Gregor
An interesting insight into the history of hygiene practices and why we might have gone too far nowadays. The exploration of the history of soap and its usage was eye-opening, and it is clear that companies have muddied the waters around cleanliness such that we feel the need to buy an assortment of lotions and potions from them.
A good refresher on what Bitcoin is and why it matters. I cannot say that the book had any new points for me but it was still a worthwhile short read and would be a great introduction to Bitcoin for anyone who is curious enough to read about the subject but does not want to commit to a longer book such as The Bitcoin Standard.
An eye-opening exploration of how Bitcoin is being used around the world to resist financial oppression. I found the chapter on the CFA franc particularly disturbing as I had never come across it before. I would recommend this to anyone who currently thinks that Bitcoin is unnecessary and a frivolous waste of energy.
A good introduction to what life is like living with OCD. I knew very little about OCD going in so I got a lot out of this book - I imagine that if you are already well-versed on the subject then you will probably not learn anything new here. Even so, the excerpts from the author's life keep the book well-paced throughout and make it easy to empathise with him. All in all, an eye-opening read that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn more about OCD.
This essay is short enough that it could easily be read in a single afternoon, yet I still managed to make more highlights in it than I usually do in a book five times the length. Such is the sensible nature of the advice that the author shares. Despite being a century old, much of the wisdom still holds, and I appreciated the unpretentious handling of whether or not you ought to spend your free time on high literature. One point that particularly resonated with me was that there is no value in reading a large number of books each year unless you spend time after each one carefully considering its ideas and truly taking something from the time spent reading it. This is an excellent book that I would recommend to anyone, especially considering how short of a time commitment it would be!
An interesting exploration of some hot-button issues in our society today. I learned a lot from the "Trans" chapter and the author makes some compelling points. My one criticism would be that the author at one point criticises someone for cherry-picking "unusual events" as if they were commonplace, when the same thing could be said of the examples highlighted in this book, such as American students demanding the resignation of a professor. All in all, I enjoyed the book and was able to get through it in a couple of days which suggests it was well-paced.
A good exploration of a selection of Facebook's many scandals, although much of it was already familiar to me. It was interesting to read about Zuckerberg's ambition to combine Facebook's messaging apps into one in contrast with the WhatsApp founder's candid admission that he had sold his users' privacy by selling his app to Facebook. A decent read overall and I would recommend it for those who currently use Meta's apps without concern.
This fairly short read is packed with information and serves as a very useful introduction to the topic of central banking. The focus is very much on the USA's central bank as opposed to central banking overall, although there are references to the BOJ and BOE. I found it quite dry in places but since it is a short read that was not a deal breaker. Overall, the author has achieved their goal of writing the primer that they would have wanted when they got their start in the industry.
An interesting exploration of why we fall into self-destructive habits and how we can attempt to overcome them. I was especially interested to learn about slot machines and how they have been fine-tuned over the years to be as addictive as possible. I struggle to give it more than 3.5 stars due to a lack of tangible takeaways, although that is perhaps the point considering the latter part of the book, which focuses on monks who all have their own, personal reason for living at a monastery and how, in turn, each of us must find our own way of getting meaning from life.
The book was packed with useful nuggets of information about exercise and the dangers of our modern, sedentary lifestyle. I particularly enjoyed the point that exercise has now been commodified into disparate gym sessions rather than being part and parcel of our daily lives. The section on rucking read rather like a brand deal, although the author does mention that you do not need fancy equipment to get started. A worthwhile read, kept well-paced and never too dry thanks to the regular cutting back to the author's hunt in the Arctic.
Having already watched the film based on this book I knew what to expect going in. Nonetheless I was very much interested throughout, especially the sections following Michael Burry. I must admit that most of the Wall Street jargon was still going over my head even by the end of the book, although I read this in one sitting on a flight which may well have affected my comprehension.
There quite a few useful points here and I have got some good highlights to go back to. Unfortunately, I cannot give this book a high rating because there is simply not enough in its 100-odd pages, especially considering all the breaks for new chapters. I did enjoy the author's book recommendations at the end and I wish more authors would include such a section rather than a purely dry bibliography. Overall, some useful insights but simply not enough content to justify this being a full-price technical book.
This served as a good introduction to object-oriented thinking at a high level although a lot of the examples felt contrived rather than representative of real use cases of OOP design. The ending was rather abrupt without an overall conclusion to bring the book to a close. Overall a worthwhile read.
The author's passion for learning is clear from the off, and I especially enjoyed his conclusion that at the end of his ultralearning projects he always found that he had barely scratched the surface of the topic in question. In terms of practical advice, the focus on "metalearning" was insightful and I enjoyed the brief exploration of the Polgar family and what it takes to "raise a genius". The advice on language learning is also largely sound (based on my own experience). Overall a worthwhile and enjoyable read.
Lots of economic wisdom packed into just over 200 pages. A lot of this was already familiar from reading similar works but the section on unions, striking, and strikebreakers was new to me, and very interesting too. The fact that this book was originally published in the 1940s (then revisited by the author in the 1970s) yet the lessons still ring true today suggests that they are timeless, and that this will still be a book worth reading for many years to come.
This book confirmed a few suspicions of mine when it comes to multitasking and the importance of reading code well. There were some useful stats on the productivity cost of getting interrupted whilst programming which I highlighted. I enjoyed the final chapter on onboarding new developers, as I have never seen this topic addressed before, and the author's recommendations seemed sensible. Overall this was an enjoyable read that served more to confirm some of my thoughts than introduce new ideas.
The prose is certainly flowery which can make it hard to penetrate at times but I assume the translation is staying faithful to the original Japanese. Mishima's fascination with the last writings of a Japanese "suicide squad" was particularly interesting considering his own ritual suicide. Overall I enjoyed this short read but did not find it quite as impactful as I had expected.
I read this in one sitting which is usually a good sign! I thoroughly enjoyed the author's comparisons between himself, his father, and his grandfather at different points in life and the similarities and differences in their views on farming. I would have liked to hear even more about the attitudes towards college-trained farmers and how they have disrupted the local balance. All in all, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
This was an interesting read that offered a simple approach to diet with ample data to back it up. I especially enjoyed the chapter on how to approach socialising whilst eating a carnivore diet, which is something that I feel is not discussed often enough in podcasts and YouTube videos on the the carnivore diet.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who has yet to delve into how our diet has changed over the last century or so. Whilst I already knew the overarching story, the author shared many enlightening details that I duly highlighted. I was also pleasantly surprised to find a short section at the end, written by Saifedean Ammous, giving advice on obtaining and cooking meat and bones. There were a few noticeable typos which was a shame to see but I nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed this book.
A stellar beginning and ending held back only by a stalling middle. This book took me a long time to finish due to losing momentum in the middle and getting caught up in other books so the fact it is still getting 4.5 stars from me is testament to the highs that this novel reaches. The author continues to excel in detailing fight scenes, which is handy because these 800 pages are full of them! The use of Mustang's narration was a pleasant surprise and resulted in some of the most thought-provoking chapters. The ending sets up the next entry in the series perfectly and I will certainly be coming back for more.
The multiple perspectives make this less of a page-turner than Brown's earlier novels in the series but do make for a thrilling third act that has me excited to jump into the sequel. I particularly appreciated Darrow's introspection and reflections on a decade of war, what that has cost, and whether it has been and will be worth it. Another strong entry in a series that continues to impress!
An excellent end to a top sci-fi trilogy. There are fewer twists and turns than in Golden Son but they are no less impactful, and Brown's depiction of action is as pulsating as ever. The ending leaves room for more stories to be explored in this universe, and I cannot wait to start on the fourth book!