Review: Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life

Think Like a Rocket Scientist: Simple Strategies You Can Use to Make Giant Leaps in Work and Life by Ozan Varol
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ok, now we need someone from the business world to rewrite this book drawing actionable business conclusions for each of the author's points. I mean, the points were great, and the examples were fascinating, and maybe I'm just lazy, but I felt like a step was missing in terms of transferring/translating these points into steps to follow/actions to take/methods to use, at least in terms of business (maybe this book isn't for businesspeople?)

Regardless, some of my notes:

Once certainty ends, progress can begin.

Some good arguments against celebrating failure, and Failing fast. (Learning is more important than failing)

Don't ask yourself "what would you do if you couldn't fail"? but "What would you do if it didn't matter if you failed"?

Ask yourself "What have you failed at?" every day. You should fail at something every day. Otherwise you're not pushing yourself.

Where failure ends, complacency begins.

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Review: Onassis: An Extravagant Life

Onassis: An Extravagant Life by Frank Brady
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The man is obviously fascinating, and not really knowing much about him beforehand, I certainly appreciated that.

However, I can't say I liked the book itself. This book didn't delve deep at all, with all associated characters basically being neglected aside from their direction interaction with Onassis. So his wives, children and parents are basically just mentioned at intervals (Jackie Kennedy gets more than anyone else, but even then it would have been nice to know how she was affected after his death). Even the rift with his father is quite mysterious, and then sort of dropped (I don't believe his father's death is even mentioned).

Also, some of the details of his life seem a bit stretched. I doubt he "learned Italian fluently" thanks to the boat ride across the Atlantic and a week staying with an Italian family. I doubt even more that he, a Greek speaker, learned English and German fluently working as a phone operator in Argentina listening to other peoples' phone calls. All of this makes me doubt whether he really slept 3-4 hours per night, like the book claims.

Having said that, the book doesn't hide how he beat women, had terrible ethics (see the whale hunting section), and was all-around very devious.

Anyway, so if there is another, more in-depth biography of this man I might read it, because he is obviously fascinating. Having been born in luxury, witnessing the ethnic cleansing of his people around him, escaping with nothing to Greece, then escaping once again to Argentina, only to build a huge empire and become the richest man in the world, is quite impressive.



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Review: Lingo: A Language Spotter's Guide to Europe

Lingo: A Language Spotter's Guide to Europe by Gaston Dorren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fun book! A bit sporadic, but it was to be expected, covering a smattering of languages and cultures. It will be full of little tidbits you probably didn't know (Avalanche is the only English word we got from the Romansh language; gönnen is the German word for finding joy in another's success. We had a word for this in Old English, but have apparently stopped doing so; etc.)

Don't expect a treatise or any in-depth study. But if you want some interesting Trivia for European-related languages, this is a great book. 

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Review: How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy

How the Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation, and the Threat to Democracy by Mehrsa Baradaran
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ironically, I know of the author because of her book reviews here on Goodreads, which I follow and enjoy reading quite a bit, so when I saw her book on sale, I bought it right away. 

This book does a great job showing how Banks are not solely private enterprises, nor are they public, but they are (and need to be) a hybrid. They are codependent with the government, which, unfortunately, tends to give banks the upper hand. If banks risk going out of business, the government will step in, but the concentration is "on making banks profitable again", rather than providing a more public good to those in need. This, of course, creates confusion, which once again gives banks the upper hand. 

I appreciate the history of the banking industry, from the 1600's in Europe to Jefferson vs. Hamilton up to modern times. Also the history of credit unions, savings & loans, etc. 

The argument seemed quite convincing to me (although seasoned economists might poke holes in it I guess). The conclusion is then that Postal banks would be an optimal solution. Having grown up in Switzerland, I am a huge fan of Swisspost, which I think is the best type of Swiss bank account (despite the other types being famous for many reasons). In fact, all Swiss people have at least one postal account. So my initial reaction is to agree. Many of the benefits she lists are evident in Switzerland. However, I still hesitate to think it will work well in the US. Aside from the Politicians likely to call it "socialist", and other banks sure to be against it, I'm not all that sure the USPS is well-equipped enough to handle it. Maybe we could start with the USPS issuing certified e-mail (like Switzerland and Italy and other countries have), and if it can handle that change, then maybe it can pivot into banking services. 

