Taking Religion Seriously

Taking Religion Seriously by Charles Murray

Modern "scientific" people often look down on religions. It is seen as something quaint from the past. The author seeks to treat religion seriously. People's individual religious journey can be different. For some, there is the deep internal faith. For others, an intellectual approach works. The benefits of the culture and community are also a key part of the religious package. In this book, the author includes a large bibliography of many books that he was found useful in the spiritual exploration. There are also interesting discussions of the history and timeline of the Bible. He is of the side that the gospels were written early by people that may have direct knowledge of the events, rather than a later view that some modernists suppose. It is an interesting approach to religion and how it provides value even in today's modern society.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski PhD and Amelia Nagoski DMA

How do women burnout and get stressed? The author focus on women and their tendency to care for others at the expense of themselves. The "bikini-industrial complex" is discussed a negative influence that encourages women to achieve a certain body type that may be the most helpful. While shooting for the ideal body type is not necessarily helpful, getting exercise is helpful for reducing stress. The book presents much of the standard stress-reduction advice. The difference is the woman focus and concerns about the "patriarchy" being a negative influence on women.

The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You

The Making of a Manager: What to Do When Everyone Looks to You by Julie Zhuo

Julie Zhuo joined Facebook in its infancy as a UX designer. The company grew rapidly and she was thrust into a leadership role and then up to being a leader of leaders. Her experience at a rapidly growing company required heavy emphasis on recruiting and growing a company. These may not be as applicable at other companies that are not rapidly growing. However, many of the other management discussions are universally applicable. People look at managers different than other people. They must also practice what they preach. It is hard to get a team to buy into ideas that the leader does not follow. Leaders must continue to focus on what procides the most value, and work on making themselves obsolete.

Less: A Novel

Less: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer

Arthur Less is a mediocre gay novelist. He has brushed against some greatness, but seems destined to be unremarkable. He was once "stole" a well-known poet from his wife. He also had a book that had somewhat positive feedback. All of that was in the past. Now he is taking any opportunity he can find with anyone available. This leads to various humorous encounters. Even at a gay convention, his writing is deemed "not gay enough." He cannot seem to win. Luckily, I did not find myself caring much about him.

The Hiding Place

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom, Elizabeth Sherrill and John Sherrill

A Dutch family lived in Haarlem shortly before World War II. The father was a clockmaker and stressed service and work in the community. There were conflicts breaking out in Europe. However, it seemed that the Netherlands would remain neutral as before. The family occasionally saw Jews in need and had helped them out. After the Dutch army capitulated, the Netherlands came under Nazi occupation. The family helped out more Jews. They became involved in the Dutch underground. At one time a sympathizer proposed they kill a Dutch informer. They would not go that far. They were eventually caught and brought to a concentration camp. The author's sister was also keeping her faith and looking positive. She was even grateful for the fleas they had. (It would later turn out that the guards had let them meet in peace because they didn't want to go to the flea-infested room.) They would maintain their faith in the camps until they were freed. The later half of the book emphasizes Christian thought and maintaining love and faith even under difficult circumstances.

Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons Of A Hardwood Warrior

Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons Of A Hardwood Warrior by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty

Phil Jackson explores the spiritual dimension of his basketball career. He was raised as a child of Presbyterian ministers. However, he never experienced speaking in tongues and felt that he had not filled the jump in the spiritual journey. He later was attracted to Zen and meditation. He still maintianed some of the key Christian teacheings of love with his Zen practice. He used this as part of his early basketball career. His NBA playing career gradually shifted to coaching. When he was coaching the bulls he worked to balance the extreme talent of Michael Jordan with the needs of a team. There were times that players had important life experiences that needed to be addressed. (Such as the death of Scottie Pippen's father.) The book is abridged and ends in the middle of the Bulls run. Much of it is repeated in his later book spanning his entire NBA career. 

Korean in 40 Minutes: Learn to speak Korean in minutes with Collins

Korean in 40 Minutes: Learn to speak Korean in minutes with Collins by Collins

This is a quick intro to Korean with short, useful phrases to repeat. This one actually feels a bit too fast to repeat - even at normal speed. 

The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change

The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change by Camille Fournier

The author did a NanoWriMo book on her experience transitioning from engineer to management. People still need to remain a bit technical as the rise up. First steps are typically working as a mentor to interns. Other steps include doing more people work and less coding. Even those on a technical track still need to have a little people experience. The best technical people are not necessarily the best managers. The book is a nice tech-focused book on management and rising up the career ladder. (Which sometimes is best done at places that do not have a ladder!) Management is different at different companies and at different phases of growth as are the opportunities.

Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent

Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent by Kim Bowes

How did the typical person live in Rome? It is amazing the quantity of data that they are about the piece together from a time a few millennia ago. Pompeii has provided a great source as things were suddenly stopped and frozen in time. Other archaeology work has been used to find details of the life, while written records provide some clue to wages and work. Analysis is influenced by those doing the work. What was needed to subsist? It appears that most of the family would work. Children would do work when they could. Farmers often had small plots that they would farm to live on and to trade with others. It was not a life of abundance, but did seem to be survivable.

