
I'm enjoying reading books in translation. This book expanded my horizons by telling the story of Bronze and Sunflower during the cultural revolution in China. On the surface it is a happy, childhood story. If you peel back one layer, you find a darker world of enforced labor, hunger, and childhood beatings.
I didn't care for the ending. It felt inevitable but it lost some of it's wonder for me.
Masculine poetry with the occasional sensitive side. Addresses topics that resonates with guys. I had a chance to do some poetic interpretation at a semi-slam (no battles) and after finding Mr. Webb's book I chose two poems. “Superman Old” which is kind of self explanatory and “Big” the saga of a TV screen that was, well just too big. The folks I performed for loved them. Thanks Mr. Webb for a great collection of excellent poetry.
ARC form Net Galley for a non-biased review.
Before you start reading this book make sure you learn to use the highlight and note function on your e-reader. Or if you have a physical copy go to your local office supply store and see if they have gallon buckets of high-lighter. I swear my Kindle glowed a little brighter when I was reading this insightful manifesto.
In a yes, yes world we are reminded of the power of no and how much we can accomplish when we learn to embrace no. This is one of those books that I will read again and again.
Top Hat Reviews
The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win

Great book with some horrible interludes. If you want to learn about Agile and DevOps this is a fantastic book. It's even better that it is in novel form.
However the novel is where it sometimes runs into problems. There is an awful lot of frankly abusive meltdowns, table slapping, yelling, scheming, etc. If the CEO Steve couldn't see some of these things and was really such an asshat after pleading with Bill to take over the department then how in the hell did he become the CEO.
Other problems with the book but it was still GREAT.
Two things I rarely do.
I consider my self more of an ambivert, but this book was written for me! I am already using the tips and techniques that Mr. Pollard has suggested in his book and I'm seeing results in my coaching business. The fear of “always be closing” becomes much more manageable when you have a guide that leads you to a YES! from a potential client.
Thank you for writing this! You have empowered me to be able to not let “sales” get in the way of helping my clients succeed!
Good memoir detailing the path of how Tony Youn became a plastic surgeon. Interesting back stories of his tyrannical, but loving father, Mr. Youn's nerdiness, and his inability to get laid, have sexual relations, create meaningful acts of physical intercours...OK, maybe it was about getting laid. Witty and enjoyable although it did take a while to get to his ultimate career choice. I guess the compliment here is that if he wrote another book - I'd read it.
If you are an aspiring writer you'll like it. If you like crude humor you'll like parts of it. If you like funny you'll like even more parts. If you “hearted” the Bush administration - then probably not so much.
A bit draggy at times but all around a fine effort.
I look forward to watching his work progress.