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I bought the book after I saw James speak about remote work at the Lead Dev conference in Berlin last November, but I was a bit disappointed from Effective Remote Work. I felt it was very basic at times and the examples he uses to start each chapter felt very artificially constructed. I just couldn't relate to the people in these examples.

The rating does not reflect the quality of the book, it is (apart from the stories at the beginning of each chapter) well written and contains a lot of good advice, if you are working or are planning to work in a remote first company. It just happens that I work in a hybrid remote/office company and I personally prefer working in an office, but I need to collaborate on a daily basis with people that are remote (or just work in an office in a different country). This was not very well covered in Effective Remote Work.

With Engineering Management for the Rest of Us Sarah Drasner gives us a great starting point for new managers. On approximately 200 pages Sarah gives us a tour of all of areas that managers need to think about.

In chapter 1 Sarah starts with a quote from Ashley Willis, which sets the mood for the rest of the book: "The fact that you're worried that you're not a good manager is a key part of being a good manager."

The book is split into four parts: Your Team, Collaboration, Helping Your Team Do Their Best Work, and Your Work. This is one of the great things of the book, that it not just handles the managing and leading of people, but also how you can do great work and have a full-filling career.

For each of the topics that Sarah touches in Engineering Management for the Rest of Us adds references to further readings, which gives you the opportunity to learn more about the topic.