Regardless, this book shows very clearly that the banking system in the US has very serious issues. 

4.5 Stars

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Review: The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han

The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han by Mark Edward Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not sure how much I liked this the second time around. Plenty of information (probably the most comprehensive out there for this time period in English), but it seems haphazard at best. As another reviewer pointed out, there is next to nothing about the Yellow Turban revolt, but plenty of information regarding somewhat esoteric topics (probably very interesting to the scholar, but not so much to the layperson who is trying to get the general information before getting the details). 

Anyway, I'll leave it at four stars for now. 

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Review: One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days

One Million Followers: How I Built a Massive Social Following in 30 Days by Brendan Kane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This should have been a dnf for me, and I'm sort of annoyed at myself for reading the entire book (I was hoping the sections on other types of social media would be redeeming). 

The book should have either been an informative article, or a longer full-length book concentrating on Facebook. The author obviously has a predilection for Facebook, basically discarding Twitter, snapchat and (somewhat) Instagram. He mentions how LinkedIn is better for B2B, but doesn't go into nearly as much depth for that or Google Adwords (both of which have always worked best for me, and this book hasn't really convinced me otherwise). He also pretty much glosses over Youtube, despite mentioning it is the best place to have longer videos. He doesn't even mention Tiktok, Discord, Telegram, etc. 

It seemed odd to me how he mentions that people on LinkedIn are already there for business purposes, but that Facebook is still a better place to market. This strikes me not only as more geared toward B2C, but for a particular form of B2C (showbiz/entertainment for the general public). My takeaway is that it is probably better to find the budget to pay an influencer for a few posts rather than try to become one myself. 

Having said that, there is quite a bit of detail about Facebook (not quite enough, in my opinion, which is why this would have made a good book solely about Facebook marketing), specifically about A/B tests and about targeting emerging markets. 

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Review: The Gun

The Gun by Fuminori Nakamura
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I confess I don't remember much of "The Thief", but I think I enjoyed this book more. I remember The Thief had more of a YA feel, but this felt more "noir" and thrilleresque throughout. It is quite psychological but still eventful. As someone mentioned (I think), I feel like Alfred Hitchcock could have made a movie about this. 

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Review: An Ambush of Widows

An Ambush of Widows by Jeff Abbott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun, fast-paced, with nice twists and turns (in fact, maybe a tad too many). Only a bit of a stretch. I should read more by this author

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Review: What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars by Jim Paul
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was actually much better than I thought it would be. To tell the truth, I knew nothing about it except the title. I can't remember why it was even in my wishlist. I thought it would deal with entrepreneurship/business, but it deals with investing. This suits me, since I'm starting to get more into that (recently bought The Intelligent Investor, which I should probably tackle soon).

It was also written in the early 90's, so it is interesting to compare with today (and see how timeless many of these lessons are).

The book starts with a general run-down of the author's life, which is quite interesting, although I was afraid that would be all, but right after that, it lists all the contradictory advice that great investors have given over the years. This section alone is probably worth the price of the book. The only one I remember off the top of my head is how Warren Buffett said Diversification is for idiots, while John Templeton said to always diversify.

The final section deals how, if there is no real way to make money, what all the great investors have in common is they don't lose money, and it discusses the details as to how to go about that.

Some of my notes:
Need to decide: Will I be an investor or speculator?
Will I invest in stocks, bonds, currencies, futures (crypto)? (must be compatible with time horizon)

Pick the loss side first (pick where (price), when (time), or why (new information) you will get out of the position).

Pick stop, entry, then price objective.

Gambling is usually over one event (one race, one fight, one spin at the wheel, etc.). What if they stopped a horse race mid-way and you could decide to bet more, take your money out, etc.? This happens continuously with stocks.

Most investments are trades that didn't work (started as a trade, lost money, suddenly the time horizon stretched out since no one likes to take money out at a loss).



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Review: In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art

In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art by Sue Roe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This basically reads like a sequel to the book "The Private Lives of the Impressionists". So much so, in fact, that I'm embarrassed to say I didn't realize it was the same author until after finishing the book. Essentially, Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, Georges Braque, Henri Rousseau, Gertrude Stein, and even Igor Stravinsky, picked up the baton from the impressionists. Once again, this was a group of very poor artists who were hanging around Montmartre (in many of the same cafes as the impressionists), trying to find their way in art. 

