Review: Coolidge

Coolidge by Amity Shlaes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

First off, as far as biographies go, this is, without doubt, the definitive one of Calvin Coolidge. The author did an excellent job compiling the information, collecting it, and telling us about his story. 

Having said that, this is hardly an exciting ride. It sort of seems like the story of a slight better-off-than-average fellow who is slightly smarter than average, and how his sense of duty leads him to politics and, pretty much by luck, to the white house. Once there he cuts spending more or less as much as humanly possible, while saying as little as possible. 

He is undoubtedly one of the most principled of the presidents, and more or less the polar opposite of Harding. 

All in all a good read, but nothing really riveting. 

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Review: No and Me

No and Me by Delphine de Vigan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a delightful book and a relatively quick read. It is also my first book by de Vigan and I look forward to reading others. 

I thought it might be YA, which is still might, but it doesn't really have a happy ending or anything like that. 

Also, I've recently read two french novels (this and "The Elegance of the Hedgehog"), both of which feature genius girls who don't really fit in. Is this just pervasive in France or something? Regardless, they are both good books. 

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Review: The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and Other Short Stories from Japan

The Mad Kyoto Shoe Swapper and Other Short Stories from Japan by Rebecca Otowa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I actually quite enjoyed these.  They are short and simple, each one with an obvious message. I think I enjoyed the true stories more than the others, since it is fascinating to read about family stories that have been passed down. 

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Review: La città del sole

La città del sole by Tommaso Campanella
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Campanella seems to have amalgamated aspects of Thomas More's Utopia, Plato's dialogues, Christianity and some astrology for good measure. 

I did like how he seemed to be a fan of new inventions, which were aplenty in this city of the sun. Including an "orecchiale", like an "occhiale" but for listening to space. I also liked how knowledge should be open to all, and not closed up to the people. 

He talks about how their inhabitants are amazed that we are occupied with breeding horses and dogs, but we don't do the same with human. But then takes the wrong lesson and basically has them practice eugenics. 

I did not like how women and children were basically common property. Also, what was the deal with 'voluntary' human sacrifice?? Also, it seemed like he was kissing up to the Spanish toward the end (which he probably was). 

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Review: Stingray

Stingray by Kim Joo-Young
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this. At first I thought it would just be a melancholy book with random depressing episodes. But it is much more than that (although the atmosphere is rather melancholy until the end). 

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Review: The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World

The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have no idea why I had this ebook. I seriously don't remember buying it or having it gifted. Regardless, it is fascinating in its own way. There is a whole unknown parallel world with parallel lives taking place all around us. 

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Review: The Burglar

The Burglar by Thomas Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I quite enjoyed this, despite the unrealistic parts (I'm guessing pretty much 0% of the evidence would be admissible in court since it was all illegally obtained). 

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Review: Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul

Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul by Howard Schultz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this book at Dog-eared books and grabbed it and, although it was cheap, I feel cheated. Am I the only one who thought that the title: "Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul" sounds like it would describe how he built up the company? Isn't that what most people wish to read about a successful company? 

But he skips over that part. 

The book races through the early years in the first chapter, saying he wanted to open a coffee shop, so he got an investment (how?) and opened a couple branches (how did that work? How about hiring people? Setting up a system? Finding suppliers? Troubleshooting?), and then bought out Starbucks thanks to another bigger investment (once again, how?), and expanded to a bunch of countries (and again, no details). Chapter 2 he talks about retiring as CEO and becoming Chairman (Sorry, "chairman", since he said they changed all their titles to lower case). 

I generally like the "naive" outlook, for lack of a better word, and I appreciate and try to absorb it when I read it in founders' books. I understand that if you wish to create a world-changing company you need to be naive enough to actually believe the world can change, and I guess I sort of hope it rubs off on me. However, very often this book struck me as more self-adulatory and as an opportunity to give his version of various handpicked events. 

There were, however, some great points:

I really liked how SB offers healthcare to all its employees, even part-timers, in addition to stock in the company. 

I especially liked how a Starbucks in Tokyo offered coffee tastings to the visually impaired a few times a year, and the chapter on China had some touching points. 

Reading through a list of Schultz's other books, I see one called "Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time", which I will assume is the actual story of how he grew Starbucks. I do wish he had made the content of this one more obvious, for those of us shopping in used bookstores that give us a 30 minute time limit before we have to leave (COVID restrictions). 

Still, some interesting points. 

