Quinn

Great framework and solid tips, but I feel this book could've been a long blog post. That said, I'm very grateful for the free Job Search Council (JSC) matching service the author provides and look forward to doing the exercises and strategies discussed in the book as part of my JSC.

In terms of content, the book does feel written for a more “elite” audience (e.g. CEOs, VPs, Directors, and other professionals who tend to have more robust professional networks and financial privilege). Additionally, there were many times where the book basically comes across as a “draw the rest of the fucking owl meme,” where the author provides some foundational guidance and expects the reader to be capable of figuring the rest out. This can be problematic, given that the majority of the case studies feature the ways in which C-suite executives or similar overcame some challenge by leveraging the (seemingly abundant) resources available to them. Since not everyone has such resources available to them, I would've liked to see deeper discussion on what strategies one might use if they find themselves in a less prestigious professional situation.

Lastly, I really disliked the author's tendency to self-promote and rolled my eyes at how many times their connection to Harvard (or another prestigious person/thing) is mentioned. Maybe I'm just a bitter lower class pleb, but it gave me elitist vibes at times. You be the judge.

Great overview, lacks depth in some areas

Impact Networks provides a great overview of how to to build and sustain impact networks and contains many useful insights on what great network facilitation looks like. I'm eager to explore the resources provided on https://www.converge.net/trainings#toolkit and apply some of the insights learned in this book towards my own network building aspirations.

My impression is that this is a fairly introductory book, but I would've liked if this book went deeper into the concrete details of some aspects of network creation and stewardship. Topics like acquiring funding or incentivizing inter-organizational collaboration weren't very well addressed.

Overall, this was an insightful read into the world of network building and while a bit shallow at times, was well worth my time.

In The Life You Can Save, Peter Singer puts forth a highly convincing argument based on the maxim “a human life is of equal value to each and every other human life.” Because we live in a globalized economy and a world in which extreme wealth inequality is widely apparent, he argues, individuals who reside in countries with a relatively high standards of living are thus morally obligated to donate a significant portion of their income to quite literally save the lives of those in need.

Although the arguments presented in the first couple chapters and the last chapter of this book are well-crafted, though-provoking, and at times, inspiring, I found the content covered in the middle chapters to be somewhat disjointed and lacking sufficiently thorough analysis. Although Singer seems to have the best of intentions, his commentary does come off as slightly self-righteous, which may be off putting for some. That said, the last chapter of the book wonderfully encapsulates Singer's overall message – to give more to those in need than you did yesterday.

While David Wallace-Wells occasionally comes across as a kind of deranged preacher of the apocalypse in his novel, “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming”, the facts, forecasts, and ideas he presents are unnervingly not far from reality. It is a philosophical book as much as an informational and speculative one. Wallace-Wells presents refreshingly humble thoughts on controversial topics, such as who should be held accountable for the impending environment destruction we face, whether or not having kids is ethical, and our role as individuals and a collective society in the age of climate change.

Although one has to assume the facts presented in the book are a certain degree under- or over-exaggerated, Wallace-Walls does an incredible job painting a realistic canvas of not what will but what could happen in the coming decades if we do or do not sufficiently address climate change. Positive feedback loops, food and water shortages, civil unrest, sea level rise, more frequent natural disasters, and biodiversity loss among other topics are discussed in detail. If you'd like to read a thought-provoking book that covers all aspects of climate change, this is the one.

This book was recommended to me a couple years ago by a climate scientist working at the NASA Goddard Institute and I'm so glad I got around to it. Although it's been over ten years since the book was written, Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air provides an easy-to-understand guide to thinking about modern day power consumption, generation, and storage from an environmentally concious, realist perspective. MacKay does a excellent job comparing and contrasting major contributors to Britain's (and the world's) total energy consumption, from the heating in our homes to the manufacturing of “stuff”, and breaks down the ways in which we can meet this demand by discussing a plethora of sustainable energy generation methods and the practicality of implementing each on a large scale.

If you've ever you wondered what a complete sustainable energy transformation could actually look like, I'd highly recommend giving this one a read. Hint: turning off your lights isn't going to do much.

Neil Degrasse Tyson, equipped with his uniquely soothing voice, takes readers on an intellectual journey exploring the Universe from a fraction of a second after the Big Bang to the ever-expanding edges of the cosmos. A great read for those who possess a reasonable amount of scientific knowledge and lukewarm curiosity about our natural world and the physical laws that govern it.

As much as it is a book marketed to the layperson, I would personally argue that it's not necessarily a book written for the layperson. Tyson, in an attempt to cover many of the major topics in astrophysics, swiftly introduces the reader to a wealth of scientific concepts without lingering too much on the details of any particular one. Thus, I found the audiobook version of Astrophysics for People in a Hurry to be a bit too much in a hurry (pun-intended), and I suspect the book would be much more easily digested in a written format.

Tools of Titans is not meant to be read all the way through and I wholeheartedly agree. Although I struggled to get through certain sections due to a lack of interest in the topic, much of the information and concepts presented in this book are moderately interesting at worst and profound at best. On occasion, Ferriss's writing can come across as a bit self-centered (i.e. “As I was writing this book is Paris, sipping my glass of (x)...” sort of thing), but the value of the book's content makes up for it.

If you're looking to get as much value from this book in the least time possible, I would highly recommend going straight to the back of the book, where Ferriss summarizes some of the commonalities of the people he's interviewed over the years and more importantly, the books that have been most frequently recommended by those same people. After doing so, flip through each section and skip liberally if you so desire.

Is it a page turner from start to finish? No. Absolutely not. Would I recommend it just based on likelihood of finding at least one profound nugget of wisdom or info that may shift your perspective on something? Absolutely.

Although I found the evidence Angela Duckworth puts forth in her book compelling and her commentary inspiring, I felt this book could be summed up in a single chapter without losing all that much depth. In summary, Dr. Duckworth asserts that grit is a learned trait which can be augmented throughout one's life through deliberate practice, unwavering perseverance, strategic goal setting, and aligning oneself with people and organizations that exemplify and incentivize gritty behavior.

If you find yourself lacking a defined direction in life or perhaps pursuing TOO many different directions in life, this book will definitely help clarify and realign your priorities. Overall, the book serves as a nice introduction to the concept of grit and puts forth a number of actionable ideas for cultivating grittiness in not only yourself, but also within people you interact with, whether they be your own kids or members of your organization.

Here's some major takeaways:
- Identify your top-level, long-term goals – try out many different things, pursue only those things that truly interest you, and stick with them
- Align yourself with individuals and organizations who will push and inspire you to achieve those goals.
- Engage in regular, deliberate practice, measure your progress, and conciously seek to improve
- Continually push through challenges despite how difficult they may be (certainly easier said than done)

I feel like this book should be a required reading for every high school student – it humbles readers by presenting a captivating summary of the origins of our own species, explores how society has changed and evolved throughout millennia, and provides some excellent food for thought regarding the origins of readers' own beliefs and the many social constructs, from human rights to religion to economics, that are widely ingrained in our collective culture.

Definitely my new favorite book, rivaling the Design of Everyday Things, Garbology, and Creativity Inc.

Although “Talk like TED” contains plenty of great advice for a first time public speaker, most of the tips presented are somewhat obvious and could be summarized in either a couple pages of text or a 20 minute video with clips from each TED talk. Nonetheless, the book does a good job discussing a myriad of public speaking techniques and serves as a nice refresher for those who give presentations or speeches quite often.