of the topics.
A collection of short stories. 4+ stars for The Husband Stitch (I correctly guessed the plot twist early on, but it was still a fun read!) and The Resident. The other stories were a mixed bag for me.
WOW! Truly an amazing book.
Noah gives deep insight into his childhood growing up during apartheid/post-apartheid South Africa. Rarely did he fit in with any of the ethnic circles, but he always found a way through it all - largely due to the strong relationship and respect he had for his mother.
I expected him to talk more about his rise to fame and the transition to professional comedy, but he strongly focuses this book on his childhood. By doing so, he drives a clear message of the cultural challenges he faced and far from the typical “holier-than-thou” tone so common in memoirs.
I'd highly recommend this book to anyone.
It's not often that a book exceeds my expectations, but Musk's biography blew me away. I almost didn't read this because I've already heard a lot from both the pro- and anti-Musk camps, but I'm incredibly glad I picked it up. He's determined, driven, lucky?, and successful - and it's been a roller coaster of a life. Looking forward to what SpaceX and Tesla do next!
The Sword of Truth series is in my list of favorites, so I grabbed Death's Mistress without a second thought once I learned it was in the same universe. My guess is that Goodkind is hoping this book will be adapted into another TV series. He even works in the “recap of the last episode” at the beginning of many chapters. Basically, I'd read the same key dialogue twice. It was frustrating as well as a bit confusing (Haven't I been here before?). In other words, I'd basically read the same key dialogue twice.
Death's Mistress follows Nicci and Nathan as they explore the Old World to bring them the good news of their new ruler - Richard Rahl. I'd strongly recommend reading at least a few of the mainline books first. Although Goodkind does a good job of including 2-3 sentence flashbacks and overviews of back story to make this book standalone, you'll miss out on the full impact of some of the dialogue if you haven't read the other books.
I found Foundation #2 to just be “ok,” and a slog to get through. There are a lot of time and space jumps between chapters that make it difficult to follow along. However, there's a great twist at the end!
Second Foundation (not to be confused with Foundation #2, Foundation and the Empire) brings back the excitement to the Foundation series. Arkady's spunk springs up the pace and gives the book a bit of a Sherlock Holmes feel (in a good way).
Interesting premise of psychohistory! Particularly since I was reading Homo Deus at the same time, using data to predict the movements and actions of society is not too far fetched. Lots of interesting plot twists and turns, so I'll be picking up book 2 soon! I will admit that the frequent gaps in time from chapter to chapter threw me off in the middle.
Evicted sheds a unique light on the rental market from both the poor tenant and entrepreneurial landlord perspectives. Desmond dives headfirst into Milwaukee to understand the people and the housing conditions of the cheapest rentals in the white and black sides of town. His storytelling draws you in, and if it wasn't for the occasional statistic, you could easily mistake this as a work of fiction.
Rents in Seattle are soaring and homelessness is on the rise. Although I knew about these issues before reading Evicted, I didn't understand just how difficult it can be for people to make decisions on whether to pay rent, gas, electricity, or grocery bills in a given month. Once one or two payments are missed, it's nearly impossible for people to catch up since rent consumes such a significant portion of their income - paying a security deposit for a new home means something else has to give.
I agree with Desmond's final argument that government subsidies should allow more poor to reach the “spend only 30% of your income on housing” standard we have in America today. This isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, but it's a significant step in delivering basic needs and should improve our society as a whole.
I liked it! Interesting insights into the study of animal cognition, and de Waal does an excellent job of bringing the reader into the test lab (or forest) with just the right amount of technical and experimental detail to make you believe you are sitting opposite the animals as they prove their far-reaching abilities. Members of the animal kingdom provide a spectrum of cognitive abilities, and this book brings you into the highlights of modern behavioral research. The argument of this book is that human vs non-human is a terrible concept when analyzing cognition, and frankly, de Waal delivers an iron-clad case.
Personally, animal research isn't something that I typically think about, but thanks to reading this book, I understand the importance of continued funding particularly for how it helps us better understand ourselves.
If I'm going to nitpick, I wish the author wouldn't have delivered a straightforward answer to the title question in the intro. I was left with my enthusiasm deflated - why should I continue reading?
Definitely would recommend to anyone interested in animals or the scientific method in general.
Recommended from Bill Gates (gatesnotes.com)A perfect follow-up to [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]! Yong argues that we are far more than our DNA. This book clearly outlines the development of microbes, our understanding of their role in the modern world and specifically in our gut, and the potential future of leveraging microbes for specialized medical treatment. There's a huge stigma that bacteria=bugs=bad and that anti-bacterial _____ are some of the greatest developments of modern society. In reality, only a very small percentage of bacteria are pathogens and the rest are either beneficial to humans or other players in the global ecosystem. Crazy enough, I was able to meet a microbiologist (shoutout to Anneka!) in addition to a geneticist recently. For some reason, they found my “for fun” books to be peculiar choices. :P My greatest takeaway from this book is the importance of studying other organisms (animals, plants, and microorganisms) so that we can better understand ourselves. The human genome is incredibly complex by itself, but when you also consider that there are ~100 trillion bacteria living in/on an average human, it becomes evident that simplifying the study of the human body to a single genome is a gross simplification. Humans (and all animals) have symbiotic relationships with the majority of the bacteria we interact with every day - and these are essential to our survival.I'd highly recommend this book to anyone open to challenging the misconceptions society has about germs and bacteria.
A fun short read! Sherlock Holmes never ceases to be exciting, and I'm glad this particular story was recommended to me. For those of you who are hooked on the BBC show - remember that the book is set around 1900, so you don't have any spoilers.
Amazing writing and an incredibly interesting field of study. Turns out that Bill Gates recommends great books :)
It's unfortunate that progress in genetic research is painstakingly slow. The medical, moral, and ethical challenges merit both the continued push to discover more and the regulations that hold the scientists back.
After reading Mukherjee's book, I firmly believe that genes will be the next “bytes” in our society. It's not a question of if - but when. It's made me question what role I want to have in this revolution...
AMAZING! Sanderson brings an Inception-like feel to this book because you never know whether good or evil is winning. Book 2 dragged on, but The Hero of Ages is non-stop action and adventure - I could hardly put it down. Lots of great character development (except for Sazed in my opinion) and subtle tie-ins from the first two books that you won't catch until Sanderson explains what was there the whole time!
My recommendation? Read the first two books solely for the purpose of reading this one. You won't be disappointed.
100% met my expectations. Super cheesy, but in a good way if you enjoyed KonMarie's first book. Spark Joy is about how to organize your remaining stuff to help you build a home that you'll be enjoy coming home to.
Just “ok.” If you didn't take computer science classes, there's probably more here that would interest you. For all my tech friends, it's not worth the read. So much of this is was a rehash of concepts I was already familiar with - both theoretically and their applications into everyday life. But hey, simulated annealing and Erlang curves. What's not to love?
Sad, sad, sad. Excellent book, and the emotions really got to me toward the end (thus no star rating). Kalanithi does a fine job of detailing the technical medical procedures during his extensive study and practice as a neurosurgeon - and somehow found the time to develop great prose! A great read and would highly recommend - but make sure you know the ending first.