Sarah Schumacher

Great art, hilarious dialogue and thoroughly enjoyable plot. The kid could not put this down/did not want to share.

Absolutely love the sense of humor in this book. Some of it will go over the head of kids under 10, but still a great read. Love the characters.

On my Books Every Human Should Read list. Fascinating, written with expertise, experience and humility. I don't understand all the reviews using the word “condescending” - I didn't see that (with the exception of one rather shocking anecdote from when he was a new graduate). He frequently shares polling data that shows ignorance on the part of highly educated people, but that's the data he's using to reveal the problem. He also freely shared his own mistakes.

Reading at the end of 2022, I was struck by the fact that his number one practical concern (in 2017) was a global pandemic (not that he was the only one - this has long been known to be inevitable). As much as the world could have benefitted from his wisdom in 2020, maybe it's better he didn't see how badly it was handled...

What I enjoyed most was how infinitely practical this was. Lots of charts, the fallacies are presented clearly, and each chapter ends with a bullet point list to solidify the concepts he's described with personal stories. This book is neither boring or clinical, and it's an excellent antidote for the insidious, Western/Euro-centrist thinking that's both prevalent and rarely remarked upon.

If you liked this book and have kids, I'd also recommend Raising Critical Thinkers by Julie Bogart. For more positivity on the world, Humankind by Rutger Bregman, although that one's still in my tsundoku pile.

New favorite graphic novel series. Love the story arc, adore the art, especially the way he visually represents anxiety. Great comedic timing, and there's a cat.

This is a classic, must-read for any creative business/agency, and for very good reason. It belongs on your office bookshelf.

Unfinished. I couldn't really get into this, and while there might be a link to an online bibliography I missed, when I realized there weren't any sources listed for the many, many quoted statistics I was out (I made it 1/3 of the way through).

I loved Lab Girl and recommend it, but this was a very different type of book. It felt more like a introductory primer, so I'm probably not the target audience, but if that was the intent it's even more important that sources are cited.

Fantastic series. The story is great, as is the art. Imaginative characters and storyline. Good for ages 8 and up.

So much good advice; I took a ridiculous amount of notes and probably should have just bought this one. Highly recommended for anyone building a company, especially a product company. Also covers his personal history beginning at General Magic through Google's acquisition of Nest, which I've always wanted more detail on.

I'd recommend The Road Back to You over this book. There were some great lines and good advice, but overall nothing spectacular. It's written with the assumption that the reader has a basic working knowledge of the Enneagram.

A must-read for every parent, and honestly, every human. This was a library copy I got 1/3 into before I bought it for my personal library. There are exercises for all kid age ranges that I will be referring back to, and it's definitely a book worth a second reading.

Not for experienced business owners, other than confirmation that profitable micro businesses are totally a doable thing. This book is great for newer entrepreneurs or those curious about what it takes. It covered many of the struggles realistically, with lots of examples of actual people building real businesses. Very practical, great advice. I preferred this over her other book.

3.5 stars. Quick read. Start with Traction; if you understand the Visionary and Integrator roles and want to delve into that more, then pick up this book. There's a quick rehashing of some of the advice in Traction at the end, so reading it first isn't a requirement, although I do recommend it.

This was so unbelievably good. Andre is an amazing writer and has just the right way of saying things to get the point across; I saved quite a few direct quotes from this book. His emotional/spiritual journey is chronologically woven throughout and was really enlightening, with the perfect open ending. I appreciated the fact that it's both entirely realistic and still manages to be hopeful. It's also clear he has a depth of knowledge on nonviolent resistance and organizing, with many other books referenced throughout. Highly recommended.

Faith was a very big component, and Andre wrote this book to speak directly to Black readers. An ideal book for the Candace Owen in your life.

A must read for any business owner trying to scale and systematize a business. If you're hitting a plateau or trying to figure out staffing, systems/processes and goal setting, you need to read and implement this book. It's highly recommended for a reason.

Note: the order of implementation is different than the order of the book. Read it all the way through to get the gist, then go back and implement, referring to the list in the last chapter.

Deserving of the high reviews; lots of great information.

Excellent. Extremely informative about apartheid, begins and ends with his relationship with his unparalleled mother. It wasn't the point of this book, but I really wish he'd covered his career path and how he ended up at The Daily Show.

My favorite segments on The Daily Show are the behind the scenes clips where he talks about something random. He brings a lot of depth to topics that indicate a more nuanced, insightful way of looking at things, and after learning more about how grew up it makes sense. There was also a section that was very validating as a parent, as I share his mom's beliefs about access to books and speaking to children like they can handle full sentences. The book is funny as well, but I'm personally less interested in his humor and more in how he sees the world.

Simultaneously funny, depressing, and at times, heartbreaking. The entire book is intentionally lighthearted and I enjoyed the back and forth style of writing between the sisters. It should be required reading for white people, although we all know the people who need it most would never...

