From f952fa52b45546326521c13958582cf12df2e74a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Henry Webster Date: Wed, 22 Jul 2026 15:21:05 -0500 Subject: create update.sh script --- posts/010_read.xml | 4031 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ posts/050_currently-reading.xml | 107 ++ posts/050_currently_reading.xml | 107 -- posts/099_watched.xml | 121 ++ update.sh | 15 + 5 files changed, 4274 insertions(+), 107 deletions(-) create mode 100644 posts/050_currently-reading.xml delete mode 100644 posts/050_currently_reading.xml create mode 100755 update.sh diff --git a/posts/010_read.xml b/posts/010_read.xml index e2728c4..af33810 100644 --- a/posts/010_read.xml +++ b/posts/010_read.xml @@ -4029,3 +4029,4034 @@ tags: now, feed +title: Recently Read +tags: now, feed +--- + + + + + Henry's bookshelf: read + + + + + + en-US + Mon, 13 Jul 2026 21:20:45 -0700 + 60 + + Henry's bookshelf: read + + 144 + 41 + https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg + + + + + + <![CDATA[Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry]]> + + 55277893 + + + + + From the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart -- and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.
+
+ Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.

The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games -- Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more -- on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, PRESS RESET tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.

Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games -- and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.]]> + + 301 + + Jason Schreier + 1538735490 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.02 + 2021 + + Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry
+ author: Jason Schreier
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.02
+ book published: 2021
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/07/13
+ date added: 2026/07/13
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better]]> + + 240336791 + + + + + How to do more with less and use limits to stimulate creativity, innovation, and collaboration, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Range

We live in a world that gives us seemingly infinite choices and values freedom above all else. We have an unprecedented number of options regarding what to do, who to be, and how to spend our time. All that choice is wonderful; it is also overwhelming. The irony is that total freedom can be paralyzing, and unlimited resources don’t necessarily lead to the biggest breakthroughs. In fact, overvaluing complete freedom can be disastrous for everything from starting a company to harnessing creativity to finding personal satisfaction.

David Epstein argues that all of us—individuals, businesses, institutions, even societies—can benefit from narrowing our options. He dives into the science and practice of constraints, exploring exactly when and how guardrails can be beneficial, whether we’re working with limited resources or using self-imposed boundaries to tap unexpected wells of focus and innovation.

Original, galvanizing, and deeply researched, Inside the Box tells absorbing stories of people and organizations that embraced constraints to transform themselves, and the world—as well as a few that struggled from a lack of limits. Epstein celebrates the surprising potential of hard deadlines, boring goals, and unexpected obstacles. He reveals how boundaries create breakthroughs, and how setting the right constraints can help you become the most creative, productive, and satisfied version of yourself.]]> + + 304 + + David Epstein + 0593715713 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.90 + 2026 + + Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better
+ author: David Epstein
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.90
+ book published: 2026
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/05/20
+ date added: 2026/05/20
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Paradise Logic + + 214151534 + + + + + A hilarious, surreal, and devastating journey into the mind of Reality Kahn, a young woman on a quest to be the greatest girlfriend of all time.

It was decreed from the moment she was born. Twenty-three-year-old Reality Kahn would embark on a quest so great, so bold. She would become the greatest girlfriend of all time. She would be a zine maker, an aspiring notary, the greatest waterslide commercial actress on the Eastern Seaboard. She would receive messages from the beyond in the form of advice from the esteemed and ancient ladies magazine, Girlfriend Weekly.

When she attends a party in Gowanus at a punk venue known as “Paradise,” Reality meets Ariel, who will become her boyfriend. She bravely works for his everlasting affection and joins a clinical trial created by Dr. Zweig Altmann to help her become a more perfect girlfriend. She stars in a new commercial. She learns how to become an indelible host. But Reality will also learn that sheer will and determination, and a very open heart, are not always enough to make true love manifest.

At turns laugh-out-loud funny, tragic, and jarring, Reality’s quest grows ever complicated as the men in her Ariel, her waterpark commercial agent Jethro, and Dr. Altmann himself prove treacherous. Paradise Logic is a thrilling, psychosexual breakdown of our obsession with authentic true love, asking whether that is even possible in a patriarchal world, and announces Sophie Kemp as a wholly original, transformative, and brilliant new voice in fiction.]]> + + 256 + + Sophie Kemp + 1668057034 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.90 + 2025 + + Paradise Logic
+ author: Sophie Kemp
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.90
+ book published: 2025
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/05/19
+ date added: 2026/05/19
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Real World OCaml: Functional Programming for the Masses]]> + + 63229347 + + + + + + + 512 + + Anil Madhavapeddy + 100912580X + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.56 + + + Real World OCaml: Functional Programming for the Masses
+ author: Anil Madhavapeddy
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.56
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/05/15
+ date added: 2026/05/15
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library)]]> + + 75609622 + + + + + Nearly two thousand years after it was written, Meditations remains profoundly relevant for anyone seeking to lead a meaningful life.

Few ancient works have been as influential as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and emperor of Rome (A.D. 161–180). A series of spiritual exercises filled with wisdom, practical guidance, and profound understanding of human behavior, it remains one of the greatest works of spiritual and ethical reflection ever written. Marcus’s insights and advice—on everything from living in the world to coping with adversity and interacting with others—have made the Meditations required reading for statesmen and philosophers alike, while generations of ordinary readers have responded to the straightforward intimacy of his style. For anyone who struggles to reconcile the demands of leadership with a concern for personal integrity and spiritual well-being, the Meditations remains as relevant now as it was two thousand years ago.

In Gregory Hays’s new translation—the first in thirty-five years—Marcus’s thoughts speak with a new immediacy. In fresh and unencumbered English, Hays vividly conveys the spareness and compression of the original Greek text. Never before have Marcus’s insights been so directly and powerfully presented.

With an Introduction that outlines Marcus’s life and career, the essentials of Stoic doctrine, the style and construction of the Meditations, and the work’s ongoing influence, this edition makes it possible to fully rediscover the thoughts of one of the most enlightened and intelligent leaders of any era.]]> + + + + Marcus Aurelius + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.40 + 180 + + Meditations: A New Translation (Modern Library)
+ author: Marcus Aurelius
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.40
+ book published: 180
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/04/29
+ date added: 2026/04/29
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Project Hail Mary + + 54493401 + + + + +
Except that right now, he doesn’t know that. He can’t even remember his own name, let alone the nature of his assignment or how to complete it.

All he knows is that he’s been asleep for a very, very long time. And he’s just been awakened to find himself millions of miles from home, with nothing but two corpses for company.

His crewmates dead, his memories fuzzily returning, Ryland realizes that an impossible task now confronts him. Hurtling through space on this tiny ship, it’s up to him to puzzle out an impossible scientific mystery—and conquer an extinction-level threat to our species.

And with the clock ticking down and the nearest human being light-years away, he’s got to do it all alone.

Or does he?]]> + + 476 + + Andy Weir + 0593135202 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.50 + 2021 + + Project Hail Mary
+ author: Andy Weir
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.50
+ book published: 2021
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/04/10
+ date added: 2026/04/10
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + How to Take Smart Notes + + 34507927 + + + + + The Take Smart Notes principle is based on established psychological insight and draws from a tried and tested note-taking-technique. This is the first comprehensive guide and description of this system in English, and not only does it explain how it works, but also why. It suits students and academics in the social sciences and humanities, nonfiction writers and others who are in the business of reading, thinking and writing.
Instead of wasting your time searching for notes, quotes or references, you can focus on what really thinking, understanding and developing new ideas in writing. It does not matter if you prefer taking notes with pen and paper or on a computer, be it Windows, Mac or Linux. And you can start right away.]]> + + 178 + + Sönke Ahrens + + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 4.08 + 2017 + + How to Take Smart Notes
+ author: Sönke Ahrens
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.08
+ book published: 2017
+ rating: 5
+ read at: 2026/03/26
+ date added: 2026/03/26
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The New Kings of Nonfiction + + 473576 + + + + +
An anthology of the best new masters of nonfiction storytelling, personally chosen and introduced by Ira Glass, the producer and host of the award-winning public radio program This American Life.

These pieces-on teenage white collar criminals, buying a cow, Saddam Hussein, drunken British soccer culture, and how we know everyone in our Rolodex-are meant to mesmerize and inspire.]]> + + 464 + + Michael Lewis + 1594482675 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.97 + 2007 + + The New Kings of Nonfiction
+ author: Michael Lewis
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.97
+ book published: 2007
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/03/26
+ date added: 2026/03/26
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[My Financial Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Managing Your Money]]> + + 51479466 + + + + + My Financial Toolbox goes into the nuts and bolts of managing your money. A long-time personal finance blogger Harry Sit gives a big show-and-tell of everything he uses to manage his finances. Using these tools allowed Harry and his wife to leave their full-time jobs in their 40’s. The “good enough” and “set and forget” principles guide you to 95% of the results with 5% of the effort.

This book covers everything from checking accounts to retirement accounts and insurance to wills and trust, software tools, and more. Whether you’re early in your career wanting to start on the right track or you’re close to retirement looking for a boost, My Financial Toolbox will give you a clear course of action.

This book will show you how a checking account that reimburses all ATM fees and pays all your bills automatically.Earn good rewards from credit cards on every purchase without worries about confusing categories.Refinance your mortgage to the lowest rate.Protect your family with the right types of life insurance, disability insurance, auto and homeowner’s insurance, and umbrella insurance.Choose the right health insurance and contribute to an HSA.Contribute the maximum to your retirement plans at work or when you’re self-employed, including a “mega backdoor Roth.”Contribute the maximum to your IRA, with a “backdoor Roth” even when your income is too high.Save and invest in the right 529 plan for your kids’ college savings fund.Invest in the entire global market with one simple investment, super-low fees, and minimal maintenance.Handle RSUs and ESPP from your employer.Pass the money to your loved ones without delay or costly legal fees in case you die.Use software tools to estimate and maximize your Social Security benefits with the right claiming strategy.Work with the right type of financial advisor when you need advice.Take a look at the table of contents by clicking on the Look Inside feature!Buy the book and get started today!]]> + + 211 + + Harry Sit + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.52 + + + My Financial Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Managing Your Money
+ author: Harry Sit
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.52
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2026/03/15
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect]]> + + 11709094 + + + + +
 

To demonstrate the powerfully enduring impact of place, Robert J. Sampson presents here the fruits of over a decade’s research in Chicago combined with his own unique personal observations about life in the city, from Cabrini Green to Trump Tower and Millennium Park to the Robert Taylor Homes. He discovers that neighborhoods influence a remarkably wide variety of social phenomena, including crime, health, civic engagement, home foreclosures, teen births, altruism, leadership networks, and immigration. Even national crises cannot halt the impact of place, Sampson finds, as he analyzes the consequences of the Great Recession and its aftermath, bringing his magisterial study up to the fall of 2010.

 

Following in the influential tradition of the Chicago School of urban studies but updated for the twenty-first century, Great American City is at once a landmark research project, a commanding argument for a new theory of social life, and the story of an iconic city.]]> + + 552 + + Robert J. Sampson + 0226734560 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.71 + 2011 + + Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect
+ author: Robert J. Sampson
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.71
+ book published: 2011
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/03/14
+ date added: 2026/03/14
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness]]> + + 43306206 + + + + +
The Courage to Be Disliked shows you how to unlock the power within yourself to become your best and truest self, change your future and find lasting happiness. Using the theories of Alfred Adler, one of the three giants of 19th-century psychology alongside Freud and Jung, the authors explain how we are all free to determine our own future free of the shackles of past experiences, doubts and the expectations of others. It’s a philosophy that’s profoundly liberating, allowing us to develop the courage to change, and to ignore the limitations that we and those around us can place on ourselves.

The result is a book that is both highly accessible and profound in its importance. Millions have already read and benefited from its wisdom. Now that The Courage to Be Disliked has been published for the first time in English, so can you.]]> + + 288 + + Ichiro Kishimi + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.85 + 2013 + + The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness
+ author: Ichiro Kishimi
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.85
+ book published: 2013
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/03/13
+ date added: 2026/03/13
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Simulacra + + 226460 + + + + + + + 214 + + Philip K. Dick + 0375719261 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.64 + 1964 + + The Simulacra
+ author: Philip K. Dick
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.64
+ book published: 1964
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/03/08
+ date added: 2026/03/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Picture of Dorian Gray + + 5297 + + + + + + + 272 + + Oscar Wilde + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.13 + 1890 + + The Picture of Dorian Gray
+ author: Oscar Wilde
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.13
+ book published: 1890
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/03/02
+ date added: 2026/03/02
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + How to Live in the City + + 28542836 + + + + + How to Live in the City is a book for navigating and nurturing this important relationship.
Hugo Macdonald believes you need to feel a city to understand it. He won't tell you how wide the perfect pavement should be but he will show you how to walk down a pavement with eyes wide open. This is a book to help you feel human in an inhuman environment.]]> + + 177 + + Hugo Macdonald + 1447293320 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.65 + + + How to Live in the City
+ author: Hugo Macdonald
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.65
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/03/02
+ date added: 2026/03/02
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life]]> + + 30646587 + + + + +
Since money is the single most powerful tool we have for navigating this complex world we've created, understanding it is critical.

"But Dad," she once said, "I know money is important. I just don't want to spend my life thinking about it." This was eye-opening. I love this stuff. But most people have better things to do with their precious time. Bridges to build, diseases to cure, treaties to negotiate, mountains to climb, technologies to create, children to teach, businesses to run.

Unfortunately, benign neglect of things financial leaves you open to the charlatans of the financial world. The people who make investing endlessly complex, because if it can be made complex it becomes more profitable for them, more expensive for us, and we are forced into their waiting arms.

Here's an important truth: Complex investments exist only to profit those who create and sell them. Not only are they more costly to the investor, they are less effective.

The simple approach I created for her and present now to you is not only easy to understand and implement, it is more powerful than any other.