The focus of this book is Picasso and Matisse, and their on-off rivalry, but it ends up encompassing the entire Montmartre scene, basically until the windmills are taken down and the scene moves down to Montparnasse (and I see she has a sequel of sorts here as well: "In Montparnasse: The Emergence of Surrealism in Paris, from Duchamp to Dali"). 

Regardless, once again I found the book excellent, enlightening, and I found myself having to look up many of the paintings mentioned by the author, as well as places I plan on visiting the next time I'm in Paris. 

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Review: Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café

Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a continuation of "Before the Coffee Gets Cold", although it also stands on its own. In fact, each of these tales in a story to itself, although they should be read in chronological order. 

It also has sort of a denouement for some of the issues in the first book (Who is the woman in the white dress??) and I think I may have enjoyed this more for that reason. 

It continues on a very original premise and has very cute stories. Since it involves time travel, there are still some issues that sci-fi aficionados may have with it, but that isn't the point of the book. 

4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. 

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Review: The Honjin Murders

The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Two locked-room murder mysteries from the 1930s in a row! Purely by coincidence (the other was "Murder of a Lady" by Antony Wynne). I enjoyed this one more. Less far-fetched, more inventive and also quite meta, especially for the time. I look forward to reading more by the author. 

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Review: 유리방패 The Glass Shield

유리방패 The Glass Shield by Kim Junghyuk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The book jacket says "The narrative devoid of the woman-lover axis evolves only around the male-friend axis. One might compare Kim Jung-hyuk's pals to the freemasons who have replaced Beatrice". 

But I can't help wondering if this is in itself a mockery of the art critic in the story, giving all these serious intellectual traits to what is basically just fun and games. 

Then again, there is obviously more to this (short) story, since in the end we realize that living carefree can't continue forever. 

Regardless, this is a re-read and I enjoyed it more the second time around. 4.5 stars. 

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Review: If Cats Disappeared from the World

If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

And so continues my journey through contemporary Japanese fiction dealing with cats. Thus far it's been: "The Traveling Cat Chronicles" by Hiro Arikawa, "The Guest Cat" by Takashi Hiraide (albeit a dnf for me), "I Am a Cat" by Natsume Soseki, various by Haruki Murakami (like "Town of Cats" and "Kafka on the Shore"), and now this one. I wonder how many more there are. 

Regardless, this was a good book if you're in the right mood I guess. It deals with the issue of dying, what will be remembered/left of us once we die, and how you don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. It isn't depressing, but if those topics sound trite to you, then don't read this book. 

I can go for topics like these, at times, but not necessarily right now. Still, a cute premise and story.

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Review: Token Economy: How the Web3 reinvents the Internet

Token Economy: How the Web3 reinvents the Internet by Shermin Voshmgir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Great dive into pretty much everything about Tokens. The dive isn't too deep, but this probably shouldn't be your first foray into Blockchain technology, unless you have a finance background maybe. 

Regardless, I found it very informative, if a tad boring and long-winded in parts. Like with any book about this topic, it will be out of date by the time it goes to print, but it still gives quite a bit of good background information. 

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Review: Desire: Vintage Minis

Desire: Vintage Minis by Haruki Murakami
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A compendium of some of Murakami's short stories, a few of which are featured in other collections, so I think all except one were re-reads for me. I must say, however, that if anything I enjoyed them more the second time around, which kinda makes me want to re-read some other Murakami novels. 

The stories were:

"The Second Bakery Attack" - A re-read. And more fun the second time around. I had forgotten the ending, so that kept me going

"On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" - Another re-read. Probably my least favorite, but still good in its own way.

"Birthday Girl" - Skipped this one since I remembered it rather vividly

"Samsa in Love" - A very weird one, but fun. I probably would have gotten more out of it if I had read The Metamorphosis (don't tell anyone I haven't).

"A Folklore for my Generation. A Prehistory of Late Stage Capitalism" - A re-read, but a pleasant one. And it takes place in Lucca, so you can't go wrong. 

