Violent Saviors: The West's Conquest of the Rest

Violent Saviors: The West's Conquest of the Rest by William Easterly

A common antebellum argument in favor of slavery was that the slaves were much better off than they would be had they not been slaves. Materially, this is likely true. Despite this, many slaves would go through great efforts to escape slavery. People value their freedom even more than their material comforts. The book provides many examples that come down to this same point. These stretch from colonial periods up through the cold war and modern times. Western leaders still have trouble grasping the importance of self-determination, even if something else seems "better". This is a problem both at home and abroad. Many programs seem to make people better off, but they fail if the people don't want them. Sometimes this "progress" ends up being fleeting (such as neighborhoods destroyed for freeways). Other times it could be something they would adopt - as long as they had control.

The Nightingale

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

During German-occupied France, two girls tried to live their lives. Their lives were changed with the Nazi occupation and gradually clamping down on rights. They work in different ways to help the resistance. They help guide allied soldiers to Spain to return home and also shelter Jews in their home. One is caught and spent time in a concentration camp. The book is told as flashbacks from the modern woman who is in poor health. She has not told her children much about her efforts or her the assumed name she had. Her son only learns when they are there to talk with others. This provides a bit of sentimentality towards a past life, even when it is something you would like ot have forgotten.

The Forest on the Edge of Time

The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride

Some time travelers are sent to different points in time to save the world from ecological destruction. Unfortunately, once of them damages the time machine. One is back in ancient Greek. There she struggles with the culture that includes slavery, but also realizes there are advantages to being back here. The book also explores some time travel paradoxes. Can you really complete your mission if you know all about the past and future? It reminded me a bit of Brandon Sanderson's time travel novella.

Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs

Netflixed: The Epic Battle for America's Eyeballs by Gina Keating

Netflix was founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings in the late 1990s. They had worked at a software company together that was acquired by IBM. Randolph was the primary force behind the initial idea and wanted to do something Amazon with video. Netflix was somewhat lucky that the potential competitors like Amazon and Blockbuster were inept, allowing Netflix to grow. An "activist investor" was busy trying to pull money out of Blockbuster preventing them from putting enough money into the DVD delivery operation to compete with Netflix. Blockbuster also had to struggle with the possibility of cannibalizing their existing store's revenue model - including the reliance on late fees. Netflix had optimized fast delivery of DVDs through the mail system to locations where their customers were. This seemed simple, but was difficult for others to copy. This book was written more than a decade ago, so only touches the surface of the pivot to streaming. Netflix did not do things perfectly, but was able to learn from mistakes and pivot to continue succeeding.

The Cruel Prince: The Folk of the Air, Book 1

The Cruel Prince: The Folk of the Air, Book 1 by Holly Black

For a romantic-ish fantasy, this book was surprisingly readable. A girl has an interesting family background with plenty of death and destruction. She is a human that later goes to live among he fairies. Things are bad there with a pretender to the throne managing to sneak around a curse by killing the leaders in the process of transition. In the middle of this the girl escapes and has brief romantic flings. It isn't a great book, but it beats most of the other fantasy drivel out there. 

How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations

How Progress Ends: Technology, Innovation, and the Fate of Nations by Carl Benedikt Frey 

The big theme of innovation is centralization vs decentralization. The two need to be balanced to drive innovation and progress. Decentralization helps innovation. However, too much decentralization leaves anarchy and little ability to spread the innovations. Centralization provides rules of law and helps support processes and carry out big project implementation. However, centralized organized are prone to keep with the status quo and have little room for innovation.

Big companies rarely innovate as much as small ones. Entrenched big firms benefit from regulation. They like to keep their position. Their location at the forefront of technology is usually short lived.

The discussion of progress is well researched though it is wordy.

Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child's Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods

Dopamine Kids: A Science-Based Plan to Rewire Your Child's Brain and Take Back Your Family in the Age of Screens and Ultraprocessed Foods by Michaeleen Doucleff

While this book makes sense, it has a "snake-oil sales" tone. Everything bad is related to screens and ultra- processed food. Sure, there is plenty of negativity with those. But can we really single them out like that? Books were once "bad" and now they are the solution here. There author comes across as a San Francisco Waldorf mom that is really trying to relate to others. The book is primarily a journey with her and her young daughter as they fight screens and "pood". It is a two-way process. You can't have parents addicted to screens and expect the children to avoid them. It is important to have other activities that can be used and provide the interest.

The book spends time discussing dopamine and how things were wrong. It helps drive desire. The fulfilment can be a downer. Slots are an example of crazy addiction. I was playing a stupid phone came for a bit while playing it. I hated it but was still playing. Just the badness it describes. For food, the processed food gets us all the energy in a hurry. We consume the calorie dense junk food quickly and then come back for more and more. Real food takes more work, but gives a better payoff. The discussions all feel sound. But are we missing part of the argument?

High Output Management

High Output Management by Andrew S. Grove

This is an older management book from a boss at Intel. The chip business was booming in the day, though there were plenty of pivots and changes that the company went through. There are some insights that seem funny today. Email was seen as a powerful tool that helped enable communication throughout the company. This would give American companies the similar "real time" communication similar to Japanese companies where everybody sits at a table together. Well that has come and gone. We have even gone through the open office trend, instant messaging and other real time communication tools. Now the college is often to get more focussed.

There was some good discussion on 1:1 meetings. It is good for both sides to take notes. Look at problems. Plan actions and get to the bottom of things.

In spite of the changes in technology many key aspects of management remain similar.

Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City

Born in Flames: The Business of Arson and the Remaking of the American City by Bench Ansfield

Government and industry attempted to end redlining, but instead created a moral hazard that lead to apartment destruction. Special "high risk" insurance pools were available for landlords with few questions asked. If the apartment burned down, they could pocket the money and stop worrying about the headache of maintaining the building. Arsons were rarely investigated, and eve when they were it was assumed that the low-income tenants were behind them. (Though this did not stand up well in comparison to public housing where there were no arsons.) According to the author, the landlord would often hire arsonists to burn down the buildings.

The book ended with communities fighting back against arson and then gentrification. The author did identify the root cause of "unintended consequences" leading to destruction. However, they didn't quite draw it back far enough. Why was it more valuable to burn down buildings? Were there other regulations (such as rent control or tenants rights) that made the buildings less profitable? Did the end of redlining actually make things worse? If gentrification is bad, does that mean people want to live in slums? Should we let neighborhoods get better and worse?

Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI

Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI by Karen Hao

Sam Altman is not a good guy and we are trusting him with what could be existential technology. He has had issues with family members. He is a smooth talker with many connections in Silicon Valley. He was ousted from OpenAI for very valid reasons. Alas, there was not sufficient backbone to keep him out and he returned stronger than ever. Despite being called OpenAI, the company is very secretive. As a startup they were able to skirt the law and train their models on other people's IP. They would also outsource data annotation to many poorer companies, leaving some destruction in the wake. They also worked on massively scaling up hardware to accelerate improvements. Alas, this requires huge data centers and massive amounts of water. 

Some people got tired of OpenAI and went to form Anthropic. Google and Microsoft have gone all-in on their AIs. It is nice to see Open AI demoted in importance. Alas, the AI arms race is still ongoing. What will the impact be on humanity?

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism by Sarah Wynn-Williams

In its early days Facebook was run like a fraternity, with little respect for how it would impact the world. It was all about maintaining engagement. Government relations only came later as a reluctant necessity. The author of this book came from a diplomatic background. She liked Facebook and thought she could make a difference. Things did not go well. Facebook was not ready for her and she was not ready for Facebook. The book is a hatchet job on Facebook, with attacks especially on Sheryl Sandberg and Mark Zuckerberg. Her ire is especially strong on Sandberg. As an executive, Sandberg preaches female empowerment and mixing motherhood with work. However, in practice she wants work to dominate. She mandated international travel late in pregnancy and required her to get a nanny. Zuckerberg is portrayed as a clueless guy who doesn't get the importance of political hobnobbing - until he decides he wants to run for president.