Together we'll explore:

•Debt: why you must avoid it and what to do if you have it
•The importance of having f-you money
•How to think about money, and the unique way understanding this is key to building your wealth
•Where traditional investing advice goes wrong and what actually works
•What the stock market really is and how it really works
•Why the stock market always goes up and why most people still lose money investing in it
•How to invest in a raging bull or bear market
Specific investments to implement these strategies
•The Wealth Building and Wealth Preservation phases of your investing life and why they are not always tied to your age
•How your asset allocation is tied to those phases and how to choose it
•How to simplify the sometimes confusing world of 401(k), 403(b), TSP, IRA, and Roth accounts
TRFs (target retirement funds), HSAs (health savings accounts), and RMDs (required minimum distributions)
•What investment firm to use and why the one I recommend is so far superior to the competition
•Why you should be very cautious when engaging an investment advisor and whether you need to at all
•Why and how you can be conned, and how to avoid becoming prey
•Why I don't recommend dollar cost averaging
•What financial independence looks like and how to have your money support you
•What the Four Percent Rule is and how to use it to safely spend your wealth
•The truth behind Social Security
•A case study on how this all can be implemented in real life]]> + + 286 + + J.L. Collins + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.40 + 2016 + + The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life
+ author: J.L. Collins
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.40
+ book published: 2016
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/02/23
+ date added: 2026/02/23
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Design of Everyday Things + + 840 + + + + + + + 257 + + Donald A. Norman + 0465067107 + Henry + 0 + + + + design-thinking + + 4.14 + 1988 + + The Design of Everyday Things
+ author: Donald A. Norman
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.14
+ book published: 1988
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/02/18
+ date added: 2026/02/18
+ shelves: design-thinking
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters]]> + + 50776459 + + + + +
"This book is a guide to how we do product development at Basecamp. It’s also a toolbox full of techniques that you can apply in your own way to your own process.

Whether you’re a founder, CTO, product manager, designer, or developer, you’re probably here because of some common challenges that all software companies have to face."]]> + + 133 + + Ryan Singer + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.25 + 2019 + + Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters
+ author: Ryan Singer
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.25
+ book published: 2019
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/02/10
+ date added: 2026/02/10
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Building Great Software Engineering Teams: Recruiting, Hiring, and Managing Your Team from Startup to Success]]> + + 26341904 + + + + + + + 170 + + Josh Tyler + 1484211332 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.67 + + + Building Great Software Engineering Teams: Recruiting, Hiring, and Managing Your Team from Startup to Success
+ author: Josh Tyler
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.67
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/02/04
+ date added: 2026/02/04
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Haçienda: How Not to Run a Club]]> + + 4835987 + + + + + + + 352 + + Peter Hook + 1847371353 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.83 + 2008 + + The Haçienda: How Not to Run a Club
+ author: Peter Hook
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.83
+ book published: 2008
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/01/25
+ date added: 2026/01/25
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + BLAME! Vol. 1 + + 31188025 + + + + + + + 396 + + Tsutomu Nihei + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.21 + 2015 + + BLAME! Vol. 1
+ author: Tsutomu Nihei
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.21
+ book published: 2015
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/01/24
+ date added: 2026/01/24
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Introducing MLOps: How to Scale Machine Learning in the Enterprise]]> + + 55182023 + + + + +
This book introduces the key concepts of MLOps to help data scientists and application engineers not only operationalize ML models to drive real business change but also maintain and improve those models over time. Through lessons based on numerous MLOps applications around the world, nine experts in machine learning provide insights into the five steps of the model life cycle--Build, Preproduction, Deployment, Monitoring, and Governance--uncovering how robust MLOps processes can be infused throughout.

This book helps you:


Fulfill data science value by reducing friction throughout ML pipelines and workflows
Refine ML models through retraining, periodic tuning, and complete remodeling to ensure long-term accuracy
Design the MLOps life cycle to minimize organizational risks with models that are unbiased, fair, and explainable
Operationalize ML models for pipeline deployment and for external business systems that are more complex and less standardized]]> + + 183 + + Mark Treveil + 1492083291 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.38 + + + Introducing MLOps: How to Scale Machine Learning in the Enterprise
+ author: Mark Treveil
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.38
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/01/12
+ date added: 2026/01/12
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + 怪獣8号 1 [Kaijū 8-gō 1] + + 55310650 + + + + + + + 204 + + Naoya Matsumoto + 408882525X + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.24 + 2020 + + 怪獣8号 1 [Kaijū 8-gō 1]
+ author: Naoya Matsumoto
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.24
+ book published: 2020
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2026/01/08
+ date added: 2026/01/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It]]> + + 222376640 + + + + +
We are all living through the Enshittocene―the Great Enshittening―a time in which the services that matter to us, that we rely on, are being turned into giant piles of shit. It’s frustrating. Demoralizing. Even terrifying.

The once-glorious internet has degenerated into “platforms” that rose to dominance because they delivered convenient and delightful services efficiently and reliably. But once we were locked in to those services, the tech bosses turned on us, relying on our dependency to keep us using the services even as they got worse and worse. The platform bosses did the same to the companies that had flocked to their services to sell stuff to us. Once we were all locked in―businesses and users―the tech companies stripped out all utility, save the bare minimum needed to stave off total collapse.

In Enshittification, Cory Doctorow shows us where it comes from: not the iron laws of economics, or the great forces of history, but specific policy choices made by powerful people who ignored every warning about the consequences of those choices. These are choices that can be undone. Enshittification is a Big Tech disassembly manual, a road map for the seizure of the means of computation. It is a diagnosis, and it is a cure.]]> + + 338 + + Cory Doctorow + 0374619328 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.05 + 2025 + + Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It
+ author: Cory Doctorow
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.05
+ book published: 2025
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/12/24
+ date added: 2025/12/24
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Pattern Recognition (Blue Ant, #1)]]> + + 22320 + + + + +
Cayce Pollard is a new kind of prophet — a world-renowned “coolhunter” who predicts the hottest trends. While in London to evaluate the redesign of a famous corporate logo, she's offered a different assignment: find the creator of the obscure, enigmatic video clips being uploaded to the Internet — footage that is generating massive underground buzz worldwide.

Still haunted by the memory of her missing father — a Cold War security guru who disappared in downtown Manhattan on the morning of September 11, 200l — Cayce is soon traveling through parallel universes of marketing, globalization, and terror, heading always for the still point where the three converge. From London to Tokyo to Moscow, she follows the implications of a secret as disturbing — and compelling — as the twenty-first century promises to be...

Cover illustration by Benita Raphan]]> + + 367 + + William Gibson + 0425198685 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.87 + 2003 + + Pattern Recognition (Blue Ant, #1)
+ author: William Gibson
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.87
+ book published: 2003
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/12/15
+ date added: 2025/12/15
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals]]> + + 54785515 + + + + + The average human lifespan is absurdly, insultingly brief. Assuming you live to be eighty, you have just over four thousand weeks.

Nobody needs to be told there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and ceaseless battle against distraction; we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient and life hacks to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon. Still, we rarely make the connection between our daily struggles with time and the ultimate time management problem: the challenge of how best to use our four thousand weeks.

Drawing on the insights of both ancient and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, and spiritual teachers, Oliver Burkeman delivers an entertaining, humorous, practical, and ultimately profound guide to time and time management. Rejecting the futile modern obsession with “getting everything done,” Four Thousand Weeks introduces readers to tools for constructing a meaningful life by embracing finitude, showing that many of the unhelpful ways we’ve come to think about time aren’t inescapable, unchanging truths, but choices we’ve made as individuals and as a society—and that we could do things differently.]]> + + 245 + + Oliver Burkeman + 0374159122 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.16 + 2021 + + Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals
+ author: Oliver Burkeman
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.16
+ book published: 2021
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2025/11/01
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die]]> + + 69242 + + + + + + + 291 + + Chip Heath + 1400064287 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.97 + 2006 + + Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
+ author: Chip Heath
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.97
+ book published: 2006
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/10/18
+ date added: 2025/10/18
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World]]> + + 40672036 + + + + +
In this timely and enlightening book, the bestselling author of Deep Work introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives.

Digital minimalists are all around us. They're the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can get lost in a good book, a woodworking project, or a leisurely morning run. They can have fun with friends and family without the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day, but don't feel overwhelmed by it. They don't experience "fear of missing out" because they already know which activities provide them meaning and satisfaction.

Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement, and makes a persuasive case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Common sense tips, like turning off notifications, or occasional rituals like observing a digital sabbath, don't go far enough in helping us take back control of our technological lives, and attempts to unplug completely are complicated by the demands of family, friends and work. What we need instead is a thoughtful method to decide what tools to use, for what purposes, and under what conditions.

Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, from Amish farmers to harried parents to Silicon Valley programmers, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them. He shows how digital minimalists are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude. He then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day "digital declutter" process that has already helped thousands feel less overwhelmed and more in control.

Technology is intrinsically neither good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you. This book shows the way.]]> + + 302 + + Cal Newport + 052553654X + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.05 + 2019 + + Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
+ author: Cal Newport
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.05
+ book published: 2019
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/10/06
+ date added: 2025/10/06
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout]]> + + 197773418 + + + + + Do fewer things. Work at a natural pace. Obsess over quality.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Digital Minimalism and Deep Work, a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload.

Our current definition of “productivity” is broken. It pushes us to treat busyness as a proxy for useful effort, leading to impossibly lengthy task lists and ceaseless meetings. We’re overwhelmed by all we have to do and on the edge of burnout, left to decide between giving into soul-sapping hustle culture or rejecting ambition altogether. But are these really our only choices?

Long before the arrival of pinging inboxes and clogged schedules, history’s most creative and impactful philosophers, scientists, artists, and writers mastered the art of producing valuable work with staying power. In this timely and provocative book, Cal Newport harnesses the wisdom of these traditional knowledge workers to radically transform our modern jobs. Drawing from deep research on the habits and mindsets of a varied cast of storied thinkers—from Galileo and Isaac Newton, to Jane Austen and Georgia O’Keefe—Newport lays out the key principles of “slow productivity,” a more sustainable alternative to the aimless overwhelm that defines our current moment. Combining cultural criticism with systematic pragmatism, Newport deconstructs the absurdities inherent in standard notions of productivity, and then provides step-by-step advice for workers to replace them with a slower, more humane alternative.

From the aggressive rethinking of workload management, to introducing seasonal variation, to shifting your performance toward long-term quality, Slow Productivity provides a roadmap for escaping overload and arriving instead at a more timeless approach to pursuing meaningful accomplishment. The world of work is due for a new revolution. Slow productivity is exactly what we need.]]> + + 244 + + Cal Newport + 0593544854 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.63 + 2024 + + Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout
+ author: Cal Newport
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.63
+ book published: 2024
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/09/26
+ date added: 2025/09/26
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers]]> + + 61329 + + + + + + + 211 + + Geoffrey A. Moore + 0060517123 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.01 + 2002 + + Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers
+ author: Geoffrey A. Moore
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.01
+ book published: 2002
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/09/23
+ date added: 2025/09/23
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Tokyo Ueno Station + + 43398196 + + + + +
Akutagawa-award-winning author Yū Miri uses her outsider’s perspective as a Zainichi (Korean-Japanese) writer to craft a novel of utmost importance to this moment, a powerful rebuke to the Imperial system and a sensitive, deeply felt depiction of the lives of Japan’s most vulnerable people.]]> + + 168 + + Yū Miri + 1911284169 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.43 + 2014 + + Tokyo Ueno Station
+ author: Yū Miri
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.43
+ book published: 2014
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/09/23
+ date added: 2025/09/23
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Web Scalability for Startup Engineers]]> + + 23615147 + + + + + + + 416 + + Artur Ejsmont + 0071843655 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.48 + 2015 + + Web Scalability for Startup Engineers
+ author: Artur Ejsmont
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.48
+ book published: 2015
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/09/15
+ date added: 2025/09/15
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Slicing Pie - Funding Your Business Without Funds]]> + + 16140865 + + + + +
Slicing Pie explains how to calculate the fair amount of equity to the right people. Learn the tricks of the trade including:

- Calculating a theoretical value of your company
- Assigning value to the various inputs to your business
- What to do when a founder leaves your company
- How to handle equity when you have to fire someone

This unique guide answers the tough questions for budding entrepreneurs and helps make sure they get started on the right foot.]]> + + 188 + + Mike Moyer + 0615700624 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.11 + 2012 + + Slicing Pie - Funding Your Business Without Funds
+ author: Mike Moyer
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.11
+ book published: 2012
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/08/25
+ date added: 2025/08/25
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist]]> + + 11865558 + + + + + Praise for Venture Deals

"My biggest nightmare is taking advantage of an entrepreneur without even realizing it. It happens because VCs are experts in financings and most entrepreneurs are not. Brad and Jason are out to fix that problem with Venture Deals. This book is long overdue and badly needed."
—Fred Wilson, Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures

"Feld and Mendelson pack a graduate-level course into this energetic and accessible book.?The authors' frank style and incisive insight make this a must-read for high-growth company entrepreneurs, early-stage investors, and graduate students.?Start here if you want to understand venture capital deal structure and strategies.?I enthusiastically recommend."
—Brad Bernthal, CU Boulder, Associate Clinical Professor ofLaw, Technology Policy, Entrepreneurial Law

"A must-read book for entrepreneurs.?Brad and Jason demystify the overly complex world of term sheets and M&A, cutting through the legalese and focusing on what really matters.?That's a good thing not just for entrepreneurs, but also for venture capitalists, angels, and lawyers.?Having an educated entrepreneur on the other side of the table means you spend your time negotiating the important issues and ultimately get to the right deal faster."
—Greg Gottesman, Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group

"Venture Deals is a must-read for any entrepreneur contemplating or currently leading a venture-backed company. Brad and Jason are highly respected investors who shoot straight from the hip and tell it like it is, bringing a level of transparency to a process that is rarely well understood. It's like having a venture capitalist as a best friend who is looking out for your best interests and happy to answer all of your questions."
—Emily Mendell, Vice President of Communications,National Venture Capital Association

"The adventure of starting and growing a company can be exhilarating or excruciating—or both. Feld and Mendelson have done a masterful job of shedding light on what can either become one of the most helpful or dreadful experiences for entrepreneurs—accepting venture capital into their firm. This book takes the lid off the black box and helps entrepreneurs understand the economics and control provisions of working with a venture partner."
—Lesa Mitchell, Vice President, Advancing Innovation, Kauffman Foundation

]]> + + 240 + + Brad Feld + 0470929820 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.07 + 2011 + + Venture Deals: Be Smarter Than Your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist
+ author: Brad Feld
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.07
+ book published: 2011
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/08/16
+ date added: 2025/08/16
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Factory + + 43862305 + + + + + The English-language debut of Hiroko Oyamada—one of the most powerfully strange young voices in Japan.

