Sarah Schumacher
Be warned that this book is massive, but so good. For anyone wanting to understand the divisiveness of the current political climate, this is a must read. He does a good job of explaining how we use intellect to justify our preconceived notions, then lays out the moral framework those notions originate from.
For anyone reading certain other reviews, I felt he was respectful and fair throughout the book.
4.5 stars.
This was not at all what I thought it would be. Granted, any new book by Malcolm Gladwell gets added to the library list, regardless of what it's about, so I didn't even read the description.
It is not about how to make better conversation with strangers. It is a thought-provoking look at the kind of assumptions we make about reading people that are so deep we would never think about them if we didn't read books like these. Mostly. There were some sections that I felt were rather obvious, if not still instructive: Succeeding in public society is partly tied to your ability to present yourself well, whether you can be trusted or not. That's common sense. But can you tell who is accurately representing their character? Nope. And neither can intelligence agencies, judges or law enforcement. Because they're strangers. It's rather depressing to see studies on this and reminds me of some of the research showing that algorithms are better at investing than people.
The biggest takeaway, for me, was the origin of police officers making up ridiculous traffic violations in order to pull people over to look for bigger problems. This is such an obvious tactic that has happened to myself and multiple people in my family. Knowing that it originated as a solution to extreme crime for use in a certain way in a certain part of town and has been extrapolated to the entire nation... wow. A classic example of copycat strategy without understanding why the strategy worked in the first place. And is clearly causing more harm than good. I feel almost like this theme, which seems to be the goal he's working toward, should almost be a separate book. Not that everything in the middle isn't interesting, but this topic could stand alone. It feels like he started with his premise and wrote backwards.
Coupling, related to this, was also interesting, which is roughly another way to describe context. When you understand how reductionist Western society is compared to other parts of the world this isn't surprising.
I enjoyed his chapter on transparency, illustrated by the tv show Friends (which I have never watched), because I absolutely despise sitcoms, and I wonder if this is why. Not only are the plots unrealistic, the expressions are too.
I enjoy Malcolm Gladwell's books because they're a mile wide and foot deep. He makes you think in an engaging way, and his books are a quick read. It's enough to pique your curiosity or inform you of new research. The more in depth books—deep dives into a narrow field of study—are what I prefer to read, so his books give me references to more material (reading about his oversimplification of the “10,000 hours rule” vs. reading Peak, the book by that researcher, for example). Also my expectation of pop nonfiction isn't super high. This isn't his best work, but if you enjoy a little history, psychology, science and drama, it's an enjoyable book and will make you think twice the next time you're trying to read a stranger.
Quick read, lots of practical tips. It's essentially the one big thing approach (“highlight”) + removing distractions (“laser”) + analyzing (“reflect”) what worked/didn't work at the end of the day. Rinse and repeat. The fourth component: recommendations to keep your energy up, basic health stuff. That seemed a bit out of place in this type of book, but they aren't wrong.
I was definitely getting Austin Kleon vibes with the hand drawn elements, so it's more fun than a bullet list of do's and don'ts. If you're the type to constantly experiment with what works for you (bullet journalers...) and like reading about the experiments of others, you'll enjoy this book.
Essentially a collection of blog posts, but without feeling disorganized. I'm normally not a fan of that format, but in this case I'd rather read from a book than a blog, and later reference to specific chapters will be helpful.
I've read her blog, am familiar with and mostly in agreement with her parenting approach, so I knew what I was getting as far as content. If you like the idea of respect being a central tenet in dealing with children, her writing is a good place to start.
Don't read this when you have anything to do or anywhere to be. It's gripping.
After finishing this, I was struck by several things:
1) how important it is that realization, and consequently change, happens internally. There are several characters in the book that see her situation for what it is, and Tara can't comprehend what they're saying. It's like someone is asleep - they have to choose to wake up. You cannot wake them up from the outside.
2) her inability to accept help. Mercifully, several characters see what's happening and try so hard to help her. She refuses their help. It does make a difference that they reached out, eventually, so small things do matter. One astute, persistent professor in particular.
