American Legends: The Life of Howard Hughes

"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

The Life of Howard Hughes by Charles River Editors provides a quick but all inclusive story of Howard Hughes. It is short enough to be able to finish in 5 hours and yet detailed enough to get a good idea who Howard Hughes was. Businessman, golfer, record setter, pilot, visionary, playboy, movie producer and above all hypochondriac is what Howard Hughes was.  Someone who was all of the above much certainly be an interesting man. But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy or a nervous wreck as in case of Hughes. Overall, this is a good book that is easy to comprehend and provides a detailed glimpse into Hughes's life and work and eventually his downfall.

Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be

"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

Ok, so this book that I am about to write a review on has been on Amazon's most read books list for about 34 weeks. That intrigued me and I decided to check it out. Now clearly this book is written  for women and I had no business picking it up but it's popularity made me forget gender specificity and go for it anyways. 

At it's fundamental level this book is a peer-to-peer advise from Rachel Hollis (if you don't know who she is like I didn't, I suggest you Wiki her) to women who are dealing with some unpleasant things that come with being a woman. Ms. Hollis uses examples and events from her own life to show how she dealt with such issues. Although, apart from may be two or three women specific issues, most of the advise can be equally be dispensed to men as well who are trying to better themselves. I personally feel the advise in this book is pretty gender neutral. So if you are looking for some motivation to start out your new year then this book might provide you some. 

Overall, it's a quick read and in my opinion almost everybody can relate to the subject matter as it deals with issues such as habits, dealing with childhood trauma, motherhood issues, balancing work and home life, etc.

P.S: Feel free to leave a comment.

Atom Bomb To Santa Claus: What have the Americans ever done for us?

While the sentiments and opinion of the world regarding the US has been sour after Trump took on the Washington, it is difficult to discount or disregard contributions of the US on world stage be it science or industry or anything  that has helped mankind grow and adapt to the changing times, made like easier and saved lives through innovation. This book Atom Bomb to Santa Claus by Trevor Homer is basically a collection of things that are considered contributions of the US in above mentioned fields. From Post-it to cash register, from atom bomb to disposable diapers and so on the list goes. I would categorize this book as a reference book or fun-facts book. Will make a good read for a curious reader who just wants to browse a chapter or two here and there or a kid with penchant for science.

Corporate Crap by Howard Harrison

Corporate Crap by Howard Harrison is a refreshing and mildly entertaining read that hits all the right notes about well...Corporate Crap. There are so many things that happen in corporate work environment that we take it for granted without ever stopping to think about them such as their rationality and relevance to either the company or employee. For example, what's up with all those meetings where hardly anyone is paying attention but goes on just because it's the corporate culture and is on a standing schedule every Monday morning. Those brainstorming sessions to invoke creativity among employees oh and by the way they don't call them employees any more rather they are called associated or team members and by other such names. The author calls on all these idiosyncrasies of corporate world in this book aptly titled Corporate Crap. It's an easy read and appropriately priced and will make a good gift for your manager or CEO. Ha ha ha!! :-)

The Genius Habit: How One Habit Can Radically Change Your Life and Your Work.

I picked up this book because the title appealed me. I thought I would end up learning new ways to cultivate habits that would make me more productive at work. But after reading this book, it gave me a lot more to think about. Starting with word Genius in the title. Genius is not defined in traditional sense as someone with high IQ but rather your own problem solving and thinking process that is specific to you and you know you are good at it because it's yours and you have been using it forever so naturally you are good at it, you are Genius at it. Also the definition of work has changed with changing generations. Before work was something that you just do and that helps you pay bills but as we have evolved with technology and new platforms to work on, work need not be only something that we have to do but something that we should enjoy. After all if you are going to do it for long time you might as well enjoy it. Right? 

The process starts with knowing if this work or that job is right for you. This books walks you through a process that helps you determine whether your current job is the right fit for you by using the concept of Genius Habit and Zone of Genius. May be the job does allow you to use your Genius Habit and lets you work in your Zone of Genius but you are still not happy due to other factors. Well, in that case the book recommends some strategies to make it better. There are some well thought out questions that helps you navigate through your “job situation” whatever that may be. Peppered though the book are case studies to demonstrate the process and some references to sociological and psychological research to scientifically back the process. 

Overall I think this is a well written book with a non-traditional view of relationship between self and the work/job we do. If you are looking for a book that helps you evaluate whether a particular job is a good fit for you or whether you are looking to move on from your current job this book will provide some useful information to help you find your path.