In an unnamed Japanese city, three seemingly normal and unrelated characters find work at a sprawling industrial factory. They each focus intently on their specific jobs: one studies moss, one shreds paper, and the other proofreads incomprehensible documents. Life in the factory has its own logic and momentum, and, eventually, the factory slowly expands and begins to take over everything, enveloping these poor workers. The very margins of reality seem to be dissolving: all forms of life capriciously evolve, strange creatures begin to appear… After a while—it could be weeks or years—the workers don’t even have the ability to ask themselves: where does the factory end and the rest of the world begin?

Told in three alternating first-person narratives, The Factory casts a vivid—if sometimes surreal—portrait of the absurdity and meaninglessness of modern life. With hints of Kafka and unexpected moments of creeping humor, Hiroko Oyamada is one of the boldest writers of her generation.]]> + + 116 + + Hiroko Oyamada + 0811228851 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.32 + 2010 + + The Factory
+ author: Hiroko Oyamada
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.32
+ book published: 2010
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/08/16
+ date added: 2025/08/16
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity]]> + + 58169 + + + + + Where do ideas come from?

In Catching the Big Fish, internationally acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch provides a rare window into his methods as an artist, his personal working style, and the immense creative benefits he has experienced from the practice of meditation.

Lynch describes the experience of "diving within" and "catching" ideas like fish - and then preparing them for television or movie screens, and other mediums in which he works, such as painting, music, and design. Lynch writes for the first time about his more than three-decade commitment to Transcendental Meditation and the difference it has made in his creative process.

In brief chapters, Lynch explains the development of his ideas - where they came from, how he grasps them, and which ones appeal to him the most. He specifically discusses how he puts his thoughts into action and how he engages with others around him. Finally, he considers the self and the surrounding world - and how the process of "diving within" that has so deeply affected his own work can directly benefit others.

Catching the Big Fish comes as a revelation to the legion of fans who have longed to better understand Lynch's personal vision. And it is equally intriguing to those who wonder how they can nurture their own creativity.]]> + + 181 + + David Lynch + 1585425400 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.81 + 2006 + + Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity
+ author: David Lynch
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.81
+ book published: 2006
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/08/06
+ date added: 2025/08/06
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The City & the City + + 4703581 + + + + +
Borlú must travel from the decaying Beszel to the only metropolis on Earth as strange as his own. This is a border crossing like no other, a journey as psychic as it is physical, a shift in perception, a seeing of the unseen. His destination is Beszel’s equal, rival, and intimate neighbor, the rich and vibrant city of Ul Qoma. With Ul Qoman detective Qussim Dhatt, and struggling with his own transition, Borlú is enmeshed in a sordid underworld of rabid nationalists intent on destroying their neighboring city, and unificationists who dream of dissolving the two into one. As the detectives uncover the dead woman’s secrets, they begin to suspect a truth that could cost them and those they care about more than their lives.

What stands against them are murderous powers in Beszel and in Ul Qoma: and, most terrifying of all, that which lies between these two cities.

Casting shades of Kafka and Philip K. Dick, Raymond Chandler and 1984, The City & the City is a murder mystery taken to dazzling metaphysical and artistic heights.]]> + + 336 + + China Miéville + 0345497511 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.90 + 2009 + + The City & the City
+ author: China Miéville
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.90
+ book published: 2009
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/08/05
+ date added: 2025/08/05
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers]]> + + 6932 + + + + + + + 382 + + Richard Nelson Bolles + 1580087949 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.60 + 1970 + + What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers
+ author: Richard Nelson Bolles
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.60
+ book published: 1970
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/08/03
+ date added: 2025/08/03
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work]]> + + 58277231 + + + + + From the authors of the #1 New York Times bestseller Designing Your Life--a timely, urgently needed book that shows us how to transform our new uncharted work life into a meaningful dream job or company. With updated tools, tips, and design ideas that show us how to navigate disruption (global, regional, or personal) and create new possibilities for our post-COVID work world and beyond.

Bill Burnett and Dave Evans successfully taught graduate and undergraduate students at Stanford University and readers of their best-selling book, Designing Your Life (The prototype for a happy life. --Brian Lehrer, NPR), that designers don't analyze, worry, think, complain their way forward; they build their way forward. And now more than ever, we all need creative and adaptable tools to cope with the chaos caused by COVID-19.

In Designing Your New Work Life, Burnett and Evans show us how design thinking can transform our present job, and how it can improve our experience of work in times of disruption. All disruption is personal, write Burnett and Evans, as with the life-altering global pandemic we are living through now. Designing Your New Work Life makes clear that disruption is the new normal, that it is here to stay and that it is accelerating. And in the book's new chapters, Burnett and Evans show us step by step, how to design our way through disruption and how to stay ahead of it--and thrive.

Burnett and Evans's Disruption Design offers us a radical new concept that makes use of the designer mindsets: Curiosity, Reframing, Radical collaboration, Awareness, Bias to action, Storytelling, to find our way through these unchartered times.

Burnett and Evans show us, with tools, tips, and design ideas, how we can make new possibilities available even when our lives have been disrupted (be it globally, regionally, or personally), giving us the tools to enjoy the present moment and allowing us to begin to prototype our possible future.]]> + + 400 + + Bill Burnett + 0593467450 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.73 + 2020 + + Designing Your New Work Life: How to Thrive and Change and Find Happiness--and a New Freedom--at Work
+ author: Bill Burnett
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.73
+ book published: 2020
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/07/08
+ date added: 2025/07/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[What I Talk About When I Talk About Running]]> + + 2195464 + + + + +
Equal parts training log, travelogue, and reminiscence, this revealing memoir covers his four-month preparation for the 2005 New York City Marathon and takes us to places ranging from Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien gardens, where he once shared the course with an Olympian, to the Charles River in Boston among young women who outpace him. Through this marvelous lens of sport emerges a panorama of memories and insights: the eureka moment when he decided to become a writer, his greatest triumphs and disappointments, his passion for vintage LPs, and the experience, after fifty, of seeing his race times improve and then fall back.

By turns funny and sobering, playful and philosophical, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running is rich and revelatory, both for fans of this masterful yet guardedly private writer and for the exploding population of athletes who find similar satisfaction in running.]]> + + 188 + + Haruki Murakami + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.86 + 2007 + + What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
+ author: Haruki Murakami
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.86
+ book published: 2007
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2025/07/01
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech]]> + + 59801798 + + + + +
The "rich and gripping" true story of the first time machines came for human jobs—and how the Luddite uprising explains the power, threat, and toll of big tech and AI today (Naomi Klein) The most urgent story in modern tech begins not in Silicon Valley but two hundred years ago in rural England, when workers known as the Luddites rose up rather than starve at the hands of factory owners who were using automated machines to erase their livelihoods.

The Luddites organized guerrilla raids to smash those machines—on punishment of death—and won the support of Lord Byron, enraged the Prince Regent, and inspired the birth of science fiction. This all-but-forgotten class struggle brought nineteenth-century England to its knees.

Today, technology imperils millions of jobs, robots are crowding factory floors, and artificial intelligence will soon pervade every aspect of our economy. How will this change the way we live? And what can we do about it?

The answers lie in Blood in the Machine . Brian Merchant intertwines a lucid examination of our current age with the story of the Luddites, showing how automation changed our world—and is shaping our future.]]> + + 416 + + Brian Merchant + 0316487740 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.18 + 2023 + + Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech
+ author: Brian Merchant
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.18
+ book published: 2023
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/03/18
+ date added: 2025/03/18
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Radio Free Albemuth + + 226475 + + + + +
In this, his last novel, Philip K. Dick morphed and recombined themes that had informed his fiction from A Scanner Darkly to VALIS and produced a wild, impassioned work that reads like a visionary alternate history of the United States. Agonizingly suspenseful, darkly hilarious, and filled with enough conspiracy theories to thrill the most hardened paranoid, Radio Free Albemuth is proof of Dick's stature as our century's greatest prankster-prophet.

]]> + + 214 + + Philip K. Dick + 0679781374 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.81 + 1985 + + Radio Free Albemuth
+ author: Philip K. Dick
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.81
+ book published: 1985
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/02/18
+ date added: 2025/02/18
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies]]> + + 4122 + + + + + + + 368 + + Jim Collins + 0060566108 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.06 + 1994 + + Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
+ author: Jim Collins
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.06
+ book published: 1994
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/02/11
+ date added: 2025/02/11
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less (Revised and Updated)]]> + + 59891634 + + + + +  
In  SMART The Power of Saying More with Less ,   Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz teach readers how to say more with less in virtually any format. They also share communications lessons learned from their decades of experience in media, business and communications.
 ]]> + + 224 + + Jim Vandehei + 1523516976 + Henry + 2 + + + + + + 3.85 + 2022 + + Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less (Revised and Updated)
+ author: Jim Vandehei
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.85
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 2
+ read at: 2025/01/27
+ date added: 2025/01/27
+ shelves:
+ review:
McNugget-level 'book'. There are no references or citations provided for the reader to GO DEEPER. Instead, it funnels to a $10,000 1-hour online course. I suppose that is the point. I appreciate that it gave me some ideas for my own research, but there's no bones whatsoever.
+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Superstorm: Politics and Design in the Age of Information]]> + + 202100394 + + + + + + + 256 + + Noemi Biasetton + 9083362175 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.12 + + + Superstorm: Politics and Design in the Age of Information
+ author: Noemi Biasetton
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.12
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2025/01/22
+ date added: 2025/01/22
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less]]> + + 18077875 + + + + + Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized?
Are you often busy but not productive?
 Do you feel like your time is constantly being hijacked by other people’s agendas?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the EssentialistThe Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only the right things done.  It is not  a time management strategy, or a productivity technique. It is a systematic discipline for discerning what is absolutely essential, then eliminating everything that is not, so we can make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter. 

By forcing us to apply a more selective criteria for what is Essential, the disciplined pursuit of less empowers us to reclaim control of our own choices about where to spend our precious time and energy – instead of giving others the implicit permission to choose for us.

Essentialism is not one more thing – it’s a whole new way of doing everything. A must-read for any leader, manager, or individual who wants to learn how to do less, but better, in every area of their lives, Essentialism  is a movement whose time has come.]]> + + 260 + + Greg McKeown + 0804137382 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.05 + 2011 + + Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less
+ author: Greg McKeown
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.05
+ book published: 2011
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2025/01/20
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Stranger + + 49552 + + + + + The Stranger has long been considered a classic of twentieth-century literature. Le Monde ranks it as number one on its "100 Books of the Century" list. Through this story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on a sundrenched Algerian beach, Camus explores what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd."]]> + + 123 + + Albert Camus + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.04 + 1942 + + The Stranger
+ author: Albert Camus
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.04
+ book published: 1942
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/12/31
+ date added: 2024/12/31
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Solo: How to Work Alone (and Not Lose Your Mind)]]> + + 56180286 + + + + +
A practical, accessible, and charming guide for finding joy while navigating your professional life working remotely from home—without losing your mind.

Like it or not, working alone is now the new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic may have accelerated the process, but the trend is clear—making a living outside the confines of a public workplace is here to stay.

For anyone who needs guidance on how to navigate working from a home office—or a home sofa—here is a charming, expert, and genuinely helpful guide to managing a productive career without impromptu hallway conversations or on-call IT support, but with more joy—and, for most of us, better coffee. Written by a dedicated work-from-home expert, Solo culls wisdom from the latest research in psychology, economics, and social science and explores what we gain, or lose, in the shift to solo work. In chapters like “Loneliness and Solitude,” “The Power of Planning,” and “The Curse of Comparison (and Why Social Media Sucks),” it picks up where the bibles for freelancers stop, offering practical, inspiring, and uniquely reassuring advice culled from a range of influences, from Aesop’s fables to medical journals, and explaining what helps us stay resilient, productive, and focused in a company of one.]]> + + 304 + + Rebecca Seal + 1982180919 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.77 + 2020 + + Solo: How to Work Alone (and Not Lose Your Mind)
+ author: Rebecca Seal
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.77
+ book published: 2020
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/12/29
+ date added: 2024/12/29
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success]]> + + 54500037 + + + + +
“Whether you’re a first-time founder or looking to bring innovation into a corporate environment,  Why Startups Fail  is essential reading.”—Eric Ries, founder and CEO, LTSE, and  New York Times  bestselling author of  The Lean Startup  and  The Startup Way

Why do startups fail? That question caught Harvard Business School professor Tom Eisenmann by surprise when he realized he couldn’t answer it.

So he launched a multiyear research project to find out. In Why Startups Fail, Eisenmann reveals his six distinct patterns that account for the vast majority of startup failures.

•  Bad Bedfellows.  Startup success is thought to rest largely on the founder’s talents and instincts. But the wrong team, investors, or partners can sink a venture just as quickly.
•  False Starts.  In following the oft-cited advice to “fail fast” and to “launch before you’re ready,” founders risk wasting time and capital on the wrong solutions.
•  False Promises.  Success with early adopters can be misleading and give founders unwarranted confidence to expand.
•  Speed Traps.  Despite the pressure to “get big fast,” hypergrowth can spell disaster for even the most promising ventures.
•  Help Wanted.  Rapidly scaling startups need lots of capital and talent, but they can make mistakes that leave them suddenly in short supply of both.
•  Cascading Miracles.  Silicon Valley exhorts entrepreneurs to dream big. But the bigger the vision, the more things that can go wrong.

Drawing on fascinating stories of ventures that failed to fulfill their early promise—from a home-furnishings retailer to a concierge dog-walking service, from a dating app to the inventor of a sophisticated social robot, from a fashion brand to a startup deploying a vast network of charging stations for electric vehicles—Eisenmann offers frameworks for detecting when a venture is vulnerable to these patterns, along with a wealth of strategies and tactics for avoiding them.