3) lack of boundaries. After she's realized the toxicity of her family, she still allows her visiting parents to stay in her dorm room. For a WEEK. I don't care how good of a relationship you have with your even normal parents, that won't fly. You can hear the dread, but she still can't say no. The strength of a child's desire (even, especially an adult child) to have a close, functional relationship with their parents (and siblings) is so strong you get the feeling that if there were any attempt by them to reach out she would reciprocate. And this is the kind of relationship that cannot exist in a nontoxic form.
Getting an education was the tipping point, but this book is about much more than that - her journey of learning to stop rationalizing, see the painful truth for what it is, and think for herself. This is worth the read for her incredibly clear, honest writing of self-discovery, and it's an excellent look into human nature. I hope she continues to seek therapy, learn to stick up for herself, and has the support she needs to navigate whatever comes next.
This book was annoying.
I saw a picture of it online somewhere and ordered from the library. I assumed it was written by a scientist who would discuss science. In actuality, the author has no health experience; he studies religion, and essentially wrote this book to show how fad diets are mythologies. There is very little discussion of the science. Studies are referenced, but nothing you haven't heard before (if you read this kind of thing) and it's glossed over; a talking point in service of his argument.
His focus is on history and identifying the individuals responsible for demonizing particular foods: gluten, fat, sugar, salt. These are all things the general public needs to educate themselves on, as most people aren't aware of the controversy around public health guidelines.
However, the book was mostly ruined for me by an off-putting tone of condescending sarcasm throughout, to the point of calling out and mocking multiple people currently active in the online health community. It's unprofessional and makes him sound arrogant - you can disagree with someone without being an asshole. This coming from someone with an extremely sarcastic sense of humor who actually agrees with him on a lot of this. But it does not translate well into book form, or at least this particular book. The fake diet and the critique of the fake diet at the end were the most annoying way to end and kind of sums the whole thing up. He's not wrong, but it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
It's ironic that he chose to write a book that vilifies certain people for lack of credentials, blind promotion of an agenda, and potential book sales... when that's basically what this is.
He is absolutely correct in the amount of fear inspired by food choices these days and we all just need to chill out. I'm surprised he never used the word orthorexia, but that's basically what he discusses. I will also say if you find yourself buying into every new fad diet this book will help you develop a lens of healthy skepticism. Don't go into it expecting a scientific exposé, be prepared for the tone and maybe you'll enjoy it more than I did.
I highly recommend Denise Minger's Death by Food Pyramid for a much better example of a balanced book by a health industry outsider that will teach you how to interpret food studies.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As a designer, the rich visuals and jealousy-inducing research trips Ingrid describes were a joy to read. I don't think it's rocket science; children are intuitively joyful, so most of us probably just lost that intuition somewhere. But it was fascinating to see someone think so deeply about the aesthetics of joy, then find and describe model examples of each.
I guess this isn't what I expected - I was hoping for practical application. He has questions at the end of each chapter (“start thinking about”) but otherwise it felt like a regurgitation of business concepts I've read elsewhere. I also didn't need to be convinced; I've been running a company of one for years.
I guess read this if you have doubts about the advantages of staying small, but personally, I would have liked to read more about how to manage subcontractors, strategies for determining what work to invest your time in vs. delegating, etc. Chapter 13, with his personal story, was the closest it got to practical advice along these lines, and that's the book I'd like to read.
Update:
The Million-Dollar One-Person Business by Elaine Pofeldt is the book I wanted to read. I found it much more practical and applicable and would suggest reading it instead.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34915571
I agree with other reviewers that there's just not much here. In the first portion they ask questions to encourage self-discovery, so that might be helpful for some. However, I'm guessing the people buying this book are those who have already done some inner work and want something deeper. This is not it.
I'm a huge fan of the Enneagram, so I was happy to see that included, but it's only the most basic introduction, without any discussion of the most important part: levels of health/unhealth. Read more on the EnneagramInstitute.com or get The Road Back to You for more on that.