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Review: Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office

Empire State of Mind: How Jay-Z Went From Street Corner to Corner Office by Zack O'Malley Greenburg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great look into the life of one of the most interesting (and successful) people alive. It's too bad Jay-Z didn't agree to be interviewed for this, but on the other hand, much like happened with "Sam Walton - The Inside Story of America's Richest Man", this was just because Jay-Z was writing his own autobiography. When this happens, I tend to choose the version that will be less biased and (likely) more thoroughly researched. And this was definitely well-researched. Finding the link between Jay-Z and Armand de Brignac was quite impressive sleuthing. 

Unfortunately, however, this book leaves off around 10 years ago. So no mention of his children, of other endeavors like Tidal, tours with Beyonce, etc. 

If a revised version ever comes out, I'll probably check it out. 

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Review: Murder of a Lady

Murder of a Lady by Anthony Wynne
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Quite entertaining despite everything. Kept me guessing. A bit far-fetched at the end, but no worse than many contemporary mystery novels. 

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Review: The Introvert’s Edge to Networking: Work the Room. Leverage Social Media. Develop Powerful Connections

The Introvert’s Edge to Networking: Work the Room. Leverage Social Media. Develop Powerful Connections by Matthew Owen Pollard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was excited to read this book since I am very much an introvert, although I completely understand how essential networking is in business. 

I must say a couple of things seemed odd in this book. First of all, the author keeps saying he's an introvert, but then goes on to have certain stories that don't really square up. For example, as a younger kid in Australia, he knew some owner of a hot club (I can't remember the exact position), so he could get in without waiting in line, and could even bring his mates in. Obviously this is cool, but hardly the life of an introvert. 

More importantly, I have to say that pretty much every time I've been to a networking event, the people there from large companies are usually NEVER there to network, but to relax with some friends and drink some beers. In fact, at my last event, I was asking some people which chamber I should join, and they literally advised me not to join this and that chamber because all the networking events are so 'serious' and 'everyone is networking'. Obviously this isn't true for entrepreneur events, but still. 

Apparently this isn't the case for him, since he talks about networking with some IBM exec at some event and how it got him some supersales. 

One other bone of contention was a detail. He said if you go to an event and 2 people are in a conversation then you shouldn't approach them because you'll be interrupting. His reasoning is anecdotal (he was chatting with the aforementioned IBM exec closing a deal). This, however, goes against his own advice NOT to sell at the event itself. And in fact, I've found often the opposite to be true. If it is a networking event (especially for entrepreneurs), then 2 people talking to each other either A) know each other already, in which case they know they should be networking even though they aren't, so someone who approaches them saves them the trouble, Or B) don't know each other, in which case they're probably having an awkward 1st time conversation, and welcome a newcomer, or even if they are having a good conversation, they can always end it on a high note (as the author recommends doing) and decide to meet up again over coffee one day, so the 3rd person will be a welcome addition. 

Anyway, all of this makes it seem like I didn't like the book. I actually found it very useful, which I guess is why these other points rankled. I plan on using his information, especially preparing before the meetings, and the follow-up after the meetings (Probably not so much during the meetings, for the reasons mentioned above). 

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Review: The Analects

The Analects by Confucius
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So I bought this commentary book on Mencius, and figured before reading that I should read Mencius, and then I figured before reading Mencius I should read Confucius, so here we are. 

This is actually a re-read, but I figured it was needed. And it was an interesting one. I found some odd passages, like:

"Confucius would rather be criticized for partiality than appear to be openly critical of the Duke" (note to Book VII, 31)

I guess this falls under respecting superiors, although it comes across like he's being opportunist and has a double standard

"It is a shameful matter to be poor and humble when the Way prevails in the state" (Book VIII, 13)

eh?

 Also I'm not sure if one should put the State above all, or the family above the state (see Book XIII, 18)

But also some good ones I marked down for reference, like:

"Only when the cold season comes is the point brought home that the pine and the cypress are the last to lose their leaves" (Book IX, 28)

I really like this one!

To be frank it would have also helped to use the Chinese characters for some of the terms. I understand most readers probably wouldn't understand (myself included), but I'm guessing those same readers won't know what the Chün shih chapter of the Shu Ching is, and having the characters, rather than this Wade-Giles mishmash would make it easier to follow-up

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