A must-read for founders at any stage of their entrepreneurial journey, Why Startups Fail is not merely a guide to preventing failure but also a roadmap charting the path to startup success.]]> + + 368 + + Tom Eisenmann + 0593137027 + Henry + 0 + + + + startup + + 4.14 + + + Why Startups Fail: A New Roadmap for Entrepreneurial Success
+ author: Tom Eisenmann
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.14
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/12/14
+ date added: 2024/12/14
+ shelves: startup
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Up the Junction + + 771825 + + + + + + + 132 + + Nell Dunn + 1582430667 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.35 + 1963 + + Up the Junction
+ author: Nell Dunn
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.35
+ book published: 1963
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/11/19
+ date added: 2024/11/19
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Lean Startup + + 10127019 + + + + + Most new businesses fail. But most of those failures are preventable.The Lean Startup is a new approach to business that's being adopted around the world. It is changing the way companies are built and new products are launched. Essential reading for any ambitious entrepreneur, The Lean Startup will teach you to identify what your customers really want. You'll learn how to test your vision continuously, adapting and adjusting before it's too late.]]> + + 299 + + Eric Ries + 0307887898 + Henry + 0 + + + + startup + + 4.10 + 2011 + + The Lean Startup
+ author: Eric Ries
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.10
+ book published: 2011
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/11/18
+ date added: 2024/11/18
+ shelves: startup
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Zero History (Blue Ant, #3) + + 7745031 + + + + +
Milgrim can disappear in almost any setting, and his Russian is perfectly idiomatic—so much so that he spoke it with his therapist in the secret Swiss clinic where Bigend paid for him to be cured of his addiction...

Garreth doesn't owe Bigend a thing. But he does have friends from whom he can call in the kinds of favors powerful people need when things go sideways...

They all have something Bigend wants as he finds himself outmaneuvered and adrift, after a Department of Defense contract for combat-wear turns out to be the gateway drug for arms dealers so shadowy they can out-Bigend Bigend himself
(source: amazon)]]> + + 404 + + William Gibson + 0399156828 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.94 + 2010 + + Zero History (Blue Ant, #3)
+ author: William Gibson
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.94
+ book published: 2010
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/10/21
+ date added: 2024/10/21
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Addiction and Virtue: Beyond the Models of Disease and Choice (Strategic Initiatives in Evangelical Theology)]]> + + 12171227 + + + + + In this interdisciplinary work, Kent Dunnington brings the neglected resources of philosophical and theological analysis to bear on the problem of addiction. Drawing on the insights of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, he formulates an alternative to the usual reductionistic models.

Going further, Dunnington maintains that addiction is not just a problem facing individuals. Its pervasiveness sheds prophetic light on our cultural moment. Moving beyond issues of individual treatment, this groundbreaking study also outlines significant implications for ministry within the local church context.

]]> + + 199 + + Kent J. Dunnington + 0830839011 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.35 + 2011 + + Addiction and Virtue: Beyond the Models of Disease and Choice (Strategic Initiatives in Evangelical Theology)
+ author: Kent J. Dunnington
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.35
+ book published: 2011
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2024/10/02
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less]]> + + 10639 + + + + + Future Shock, a social critique of our obsession with choice, and how it contributes to anxiety, dissatisfaction and regret. Whether we're buying a pair of jeans, ordering a cup of coffee, selecting a long-distance carrier, applying to college, choosing a doctor, or setting up a 401K, everyday decisions have become increasingly complex due to the overwhelming abundance of choice with which we are presented.

In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains why too much of a good thing has proven detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz explains how a culture that thrives on the availability of constantly evolving options can also foster profound dissatisfaction and self-blame in individuals, which can lead to a paralysis in decision making and, in some cases, depression.

With the latest studies on how we make choices in our personal and professional lives, Schwartz offers practical advice on how to focus on the right choices, and how to derive greater satisfaction from choices that we do make.]]> + + 265 + + Barry Schwartz + 0060005696 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.83 + 2004 + + The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less
+ author: Barry Schwartz
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.83
+ book published: 2004
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/09/18
+ date added: 2024/09/18
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Research for People Who (Think They) Would Rather Create]]> + + 56776983 + + + + +
In this user-friendly volume, author Dirk Vis lays out the basics of research for artists, offering a guide to the groundwork that has long been lacking.

How to formulate your topic and your argument; how to structure your text rhetorically; how to deploy quotations effectively; how to disseminate and distribute your work in a community: Vis guides readers through all of these questions in a clear and accessible fashion. This book is essential for students of the arts across all disciplines.

Amsterdam-based writer Dirk Vis (born 1981) writes fiction, columns, scripts and essays on art and technology. His works of nonfiction and fiction have been published in Dutch: Bestseller (2009), the e-book The reality-essay (2017) and a series of texts in various forms and mediums.

Design: Robert Reinartz
Editing: Johanna Monk

Supported by the Research Centre of the Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam]]> + + 136 + + Dirk Vis + 9493148432 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.62 + + + Research for People Who (Think They) Would Rather Create
+ author: Dirk Vis
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.62
+ book published:
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/09/11
+ date added: 2024/09/11
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Escape into Meaning: Essays on Superman, Public Benches, and Other Obsessions]]> + + 59366170 + + + + +
As YouTube’s The Nerdwriter , Evan Puschak plays the polymath, posing questions and providing answers across a wide range of fields—from the power of a split diopter shot in Toy Story 4 to the political dangers of schadenfreude. Now, he brings that same insatiable curiosity and striking wit to this engaging and unputdownable essay collection.

Perfect for fans of Trick Mirror and the writing of John Hodgman and Chuck Klosterman, Escape into Meaning is “a passionate, perceptive” (Hua Hsu, author of Stay True ) compendium of fascinating insights into obsession. Whether you’re interested in the philosophy of Jerry Seinfeld or how Clark Kent is the real hero, there’s something for everyone in this effervescent collection.]]> + + 272 + + Evan Puschak + 198216395X + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.80 + 2022 + + Escape into Meaning: Essays on Superman, Public Benches, and Other Obsessions
+ author: Evan Puschak
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.80
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/09/06
+ date added: 2024/09/06
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph]]> + + 18668059 + + + + + “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” — Marcus Aurelius

We are stuck, stymied, frustrated. But it needn’t be this way. There is a formula for success that’s been followed by the icons of history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—a formula that let them turn obstacles into opportunities. Faced with impossible situations, they found the astounding triumphs we all seek.

These men and women were not exceptionally brilliant, lucky, or gifted. Their success came from timeless philosophical principles laid down by a Roman emperor who struggled to articulate a method for excellence in any and all situations.

This book reveals that formula for the first time—and shows us how we can turn our own adversity into advantage.]]> + + 201 + + Ryan Holiday + 1591846358 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.12 + 2014 + + The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph
+ author: Ryan Holiday
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.12
+ book published: 2014
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2024/09/04
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility]]> + + 60324015 + + + + +
Our obsession with success is hard to overlook. Everywhere we compete, rank, and measure. Yet this relentless drive to be the best blinds us to something vitally the need to be humble in the face of life’s challenges. Costica Bradatan mounts his case for failure through the stories of four historical figures who led lives of impact and meaning―and assiduously courted failure. Their struggles show that engaging with our limitations can be not just therapeutic but transformative.

In Praise of Failure explores several arenas of failure, from the social and political to the spiritual and biological. It begins by examining the defiant choices of the French mystic Simone Weil, who, in sympathy with exploited workers, took up factory jobs that her frail body could not sustain. From there we turn to Mahatma Gandhi, whose punishing quest for purity drove him to ever more extreme acts of self-abnegation. Next we meet the self-styled loser E. M. Cioran, who deliberately turned his back on social acceptability, and Yukio Mishima, who reveled in a distinctly Japanese preoccupation with the noble failure, before looking to Seneca to tease out the ingredients of a good life.

Gleefully breaching the boundaries between argument and storytelling, scholarship and spiritual quest, Bradatan concludes that while success can make us shallow, our failures can lead us to humbler, more attentive, and better lived lives. We can do without success, but we are much poorer without the gifts of failure.]]> + + 288 + + Costică Brădățan + 0674970470 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.69 + 2023 + + In Praise of Failure: Four Lessons in Humility
+ author: Costică Brădățan
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.69
+ book published: 2023
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/08/30
+ date added: 2024/08/30
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[First Person Singular: Stories]]> + + 54614599 + + + + + A riveting new collection of short stories from the beloved, internationally acclaimed, Haruki Murakami.

The eight masterful stories in this new collection are all told in the first person by a classic Murakami narrator: a lonely man. Some of them (like With the Beatles, Cream and On a Stone Pillow ) are nostalgic looks back at youth. Others are set in adulthood--Charlie Parker Plays Bossa Nova, Carnaval, Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey and the stunning title story. Occasionally, a narrator who may or may not be Haruki himself is present, as in The Yakult Swallows Poetry Collection. Is it memoir or fiction? The reader decides. The stories all touch beautifully on love and loss, childhood and death . . . all with a signature Murakami twist.']]> + + 245 + + Haruki Murakami + 0593318072 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.58 + 2020 + + First Person Singular: Stories
+ author: Haruki Murakami
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.58
+ book published: 2020
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/08/18
+ date added: 2024/08/18
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Impostor Syndrome + + 55338924 + + + + + WSJ, on Work/Life Balance 2.0); and work in gender equality (transfer the most annoying females from her team), she funnels intelligence back to the motherland. But now Russia's asking for more, and Julia’s getting nervous.

Alice Lu is a first generation Chinese American whose parents are delighted she’s working at Tangerine (such a successful company!). Too bad she’s slogging away in the lower echelons, recently dumped, and now sharing her expensive two-bedroom apartment with her cousin Cheri, a perennial “founder’s girlfriend”. One afternoon, while performing a server check, Alice discovers some unusual activity, and now she’s burdened with two powerful but distressing suspicions: Tangerine’s privacy settings aren’t as rigorous as the company claims they are, and the person abusing this loophole might be Julia Lerner herself.

The closer Alice gets to Julia, the more Julia questions her own loyalties. Russia may have placed her in the Valley, but she's the one who built her career; isn’t she entitled to protect the lifestyle she’s earned? Part page-turning cat-and-mouse chase, part sharp and hilarious satire, Impostor Syndrome is a shrewdly-observed examination of women in tech, Silicon Valley hubris, and the rarely fulfilled but ever-attractive promise of the American Dream.]]> + + 368 + + Kathy Wang + 006285528X + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.23 + 2021 + + Impostor Syndrome
+ author: Kathy Wang
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.23
+ book published: 2021
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/08/02
+ date added: 2024/08/02
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning]]> + + 35297297 + + + + + A charming, practical, and unsentimental approach to putting a home in order while reflecting on the tiny joys that make up a long life.

In Sweden there is a kind of decluttering called döstädning, dö meaning “death” and städning meaning “cleaning.” This surprising and invigorating process of clearing out unnecessary belongings can be undertaken at any age or life stage but should be done sooner than later, before others have to do it for you. In The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, artist Margareta Magnusson, with Scandinavian humor and wisdom, instructs readers to embrace minimalism. Her radical and joyous method for putting things in order helps families broach sensitive conversations, and makes the process uplifting rather than overwhelming.

Margareta suggests which possessions you can easily get rid of (unworn clothes, unwanted presents, more plates than you’d ever use) and which you might want to keep (photographs, love letters, a few of your children’s art projects). Digging into her late husband’s tool shed, and her own secret drawer of vices, Margareta introduces an element of fun to a potentially daunting task. Along the way readers get a glimpse into her life in Sweden, and also become more comfortable with the idea of letting go.]]> + + 117 + + Margareta Magnusson + 1501173243 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.39 + 2017 + + The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning
+ author: Margareta Magnusson
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.39
+ book published: 2017
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/04/24
+ date added: 2024/04/24
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]]> + + 12609433 + + + + + + + 375 + + Charles Duhigg + 1400069289 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.13 + 2012 + + The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business
+ author: Charles Duhigg
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.13
+ book published: 2012
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/04/22
+ date added: 2024/04/22
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3)]]> + + 31817749 + + + + +
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.

Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.

For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.

The remarkable conclusion to the post-apocalyptic and highly acclaimed trilogy that began with the multi-award-nominated The Fifth Season.]]> + + 416 + + N.K. Jemisin + + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.31 + 2017 + + The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3)
+ author: N.K. Jemisin
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.31
+ book published: 2017
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/04/17
+ date added: 2024/04/17
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir]]> + + 78292253 + + + + + Legendary filmmaker and celebrated author Werner Herzog tells in his inimitable voice the story of his epic artistic career in a long-awaited memoir that is as inventive and daring as anything he has done before

Werner Herzog was born in September 1942 in Munich, Germany, at a turning point in the Second World War. Soon Germany would be defeated and a new world would have to be made out the rubble and horrors of the war. Fleeing the Allied bombing raids, Herzog’s mother took him and his older brother to a remote, rustic part of Bavaria where he would spend much of his childhood hungry, without running water, in deep poverty. It was there, as the new postwar order was emerging, that one of the most visionary filmmakers of the next seven decades was formed.  

Until age 11, Herzog did not even know of the existence of cinema. His interest in films began at age 15, but since no one was willing to finance them, he worked the night shift as a welder in a steel factory. He started to travel on foot. He made his first phone call at age 17, and his first film in 1961 at age 19. The wildly productive working life that followed—spanning the seven continents and encompassing both documentary and fiction—was an adventure as grand and otherworldly as any depicted in his many classic films.

Every Man for Himself and God Against All is at once a personal record of one of the great and self-invented lives of our time, and a singular literary masterpiece that will enthrall fans old and new alike. In a hypnotic swirl of memory, Herzog untangles and relives his most important experiences and inspirations, telling his story for the first and only time.]]> + + 367 + + Werner Herzog + 0593490290 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.25 + 2022 + + Every Man for Himself and God Against All: A Memoir
+ author: Werner Herzog
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.25
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2024/04/12
+ date added: 2024/04/12
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It)]]> + + 41959331 + + + + + Look around your office. Turn on the TV. Incompetent leadership is everywhere, and there's no denying that most of these leaders are men.

In this timely and provocative book, Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic asks two powerful questions: Why is it so easy for incompetent men to become leaders? And why is it so hard for competent people—especially competent women—to advance?

Marshaling decades of rigorous research, Chamorro-Premuzic points out that although men make up a majority of leaders, they underperform when compared with female leaders. In fact, most organizations equate leadership potential with a handful of destructive personality traits, like overconfidence and narcissism. In other words, these traits may help someone get selected for a leadership role, but they backfire once the person has the job.

