Who Was Blackbeard?

Who Was Blackbeard? by James Buckley Jr.

Blackbeard was an infamous pirate who was known for raiding the American coast during the colonial era. He was bold and extremely successful in his work. At one time, he even settled down in a town in a form of local amnesty. However, he ended up back at work and eventually met his fall as authorities raided him. We have an idea of his pre-Blackbeard identity, but are not 100% sure. The book provides background on the pirate as well as the situation in which he arose. Britain sponsored "privateers". These eventually freelanced on their own. Working on a British ship was very regimented, with little chance of reward. Pirate ships were more democratic with greater chances for leadership and material reward. 

For the Glory: Eric Liddell's Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr

For the Glory: Eric Liddell's Journey from Olympic Champion to Modern Martyr by Duncan Hamilton

Eric Liddell was a crazy fast Scottish runner immortalized in Chariots of Fire. He was also devoutly religious and served as a missionary in China rather than compete in further Olympics. He was undefeated in almost everything he ran. Perhaps his only second-place finished occurred shortly before he died. He died in a Japanese-run internment camp in China. He kept his spirits up, continued to help others, and wrote about faith. He died in the waning days of World War II from an undiagnosed brain tumor and malnutrition.

The book is fairly detailed. I found it interesting to read it shortly after reading other books about Mao and the Chinese revolution. Liddell's life was involved in the same events, but from a western perspective that differed significantly from the Chinese view.

The Nolan Variations: The Movies, Mysteries, and Marvels of Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is one of the most bankable film directors today. He is one of the few that can be depended on to produce popular original movies. His films often experiment with different narrative devices and tend to rely more on old-school effects rather than computer animation. 

The Nolan Variations is a fairly linear history of Nolan's career. There are some biographical elements. However, they are primarily there to fill in the context of his art. There is coverage of important events and artists that had influenced his work. The focus then quickly moves to focus on his works. He worked on producing the films the way he wanted. After his small films became popular, he was given more and more latitude to make the film he wanted. 

He typically is heavily involved in the film, with credits for writing, directing and producing on most of his major films. He also frequently collaborated with Hans Zimmer on music, with the music and sound effects being integrated together on the film. Nolan will often shoot on location on glaciers or other surroundings. He has been known for big effects, such as crashing an airplane or demolishing a building. He will play with styles, filming Film Noir in the light. The book compares him to Alfred Hitchcock. Though both make different styles of movies, they leave their personal imprint.

Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives

Unexpected "shocks" to the normal way of doing things can often help spark the creativity needed to accomplish something truly amazing. Messy opens with the story of a jazz pianist that was going to walk away from a performance due to the poor condition of the piano. However, as a special favor to the promoter, the pianist performed and produced one of the top performances of all time. The condition of the piano forced the pianist to improvise and go out of the "comfort zone" and produce something great.
Attempts to be fully objective often produce bias in how the "objective" criteria are created. External factors have a habit of rearing their ugly head. APGAR scores for new borns lead to more c sections. Diversity produces benefits when there are true differences. Cities that section every thing off in neat areas not only produce great amounts of traffic, they eliminate many chances of spontaneity that can lead lead to positive growth. Providing too much protection from failure reduces the chances of small problems, but increases the odds that a problem will be catastrophic. (The book gives the example of the Air France jet that crashed over the ocean. The pilots were accustomed to auto-pilot, and had difficulty responding to abnormal conditions. Standardization and protection can lead to us keeping the "same old bad".
Startups help to inject new messiness into the system. Amazon did stupid stuff early on. They would even go out and buy toys at retail, losing money on the transaction to get it to the customer. That messiness allowed them to succeed.
People adapt to meet criteria, even if that hurts the big picture. (For example medical appointments in 2 days mean none available in advance. Surgeon ratings on outcomes lead to more unnecessary surgery. Actually results show little difference in surgeon compared to entry condition of patients.) Being able to rely on some messiness can help the big picture to be better - even if there are parts that are not so great.