There are legitimate concerns exposed in the book. However, there is also a significant clash of culture and personalities. I'm sure the other side would have plenty of valid counterpoints. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

Automatic Noodle

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

In the San Francisco of the future, robots and humans live together in a not-quite peaceable manner. Many things, such as owning a restaurant, are reserved for humans. Some robots have been working at a restaurant when the owner disappears. They decide they would like to run the restaurant themselves. They manage to work through some technicalities to get "authentic noodle" set up. They rely on a review site to help customers find them. However, they are dependent on good ratings. Somebody later tries to review-bomb them to bring them down. This person is part of the anti-robot group. Eventually, they find them and restore their reputation. However, in the process they learn that they do not depend on the service and take pride in the "automatic noodle" name they have been given by their detractors. The book has a lighthearted approach to working together even with differences.

Summer War

The Summer War by Naomi Novik

There is some realistic fantasy with some magic and siblings and lack of love. It was easy to fall asleep

Fourth Wing: Empyrean, Book 1

Fourth Wing: Empyrean, Book 1 by Rebecca Yarros

Sex. Violence. Dragons. Blah.

Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology

Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a Product Manager Job in Technology by Gayle Laakmann McDowell (Author), Jackie Bavaro

This book provides an introduction to the career of a product manager and the interview process typically involved. There are examples of some of the types of questions asked and proper ways to solve them. There is also a section on resumes. You want to have accomplishments written in the past tense, not activities that you were told to do. It is good to tell stories when asked. Bring up accomplishments as you are going. Talking in bullet points is also good. 

Some of the book is dated. (Yahoo! and Twitter are not at the top of anyone's lists now.) It also spends a little too long on programming questions (they have other books for that.) There is other content like case studies that also feels repetitive from their other books, but overall, this book has a better variety of content.

Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century

Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century by W. David Marx

Early 20th century culture is fairly blah. This book describing it is pretty blah. 

Tortoise's Tale

The Tortoise's Tale by Kendra Coulter

A tortoise lives a long time. This book tells California history through the eyes of a tortoise. The tortoise was captured and taken to an estate in Southern California. This area changed through the years. Music changes. We run into random historical figures and events (like RFK assassination.) The tortoise lives on. The use of the land changes. The tortoise lives on. At first it feels like a disney animal tale. Then it shifts to  It is a "Forest Gump" style history.

The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind

The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind by Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester does a great job of tying personal experiences into a narrative history. In this book, he attempted to document the wind. This is perhaps a little too broad. The story seemed to jump around various areas impacted by the wind. From sailing to dust storms, the wind has played a role in history. The many bits are interesting, but do not form a coherent whole.

Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right

Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right by Laura K. Field

The book starts with an anecdote from the author's experience at a conservative conference where another attendee made an off-color, cringeworthy comment. This sets the tone of a book that is ostensibly objective, yet subtly biased. I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the MAGA folks. The conservative intellectuals come from different backgrounds and have different intellectual goals. There are Harvard professors as well as talk-show hosts. There are securalists, evangelicals as well as a strong Catholic contingent. Trump is not really part of this movement. However, he has been adopted by them as a way to help push the desired agenda. If the United States had proportional representation, there would be a number of different parties that formed a MAGA coalition with plenty moving in and out. There are many that are willing to stick to their principles despite opposition.

Tailored Realities

Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson

I've preferred Sanderson's science fiction work to his Cosmere mainstream. This collection does not disappoint. It contains many "short" works outside his typical universe. Many have been published in other areas. (After getting into the first one, I realized I had already read "Snapshot" before.) The length ranges from super-short flash fiction to long novella. The final work, "Moment Zero" is a new work that has Christopher Nolan vibes. A mad scientist has created a wormhole that has created a zombie apocalypse. The people that were at the scene of the wormhole creation were sent backwards and forwards in time. A couple detectives involved can somehow communicate across the timeline. They figure out what went wrong and work to push the "real" timeline to a peaceful ending.