When competent women—and men who don't fit the stereotype—are unfairly overlooked, we all suffer the consequences. The result is a deeply flawed system that rewards arrogance rather than humility, and loudness rather than wisdom.

There is a better way. With clarity and verve, Chamorro-Premuzic shows us what it really takes to lead and how new systems and processes can help us put the right people in charge.]]> + + 240 + + Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic + 1633696324 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.81 + 2019 + + Why Do So Many Incompetent Men Become Leaders?: (And How to Fix It)
+ author: Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.81
+ book published: 2019
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2024/03/24
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Novelist as a Vocation + + 60387307 + + + + + A charmingly idiosyncratic look at writing, creativity, and the author’s own novels.

Haruki Murakami’s myriad fans will be delighted by this unique look into the mind of a master storyteller. In this engaging book, the internationally best-selling author and famously reclusive writer shares with readers what he thinks about being a novelist; his thoughts on the role of the novel in our society; his own origins as a writer; and his musings on the sparks of creativity that inspire other writers, artists, and musicians. Readers who have long wondered where the mysterious novelist gets his ideas and what inspires his strangely surreal worlds will be fascinated by this highly personal look at the craft of writing.]]> + + 224 + + Haruki Murakami + 0451494644 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.90 + 2015 + + Novelist as a Vocation
+ author: Haruki Murakami
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.90
+ book published: 2015
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2023/11/25
+ date added: 2023/11/25
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[What We Talk About When We Talk About Love]]> + + 11438 + + + + + Alternate-cover edition can be found here

In his second collection, Carver establishes his reputation as one of the most celebrated and beloved short-story writers in American literature—a haunting meditation on love, loss, and companionship, and finding one’s way through the dark.]]> + + 159 + + Raymond Carver + 0679723056 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.09 + 1981 + + What We Talk About When We Talk About Love
+ author: Raymond Carver
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.09
+ book published: 1981
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2023/11/12
+ date added: 2023/11/12
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Creative Act: A Way of Being]]> + + 60965426 + + + + + From the legendary music producer, a master at helping people connect with the wellsprings of their creativity, comes a beautifully crafted book many years in the making that offers that same deep wisdom to all of us.

"A gorgeous and inspiring work of art on creation, creativity, the work of the artist. It will gladden the hearts of writers and artists everywhere, and get them working again with a new sense of meaning and direction. A stunning accomplishment." --Anne Lamott

"I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be." --Rick Rubin

Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, as he has thought deeply about where creativity comes from and where it doesn't, he has learned that being an artist isn't about your specific output, it's about your relationship to the world. Creativity has a place in everyone's life, and everyone can make that place larger. In fact, there are few more important responsibilities.

The Creative Act is a beautiful and generous course of study that illuminates the path of the artist as a road we all can follow. It distills the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime's work into a luminous reading experience that puts the power to create moments--and lifetimes--of exhilaration and transcendence within closer reach for all of us.]]> + + 406 + + Rick Rubin + 0593652886 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 3.93 + 2023 + + The Creative Act: A Way of Being
+ author: Rick Rubin
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.93
+ book published: 2023
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2023/09/11
+ date added: 2023/09/11
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow]]> + + 58784475 + + + + + In this exhilarating novel, two friends—often in love, but never lovers—come together as creative partners in the world of video game design, where success brings them fame, joy, tragedy, duplicity, and, ultimately, a kind of immortality.

On a bitter-cold day, in the December of his junior year at Harvard, Sam Masur exits a subway car and sees, amid the hordes of people waiting on the platform, Sadie Green. He calls her name. For a moment, she pretends she hasn't heard him, but then, she turns, and a game begins: a legendary collaboration that will launch them to stardom. These friends, intimates since childhood, borrow money, beg favors, and, before even graduating college, they have created their first blockbuster, Ichigo. Overnight, the world is theirs. Not even twenty-five years old, Sam and Sadie are brilliant, successful, and rich, but these qualities won't protect them from their own creative ambitions or the betrayals of their hearts.

Spanning thirty years, from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Venice Beach, California, and lands in between and far beyond, Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is a dazzling and intricately imagined novel that examines the multifarious nature of identity, disability, failure, the redemptive possibilities in play, and above all, our need to connect: to be loved and to love. Yes, it is a love story, but it is not one you have read before.]]> + + 399 + + Gabrielle Zevin + 0735243344 + Henry + 0 + + + + + + 4.09 + 2022 + + Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
+ author: Gabrielle Zevin
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.09
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 0
+ read at: 2023/07/25
+ date added: 2023/07/25
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered]]> + + 18290401 + + + + + In his New York Times bestseller Steal Like an Artist, Austin Kleon showed readers how to unlock their creativity by “stealing” from the community of other movers and shakers. Now, in an even more forward-thinking and necessary book, he shows how to take that critical next step on a creative journey—getting known.

Show Your Work! is about why generosity trumps genius. It’s about getting findable, about using the network instead of wasting time “networking.” It’s not self-promotion, it’s self-discovery—let others into your process, then let them steal from you. Filled with illustrations, quotes, stories, and examples, Show Your Work! offers ten transformative rules for being open, generous, brave, productive.

In chapters such as You Don’t Have to Be a Genius; Share Something Small Every Day; and Stick Around, Kleon creates a user’s manual for embracing the communal nature of creativity— what he calls the “ecology of talent.” From broader life lessons about work (you can’t find your voice if you don’t use it) to the etiquette of sharing—and the dangers of oversharing—to the practicalities of Internet life (build a good domain name; give credit when credit is due), it’s an inspiring manifesto for succeeding as any kind of artist or entrepreneur in the digital age.

]]> + + 215 + + Austin Kleon + 076117897X + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 4.04 + 2014 + + Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
+ author: Austin Kleon
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.04
+ book published: 2014
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/06/21
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The War of Art + + 1319 + + + + + + + 168 + + Steven Pressfield + + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 3.92 + 2002 + + The War of Art
+ author: Steven Pressfield
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.92
+ book published: 2002
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/04/10
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Our Missing Hearts + + 60149573 + + + + + A novel about a mother’s unbreakable love in a world consumed by fear.

Twelve-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his loving but broken father, a former linguist who now shelves books in a university library. Bird knows to not ask too many questions, stand out too much, or stray too far. For a decade, their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of years of economic instability and violence. To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin, and libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic—including the work of Bird’s mother, Margaret, a Chinese American poet who left the family when he was nine years old.

Bird has grown up disavowing his mother and her poems; he doesn’t know her work or what happened to her, and he knows he shouldn’t wonder. But when he receives a mysterious letter containing only a cryptic drawing, he is pulled into a quest to find her. His journey will take him back to the many folktales she poured into his head as a child, through the ranks of an underground network of librarians, into the lives of the children who have been taken, and finally to New York City, where a new act of defiance may be the beginning of much-needed change.]]> + + 335 + + Celeste Ng + 0593492544 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 3.73 + 2022 + + Our Missing Hearts
+ author: Celeste Ng
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.73
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/04/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends]]> + + 59883574 + + + + + + A lively, data-driven guide to finding your people from psychologist Dr. Marisa G. Franco about the (sometimes surprising) science behind making friends, maintaining them, and building connections of ALL sorts in an era of social fragmentation and rampant loneliness. +

Loneliness is an epidemic, in part due to a culture that prioritizes romance at the expense of all other relationships. But in fact, science shows that platonic friendships are a crucial--possibly THE crucial--key to shaping who we are and how we can become our happiest, most fulfilled selves. So how do we nurture meaningful relationships in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos?

Just as economist Emily Oster (Crib Sheet) breaks down the science of child-rearing by countering fables with facts, psychologist and professor Marissa G. Franco unpacks the latest (often counterintuitive) findings about friendship--for example, why your friends aren't texting you back (it's not because they hate you!), and the myth of "just showing up" (you need to bring more than your mere presence to the table to make real friends!). Forging lasting bonds with other people isn't rocket science...but it does take work, and there are research-based ways to improve the number and quality of your connections. The good news: the benefits can be massive to not just our sense of wellbeing but also to our physical health.

With vivid, relatable storytelling bolstered by the latest psychological research, Platonic provides a clear and actionable blueprint for understanding and conquering the barriers that keep you from forging strong, lasting connections with others. In short, Platonic will give you permission to hold friendship in the highest regard--because it deserves to be.]]> + + 336 + + Marisa G. Franco + 0593331893 + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 4.04 + 2022 + + Platonic: How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends
+ author: Marisa G. Franco
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.04
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/04/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Peregrine + + 1071726 + + + + +
It is this extraordinary metamorphosis, magical and terrifying, that these beautifully written pages record.]]> + + 191 + + J.A. Baker + + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 4.14 + 1967 + + The Peregrine
+ author: J.A. Baker
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.14
+ book published: 1967
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/03/16
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities]]> + + 54944 + + + + + The essential guide for singles and couples who want to explore polyamory in ways that are ethically and emotionally sustainable.

For anyone who has ever dreamed of love, sex, and companionship beyond the limits of traditional monogamy, this groundbreaking guide navigates the infinite possibilities that open relationships can offer. Experienced ethical sluts Dossie Easton and Janet W. Hardy dispel myths and cover all the skills necessary to maintain a successful and responsible polyamorous lifestyle--from self-reflection and honest communication to practicing safe sex and raising a family. Individuals and their partners will learn how to discuss and honor boundaries, resolve conflicts, and to define relationships on their own terms.

"I couldn't stop reading it, and I for one identify as an ethical slut. This is a book for anyone interested in creating more pleasure in their lives . . . a complete guide to improving any style of relating, from going steady to having an extended family of sexual friends." --Betty Dodson, PhD, author of Sex for One]]> + + 280 + + Dossie Easton + 1890159018 + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 3.89 + 1997 + + The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities
+ author: Dossie Easton
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.89
+ book published: 1997
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/03/02
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Breakfast of Champions + + 4980 + + + + + Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

In Breakfast of Champions, one of Kurt Vonnegut’s most beloved characters, the aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. What follows is murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.]]> + + 303 + + Kurt Vonnegut Jr. + 0385334206 + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 4.07 + 1973 + + Breakfast of Champions
+ author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.07
+ book published: 1973
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/02/10
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions]]> + + 25666050 + + + + + A fascinating exploration of how insights from computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives, helping to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we accept? What balance of new activities and familiar favorites is the most fulfilling? These may seem like uniquely human quandaries, but they are not: computers, too, face the same constraints, so computer scientists have been grappling with their version of such issues for decades. And the solutions they've found have much to teach us.

In a dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, acclaimed author Brian Christian and cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths show how the algorithms used by computers can also untangle very human questions. They explain how to have better hunches and when to leave things to chance, how to deal with overwhelming choices and how best to connect with others. From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one's inbox to understanding the workings of memory, Algorithms to Live By transforms the wisdom of computer science into strategies for human living.]]> + + 368 + + Brian Christian + 1627790365 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 4.11 + 2016 + + Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions
+ author: Brian Christian
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.11
+ book published: 2016
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/02/04
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Acts of Service + + 58678518 + + + + +
If sex is a truth-teller, Eve--a young, queer woman in Brooklyn--is looking for answers. On an evening when she is feeling particularly impulsive, she posts some nude photos of herself online. This is how Eve meets Olivia, and through Olivia, the charismatic Nathan--and soon the three begin a relationship that disturbs Eve as much as it delights her. As each act of the affair unfolds, Eve is left to ask: to whom is she responsible? And to what extent do our desires determine who we are?

In the way that only great fiction can, Acts of Service takes between its teeth the contradictions written all over our ideas of sex and sexuality. As incisive as it is exhilarating, this novel asks us to face our ideas about desire and power: what sex means to us, the forces that shape it, and how we find--or lose--ourselves in intimacy. At once juicy and intellectually challenging, sacred and profane, it might be the most thought-provoking book you read all year.]]> + + 240 + + Lillian Fishman + 0593243765 + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 3.07 + 2022 + + Acts of Service
+ author: Lillian Fishman
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.07
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/01/15
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within]]> + + 63079845 + + + + + This is not a self-help book. It's a wake-up call!

Can't Hurt Me, David Goggins' smash hit memoir, demonstrated how much untapped ability we all have but was merely an introduction to the power of the mind. In Never Finished, Goggins takes you inside his Mental Lab, where he developed the philosophy, psychology, and strategies that enabled him to learn that what he thought was his limit was only his beginning and that the quest for greatness is unending.

The stories and lessons in this raw, revealing, unflinching memoir offer the reader a blueprint they can use to climb from the bottom of the barrel into a whole new stratosphere that once seemed unattainable. Whether you feel off-course in life, are looking to maximize your potential or drain your soul to break through your so-called glass ceiling, this is the only book you will ever need.]]> + + 312 + + David Goggins + 154453406X + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 4.38 + 2022 + + Never Finished: Unshackle Your Mind and Win the War Within
+ author: David Goggins
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.38
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2023/01/02
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away]]> + + 60097435 + + + + + From the bestselling author of Thinking in Bets comes a toolkit for mastering the skill of quitting to achieve greater success

Business leaders, with millions of dollars down the drain, struggle to abandon a new app or product that just isn't working. Governments, caught in a hopeless conflict, believe that the next tactic will finally be the one that wins the war. And in our own lives, we persist in relationships or careers that no longer serve us. Why? According to Annie Duke, in the face of tough decisions, we're terrible quitters. And that is significantly holding us back.

In Quit, Duke teaches you how to get good at quitting. Drawing on stories from elite athletes like Mount Everest climbers, founders of leading companies like Stewart Butterfield, the CEO of Slack, and top entertainers like Dave Chappelle, Duke explains why quitting is integral to success, as well as strategies for determining when to hold em, and when to fold em, that will save you time, energy, and money. You'll learn:
How the paradox of quitting influences decision making: If you quit on time, you will feel you quit early
What forces work against good quitting behavior, such as escalation commitment, desire for certainty, and status quo biasHow to think in expected value in order to make better decisions, as well as other best practices, such as increasing flexibility in goal-setting, establishing "quitting contracts," anticipating optionality, and conducting premortems and backcasts
Whether you're facing a make-or-break business decision or life-altering personal choice, mastering the skill of quitting will help you make the best next move.]]> + + 336 + + Annie Duke + 0593422996 + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 4.12 + 2022 + + Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away
+ author: Annie Duke
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.12
+ book published: 2022
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/15
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood]]> + + 59516880 + + + + + An innovative psychotherapist tackles the overlooked stage of Quarterlife--the years between adolescence and midlife.