High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies

High Weirdness: Drugs, Esoterica, and Visionary Experience in the Seventies by Erik Davis

The book is weird. It is also long. Over an hour into the audiobook, it was still telling me what it was going to tell me. The focus is 1974 and thereabouts with psychedelic weirdness. Phillip K. Dick is the one that stood out. He claimed to have special visions while still clinging to Christianity. There were also other more typical people that would trip out. Jesus freaks were an interesting category of weirdos who adopted a hippie infused form of Christianity. The book could really use some editing. Perhaps it was intended to be consumed while tripping out on a psychedelic substance. 

Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success

Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty

This is books is primarily a linear narrative of the life of Phil Jackson. He grew up in the upper midwest in a religious family (both parents were preachers). He took to basketball and eventually made it to the NBA to play for the Nicks. He was never a super star, but was a role player. He earned two championships as a player (though he was out injured for a season where he got it.) At the time, life in the NBA was not glamourous or well-paying. Some of the college students had better experiences. He was drawn towards coaching. He had various experiences (including in Puerto Rico.) He eventually was an assistant for the Bulls. They had Michael Jordan and some potential. Management decided he was best to get them over the cusp. They fired the coach and made him head coach. After some challenges, he was able to put together 2 three-peat championships with the bulls. Part of it involved helping the team to be more balanced rather than dishing everything to Jordan. He took time off, then took the Lakers job. There he won three championships with Kobe and Shaq. Again, he needed to work to get them to be team players. After some down years, he was able to win two more with Kobe. He stayed on for another season after the last championship where they failed to win. In between the championships he also had some bad years. The pain of defeat helped encourage him and his teams to play for more victories. He also talks about some of the meditation and other non-basketball work he did. In his time, he worked with some of the best players and got the best out of them. The combination of players and coach seemed to work well.

Raising Hare: A Memoir

Raising Hare: A Memoir by Chloe Dalton

A woman moves out to the British countryside during the pandemic. There she observes a young injured hare. She helps nurse the hare back to health and befriends it. Later she discovers that the hare is a female when it has babies. The hare at first stays in the house, but gradually spreads further outside. It gives birth first outside. However, it later gives birth inside the house. The hare is never really a pet, but still has an affinity towards the house. The author gains greater respect for nature and the challenges we place on hares with urban development. After reading, I finally have a better understanding of the difference between hares and rabbits.

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable

The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable by Patrick Lencioni

This short business books provides an example of a fictitious Half-Moon Bay tech company in a state of disfunction. A new boss is brought in to clean things up. She identifies many of the causes of dysfunction as she works to clean it up. At first, it appears she is not doing much. However, she does begin to enforce rules, dismisses a team member and changes part of the reporting structure. There are some concerns at first, but there is eventual buy in and success. After the story, the book has a brief section with details on the disfunction types.

Pimsleur Korean Level 1 Lessons 6-10

Pimsleur Korean Level 1 Lessons 6-10 by Pimsleur

I was getting lost going through these ones. There was a lot of ordering beverages and greetings. It seems more bits would fade than stick. I'll try going through again.

The Butterfly Impact: Resilience, Resets, and Ripples

The Butterfly Impact: Resilience, Resets, and Ripples by Mark Brigg

This is a fairly generic business book. I missed the whole butterfly metaphor, even though it was brought up multiple times in the book. It took a turn towards superficial diversity that didn't help. As a whole the book was not bad, but did not really add anything.

Asian American Histories of the United States

Asian American Histories of the United States by Catherine Ceniza Choy

What is the history of people from Asia in the United States? You won't find much of that hear. However, if you are interested in the role that Asians have played in labor movements and community organizing. Business and culture are barely mentioned. The "Donut King" of Southern California gets much more coverage than Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. Chinese and Japanese culture is barely mentioned until it is under stress. In an attempt to be show the importance of Asians in the US, the book portrays them as dependent on the non-Asian culture. The focus is on Asian Americans adopting American-style organizing to get more privileges from the government. We could have a much better Asian history.

Cracking the PM Career: The Skills, Frameworks, and Practices to Become a Great Product Manager

Cracking the PM Career: The Skills, Frameworks, and Practices to Become a Great Product Manager by Gayle Laakmann McDowell and Jackie Bavaro

What is a Product Manager? The role is primarily present in technology companies. It primarily involves providing direction and managing a "product" rather than people. Product managers don't have people authority and must rely on "soft" authority to get done. They often have both a computer science and business background. This book is written with Silicon Valley in mind. There are discussions of big tech, startups and VCs. The entire career is covered, with expectations for fresh-out-of-school product managers up to those that have transitioned to CEO. Product management is most often a "mid-career" position. People will transition into it and later move to management. It involves working both outwards to understand the market and customers as well as inward to the development teams. It can be a fun for those interested. The book ends with interview advice and bios from a number of people that have worked as product managers.

Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience

Speak, Memorably: The Art of Captivating an Audience by Bill McGowan

Most meetings today are boring. The presenter drones on, regurgitating details from the powerpoint. There is something important to disseminate, but it is not done in an interesting manner. How do we make it better? We need to pay attention to details in how we communicate. Keeping slides sparse with visual data maintains greater interest. The speed of discourse should be measured and focus on clean language. Eliminate filler words, jargon and redundant speech. Use humor and storytelling to grab attention. Focus on presenting the key message in a concise, straightforward format. The book provides additional details on how best to present, complete with stories of successes and failures (often coming from the political arena.)

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir

An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination: A Memoir by Elizabeth McCracken

The author spent her early adulthood writing while traveling between the US and Europe. She conceived later in life. The baby was stillborn at full term. She grapples with that in her experiences. It is a key part of her identity as she is working through it and trying again. Other issues (such as issues with immigration officials) can be extra stressful during hard times. Some responses by others can be helpful, while others can make things worse. The book is fairly short and probably best for people that relate towards similar situations. 

Don't Call It a Comeback: What Happened When I Stopped Chasing PRs, and Started Chasing Happiness

Don't Call It a Comeback: What Happened When I Stopped Chasing PRs, and Started Chasing Happiness by Keira D'Amato and Evelyn Spence

Keira D'Amato was a runner in high school and college. Then life went on. She had married a runner who was serving in the military. He was away a lot. She spent a lot of time with the kids, and disregarded her health and did not run for a decade. She then decided to get back into running. She pushed herself and was able to set Personal Records and even American records in running. She got a press as a mother that was running and doing well. She portrays herself as a lackadaisical runner who was running because she liked to and loved her independence while she just happened to achieve. Some races she did poorly, while others were great. She ran a "COVID race" with a few other runners to set a 10-mile best. She held the US Marathon record for 9 months. She eventually did sign with Nike and continued to compete. In her process she had a few health scares. In most cases she had a second opinion that helped provide a solution that let her run. (She lived with hip flexor issues. She discovered that her endocrine issues were related to the inhaler she was using.) The story is interesting, but it felt like it came to a conclusion three times before it actually ended.

Saving Can-Do: How to Revive the Spirit of America

Saving Can-Do: How to Revive the Spirit of America by Philip K. Howard

America is over-regulated with nobody able to make decisions. This may prevent some bad things from happening. But it also makes it much more difficult to accomplish good things. It also leads to different types of bad things. Society is obsessed with "liability avoidance". Instead of being free to solve problems, people focus on adhering to regulations as they exist. Government jobs have become collectively bargained sinecures. In education, the teachers' union bargains for the benefit of the union. Highly regulated teaching plans work fine for tem, even if it harms the overall quality of teaching. Building things requires going through huge amounts of red tape and reviews. These processes often are used as means of rent seaking and stalling. Thus projects take much longer and cost much more than similar projects elsewhere in the world. The solutions to this problem of this bloat seems simple, but will be a huge challenge to implement.

The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date

The Half-life of Facts: Why Everything We Know Has an Expiration Date by Samuel Arbesman

Most people stick with the things they learned when they were young. However, facts decay and become irrelevant after time. Each type of "fact" has a different half-life. Scientific facts change as we learn more. A doctor that only stuck with what they learned in medical school would likely be treating people in very outdated ways. (People were once treated with "bleeding". Cigarettes were once considered  healthy.) Continuing education is needed to stay current. It is impossible to know everything. Why waste brain space with outdated facts? It takes effort to keep our general knowledge up to date with current facts.

Take a Girl Like You (NYRB Classics)

Take a Girl Like You (NYRB Classics) by Kingsley Amis

In the 1960s, young adults behaved badly. The book centers on a man that is trying to put the moves on a girl. The girl likes him, but doesn't want to go all the way. There is also a girl that is pretending to be French that puts the moves on her. There is also a married couple behaving badly. Everyone is depraved in a different way. The book ends with the girl getting drunk and being raped by the guy that was trying to put the moves on her. They treat it as something normal and meet afterwards - though she says she does not want to be with him. It's hard not to feel sick after reading this dated book.

Parade: A Novel

Parade: A Novel by Rachel Cusk

There are artists. Female artists can be conflicted in their artistic and family responsibilities. Somebody committed suicide in an art gallery. Some parade was going on. There is not much to recommend in this book.

Tokyo Express: A Novel

Tokyo Express: A Novel by Seicho Matsumoto, translated by Jesse Kirkwood

An official and a woman appeared dead in an apparent love suicide. There were witnesses that saw them boarding a train and they later showed up dead.  It seemed fairly straightforward. However, the man was involved in a scandal. Could there be something else involved? The detective looked at the clues and everything seemed to stack up. However, things seemed to be just a little too good. There was also little evidence of the man and the woman in a relationship before they were seen at the train station. The detective was persistent and continue to investigate. The coincidences were just too much. Eventually he discovered that it was an elaborately set up murder organized in part by a dying woman who was obsessed with train scheduled. (They did happen to get the couple seen from a platform away in a rare time when there would be no train in between.) The perpetrator (a high ranking official and his wife) almost got away with it. Once they saw they would be caught they took their lives. It was a well done whodunit.