Sanderson also includes notes for each story, often describing the genesis of the story and other important aspects. We learn that some of these stories were written as a pre-published starving author, while others were written well into his career. The "notes" are always one of my favorite parts of short story collections.

The collection includes:

1. Snapshot
2. Brain Dump
3. I Hate Dragons
4. Dreamer
5. Perfect State
6. Probability Approaching Zero
7. Defending Elysium
8. Firstborn
9. Mitosis
10. Moment Zero

The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom

The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom by David Woodman

This is a fairly academic book on early England. I recognized many of the names. However, the book felt more like a accumulation of facts than a narrative.

Superfan: A Novel

Superfan: A Novel by Jenny Tinghui Zhang

A girl is having a rough time at her first year of college at the University of Texas. She doesn't fit in well, and has few extracurriculars other than a Zine. (But even there, she keeps putting off writing.) She finds solace in a boy band she loves. This band is an American band following the Kpop model. Even further, all but one members are Asian. The girl has her favorites and spends plenty of time online following the band. It is her solace from campus life. Then things seem to put up with an upperclassman boyfriend. Alas, they come tumbling down at a party. She learns the "boyfriend" has other girls. She gets drunk and nearly raped by the boyfriend's roommate. This makes things even worse. On a fan website, she becomes associated with a group that is super involved in the boys and "stalks" them wherever they go. She decides to write her zine article on the band. Her editor has connections that allow them to get behind the scenes. She shares a message with them from the stalker group. Later she is present when somebody injures one of the members (in an attempted assault of the manager.) This causes her to cut ties with the group. She eventually gets on with her life. A few years later, they see one of the band members as a soloist.

The story of the girl is interleaved with the experiences of the band members. They all have different reasons for joining. They work extremely hard, but they are also manipulated by management. A fake gay love affair between two members is staged to gain publicity. (This was also built up by the stalker group.) It shows the dark side of idols and fandoms.

The book had great potential as both a coming of age and fandom novel. However, it went a bit too much over the deep end towards the end.

The Reservation

The Reservation by Rebecca Kauffman

John Grisham has made a reservation at a fine dining restaurant in a small college town. Everyone is already a little uptight, and then things get worse. A number of steaks are missing. It seems like an inside job and the manager is trying to get to the bottom of it. Then the dishwasher breaks requiring dishes to be washed by hand. As everyone goes through challenges, we learn more about the past history of the various employees. There are plenty of rough circumstances, but there are people that care for each other. At the last minute Grisham's group cancels the reservation. They discover it was due to bad online reviews (which appear to be part of a smear campaign.) Later a mysterious guy shows up right before closing time and has some conversation with the bartender. He thinks it may have been Grisham. The book ends with the manager granting one of the most loyal employees a big raise. (He has had mental and physical issues, and wants to use it for health care.) The book is loaded with actions, despite spending just one day in one location. You can't help but fall for the many different characters.

March: Pulitzer Prize Winner (A Novel)

March: Pulitzer Prize Winner (A Novel) by Geraldine Brooks

The book is set primarily during the time of the civil war. The lead is teacher and chaplain. They manage to interact with many historical figures at the time. (It does feel that they are just trying to have anyone possible appear.) The book is historical "fan fiction", exploring the life of the father in Little Women as he was off to war. He has various struggles as we tries to work with the system and maintain his moral values while away from home. There was nothing very special.

I Hope You Find What You're Looking For: A Novel

I Hope You Find What You're Looking For: A Novel by Bsrat Mezghebe

The narrator of the book sounded like a Nigerian (actually an American of Nigerian ancestry), yet the book was primarily about the Eritrean fight for independence. This is like having a German narration for a book on Britain. Sure, they might live relatively close, but they don't sound at all alike. This book primarily deals with a woman and her quest for identity and family and how that related to the fight for Eritrean independence and the lives of African immigrants in the US. There are seeds of an interesting story, that just couldn't surmount the wrong voice.