I'm stuck. What's wrong with me? Is this all there is? Satya Doyle Byock hears these refrains regularly in her psychotherapy practice where she works with "Quarterlifers," individuals between the ages of (roughly) sixteen to thirty-six. She understands their frustration. Some clients have done everything "right" graduate, get a job, meet a partner. Yet they are unfulfilled and unclear on what to do next. Byock calls these Quarterlifers "Stability Types." Others are uninterested in this prescribed path, but feel unmoored. She refers to them as "Meaning Types."

While society is quick to label the emotions and behavior of this age group as generational traits, Byock sees things differently. She believes these struggles are part of the developmental journey of Quarterlife, a distinct stage that every person goes through and which has been virtually ignored by popular culture and psychology.

In Quarterlife, Byock utilizes personal storytelling, mythology, Jungian psychology, pop culture, literature, and client case studies to provide guideposts for this period of life. Readers will be able to find themselves on the spectrum between Stability and Meaning Types, and engage with Byock's four pillars of Quarterlife development:
- Separate: Gain independence from the relationships and expectations that no longer serve you
- Listen: Pay close attention to your own wants and needs
- Build: Create, cultivate, and construct tools and practices for the life you want
- Integrate: Take what you've learned and manifest something new

Quarterlife is a defining work that offers a compassionate roadmap toward finding understanding, happiness, and wholeness in adulthood.]]> + + 240 + + Satya Doyle Byock + 0525511660 + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 3.95 + + + Quarterlife: The Search for Self in Early Adulthood
+ author: Satya Doyle Byock
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.95
+ book published:
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Interior Chinatown + + 44436221 + + + + + A deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, assimilation, and escaping the roles we are forced to play.

Willis Wu doesn’t perceive himself as the protagonist in his own life: he’s merely Generic Asian Man. Sometimes he gets to be Background Oriental Making a Weird Face or even Disgraced Son, but always he is relegated to a prop. Yet every day, he leaves his tiny room in a Chinatown SRO and enters the Golden Palace restaurant, where Black and White, a procedural cop show, is in perpetual production. He’s a bit player here, too, but he dreams of being Kung Fu Guy—the most respected role that anyone who looks like him can attain. Or is it?

After stumbling into the spotlight, Willis finds himself launched into a wider world than he’s ever known, discovering not only the secret history of Chinatown, but the buried legacy of his own family. Infinitely inventive and deeply personal, exploring the themes of pop culture, assimilation, and immigration—Interior Chinatown is Charles Yu’s most moving, daring, and masterful novel yet.]]> + + 288 + + Charles Yu + + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 3.92 + 2020 + + Interior Chinatown
+ author: Charles Yu
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.92
+ book published: 2020
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love]]> + + 13525945 + + + + +
Not only is the cliché flawed—preexisting passions are rare and have little to do with how most people end up loving their work—but it can also be dangerous, leading to anxiety and chronic job hopping.

After making his case against passion, Newport sets out on a quest to discover the reality of how people end up loving what they do. Spending time with organic farmers, venture capitalists, screenwriters, freelance computer programmers, and others who admitted to deriving great satisfaction from their work, Newport uncovers the strategies they used and the pitfalls they avoided in developing their compelling careers.

Matching your job to a preexisting passion does not matter, he reveals. Passion comes after you put in the hard work to become excellent at something valuable, not before. In other words, what you do for a living is much less important than how you do it.

With a title taken from the comedian Steve Martin, who once said his advice for aspiring entertainers was to "be so good they can't ignore you," Cal Newport's clearly written manifesto is mandatory reading for anyone fretting about what to do with their life, or frustrated by their current job situation and eager to find a fresh new way to take control of their livelihood. He provides an evidence-based blueprint for creating work you love.

So Good They Can't Ignore You will change the way we think about our careers, happiness, and the crafting of a remarkable life.]]> + + 288 + + Cal Newport + 1455509108 + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 4.04 + 2012 + + So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
+ author: Cal Newport
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.04
+ book published: 2012
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship]]> + + 3735293 + + + + + Noted software expert Robert C. Martin presents a revolutionary paradigm with Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship . Martin has teamed up with his colleagues from Object Mentor to distill their best agile practice of cleaning code on the fly into a book that will instill within you the values of a software craftsman and make you a better programmer but only if you work at it.
What kind of work will you be doing? You'll be reading code - lots of code. And you will be challenged to think about what's right about that code, and what's wrong with it. More importantly, you will be challenged to reassess your professional values and your commitment to your craft.
Clean Code is divided into three parts. The first describes the principles, patterns, and practices of writing clean code. The second part consists of several case studies of increasing complexity. Each case study is an exercise in cleaning up code - of transforming a code base that has some problems into one that is sound and efficient. The third part is the payoff: a single chapter containing a list of heuristics and "smells" gathered while creating the case studies. The result is a knowledge base that describes the way we think when we write, read, and clean code.
Readers will come away from this book understanding

‣ How to tell the difference between good and bad code
‣ How to write good code and how to transform bad code into good code
‣ How to create good names, good functions, good objects, and good classes
‣ How to format code for maximum readability
‣ How to implement complete error handling without obscuring code logic
‣ How to unit test and practice test-driven development

This book is a must for any developer, software engineer, project manager, team lead, or systems analyst with an interest in producing better code.]]> + + 431 + + Robert C. Martin + 0132350882 + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 4.35 + 2007 + + Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship
+ author: Robert C. Martin
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.35
+ book published: 2007
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Cracking the Tech Career: Insider Advice on Landing a Job at Google, Microsoft, Apple, or any Top Tech Company]]> + + 23233485 + + + + + Become the applicant Google can't turn down Cracking the Tech Career is the job seeker's guide to landing a coveted position at one of the top tech firms. A follow-up to The Google Resume, this book provides new information on what these companies want, and how to show them you have what it takes to succeed in the role. Early planners will learn what to study, and established professionals will discover how to make their skillset and experience set them apart from the crowd. Author Gayle Laakmann McDowell worked in engineering at Google, and interviewed over 120 candidates as a member of the hiring committee – in this book, she shares her perspectives on what works and what doesn't, what makes you desirable, and what gets your resume saved or deleted.

Apple, Microsoft, and Google are the coveted companies in the current job market. They field hundreds of resumes every day, and have their pick of the cream of the crop when it comes to selecting new hires. If you think the right alma mater is all it takes, you need to update your thinking. Top companies, especially in the tech sector, are looking for more. This book is the complete guide to becoming the candidate they just cannot turn away.

Discover the career paths that run through the top tech firms Learn how to craft the prefect resume and prepare for the interview Find ways to make yourself stand out from the hordes of other applicants Understand what the top companies are looking for, and how to demonstrate that you're it These companies need certain skillsets, but they also want a great culture fit. Grades aren't everything, experience matters, and a certain type of applicant tends to succeed. Cracking the Tech Career reveals what the hiring committee wants, and shows you how to get it.]]> + + 275 + + Gayle Laakmann McDowell + + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 3.98 + 2014 + + Cracking the Tech Career: Insider Advice on Landing a Job at Google, Microsoft, Apple, or any Top Tech Company
+ author: Gayle Laakmann McDowell
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.98
+ book published: 2014
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[System Design Interview – An insider's guide]]> + + 54109255 + + + + +
What’s inside?
- An insider’s take on what interviewers really look for and why.
- A 4-step framework for solving any system design interview question.
- 15 real system design interview questions with detailed solutions.
- 188 diagrams to visually explain how different systems work.

Table Of Contents
Chapter 1: Scale From Zero To Millions Of Users
Chapter 2: Back-of-the-envelope Estimation
Chapter 3: A Framework For System Design Interviews
Chapter 4: Design A Rate Limiter
Chapter 5: Design Consistent Hashing
Chapter 6: Design A Key-value Store
Chapter 7: Design A Unique Id Generator In Distributed Systems
Chapter 8: Design A Url Shortener
Chapter 9: Design A Web Crawler
Chapter 10: Design A Notification System
Chapter 11: Design A News Feed System
Chapter 12: Design A Chat System
Chapter 13: Design A Search Autocomplete System
Chapter 14: Design Youtube
Chapter 15: Design Google Drive
Chapter 16: The Learning Continues]]> + + 324 + + Alex Xu + + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 4.27 + 2020 + + System Design Interview – An insider's guide
+ author: Alex Xu
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.27
+ book published: 2020
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Food Rules: An Eater's Manual + + 7015635 + + + + + A definitive compendium of food wisdom

Eating doesn't have to be so complicated. In this age of ever-more elaborate diets and conflicting health advice, Food Rules brings a welcome simplicity to our daily decisions about food. Written with the clarity, concision and wit that has become bestselling author Michael Pollan's trademark, this indispensable handbook lays out a set of straightforward, memorable rules for eating wisely, one per page, accompanied by a concise explanation. It's an easy-to-use guide that draws from a variety of traditions, suggesting how different cultures through the ages have arrived at the same enduring wisdom about food. Whether at the supermarket or an all-you-can-eat buffet, this is the perfect guide for anyone who ever wondered, "What should I eat?"]]> + + 152 + + Michael Pollan + 014311638X + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 3.99 + 2008 + + Food Rules: An Eater's Manual
+ author: Michael Pollan
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.99
+ book published: 2008
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Grokking Algorithms An Illustrated Guide For Programmers and Other Curious People]]> + + 22847284 + + + + +
Grokking Algorithms is a disarming take on a core computer science topic. In it, you'll learn how to apply common algorithms to the practical problems you face in day-to-day life as a programmer. You'll start with problems like sorting and searching. As you build up your skills in thinking algorithmically, you'll tackle more complex concerns such as data compression or artificial intelligence. Whether you're writing business software, video games, mobile apps, or system utilities, you'll learn algorithmic techniques for solving problems that you thought were out of your grasp. For example, you'll be able to:
Write a spell checker using graph algorithms
Understand how data compression works using Huffman coding
Identify problems that take too long to solve with naive algorithms, and attack them with algorithms that give you an approximate answer instead
Each carefully-presented example includes helpful diagrams and fully-annotated code samples in Python. By the end of this book, you will know some of the most widely applicable algorithms as well as how and when to use them.]]> + + 256 + + Aditya Y. Bhargava + 1617292230 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 4.41 + 2015 + + Grokking Algorithms An Illustrated Guide For Programmers and Other Curious People
+ author: Aditya Y. Bhargava
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.41
+ book published: 2015
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations that Matter]]> + + 33385019 + + + + + “WE NEED TO TALK.”

In this urgent and insightful book, public radio journalist Celeste Headlee shows us how to bridge what divides us--by having real conversations

BASED ON THE TED TALK WITH OVER 10 MILLION VIEWS
NPR's Best Books of 2017

Winner of the 2017 Silver Nautilus Award in Relationships & Communication

“We Need to Talk is an important read for a conversationally-challenged, disconnected age. Headlee is a talented, honest storyteller, and her advice has helped me become a better spouse, friend, and mother.”  (Jessica Lahey, author of New York Times bestseller The Gift of Failure)

Today most of us communicate from behind electronic screens, and studies show that Americans feel less connected and more divided than ever before. The blame for some of this disconnect can be attributed to our political landscape, but the erosion of our conversational skills as a society lies with us as individuals.

And the only way forward, says Headlee, is to start talking to each other. In We Need to Talk, she outlines the strategies that have made her a better conversationalist—and offers simple tools that can improve anyone’s communication. For example: 


BE THERE OR GO ELSEWHERE. Human beings are incapable of multitasking, and this is especially true of tasks that involve language. Think you can type up a few emails while on a business call, or hold a conversation with your child while texting your spouse? Think again.
CHECK YOUR BIAS. The belief that your intelligence protects you from erroneous assumptions can end up making you more vulnerable to them. We all have blind spots that affect the way we view others. Check your bias before you judge someone else.
HIDE YOUR PHONE. Don’t just put down your phone, put it away. New research suggests that the mere presence of a cell phone can negatively impact the quality of a conversation.
Whether you’re struggling to communicate with your kid’s teacher at school, an employee at work, or the people you love the most—Headlee offers smart strategies that can help us all have conversations that matter.

 ]]> + + 272 + + Celeste Headlee + 0062669028 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 3.92 + 2017 + + We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations that Matter
+ author: Celeste Headlee
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.92
+ book published: 2017
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Pirate Utopia + + 28957355 + + + + + Transmetropolitan and Gun Machine

Who are these bold rebels pillaging their European neighbors in the name of revolution? The Futurists! Utopian pirate warriors of the diminutive Regency of Carnaro, scourge of the Adriatic Sea. Mortal enemies of communists, capitalists, and even fascists (to whom they are not entirely unsympathetic).

The ambitious Soldier-Citizens of Carnaro are lead by a brilliant and passionate coterie of the perhaps insane. Lorenzo Secondari, World War I veteran, engineering genius, and leader of Croatian raiders. Frau Piffer, Syndicalist manufacturer of torpedos at a factory run by and for women. The Ace of Hearts, a dashing Milanese aristocrat, spymaster, and tactical savant. And the Prophet, a seductive warrior-poet who leads via free love and military ruthlessness.

Fresh off of a worldwide demonstration of their might, can the Futurists engage the aid of sinister American traitors and establish world domination?
]]> + + 192 + + Bruce Sterling + 1616962364 + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 3.18 + 2015 + + Pirate Utopia
+ author: Bruce Sterling
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.18
+ book published: 2015
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Normal People + + 41057294 + + + + +
A year later, they’re both studying at Trinity College in Dublin. Marianne has found her feet in a new social world while Connell hangs at the sidelines, shy and uncertain. Throughout their years in college, Marianne and Connell circle one another, straying toward other people and possibilities but always magnetically, irresistibly drawn back together. Then, as she veers into self-destruction and he begins to search for meaning elsewhere, each must confront how far they are willing to go to save the other.

