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andbenn

andbenn@bookwyrm.social

Joined 1 year ago

Trying to read more, and more, and more I have too many articles in Pocket, which also get read but not tracked here.

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"It's not that you read, it's what you read." Epictetus.

Is what you read making you a better person?

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andbenn's books

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2024 Reading Goal

Success! andbenn has read 36 of 12 books.

Evelyn McDonnell: World According to Joan Didion (2023, HarperCollins Publishers) 4 stars

All about Joan Didion's life and her writing

4 stars

I've heard about Joan Didion - some writers I follow speak highly of her work. I have not read any of her work yet. I did get The Last Interview book she was featured about and liked that.

The author did a fantastic job of researching and discussing her life. This starts with her as a young child, family history, mentions college and then post college jobs, moving across the country and back, her marriage and child adoption, her family's deaths and then her own. It puts a perspective on how she was seeing her life at multiple moments.

Interesting to hear how her writing experience changed with use of a laptop and word processor.

I really enjoyed this book. If one is interested in her life, maybe knows at least a little about Joan Didion, this biography will probably work for you.

Anthony Bourdain: Anthony Bourdain : the Last Interview (2019, Melville House Publishing) 3 stars

Anthony Bourdain always downplayed his skills as a chef (many disagreed). But despite his modesty, …

Very good! Until the end

3 stars

This was my second in the series, and I was looking forward to the Anthony Bourdain videos. I think I saw the Trevor Noah interview.

There are just 7 interviews in this book. The interviews are larger/longer than the previous book from this series (Joan Didion). Most of the interviews throw me back to watching his shows when they aired. You can hear the passion and character in his voice.

There was a later interview that had a portion about eating rare things that was covered one or two interviews before it. On a check, there were a couple years between them. That could have been edited out, but I suppose it makes for a whole interview as a piece.

The last interview of the book isn't much of an interview. It's prose and chapter author writing interspersed with Bourdain comments and quotes. It feels very different than the previous …

William B. Irvine: The Stoic Challenge: A Philosopher's Guide to Becoming Tougher, Calmer, and More Resilient (2019) 4 stars

In this practical, refreshingly optimistic guide, philosopher William B. Irvine explains how centuries-old wisdom can …

Building resilience through tests

4 stars

Stoicism, but laser focused on tests. What's a test? Any class of setbacks one faces on a day.

He shares some setbacks about airports and how he approached each. There are dozens of examples of the ancient Stoics and modern people who faced challenges and took them on.

I did like the book. I found the text to be somewhat conversational which made it easy to follow. Each chapter is broken up into sections, which assisted my sporadic reading over a few days. His other Stoicism book is pretty good.

The author took some liberties with Stoicism, and some of criticized this work for doing that. I personally see no issues, and did like his modern approach to dealing with tests and setbacks.

MELVILLE HOUSE: Joan Didion : The Last Interview (Paperback, 2022, Melville House) 3 stars

Fascinating collection of interviews over years

4 stars

I had never heard of this series and spotted it on the library shelf. Glad I picked it up. It's a shorter read as the content is about 10 interviews (probably some partial and edited) over the last 40 years. As such, you kind of go sequentially through the author's life and works as they get interviewed by media.

The book has a good flow, and it's as if you are listening in on the interview which today might be a podcast. I read this in a couple hours, it's 164 pages and was a paperback.

As such, there are milestones in the authors life that come out in the interviews. For Joan, it's media runs on some of her book launches, the death of her daughter and husband, moving from California to NYC, and such. It's interesting to hear how she gets inspired and frustrated by writing. She was …

Ward Farnsworth: The practicing stoic (2018) 5 stars

At the school of philosophy founded at Athens by Zeno of Citium the teachers believed …

Fantastic analysis and thought about Stoicism

4 stars

Picked up this book as part of my reading about Stoicism. And I really enjoyed it! This takes a conversational yet sort of academic style to cover 12 major thought areas of Stoicism (judgement, externals, perspective, death, desire, wealth and pleasure, what others think, valuation, emotion, adversity, virtue, and learning). The author has an intro to each topic, then walked through it weaving several quotes from ancient stoics and modern philosophers to cover the topic

The last chapter is about criticisms of Stoicism, which is very healthy to see the other side and understand the thoughts against the philosophy.

I liked how the topics were presented and the quotes and analysis from the writers came together. Obviously they read each other and were influenced, and this shows that progression. Well done.