I love Elle Luna, and her other book is awesome. It's also a blog post that got turned into a book, so I had that expectation going in. This book was meant to be a book from the beginning, so I feel there should have been a lot more substance. Yes, her art is beautiful, but I don't feel that format works for this subject matter.
Highly recommended for every parent. Fairly short overall, bullet point strategies throughout all chapters and a chart in the back for those techniques at different ages. Includes illustrations you can use to explain concepts to your kids. Buy it - you'll want to refer to it often, particularly during the younger years.
I preferred this over No Drama Discipline, which seemed to be a long fluffy version of this.
I thought this would be interesting, but did not expect to take as many notes as I did. She comes right out with the premise and it feels like an oversimplification, so I was afraid this would be one of those repetitive research abstracts converted to an unnecessarily long book. But she actually did a great job of laying out a bunch of different angles and making many excellent points. It's a very useful lens for viewing geopolitical conflict, and something I'll definitely use going forward, so worth 4 stars for that.
Absolutely riveting, and a great example of what journalism is supposed to be. I've been aware of the Theranos saga over the last couple years so I was interested to get the full scoop in long form, but wow. It was hard to put down. As in I didn't. Highly recommended if you're interested in Silicon Valley drama, human nature and how not to run a startup. Also recommended for those who enjoy train wrecks.
One takeaway I want people to pay attention to is how risky it is to rely on the knowledge of someone else when it comes to technical/scientific processes or devices. It's crazy that with all the red flags about feasibility it took so long for people to catch on to the fact this device could not possibly do what she claimed it could do. On the other hand, I work with small businesses in a technical space and I see the same semi-blind trust that can lead to wasted funds or worse. If you're investing in a business or even just paying someone to do your website, please do enough research to understand rudimentary principles. It's really hard to make good decisions if you don't understand at least some of the technical process behind things. I also believe a competent vendor should be able to explain their product or service in layman's terms. If they can't, or they refuse, it's a red flag.
This is also a rather extreme example of the importance of the business rule: “under-promise and over-deliver.” And, you know, honesty. Also that.
He walks you through an ideal day start to finish. Generally good advice, most of which I've read elsewhere. That's not necessarily a bad thing; you could read this for a good overview of biohacker bro world (although this was not a short book). The snarky blogger style writing got old real quick though. I'm also not his target market (see above). Not bad overall, and the Universal Nutrition Principles in particular were smart, but I wouldn't buy this book (library FTW).
I saw a pic of this book recommended somewhere, probably because I read Tim Ferris, but I'd never heard of Aubrey Marcus or Onnit previously.
If you're interested in learning more broadly about the microbiome and symbionts in nature (not just humans), start here. Ed Yong has a way of telling the story with an engagement that feels like he's having a blast; the reader is along for the ride. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and it's always a good sign when there's at least an inch worth of end notes/bibliography.
Part memoir, part writing advice, part storytelling about recovery from being hit by a van (!) A great read, and I loved how down to earth he is. I was pleasantly surprised by his view that stories sort of tell themselves - you're discovering them as you go and sharing them with the world. Reminded me a little of the ideas in Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic. His writing advice was more general/applicable to fiction for obvious reasons. If you want specific pointers pick up the Elements of Style.
For the record, I've never read, nor do I intend to read any of his books. Not my thing. But the man is a household name for a reason and I enjoyed reading about how he got to where he is. It's in the same vein as Scott Adam's How to Fail book - an average guy who works really hard to get really awesome at what he does and finds success. If you hear enough stories like this you'll begin to understand what is meant when people say “you make your own luck.”
If you're interested in starting your own business and have children, this would be a great book to read to see what you're getting yourself into (TLDR: not for the faint of heart).
The book is divided into two sections. The first deals with the home side/what you're getting into, and the second with the actual business-building side of things. Profiles of actual people sprinkled throughout and overall very practical. Definitely recommended.
Excellent, although Whole Brain Child remains my #1 recommendation and is much shorter.
It feels like there are too many acronyms and steps/cycles, so definitely refer to the summary chart in the back. The whole book is overly wordy commentary on the “connect and redirect” strategy from Whole Brain Child.