Sally Rooney brings her brilliant psychological acuity and perfectly spare prose to a story that explores the subtleties of class, the electricity of first love, and the complex entanglements of family and friendship.]]> + + 273 + + Sally Rooney + 1984822179 + Henry + 2 + + + + + + 3.81 + 2018 + + Normal People
+ author: Sally Rooney
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.81
+ book published: 2018
+ rating: 2
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Ultralearning: The Essential Guide To Mastering Hard Skills And Future-Proofing Your Career]]> + + 44770129 + + + + +
Learn a new talent, stay relevant, reinvent yourself, and adapt to whatever the workplace throws your way. Ultralearning offers nine principles to master hard skills quickly. This is the essential guide to future-proof your career and maximize your competitive advantage through self-education.

In these tumultuous times of economic and technological change, staying ahead depends on continual self-education—a lifelong mastery of fresh ideas, subjects, and skills. If you want to accomplish more and stand apart from everyone else, you need to become an ultralearner.

The challenge of learning new skills is that you think you already know how best to learn, as you did as a student, so you rerun old routines and old ways of solving problems. To counter that, Ultralearning offers powerful strategies to break you out of those mental ruts and introduces new training methods to help you push through to higher levels of retention.

Scott H. Young incorporates the latest research about the most effective learning methods and the stories of other ultralearners like himself—among them Benjamin Franklin, chess grandmaster Judit Polgár, and Nobel laureate physicist Richard Feynman, as well as a host of others, such as little-known modern polymath Nigel Richards, who won the French World Scrabble Championship—without knowing French.

Young documents the methods he and others have used to acquire knowledge and shows that, far from being an obscure skill limited to aggressive autodidacts, ultralearning is a powerful tool anyone can use to improve their career, studies, and life.

Ultralearning explores this fascinating subculture, shares a proven framework for a successful ultralearning project, and offers insights into how you can organize and exe - cute a plan to learn anything deeply and quickly, without teachers or budget-busting tuition costs.

Whether the goal is to be fluent in a language (or ten languages), earn the equivalent of a college degree in a fraction of the time, or master multiple tools to build a product or business from the ground up, the principles in Ultralearning will guide you to success.]]> + + 305 + + Scott H. Young + + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 3.94 + 2019 + + Ultralearning: The Essential Guide To Mastering Hard Skills And Future-Proofing Your Career
+ author: Scott H. Young
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.94
+ book published: 2019
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + LaserWriter II + + 56269270 + + + + +
LaserWriter II is a coming-of-age tale set in the legendary 90s indie NYC Mac repair shop TekServe―a voyage back in time to when the internet was new, when New York City was gritty, and when Apple made off-beat computers for weirdos. Our guide is Claire, a 19-year-old who barely speaks to her bohemian co-workers, but knows when it’s time to snap on an antistatic bracelet.

Tamara Shopsin brings us a classically New York novel that couldn’t feel more timely. Interweaving the history of digital technology with a tale both touchingly human and delightfully technical, Shopsin brings an idiosyncratic cast of characters to life with a light touch, a sharp eye, and an unmistakable voice.

Filled with pixelated philosophy and lots of printers, LaserWriter II is, at its heart, a parable about an apple.]]> + + 224 + + Tamara Shopsin + 0374602573 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 3.73 + 2021 + + LaserWriter II
+ author: Tamara Shopsin
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.73
+ book published: 2021
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)]]> + + 19161852 + + + + +
Three terrible things happen in a single day. Essun, a woman living an ordinary life in a small town, comes home to find that her husband has brutally murdered their son and kidnapped their daughter. Meanwhile, mighty Sanze -- the world-spanning empire whose innovations have been civilization's bedrock for a thousand years -- collapses as most of its citizens are murdered to serve a madman's vengeance. And worst of all, across the heart of the vast continent known as the Stillness, a great red rift has been torn into the heart of the earth, spewing ash enough to darken the sky for years. Or centuries.

Now Essun must pursue the wreckage of her family through a deadly, dying land. Without sunlight, clean water, or arable land, and with limited stockpiles of supplies, there will be war all across the Stillness: a battle royale of nations not for power or territory, but simply for the basic resources necessary to get through the long dark night. Essun does not care if the world falls apart around her. She'll break it herself, if she must, to save her daughter.]]> + + 468 + + N.K. Jemisin + + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 4.27 + 2015 + + The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)
+ author: N.K. Jemisin
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.27
+ book published: 2015
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World]]> + + 41795733 + + + + +
Razpon je izzivalna knjiga, ki prevzame bralca, naj bo to starš z odraščajočimi potomci, mlada oseba, ki še išče svojo pot, zreli voditelj ali trener, ki je mentor mlajšim generacijam in želi v svoji ekipi negovati raznovrstnost in širok pogled na svet.]]> + + 339 + + David Epstein + 0735214484 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 4.11 + 2019 + + Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
+ author: David Epstein
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.11
+ book published: 2019
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Circle (The Circle, #1) + + 18302455 + + + + + alternate cover for ISBN 9780385351393

When Mae Holland is hired to work for the Circle, the world’s most powerful internet company, she feels she’s been given the opportunity of a lifetime. The Circle, run out of a sprawling California campus, links users’ personal emails, social media, banking, and purchasing with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of civility and transparency.

As Mae tours the open-plan office spaces, the towering glass dining facilities, the cozy dorms for those who spend nights at work, she is thrilled with the company’s modernity and activity. There are parties that last through the night, there are famous musicians playing on the lawn, there are athletic activities and clubs and brunches, and even an aquarium of rare fish retrieved from the Marianas Trench by the CEO.

Mae can’t believe her luck, her great fortune to work for the most influential company in the world—even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public.

What begins as the captivating story of one woman’s ambition and idealism soon becomes a heart-racing novel of suspense, raising questions about memory, history, privacy, democracy, and the limits of human knowledge.]]> + + 493 + + Dave Eggers + + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 3.41 + 2013 + + The Circle (The Circle, #1)
+ author: Dave Eggers
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.41
+ book published: 2013
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division]]> + + 15818498 + + + + +
Now, for the first time, their story is told by one of their own. In Unknown Pleasures, founding member and bass player Peter Hook recounts how four young men from Manchester and Salisbury, with makeshift instruments and a broken-down van, rose from the punk scene to create a haunting, atmospheric music that would define a generation. Peter talks with eye-opening candor and reflection about the suicide of Ian Curtis; the band's friendships and fallouts; the evolution of their sound and image; and the larger-than-life characters who formed a vital part of the Joy Division legend, including Factory Records founder Tony Wilson and producer Martin Hannett. Told with surprising humor and vivid detail, Unknown Pleasures is the book Joy Division fans have awaited for decades.]]> + + 416 + + Peter Hook + 0062222562 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 4.14 + 2012 + + Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division
+ author: Peter Hook
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.14
+ book published: 2012
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + <![CDATA[Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991]]> + + 29393 + + + + + Among the bands profiled: Mission of Burma, Butthole Surfers, The Minutemen, Sonic Youth, Black Flag, Big Black, Hüsker Dü, Fugazi, Minor Threat, Mudhoney, The Replacements, Beat Happening, and Dinosaur Jr.]]> + + 522 + + Michael Azerrad + 0316787531 + Henry + 5 + + + + + + 4.21 + 2001 + + Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991
+ author: Michael Azerrad
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.21
+ book published: 2001
+ rating: 5
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Plague + + 11989 + + + + + The Plague is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947. It tells the story from the point of view of a narrator of a plague sweeping the French Algerian city of Oran. The narrator remains unknown until the start of the last chapter, chapter 5 of part 5. The novel presents a snapshot of life in Oran as seen through the author's distinctive absurdist point of view.

The book tells a gripping tale of human unrelieved horror, of survival and resilience, and of the ways in which humankind confronts death, The Plague is at once a masterfully crafted novel, eloquently understated and epic in scope, and a parable of ageless moral resonance, profoundly relevant to our times. In Oran, a coastal town in North Africa, the plague begins as a series of portents, unheeded by the people. It gradually becomes an omnipresent reality, obliterating all traces of the past and driving its victims to almost unearthly extremes of suffering, madness, and compassion.

The Plague is considered an existentialist classic despite Camus' objection to the label. The novel stresses the powerlessness of the individual characters to affect their destinies. The narrative tone is similar to Kafka's, especially in The Trial, whose individual sentences potentially have multiple meanings; the material often pointedly resonating as stark allegory of phenomenal consciousness and the human condition.]]> + + 308 + + Albert Camus + + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 4.05 + 1947 + + The Plague
+ author: Albert Camus
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.05
+ book published: 1947
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Castle + + 333538 + + + + + Translated and with a preface by Mark Harman

Left unfinished by Kafka in 1922 and not published until 1926, two years after his death, The Castle is the haunting tale of K.’s relentless, unavailing struggle with an inscrutable authority in order to gain access to the Castle. Scrupulously following the fluidity and breathlessness of the sparsely punctuated original manuscript, Mark Harman’s new translation reveals levels of comedy, energy, and visual power, previously unknown to English language readers.]]> + + 328 + + Franz Kafka + 0805211063 + Henry + 4 + + + + + + 3.95 + 1926 + + The Castle
+ author: Franz Kafka
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.95
+ book published: 1926
+ rating: 4
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + Lord of the Flies + + 7624 + + + + + + + 182 + + William Golding + 0140283331 + Henry + 3 + + + + + + 3.70 + 1954 + + Lord of the Flies
+ author: William Golding
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.70
+ book published: 1954
+ rating: 3
+ read at:
+ date added: 2022/12/08
+ shelves:
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + diff --git a/posts/050_currently-reading.xml b/posts/050_currently-reading.xml new file mode 100644 index 0000000..59f4130 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/050_currently-reading.xml @@ -0,0 +1,107 @@ +title: Currently Reading +tags: now, feed +--- + + + + + Henry's bookshelf: currently-reading + + + + + + en-US + Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:12:06 -0700 + 60 + + Henry's bookshelf: currently-reading + + 144 + 41 + https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg + + + + + + <![CDATA[A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload]]> + + 54326146 + + + + +
From New York Times bestselling author Cal Newport comes a bold vision for liberating workers from the tyranny of the inbox--and unleashing a new era of productivity.

Modern knowledge workers communicate constantly. Their days are defined by a relentless barrage of incoming messages and back-and-forth digital conversations--a state of constant, anxious chatter in which nobody can disconnect, and so nobody has the cognitive bandwidth to perform substantive work. There was a time when tools like email felt cutting edge, but a thorough review of current evidence reveals that the "hyperactive hive mind" workflow they helped create has become a productivity disaster, reducing profitability and perhaps even slowing overall economic growth. Equally worrisome, it makes us miserable. Humans are simply not wired for constant digital communication.

We have become so used to an inbox-driven workday that it's hard to imagine alternatives. But they do exist. Drawing on years of investigative reporting, author and computer science professor Cal Newport makes the case that our current approach to work is broken, then lays out a series of principles and concrete instructions for fixing it. In A World without Email , he argues for a workplace in which clear processes--not haphazard messaging--define how tasks are identified, assigned and reviewed. Each person works on fewer things (but does them better), and aggressive investment in support reduces the ever-increasing burden of administrative tasks. Above all else, important communication is streamlined, and inboxes and chat channels are no longer central to how work unfolds.

The knowledge sector's evolution beyond the hyperactive hive mind is inevitable. The question is not whether a world without email is coming (it is), but whether you'll be ahead of this trend. If you're a CEO seeking a competitive edge, an entrepreneur convinced your productivity could be higher, or an employee exhausted by your inbox, A World Without Email will convince you that the time has come for bold changes, and will walk you through exactly how to make them happen.]]> + + 320 + + Cal Newport + 0525536558 + Henry + 0 + + + + currently-reading + + 3.81 + 2021 + + A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload
+ author: Cal Newport
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 3.81
+ book published: 2021
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2026/07/16
+ shelves: currently-reading
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + + The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle + + 11275 + + + + +
In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.

Gripping, prophetic, suffused with comedy and menace, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force equal in scope to the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon.]]> + + 607 + + Haruki Murakami + 0965341984 + Henry + 0 + + + + currently-reading + + 4.16 + 1994 + + The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
+ author: Haruki Murakami
+ name: Henry
+ average rating: 4.16
+ book published: 1994
+ rating: 0
+ read at:
+ date added: 2026/05/19
+ shelves: currently-reading
+ review:

+ ]]> + + + + + diff --git a/posts/050_currently_reading.xml b/posts/050_currently_reading.xml deleted file mode 100644 index 47abc3e..0000000 --- a/posts/050_currently_reading.xml +++ /dev/null @@ -1,107 +0,0 @@ -title: Currently Reading -tags: now, feed ---- - - - - - Henry's bookshelf: currently-reading - - - - - - en-US - Thu, 16 Jul 2026 06:12:06 -0700 - 60 - - Henry's bookshelf: currently-reading - - 144 - 41 - https://www.goodreads.com/images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg - - - - - - <![CDATA[A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload]]> - - 54326146 - - - - -
From New York Times bestselling author Cal Newport comes a bold vision for liberating workers from the tyranny of the inbox--and unleashing a new era of productivity.

Modern knowledge workers communicate constantly. Their days are defined by a relentless barrage of incoming messages and back-and-forth digital conversations--a state of constant, anxious chatter in which nobody can disconnect, and so nobody has the cognitive bandwidth to perform substantive work. There was a time when tools like email felt cutting edge, but a thorough review of current evidence reveals that the "hyperactive hive mind" workflow they helped create has become a productivity disaster, reducing profitability and perhaps even slowing overall economic growth. Equally worrisome, it makes us miserable. Humans are simply not wired for constant digital communication.

We have become so used to an inbox-driven workday that it's hard to imagine alternatives. But they do exist. Drawing on years of investigative reporting, author and computer science professor Cal Newport makes the case that our current approach to work is broken, then lays out a series of principles and concrete instructions for fixing it. In A World without Email , he argues for a workplace in which clear processes--not haphazard messaging--define how tasks are identified, assigned and reviewed. Each person works on fewer things (but does them better), and aggressive investment in support reduces the ever-increasing burden of administrative tasks. Above all else, important communication is streamlined, and inboxes and chat channels are no longer central to how work unfolds.