I borrowed this from my library, but I'll be on the lookout for a used or sale copy for …

Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, Braden Kowitz: Sprint (2016, Simon & Schuster) 4 stars

From three partners at Google Ventures, a unique five-day process for solving tough problems, proven …

A quick read, but has untold requirements

2 stars

First off, the essence of the book is available on the book web site. The book takes that information and puts dialog and stories around it.

If you know Agile or Scrum or Kanban, there isn't much here that is unique. The book takes one through a milestone based week, day by day, for a team to deliver something on this methodology.

What's missing is how to bring this culture to one's workplace - implementing this will need management and financial support. Nothing is free. Large companies can do these types of iterations. Smaller companies fighting for their life probably won't be able to.

It's well written. And a quick read. I found the heavy paper to be kind of annoying as I thought I might have turned more than 1 page. But I'm giving it a lower score given the essence is available on the book web site and …

Ryder Carroll: The Bullet Journal Method (Hardcover, 2018, Portfolio) 4 stars

For years Ryder Carroll tried countless organizing systems, Online and off, but none of them …

Interesting short hand journaling method

4 stars

I really liked this book. A very down to earth approach on this unique journaling method, which is essentially kind of shorthand, and certainly can go long form content.

The idea is to keep your entire life in this journal, ideally paper for the first couple months until you get the flow. It does require planning/reflection times to move things around between the lists. And carry the journal with you almost all the time. Never know when you might get an idea. One can master it by making it personal to their needs - he has a couple examples in the book.

The book has occasional pictures which make the concepts pretty clear. There is a member-paid forum on the web site if you want to meet other fans.

Overall, the method is not complex, and can help people organize their thoughts and plans. Liked it!

Sally K. Norton: Toxic Superfoods (2022, Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale) 4 stars

Really seriously, that plant food isn't good for me?

4 stars

This was an eye opening book. I heard the author being interviewed on a podcast. I was generally aware of oxalates and the harm, but this book puts the spotlight on the situation, what we know and what we don't know.

If you've been not feeling normal, this book might be worth a read and some attempts to alter your diet. I'd recommend double checking other places that have oxalate levels of food, as there is some variance or bad samples, which lead to variance in some of the numbers. This area definitely needs more research.

Roland Allen: The Notebook (2023, Profile Books Limited) 5 stars

We see notebooks everywhere we go. But where did this simple invention come from? How …

Notebooks: their development and pivotal use in history. And recent.

5 stars

Heard an interview with the author on a podcast, and thought I'd check out the book. Wow, glad I did. It's essentially an informal history book that looks at the use of notebooks and how they modernized civilization.

Kicks off with a discussion of Moleskins and people who obsess over them. Into the earliest use of paper and reusable parchments, then into double-entry ledgers for trade and commerce. And more.

I'm glad I picked up this book. I'm a history nut, so this went well. Me? I use a clipboard with the paper back side for notes for the WFH notes, and composition books when at the office, and Bic black ink pens.

Dan Martell: Buy Back Your Time (2023, Penguin Publishing Group) 4 stars

Points to do as you run your company

4 stars

I'm not an entrepreneur, but heard the author on a podcast and was interested in this book.

This book is basically a guidebook to assist entrepreneurs handle their life and their business. I personally found the Email GPS section to be of value - as this is how he and his admin share his email inbox and organize it and plow through it.

Other topics include hiring, delegation, letting others do their thing, personal time, hobbies, and more.

It's focused on entrepreneurs and leaders, and maybe not so much for other people. Unless you are in such a role or aspiring to be, the book won't have as much value.

Doris Kearns Goodwin: Leadership in Turbulent Times (2019, Penguin Books, Limited) 4 stars

In this culmination of five decades of acclaimed studies in presidential history, Pulitzer Prize-winning author …

This was a great book that focuses on these 4 Presidents and how they came to be and worked in their administrations during turbulent times. Each President gets a couple small chapters on their early life and their rise to power. The book is closed with topic sub-chapters that show how one of the Presidents did to overcome.

It's a pretty thick book. While reading, the early pages were slow going, and not very turbulent. That picked up. I found the lookback and analysis the author did to be of top notch and well done.

Brigid Delaney: Reasons Not to Worry (2023, HarperCollins Publishers) 4 stars

An easy read and good intro to Stoicism (or refresher)

4 stars

I really enjoyed this book. The author goes on a multi-year quest to pick up Stoicism in order to help er react to life. Then friends run into scenarios, COVID, her column gets cut, etc.

Her approach is very down to earth and not preachy as some books could get. Topics from the ancients are mentioned or quoted, then the author will bring it into the modern day and elaborate on it.

I will be re-reading this. I'd love to hear if the cover photo was inspired on one of her beach walks.