karang's reviews
141 reviews

Proof: The Science of Booze by Adam Rogers

3.0

I skimmed this book. The book is midly detailed and gives a good overview of the biology and chemistry of booze - how it's made, why each step is important, and what happens when we drink it. The most useful and practical chapter, i think, is the one about smell and taste - you will have a better understanding of how to talk about alcohol and how to describe what you're drinking without sounding pretentious.

Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age by Paul Graham

3.0

This was a very different "book"; Hackers & Painters is a collection of essays by Paul Graham on topics ranging from startups to creating wealth to programming languages. The best part about the book is that each chapter is independent and you can jump around without FOMO. I take 2 stars away because while PG talks about some big controversial ideas, he doesn't actually provide enough evidence to make the claims stand in many places. And so as a reader I fail to understand how exactly PG is thinking and why. Still an interesting read if you have a few hours to kill.

Wherever You Go, There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn

5.0

Extremely valuable book if you're into meditation and life improvement. No matter how expert you are in meditation, there is something you can learn from this book. I find it very hard to express how I feel before/during/after meditation, but the author did an incredible job of doing that for me. Lots and lots of stories, quotes, poems from Kabir, Thoreau, Gandhi etc. I think this book will not only make you good at meditation, but also at being a good human. Some chapters might feel too long or too boring, but they are worth the read. The book is split into 3 parts - why and how to meditate, and how to apply meditation to real life.

17 Essential Qualities of a Team Player: Becoming the Kind of Person Every Team Wants by John C. Maxwell

3.0

Short, easy read. Follows a consistent structure for each quality - a story to set the base, the message/moral of the story in list format and how to achieve this quality. Most of the tips seem obvious, but sleep on them and you'll learn how many/much do you actually follow them. There's a lot of books that promise to make you a good leader, but not that many that promise to make you a good team player. The 17 qualities in the book are: Adaptable, Collaborative, committed, communicative, competent, dependable, disciplined, enlarging, enthusiastic, intentional, mission conscious, prepared, relational, self-improving, selfless, solution oriented, tenacious. Maxwell could have improved the book by providing more actionable tips.

Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt by Michael Lewis

3.0

A relatively modern history of the trading world. I started reading this book knowing only that it was about "wall st" but not exactly what it was about. Flash boys is a well presented history of modern high-frequency trading, and it's evolution (abuse). The book isn't very technical, so someone very new to economics (like me) can also understand most of the book. The only thing I didn't like was that the chapters are too long, like really, really long. I like short chapters that are easily consumable, but not this one. Lewis could have dropped a lot of detail and still kep the narratives going, but oh well. Still a good book.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey, Jim Collins

2.0

I have read this book twice now - once in 2012, and now in 2015. I have yet to meet someone who actually materializes the 7 habits and has benefitted from them. Covey uses words like "synergy" and "proactive" a lot. A lot. It's not really a fun read, and I didn't find anything to be particularly useful. Skip the book.

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

3.0

This is the first book that Ferriss wrote. 4HWW was Tim Ferriss's launchpad. I think the book actually has some really good nuggets that can benefit a lot of people. But as the standard publishing practice goes, the book is full of fillers. The actual meat is not worth more than a blog post. One notable thing about the book: most of the tips are applicable to managers only. Programmers or other workers cannot really achieve a 4HWW (at least not using what Tim says).

I do respect and follow Tim, but mostly because of his 4 Hour Body book, his blog and his podcast.

The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren Buffett

4.0

I thought this "book" was more direct advice on investing and personal finance. Through reading this book, I found out that it's about:

- High volume investing
- Operating a (public) business

But what I loved about the book is that it's not direct. Warren won't tell you how to be rich. He just lays out his philosophy and thinking about money, businesses and people.

I think it's not a very useful information for people looking to make small trades in the market, but a gold mine for those going in the finance world (think hedge fund managers).

The Compound Effect: Jumpstart Your Income, Your Life, Your Success by Darren Hardy

3.0

Much of the advice here is pretty generic and what I already know and follow. Sticking with good habits makes you better, remove bad influences, use mentors etc.

Будущее вещей: Как сказка и фантастика становятся реальностью by David Rose, Дэвид Роуз

2.0

A couple of chapters in, the book is extremely mundane and boring. It almost feels like the author forgot to write with a human voice.