Rise and Grind by Daymond John

Alright alright so one more self-help book on motivation for budding entrepreneurs with no significant difference than other books out there by people such as Tim Ferris, Grand Cordone or Gary Vaynerchk. Same format with chapters based on famous celebrities and go-getters on how they rise and grind, what's their work philosophy, what are their priorities, etc. 

Reminds of Vaynerchuk's book Crushing It that follows the exactly same format of talking about how people made it.

Overall, it is an ok book with no groundbreaking material with same message if you want something you have to make it happen by whatever way you need to. In my opinion if you have read books from other authors on similar topic you can safely bypass this book.

That being said I feel Daymond John really wants to cultivate entrepreneurial spirit in people which is the motivation behind this book. The last chapter is a little personal when he talks about his thyroid cancer and how he views life after that incidental discovery. 

The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain. So go figure out the second one if you haven't already.

P.S: Feel free to share your thoughts and leave comments.

The Facts of the Matter: Looking Past Today’s Rhetoric on the Environment and Responsible Development

This book by David Parish certainly makes you think. In today's world we are bombarded with news from media that is largely based on what drives up their ratings than facts. It's so early to get swept away in the frenzy of some promise made by big business, big government or big social media site to bring about a meaningful and positive change in the world. They exploit our desire and need to do good to our fellow human beings, animals, in preserving global resources, etc. But how much of this is based on facts? How much is backed by science? That is the premise of this book. Rather than conforming to the social norms and following the herd, the author in this books wants us to decipher the message and fact check for ourselves to see if the message makes sense to us. The biggest campaign that our society has collective undertaken is that of slowing down global warming. Instead of working on better technologies and extracting all that we can from the resource we extract, we go about banning the extraction of resources in the name of reducing our carbon foot print. People switch to green energy not knowing how much resources are being used to make that technology green. We are thrilled about electric cars to reduce our consumption of fossil fuel and reduce carbon emission but ever stop to wonder how much of the same fossil fuel and it's derivatives we are using to make those high capacity batteries? 

We all want to do good in the world and help third and fourth world countries become self sufficient. By  banning extraction of resources these countries sit upon it's impossible to bring their living standards to acceptable levels. In need to raise their living conditions it's important for these countries to rely on their share of natural resources they have been blessed with and be able to exploit it. There has to be a fine balance between reducing your carbon footprint and letting exploitation of resources to benefit mankind.

Overall, this book is a thought provoking read and I recommend it for anyone who is up for some fact checking.

P.S: Feel free to leave comments if you think my review helps you in picking up your next read or just if it resonates with you.

Skin in the Game: The Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life.

Skin in the game: Hidden Asymmetries in daily life by Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a collection of essays, philosophical discussion and commentary on events, personalities, and things that are all around us and experienced by us on a daily basis but we never stop and think about. As the title suggests its about asymmetries in daily life. For example, have you ever come across a person who benefits if you benefits but has nothing to lose even if you lose everything. Who falls under this category well...brokers, traders, policy makers and high level administration.

Let's take another example, have you ever thought how 3-4% minority population can enforce their rule on 95% majority population? Think about Kosher food. Even though majority of population is not Jewish, most of the products are Kosher. Why? Well simple people who eat Kosher will not eat non-Kosher food but people who do not eat Kosher food will eat Kosher food with no reservations. Asymmetry.

This book is full of such practical discussions and offers a higher level analysis to things that we take for granted. The basis premise of this book as the title says is that to understand anything you need skin in the game. You cannot understand things by philosophical discussions. Most of the academicians have no skin in the game but to come up with complex and often non-applicable theories that fail in real world. In academics there is no difference between academics and real world. In real world there is.

You will find many fascinating topics and concepts in this book such as Lindy effect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect) or ergodicity, etc.

The concept of the book and its essays are beautifully summarized by authors own words. No muscle without strength, no friendship without trust, no opinion without consequences, no change with aesthetics, no age without values, no life without effort, no water without thirst, no food without nourishment, no love without sacrifice, no power without fairness, no facts without rigor, no statistics without logic, no math without proof, no teaching without experience, no politeness without warmth, no values without embodiment, no degrees without erudition, no militarism without fortitude, no progress without civilization, no virtue without risk, no probability without ergodicity, no wealth without exposure, no complication without depth, no fluency without content, no decision without asymmetry, no science without skepticism, no religion without tolerance and most of all NOTHING WITHOUT SKIN IN THE GAME.

P.S: Feel free to leave comments.