irreverentmike

A really well-written rundown of the story of Starbucks' success, from the perspective of customer service and offering a differentiated product. The author has done their research, and has loads of interesting data points and anecdotes to share, which I found interesting and enjoyable. I couldn't help but feel like some of Starbucks' more challenging recent problems were ignored - whether intentionally or due to time constraints. It appears this book was was published in 2023, and I would have expected to hear a more honest reflection on Starbucks' conflicts with employees over unionization in recent years.

I ended up putting this one down about 30% of the way through. The author makes a great case for being a generalist, and presents various case studies to back up his point. What was missing for me was any connection to a call to action, or suggestions on how to include a generalist mindset/approach in daily life. In short - I think I got the point, and if the remainder of the book contains more case studies and nothing else, it won't add much to the experience for me.

A fantastic and inspiring read, outlining the reasons that building a company that grows infinitely may be a flawed idea. Each chapter offers suggestions and thought-provoking ideas by way of examples. They're all backed by logic, and the author concedes from the onset that the premises he outlines may not apply to everyone. I will almost certainly come back to this one. It was a quick read!

Ronan Farrow has lived an absolutely surreal life. This memoir is so beautifully written, and details an absolutely astonishing account of his work. Without spoiling what lies within, it is a grim reminder that the wealthy aristocracy that powers news, entertainment, and politics get away with so much more than any of the rest of us normal folk ever could. This book touches on an amazing breadth of shocking, miserable, and depressing news stories from the past 20 years, and revolves around Harvey Weinstein's bullshit behavior and the seedy underbelly of Hollywood and news media which tried to keep it a secret.

I recently finished reading Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software by Nadia Eghbal, thanks to a book club organized by Chris Traganos at Stripe. While I can't say this is a book I would have found my way to own my own, I found myself ripping through it far more quickly than I would have guessed. I'd fully recommend giving it a read.