Books I’ve read, listened to on audiobook, or started this year, with very short reviews
Dopamine Nation. Hardcover. Strong recommend. Explains a lot of our behaviors.
The Goal. Audiobook. Strong recommend for those in any kind of systematic production business. About manufacturing but applies to a lot of industries. Also helpful, as someone who already does Lean in a business context, to understand its roots.
Deep Work. Kindle. Strong recommend. I was already a Cal Newport devotee based on his podcast and blog, but somehow had yet to read any of his books.
The Lean Startup. Audiobook. I’ve studied Lean principles for a long time, so there wasn’t much new in this book, but like Deep Work, I felt like I needed to read some source material.
The Second Mountain. Hardcover. Skip it. The concept is good, the execution of the writing is so bad it’s exhausting.
The Hard Thing About Hard Things. Audiobook. Skip it. More of a pissing contest than anything.
Books I started but do not plan on finishing
Designing Your Life. Kindle. Good, but very specific to times of transition. I got bogged down in the chapter exercises at the one where the reader was instructed to assemble a support group around themselves.
Effortless. Audiobook. Super meh. I don’t get Greg McKeown’s popularity. He’s just regurgitating.
Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps. Paperback. I’m a Richard Rohr fan, and I did read most of this book, and it was ok, but it was more Christian concepts than 12-Step concepts and not as practical as I had hoped.
Books I’m currently reading
Why’s (Poignant) Guide to Ruby. Working through it with a coworker who wants to learn how to code.
The Phoenix Project (for the 2nd time, and I’m actually done with the actual book but am not done with the afterward, which is comprised of a good chunk of the DevOps Handbook).
The Left Hand of Darkness
Meditations. I just read a couple of paragraphs every morning.
A Philosophy of Software Design