Travis
References are fairly dated but it's a quick read and an easy skim with lots of good tips and tricks for personal history “best practices” and ideas to get one over the hump of getting started.
This book made me feel old- I'm not old but I really identified with a lot of the emotions Mr. Chips had as he looked back on earlier times in his life. Perhaps that's what makes the book so accessible because we can all think of our past and have the same feelings towards different events that Mr Chips does. Loaded with nostalgia, sappy and a good deal of British nationalism if that's your cup of tea then I'd recommend saying Goodbye to Mr. Chips.
Having some insider insights into the backstory, motivations of the characters, and objectives of the novel I don't think I can give an entirely fair review.
I felt a great deal of love for Roger and Pam and enjoyed watching their relationship grow. I can't say the same for Roger and Michelle, to me their relationship felt quickened and cheap which left me feeling like something was lacking. Then again, in a novel about a man shattered by his experiences in Vietnam perhaps that's the point; something precious was lost and never fully regained.
I think it would have worked better as a career retrospective than a “How to” book. I don't think you can really “how to” good design, it's learned by looking at A LOT of design and drawing A LOT.
That said, it was a fun read and Allan Peters is a fantastic designer.
Marking as “read” I didn't really finish it but it's not as relevant to me now as it was when I was starting with Elixir back in 2019. This is a great book, and still a great reference.
Ready Player One is a fun and engaging read, I breezed through it with little effort and really enjoyed it. That said, there were times I felt that Cline could have used a bit of a more heavy handed editor. Perhaps this is because I don't share all of the author's passions to the same degree which, although not prerequisite to enjoyment, does probably heighten the enjoyment.
Interesting read, mostly biographical but with lots of insight into the US's failings in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
I loved this book, I highly recommend it. I struggled with the first four or five chapters but after that I could barely put it down.
Good read, lots of really interesting and helpful points. I'd say it changed my attitude toward small business. I found it a bit hokey at points, which took away from my enjoyment a bit but it made for a quick read.
11 companies is a small sample size, they state that they only chose 11 companies because those are the ONLY companies that met their rigorous standards however to me that seems to undermine what “great” means. The author's definition of “great” seems to be very narrow and without doing research on other “great” companies (perhaps ones that are not publically traded) it's hard to say if these techniques are truly ones that all “Great” companies use or just these 11 that happened to perform well in the stock market for a period of 20 years. Also, I took this entire book with a grain of salt because a lot of these companies are either no longer “great” even by the author's definition, perhaps never were great by a slightly wider definition of “great”. Fannie Mae no longer exists, nor does Circut City. And Philip Morris? Sure perhaps they did great in the stock market but can one really say that a tobacco company is “great” by that many metrics?
I'm 32 years old and I've never read this! Great book, although it angered me (as I suppose it should) it's incredible how simplistic the propaganda machine is and how little changed the tactics are from 1945 to present day.
My wife choose this book for her book club, I begrudgingly read it because it seemed like a quick read. The more I read the more hooked I got. The movie makes this story out to be a relationship between a father and daughter but I felt that the central themes were more about overcoming adversity and seeing the good in the most bleakest situations.
This book reads somewhat like the stereotypical Spanish soap opera. It's an entertaining read but I found myself thinking “of all the adventure stories released around the 1840s why is this one the classic? Why is this the breakout?”
I enjoyed it enough to read to the end but I wouldn't consider it anything more than really entertaining pulp (semi-historical) fiction.
In a way this book reminded me of Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat, except in this the people are the way they are, I assume because they are deeply selfish and myopic.
I think everyone should read this book, it's fantastic. The world would be a prettier place if everyone read this.
I had a love - hate relationship with this book. The cross country motorcycle trip kept me slogging through but I would often grow disinterested or downright annoyed when the author began to wax philosophical. The reason for my annoyance was just how pretentious the main character was, he was so analytical always dissecting his friend's flaws and shortcomings to the point where I really wondered how he had any friends at all. He frequently makes his son cry or lies awake at night listening to his son crying and does absolutely nothing. He comes off as a complete jerk.
Oddly enough by the end of the novel, I found that I was more engaged in the philosophical treatise and had gained some empathy for the narrator.
Minor spoilers
I think as much as this book is about philosophy and a man's quest to find himself it's also a book about mental illness. Our society has come a long way in the past 40 years on the subject of mental illness so I wonder what this book would be like if it were written today. Indeed the narrator causes a lot of his problems but most of his mental state and eventual breakdown is an result of some kind of mental illness. I think it'd be interesting to see that story told in light of today's culture.
I didn't love it writing wise, I always find these sorts of books a bit patronising but it is good advice. If you don't know about this advice you should read this book, if you do know about this advice you should be doing it.
This story is so enmeshed into our culture that it's easy to forget the righteous anger with which Dickens wrote. Many of the messages about the poor, hoarding wealth, workers rights are, unfortunately, just as relevant today.
Not as good as 1984, although I think far more plausible at least in the western world. It's interesting to compare the two books (I read them back to back). Both sets of tactics are used by governments to keep people in line. In North America, where I live, we lean towards the pacification of Brave New World but our governments are certainly not above the “boot in the face” totalitarianism of 1984 as we've seen with the suppression of indigenous land protectors, peaceful protestors, and the policing of minorities.
Again, a lot to think about, a good thought piece, but not a great book, the story just wasn't all that compelling and the pacing felt off to me.
There were some good ideas here, but I think this could have been a series of blog posts rather than a book. I've found this to be the case with a few other 37Signals books I've read, if you read the blog you basically have the content of the book.
I think I'm just not a huge fan of business books, they prescribe trite solutions to complex problems, and if their being honest they tend to dilute said trite solutions with so many caveats that the advice becomes generic.
Two stars because, I do think there are some interesting ideas and this this book is just nebulous enough that said ideas can be applied to almost any team or small organization.
A little too academic to make it really enjoyable but there is a lot of really good information in here. I only wish whoever designed the layout of the book had taken the advice of the book, lots of the graphics were hard to follow and confusing, some were very low resolution as well. Strange for a book on graphic design.
A short/easy introduction into modern socialism in the United States. I always somewhat self identified as a socialist but this book helped me to clarify and codify my beliefs and fundamentally changed the way I view wealth.
Fantastic book; the powerful message is not delivered at the expense of a good story. However, the last three chapters were fairly slow moving; Upton's pitch for Socialism.
This is a great book, and I think everyone should read it. I'm only giving it three out of five stars because I found the volume of data overwhelming to the point of becoming a bit of a slog. The intro hooks you with an easy-read but subsequent chapters become a bit harder to wade through. I also read this as an audio book, which was both good and bad. It's great to have the book ready by the author herself, you can hear her passion, indignation and frustration at points which makes it come alive. At times I found myself wishing I had a hardcopy to flip back and forth with.
I'd still recommend this tome to anyone and everyone and will likely become that annoying friend who gives copies of this as gifts.
Exciting and fast-paced but utterly stupid. Once again Robert Langdon is on a righteous crusade to save the world from evil Christians; at his side a new gorgeous, seductive, intelligent and fiercely independent sidekick. Unlike previous outings, Origin lacks much of the puzzles and art history (although there is still enough art trivia for a good dinner table conversation).