Side note: I would love a book about their mom, and all others like her, that's nothing but stories about the most epic takedowns of people who had it coming.

Side side note: I would love to live in a world where books, stories, and takedowns like this weren't necessary. Do better people.

Delightful. Beautifully written, often funny stories, interspersed with many excellent quotes and references to poetry. Subtle, surprisingly deep thoughts on certain topics. I feel there's a kind of recognition between people who spend a lot of time pondering why things are the way they are. It was nice to feel that here, in the midst of an eloquent turn of phrase that might be deeper than it first appears. I can't wait to read this again, and I'll probably return to particular essays as they come to mind. Glad I purchased this one.

I've never read any of John Green's other books (I mostly read nonfiction). I imagine they're excellent.

Finally got around to reading this highly recommended book (in one day). It's a riveting memoir that tells the story of Nike from idea to IPO.

Very much Phil's personal story, struggles and all, it wasn't an attempt to sell Nike until the last chapter, which was something of an epilogue. It felt like an honest accounting of the stress and drive to build that are the hallmarks of entrepreneurship (money matters, but it's not about the money). I think it's also a useful example to those who assume that businesses that handle large amounts of money actually have it.

Also interesting was that he built this company before the days of VC money or even startup-friendly banks. It's easy forget that the programs and incubators available now are still fairly new.

A great book on how to develop an eye for the patterns that help startups succeed. Square's origins are discussed, but the book is not about Square. A fun read and lots of mind fodder.

This wasn't in the book, but while reading it I was thinking about how Jim McKelvey is another great example of how the most creative, successful people intentionally indulge in their wide array of interests. There are some attempts at names for these people lately: multi-potentialite, multi-passionate entrepreneurs, etc. (I am one). Because creativity is simply linking ideas, seemingly unrelated activities actually make one more creative and end up benefitting ALL THE THINGS. Jim is a glass-blower, who cofounded Square, founded LaunchCode, is a coder/engineer, there was a mention of a book publishing company in there somewhere, now he's an author, and I mean, the guy hand-built the prototype for the first Square card reader. If it looks like someone is really good at one thing, it's highly likely they're good at lots of other things. I love seeing this.

Side note: if the idea of that interests you, Range by David Epstein is also a great book.

Excellent, actionable book that focuses on niching down, telling stories, constructing an effective elevator speech and a unique title to encourage questions. It's the kind of book that utilizes exercises and activities, so you'll want to grab a notebook and space out when you read it.

I feel like embodiment is something that needs to be discussed more often, but it's hard to start somewhere because there aren't many books about it. I've never preordered a book faster than this one. Hillary McBride is the best possible person to write this and it's almost as wonderful as she is. Will require more than one reading to digest. There's something ironic about reading a book (intellectual) about the body (experiential), but it's a start.

Well this was a trip. I saw a random 5 minute video and thought “I want to hear more from this guy.” He definitely wins the award for most fascinating conversationalist at parties.

However, it's a hard book to review. It's like if you put Tim Ferris, a religious studies professor, a neuroscientist and a horny yoga instructor in the same room and told them they had 24 hours to come up with a blueprint for getting the most out of life.

He talks about the end of religion as a source of meaning (which he calls Meaning 1.0). And how secularism has failed as a replacement (Meaning 2.0). He then proposes his idea of Meaning 3.0, which must consist of non-dogmatic, low-barrier technologies, namely Respiration, Embodiment, Sexuality, Substances and Music.

There was a mashup of a lot of neuroscience and psychological principles that I've read about elsewhere, and while I enjoyed those sections I feel like he missed a key component: therapy. Be it CBT, dialectic, EMDR, whatever, I just felt that if he's discussing how humans can find meaning and become better humans, there needs to be an archeological expedition into your own personal psychology. I expect that's the role he's given to substances, but I'm a bit skeptical that inhaling nitrous oxide is going to help you uncover the ways you're a product of your social, cultural and familial environment and did you really consciously choose anything? Some things can only be realized through deep introspection and therapy.

Basically this book married a ton of different fascinating concepts and ideas into a smorgasbord of suggested life principles. Or something like that. If you're into that kind of thing you might enjoy it. It felt a bit much but I think that's just because it's the kind of random pondering I might engage in after having read books about psychology, neuroscience, religion, politics, cults, THE WORLD IS ENDING OHMYGOD WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE, psychedelics, tribalism and how everything is broken. I just haven't written a book about it.

A must-read for any founder in the tech space.

Very slow and dry, packing in a lot of detail to lay the foundation for why Trump is a culmination of evangelical priorities, not an outlier. It reads like a standard history book. I think what bothered me about this book is that it felt so clinical in describing issues that have such an incredible, daily impact on people's daily lives. It felt like a 1000 ft view, mostly due to the writing style. Still an enlightening read, but purely informational.