User Profile

andbenn

andbenn@bookwyrm.social

Joined 2 years ago

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

Me on Mastodon

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

Is what you read making you a better person?

This link opens in a pop-up window

andbenn's books

To Read (View all 8)

Currently Reading

2025 Reading Goal

Success! andbenn has read 54 of 20 books.

Scott D. Anthony: Epic Disruptions (2025, Harvard Business Review Press)

11 recent business disruptors that changed history

This Dartmouth instructor releases this new book probably with use cases and stories from his classes. This is packed with details on 11 distruptors and how they changed history. He does a little on identifying disruptors, which can appear to potentially make great changes, but don't stick.

Natalie Nixon: Move. Think. Rest. (Hardcover, Balance Books)

Nixon's MTR Framework will change the way you work. And it will do so without …

Move Think Reset and improve the team/corporate culture

The author is a well known person for productivity and teamwork. This book formulates her current framework, Move Think Rest or MTR.

There is a lot of tips and exercises in this book. If a group/team tries one or two new things to do every week, it will still take a while to get through.

There is an appendix of 66 days of daily tips to attempt. This book would be a good book for a leader's shelf to revisit frequently and try some new exercises with their teams.

Craig Callahan: Unloved Bull Markets (2022, Wiley & Sons, Limited, John)

Case after case on staying invested

A noted and popular investment manager authored this book covering dozens of topics regarding investing. Many have excerpts from letters his company has sent to their clients.

There's a ton of looking backwards here to prove his points. There's no guarantee the future will function as the past did.

Ed Latimore: Hard Lessons from the Hurt Business (2025, Penguin Publishing Group)

Latimore's wisdom from his life experiences

I'd call this a biography, but it's somewhat vertical. Latimore goes through his life to bring out dozens of points, each with stories and discussions. It's not all roses either, as he looks back on his mistakes as well.

This was an interesting read to see how he grew up and the challenges he's faced to this point.

Jay Heinrichs: Aristotle's Guide to Self-Persuasion (2025, Penguin Books, Limited)

Rhetoric of the modern age looking at Aristotles main points.

This was a great read. The author uses rhetoric style and takes apart several Aristotle precepts, putting his life and modern figures into the picture. Essentially a self-help book on using Aristotle to change your life for the better.

Ryan Holiday: The Obstacle Is The Way (Hardcover, 2024, Portfolio / Penguin)

Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition

An updated edition of the book that launched a global …

Getting through difficult moments and times/situations

Reread this, couple years back. However, with the "expanded" edition, so I thought I'd check it out. From the original, there's a preface and summary at the end that appear new. The other has indicated he's also cleaned up the text, but I could not detect any differences. Didn't have the time to side-by-side to find the differences.

Essentially, the same book from 10 years back. Does it matter which you read? No, the stories, points and details are the same. The Anniversary Edition may be preferred, but we are splitting hairs.

Robert E. Siegel: Systems Leader (2025, Crown Publishing Group, The)

Need more Systems Leaders and thinking

Great book from this Stanford lecturer and venture capitalist. Details all the aspects and takes on Systems Leaders and how they can benefit organizations.

Often times a Systems Leader has to look at a big picture and figure out what is the best thing to do for the organization. One part may think their task is most important; yet in the large view, their work may not move the needle.

Jenny Harrington: Dividend Investing (Paperback, english language, Harriman House)

Dividend Investing is the definitive book on how to construct a portfolio of dividend income …

Tips and strategies to make a portfolio of dividend stocks

Jenny Harrington manages portfolios of dividend stocks. With this book, she details her approach, her research, and some very interesting stock and customer stories.

I found this book to be very entertaining and useful. It is probably useful for investors, those who are interested in dividends, have their own dividend portfolio, and even money managers and advisors.

One thing it did tell me between the lines is that building a portfolio takes decent restart time and effort, which I don't have.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book. I heard a short interview with her on a podcast.

Side: my book pages kind of smelled like breakfast cereal. Perhaps rice.