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Review: One Hundred Shadows

One Hundred Shadows by Hwang Jungeun
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If I have to be honest, the style seems like a lighter version of Bae Suah or Hwang Sok yong. This was a short novella, so maybe that was the issue, but I never really entered into the story all that much. I'm not necessarily sure it would have benefitted from being longer, however. I guess it was ambiguous but it didn't really make me curious about the ambiguity (unlike with Bae Suah and Hwang Sok-yong). 

Still, an interesting premise and decent follow-through. 

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Review: Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires

Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires by Selwyn Raab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is pretty much the definitive book about the history of the mafia, so it will hit the spot for any mafia fix you may have, at least as regards the New York families. I do wish it had more about other families in the country, and I wish there were a follow-up edition discussing what has been happening in recent years.

I read some complaints that this was pretty much a summary of law enforcement tactics against organized crime. On the other hand, by definition the Cosa Nostra has been secretive, so the only reliable source is usually what the police can uncover. So I'd much rather have this than rumors and speculation by others. Even with Joe Valachi, we saw how an insider can get many of the facts wrong about things that don't concern him directly. Or the Bonanno soldier who didn't know that Costa Nostra meant Our thing (he thought it meant Friends).

After reading this my respect for Al Capone and John Gotti has plummeted, while that for Chin Gigante and Joseph Massino has increased. It has remained the same for Lucky Luciano and Carlo Gambino.

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Review: Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value

Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value by William Poundstone
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

It turns out that spending a couple of years studying behavioral econ, behavioral finance, and behavioral (fill in the blank), and reading Daniel Kahneman, Richard Thaler, Dan Ariely and the like, pretty much covers most of what this book seems to offer. 

I'm only 50 pages in, but that's my impression, and skipping ahead I see the obligatory Ultimatum game, prospect theory, and other points. I might come back to it if I want a rehash. 

I expected this book to be more business-related, so this might have been my fault. 

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Review: I Am One of You Forever

I Am One of You Forever by Fred Chappell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this book on spec (at dog-eared books, in Raleigh), and at first I thought it was a novel. Then I realized it was a collection of short stories, which seemed cute, but nothing much more. In fact, the constant barrage of visiting uncles (and aunt) were getting me confused. 

However, after having read the book I must say the stories are sticking with me. The magical realism, which seemed sort of cheap at first, also seemed to work. Maybe it's just because the last couple of stories were my favorite. Regardless, 4 stars. 

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Review: Normal People

Normal People by Sally Rooney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When a book received this many awards and accolades, I always feel like there's something wrong with me if I don't enjoy it. Well, I didn't enjoy it. It seemed like a hum-drum story about hum-drum people, and every now and then a pinch of drama is mixed in. I get that that's supposed to be the whole point of "normal people", and so once again, maybe it's just me, but a plot, or an ending, or even dialogue quotes, would have been nice. 

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Review: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'll start with my issues with the book:

First of all, Calvin Coolidge pretty much figured this out around 100 years ago. The author calls it "perseverance and passion". Coolidge called it "Persistence and determination". Here is the full quote:

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

Sooo, yeah. Odd that the author doesn't even acknowledge this quote. Truth be told however, I always liked the quote, so the book was pretty much preaching to the choir from the get-go. 

Secondly, the book talks about finding something you're passionate about. In this book it is slightly more subtle than many other places (talking about pain and getting into the flow, etc.), and goes more into detail, but it's there. The issue I have with this, is I think most people are probably passionate about earning a living and giving a good life for their family. That's their main motivator for working, earning, getting promoted, etc. and I'm not sure that type of motivation works well for a book like this. Most shoemakers want to provide for their family more than change the shoe world. 

That's pretty much it. The rest is all good points, and I plan on keeping this book as reference 

By grit, she basically means what I would have called perseverance. She says it's perseverance mixed with passion, which makes sense. 

She admonishes Skilling at Enron for having a system that fired the bottom 15% each year, but GE did the same and it seemed to work well for them. 

I loved the anecdote of Scott Kaufman, who got rejected from Carnegie Mellon's cognitive science program, so he applied to their musical program, took psychology electives, took it up as a minor, and then changed his major to it. 

Strivers beat talented people because "as strivers are improving in skill, they are also employing that skill" (p. 50)

Having a long-term goal, but not knowing the intermediate goals needed to get there, is just positive fantasizing, which leads to disappointment, since you won't achieve your goal. (p. 65)

At a certain point the book seemed to concentrate more on children, and how to foster more grit in them, which, having a 2-year-old daughter, I really appreciated. I liked the KIPP pointers, as well as the things to say to children rather than the normal feedback you usually hear (p. 182)

Her points about follow-through are good as well (p. 228), and I think I will try applying the Hard thing Rule (p/ 241) in our family as well.

3.5 stars

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