Jarrett

An interesting look behind the curtain of the business principles that took Amazon to the top. Enjoyable to live in a space where work is genuinely productive and smart, especially if that isn't typically true for your company.

Admittedly, the pacing and enjoyability of the chapters is a bit up-and-down, and the authors are quick to blow past the effects of Jeff's 'genius business impulses' - it genuinely seemed miserable to be an employee there half the time.

There's actionable lessons for any company, and an enjoyable read here for tech workers. Amazon should probably revisit the purity of their earlier years given the tank in quality their site has experienced over the past few years.

I enjoyed this quick runthrough of pirate and American colonial history more than I expected. Dolan has a great narrative voice and his rare, brief interjections in footnotes are full of personality and wit. I appreciated how Dolan didn't take too much glee in poking holes in famous myths and legends - as has been the bane of a lot of historical non-fiction I've been reading lately. Rather, he understands what makes the current understood version of the history great, and leans into that element.

It might start a tad slow, but some of that may have just been me getting a feel for the writing. I'd recommend as a primer for anyone interested in early American history.

As a lover of Jones's non-fiction works (Powers & Thrones is sublime), I really wanted to like his first taste of fiction, but this book just comes up flat. Conceptually, I am taken by the illustration of the quick historical war narratives, and to his credit, Jones knows his history - the story feels authentic to the historical setting and allows the reader to join in the campaign to some degree

But ultimately, it falls short of being truly engaging fiction. Characters are flat, stereotypical, and above all uninteresting. Scenic descriptions are underwhelming and don't capture the feeling of being in France. I hear that the second book improves on these areas, and I may get to it at some point.