Shermin Kruse: Stoic Empathy (2025, Hay House, Incorporated)

Modern take on empathy and using it, and backing it up with Stoicism

This book has two parts. The first half introduces and walks through empathy. The second half lightly touches Stoicism themes and overlays them with empathy. The result is a modern take on Stoicism and justice.

The book starts off with a bit of the life of the author and her family's escape from Iran and resettling. As a lawyer, law professor, negotiator and TED* presentations, she has had ample experiences to use empathy.

I liked the book. As I was getting to the middle, I was wondering where Stoicism was going to come in. The style of writing is narrative and done very well. There are ample stories to back up and emphasize the particular point.

The book may be better for someone who is already familiar with Stoicism. Otherwise her light touch of it may be confusing.

I liked it, a lot. I do like …

Chris Hayes: Sirens' Call (2025, Diversified Publishing)

From the New York Times bestselling author and television and podcast host, a powerful, wide-angle …

Really good look at attention and media, from a media person

I found this to be a rather enjoyable book. I have been reading up on productivity, deep work and focus, so a lot of this content wasn't new or a surprise. What I appreciated was the look back over decades on how we've changed as part of the Information Age and how we consume information - and how that's shoved at us from all angles with bright flashy blinking text boxes.

The book does take a critical look at politics at the end, which might bristle some. I do think with critical thinking, it is important to understand both sides. The approach he takes is very wholesome and properly critical, so I wouldn't recommend discounting it.

Sam Dogen: Millionaire Milestones

Simple Steps to Seven Figures

Typical style of the writer, this covers dozens of steps and things one or a family can do to get onto a path of being a millionaire. No quick solutions, these are a collection of the best things to consider doing.

Probably best for a person in their first third of their career, and reference for the rest of us.

Juliet B. Schor: Four Days a Week (Hardcover, 2025, HarperCollins)

Bestselling author, leading sociologist and economist Juliet Schor makes the case for a four-day work …

Fantastic read on academic studies about four day work weeks

Geared for managers, leaders, consultants and change agents. The author and her colleagues spend years with dozens of companies that implement four day work weeks. The book starts off with history of work and various legislation about work. Observations from the companies, several of which weren't successful for various reasons. Also macro aspects of four day weeks, such as less travel, less heat, etc. A solid book, chock full of observational data.

Kevin Eikenberry: Flexible Leadership

Great book for leaders and soon to be leaders

This is a practical playbook for leaders of any stage. Either as a refresher, or as it reads, probably the basis or spawned from a workshop from the author's company.

The main point is that leaders have to be flexible during certain times or moments, and do so on aspects that the author calls flexors each of which has a spectrum. The book covers over a dozen flexors with several pages to each. The end covers turning skills into habits, and making a flexible leadership organization.

Marc Zao-Sanders: Timeboxing

Timeboxing - A system and process from an expert

Four parts - Believe, Plan, Do and Own. Each has several topics of their own. Each topic is readable in at most 15 minutes. The author has written a lot about timeboxing and has popular Harvard Business Review articles.

Believe : He introduces and sets up Timeboxing, what you can accomplish. Plan : The mechanics of setting up a day with timeboxes, including making, sizing, and how it works with ToDo lists

Do: How to use them and go throughout a day. Avoiding distractions

Own: how to make timeboxing a habit. Other things one can do to improve, such as mindfullness, taking breaks, getting enough sleep, and how to use tools and some of the popular choices at the time the book was written in 2023-2024.

I really enjoyed this book. Other productivity writers have done timebox topics, but often from a survey aspect. The author …

Cecilia Kang, Sheera Frenkel: An Ugly Truth (Hardcover, 2021, Harper)

New York Times reporters Frenkel and Kang debut with a paragon of investigative journalism in …

Facebook, how could you?

The 2021 book that brought together several NYTimes stories and more. Written by two NYTimes reporters, this categorizes many of the company's questionable decisions (and indecisions) through it's existence. With an obvious "must grow" mentality, this drove many of the responses.

Kind of sad. A good management lesson for any aspiring or existing people manager.