Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert's story of growing up with two dads — his …
Review of 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad (Rich Dad)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I dislike the oversimplified perspective that it takes about taxes, money, rich, poor and middle-class. Sometimes, I found the book too long-winded; at other times I found the tone of the author elitist. On the other hand, I find the advice and ideas that it presents useful. And the unfamiliar point of view about money was a refreshing slap in the face. It definitely gave me food for thought.
I recommend because it will make you reflect about your own ideas and views about money, wealth and their distribution.
The 4-Hour Body is the result of an obsessive quest, spanning more than a decade, …
Review of 'The 4-Hour Body' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Having gone through one of the protocols (muscle mass increase) in the book, I'm not convinced about the validity of the claims in the book. I had 0 results with it. I don't think that Tim is lying about his results, but his results are anecdotal. I think he manage to find something that works for me.
I did like that the book contains numerous resources and reference. It's a good starting point for further personal research
Review of "First Break all the rules - what the world's greatest managers do differently" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I read the summary of the book. It seems to be a great book about the new generation of managers: they're supposed to facilitate and support of their employees and then get out of the way. It's a book that is crucial as soon as you reach a management position, but it could be useful even if you are only an employee (at least it will give you an idea of who is a great manager)
Strategy is not complex. But it is hard. It's hard because it forces people and …
Review of 'Playing to win' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I only read the summary of this book from pro.readitfor.me/episode/423 This is a book that is aimed at leaders of companies or startups. It has good, actionable advice, but it's not something for me yet. And I'm not a management consultant either. So this book goes on the goo--to-keep-in-mind-for-later shelf
"My Heart Is Afraid that it will have to suffer," the boy told the alchemist …
Review of 'The Alchemist' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
At its core, a fantasy, pseudo-spiritual book about a shepherd deciding to follow his dream. It got me hooked because I'm into middle easterner stories. It has some valuable (abstract) life lessons that are worth restating and remembering. The most important one for me: follow your dream fully, without being afraid of the failure. Only no-s0-good part of the book: some of the concepts were really thrown in my face (e.g. favourability). Overall, a short, easy-to-read story about life. I really liked it.
For much of the 20th and 21st centuries, women’s sexuality was an uncharted territory in …
Review of 'Come as You Are: The Surprising New Science that Will Transform Your Sex Life' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book was written with a female audience in mind and I think it is super useful for any lady that wants to understand her sexuality better. But it's a good read independent of gender: I learned a couple of valuable, new concepts and it explained some of the instinctual ideas/behaviors that I had. :) It's also an easy read: if you find the chapters too longwinded (happened to me), there's a summary at the end. I found myself reading the summary first and then, going back to parts of the chapter to understand the ideas better. It made reading the book more fun.
A few key takeaways: You're perfectly normal. If it feels good, it's ok ;) We, humans, all have the same parts, organized in different ways Brakes and accelerators Nonconcordance * Responsive desire (arousal is a bit like curiosity)
The Phoenix Project: A Novel About IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win is the …
Review of 'The Phoenix Project' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
On the first night, when I opened the book, it was 22:30. I stopped reading at 1:00. On the second and third night, the story repeated. Luckily, the weekend came and I managed to get back lost sleep. When I say exciting I'm not joking: The main character gets a sudden promotion from IT manager to VP of IT Operations in a big company ($4 billion per year). What he doesn't know is that the whole IT organization is completely crippled and he got the job is to get it healthy again. Having to manage severity one incidents, doing weekend long deployments, getting impossible constraints and requirements from business and security are just a few of the obstacles that he encounters in his new role. Various IT problems keep on appearing in the first part of the book. After that, things start stabilizing and you are rewarded with a happy …
On the first night, when I opened the book, it was 22:30. I stopped reading at 1:00. On the second and third night, the story repeated. Luckily, the weekend came and I managed to get back lost sleep. When I say exciting I'm not joking: The main character gets a sudden promotion from IT manager to VP of IT Operations in a big company ($4 billion per year). What he doesn't know is that the whole IT organization is completely crippled and he got the job is to get it healthy again. Having to manage severity one incidents, doing weekend long deployments, getting impossible constraints and requirements from business and security are just a few of the obstacles that he encounters in his new role. Various IT problems keep on appearing in the first part of the book. After that, things start stabilizing and you are rewarded with a happy ending ;)
Although a work of fiction the book introduces various currently-used-in-IT concepts: kanban, the theory of constraints, DevOps, wait time is %busy divided by %idle, simian army, The 3 ways, the 4 types of work. People working in/with IT will appreciate the quick intro into DevOps and IT management. I doubt that non-techies will find the book interesting. The idea that impressed me most was the comparison of the IT organization with a factory. Thinking back at my development experience, I observed that there are a lot more similarities between a factory worker and a software engineer than I'm comfortable to admit.
The main ideas are summarized at the end of the book. Along with them, you will also find the books (1, 2) that the authors used when building up the plot. I warmly recommend that you read at least this part of the book.