The knowledge sector's evolution beyond the hyperactive hive mind is inevitable. The question is not whether a world without email is coming (it is), but whether you'll be ahead of this trend. If you're a CEO seeking a competitive edge, an entrepreneur convinced your productivity could be higher, or an employee exhausted by your inbox, A World Without Email will convince you that the time has come for bold changes, and will walk you through exactly how to make them happen.]]> - - 320 - - Cal Newport - 0525536558 - Henry - 0 - - - - currently-reading - - 3.81 - 2021 - - A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload
- author: Cal Newport
- name: Henry
- average rating: 3.81
- book published: 2021
- rating: 0
- read at:
- date added: 2026/07/16
- shelves: currently-reading
- review:

- ]]> - - - - - - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - - 11275 - - - - -
In a Tokyo suburb a young man named Toru Okada searches for his wife's missing cat. Soon he finds himself looking for his wife as well in a netherworld that lies beneath the placid surface of Tokyo. As these searches intersect, Okada encounters a bizarre group of allies and antagonists: a psychic prostitute; a malevolent yet mediagenic politician; a cheerfully morbid sixteen-year-old-girl; and an aging war veteran who has been permanently changed by the hideous things he witnessed during Japan's forgotten campaign in Manchuria.

Gripping, prophetic, suffused with comedy and menace, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle is a tour de force equal in scope to the masterpieces of Mishima and Pynchon.]]> - - 607 - - Haruki Murakami - 0965341984 - Henry - 0 - - - - currently-reading - - 4.16 - 1994 - - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
- author: Haruki Murakami
- name: Henry
- average rating: 4.16
- book published: 1994
- rating: 0
- read at:
- date added: 2026/05/19
- shelves: currently-reading
- review:

- ]]> - - - - - diff --git a/posts/099_watched.xml b/posts/099_watched.xml index 127d031..863bb47 100644 --- a/posts/099_watched.xml +++ b/posts/099_watched.xml @@ -117,5 +117,126 @@ tags: now, feed + + +title: Recently Watched +tags: now, feed +--- + + + + Letterboxd - hwebs + https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/ + Letterboxd - hwebs + + + + Sex and the City, 2008 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/sex-and-the-city/ letterboxd-watch-1405263648 Tue, 21 Jul 2026 02:48:22 +1200 2026-07-19 No Sex and the City 2008 No 4564

Watched on Sunday July 19, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Strange Days, 1995 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/strange-days/ letterboxd-watch-1344019289 Sat, 6 Jun 2026 16:48:38 +1200 2026-06-05 No Strange Days 1995 No 281

Watched on Friday June 5, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Backrooms, 2026 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/backrooms-2026/ letterboxd-watch-1342441458 Fri, 5 Jun 2026 12:09:37 +1200 2026-06-04 No Backrooms 2026 No 1083381

Watched on Thursday June 4, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Hackers, 1995 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/hackers/ letterboxd-watch-1325722152 Sat, 23 May 2026 15:40:43 +1200 2026-05-22 No Hackers 1995 No 10428

Watched on Friday May 22, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Red Planet, 2000 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/red-planet/ letterboxd-watch-1322904183 Thu, 21 May 2026 02:35:31 +1200 2026-05-19 No Red Planet 2000 No 8870

Watched on Tuesday May 19, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + The Drama, 2026 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/the-drama/ letterboxd-watch-1295783882 Tue, 28 Apr 2026 06:32:26 +1200 2026-04-27 No The Drama 2026 No 1325734

Watched on Monday April 27, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Perfect Blue, 1997 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/perfect-blue/ letterboxd-watch-1284159995 Sat, 18 Apr 2026 13:47:28 +1200 2026-04-17 No Perfect Blue 1997 No 10494

Watched on Friday April 17, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Project Hail Mary, 2026 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/project-hail-mary/ letterboxd-watch-1277319348 Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:41:19 +1200 2026-04-11 No Project Hail Mary 2026 No 687163

Watched on Saturday April 11, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + From Russia with Love, 1963 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/from-russia-with-love/ letterboxd-watch-1259815639 Tue, 31 Mar 2026 02:41:54 +1300 2026-03-28 No From Russia with Love 1963 No 657

Watched on Saturday March 28, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Das Boot, 1985 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/das-boot-1985/ letterboxd-watch-1256966822 Sun, 29 Mar 2026 08:26:46 +1300 2026-03-28 No Das Boot 1985 No 156249

Watched on Saturday March 28, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + The Nutty Professor, 1996 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/the-nutty-professor-1996/ letterboxd-watch-1231826360 Mon, 9 Mar 2026 08:03:07 +1300 2026-03-07 No The Nutty Professor 1996 No 9327

Watched on Saturday March 7, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, 2008 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/nick-and-norahs-infinite-playlist/ letterboxd-watch-1229665986 Sat, 7 Mar 2026 16:47:57 +1300 2026-03-06 No Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist 2008 Yes 12182

Watched on Friday March 6, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Ghost in the Shell, 1995 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/ghost-in-the-shell/ letterboxd-watch-1224747725 Tue, 3 Mar 2026 02:25:45 +1300 2026-03-01 No Ghost in the Shell 1995 Yes 9323

Watched on Sunday March 1, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, 1966 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/ letterboxd-watch-1223435244 Mon, 2 Mar 2026 05:11:19 +1300 2026-03-01 No The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 1966 Yes 429

Watched on Sunday March 1, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Predator 2, 1990 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/predator-2/ letterboxd-watch-1213758438 Sun, 22 Feb 2026 16:28:48 +1300 2026-02-21 No Predator 2 1990 No 169

Watched on Saturday February 21, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, 2025 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/nirvanna-the-band-the-show-the-movie/ letterboxd-watch-1213191349 Sun, 22 Feb 2026 10:24:27 +1300 2026-02-19 No Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie 2025 No 1154538

Watched on Thursday February 19, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Kung Fu Hustle, 2004 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/kung-fu-hustle/ letterboxd-watch-1199930187 Fri, 13 Feb 2026 01:47:44 +1300 2026-02-11 No Kung Fu Hustle 2004 No 9470

Watched on Wednesday February 11, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Crass: The Sound of Free Speech (The Story of Reality Asylum), 2023 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/crass-the-sound-of-free-speech-the-story-of-reality-asylum/ letterboxd-watch-1193918354 Sun, 8 Feb 2026 08:58:58 +1300 2026-02-07 No Crass: The Sound of Free Speech (The Story of Reality Asylum) 2023 No 1237622

Watched on Saturday February 7, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + Misery, 1990 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/misery/ letterboxd-watch-1176017246 Mon, 26 Jan 2026 17:55:05 +1300 2026-01-25 No Misery 1990 No 1700

Watched on Sunday January 25, 2026.

]]> hwebs + + The Thing, 1982 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/the-thing/ letterboxd-watch-1123045654 Sat, 27 Dec 2025 17:56:15 +1300 2025-12-26 No The Thing 1982 No 1091

Watched on Friday December 26, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, 1989 - ★★★★ https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/national-lampoons-christmas-vacation/ letterboxd-watch-1120513302 Fri, 26 Dec 2025 09:37:48 +1300 2025-12-22 Yes National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 1989 4.0 No 5825

Watched on Monday December 22, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Elf, 2003 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/elf/ letterboxd-watch-1120512384 Fri, 26 Dec 2025 09:37:17 +1300 2025-12-22 No Elf 2003 No 10719

Watched on Monday December 22, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Wake Up Dead Man, 2025 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/wake-up-dead-man/ letterboxd-watch-1088822163 Sun, 30 Nov 2025 15:24:24 +1300 2025-11-29 No Wake Up Dead Man 2025 No 812583

Watched on Saturday November 29, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + The Darjeeling Limited, 2007 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/the-darjeeling-limited/ letterboxd-watch-1067697324 Mon, 10 Nov 2025 01:44:17 +1300 2025-11-08 No The Darjeeling Limited 2007 No 4538

Watched on Saturday November 8, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/pirates-of-the-caribbean-the-curse-of-the-black-pearl/ letterboxd-watch-1046914256 Mon, 20 Oct 2025 12:37:03 +1300 2025-10-18 No Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 2003 No 22

Watched on Saturday October 18, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Dogma, 1999 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/dogma/ letterboxd-watch-1042857592 Thu, 16 Oct 2025 12:29:57 +1300 2025-10-04 No Dogma 1999 No 1832

Watched on Saturday October 4, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Shrek, 2001 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/shrek/ letterboxd-watch-1022432181 Wed, 24 Sep 2025 10:05:24 +1200 2025-09-22 No Shrek 2001 No 808

Watched on Monday September 22, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Boys Go to Jupiter, 2024 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/boys-go-to-jupiter/ letterboxd-watch-994988788 Tue, 26 Aug 2025 02:56:22 +1200 2025-08-24 No Boys Go to Jupiter 2024 No 1235137

Watched on Sunday August 24, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Skyscraper, 2018 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/skyscraper-2018/ letterboxd-watch-963466201 Tue, 29 Jul 2025 04:16:43 +1200 2025-07-27 No Skyscraper 2018 No 447200

Watched on Sunday July 27, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Cleaner, 2025 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/cleaner-2025/ letterboxd-watch-940111171 Wed, 9 Jul 2025 03:09:50 +1200 2025-07-04 No Cleaner 2025 No 1125899

Watched on Friday July 4, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + A Minecraft Movie, 2025 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/a-minecraft-movie/ letterboxd-watch-932965562 Wed, 2 Jul 2025 04:34:00 +1200 2025-06-30 No A Minecraft Movie 2025 No 950387

Watched on Monday June 30, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + The Phoenician Scheme, 2025 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/the-phoenician-scheme/ letterboxd-watch-909695782 Sun, 8 Jun 2025 03:05:02 +1200 2025-06-06 No The Phoenician Scheme 2025 No 1137350

Watched on Friday June 6, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Source Code, 2011 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/source-code/ letterboxd-watch-905069267 Mon, 2 Jun 2025 13:27:17 +1200 2025-05-30 No Source Code 2011 No 45612

Watched on Friday May 30, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Home Fries, 1998 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/home-fries/ letterboxd-watch-902932183 Sat, 31 May 2025 12:10:19 +1200 2025-05-24 No Home Fries 1998 No 12257

Watched on Saturday May 24, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/harry-potter-and-the-half-blood-prince/ letterboxd-watch-902931713 Sat, 31 May 2025 12:09:35 +1200 2025-05-24 No Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 2009 No 767

Watched on Saturday May 24, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Friendship, 2024 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/friendship-2024/ letterboxd-watch-888269234 Thu, 15 May 2025 05:42:25 +1200 2025-05-11 No Friendship 2024 No 1239655

Watched on Sunday May 11, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 2007 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/harry-potter-and-the-order-of-the-phoenix/ letterboxd-watch-869423429 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:46:03 +1200 2025-04-20 No Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2007 No 675

Watched on Sunday April 20, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2005 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/harry-potter-and-the-goblet-of-fire/ letterboxd-watch-869423129 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:45:23 +1200 2025-04-20 No Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2005 No 674

Watched on Sunday April 20, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 2004 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/harry-potter-and-the-prisoner-of-azkaban/ letterboxd-watch-869422988 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:45:02 +1200 2025-04-20 No Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004 No 673

Watched on Sunday April 20, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 2002 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/harry-potter-and-the-chamber-of-secrets/ letterboxd-watch-869422650 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:44:35 +1200 2025-04-05 No Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2002 No 672

Watched on Saturday April 5, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 2001 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/harry-potter-and-the-philosophers-stone/ letterboxd-watch-869422066 Wed, 23 Apr 2025 00:44:12 +1200 2025-04-05 No Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 2001 No 671

Watched on Saturday April 5, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Yojimbo, 1961 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/yojimbo/ letterboxd-watch-850780885 Tue, 1 Apr 2025 09:22:06 +1300 2025-03-30 No Yojimbo 1961 No 11878

Watched on Sunday March 30, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Zombieland, 2009 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/zombieland/ letterboxd-watch-843580950 Mon, 24 Mar 2025 00:17:22 +1300 2025-03-22 No Zombieland 2009 No 19908

Watched on Saturday March 22, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Wicker Park, 2004 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/wicker-park/ letterboxd-watch-782892712 Mon, 20 Jan 2025 15:29:03 +1300 2025-01-19 No Wicker Park 2004 Yes 11208

Watched on Sunday January 19, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + The Brutalist, 2024 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/the-brutalist/ letterboxd-watch-761777559 Sun, 5 Jan 2025 07:38:02 +1300 2025-01-03 No The Brutalist 2024 No 549509

Watched on Friday January 3, 2025.

]]> hwebs + + Nosferatu, 2024 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/nosferatu-2024/ letterboxd-watch-751879207 Sun, 29 Dec 2024 10:59:37 +1300 2024-12-28 No Nosferatu 2024 No 426063

Watched on Saturday December 28, 2024.

]]> hwebs + + 2 Fast 2 Furious, 2003 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/2-fast-2-furious/ letterboxd-watch-750912979 Sat, 28 Dec 2024 15:54:13 +1300 2024-12-27 No 2 Fast 2 Furious 2003 No 584

Watched on Friday December 27, 2024.

]]> hwebs + + Old, 2021 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/old-2021/ letterboxd-watch-750289600 Sat, 28 Dec 2024 06:43:30 +1300 2024-12-20 No Old 2021 No 631843

Watched on Friday December 20, 2024.

]]> hwebs + + Theater of Thought, 2022 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/theater-of-thought/ letterboxd-watch-741296687 Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:27:16 +1300 2024-12-18 No Theater of Thought 2022 No 977339

Watched on Wednesday December 18, 2024.

]]> hwebs + + Up the Junction, 1965 https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/film/up-the-junction-1965/ letterboxd-watch-737168248 Sat, 14 Dec 2024 16:02:17 +1300 2024-12-13 No Up the Junction 1965 No 379029

Watched on Friday December 13, 2024.

]]> hwebs + + + + + + + + diff --git a/update.sh b/update.sh new file mode 100755 index 0000000..11083d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/update.sh @@ -0,0 +1,15 @@ +#!/bin/sh +{ + printf '%s\n%s\n---\n' 'title: Recently Watched' 'tags: now, feed' + curl -fsSL 'https://letterboxd.com/hwebs/rss' +} >> posts/099_watched.xml + +{ + printf '%s\n%s\n---\n' 'title: Currently Reading' 'tags: now, feed' + curl -fsSL 'https://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/159263337?shelf=currently-reading' +} >> posts/050_currently-reading.xml + +{ + printf '%s\n%s\n---\n' 'title: Recently Read' 'tags: now, feed' + curl -fsSL 'https://www.goodreads.com/review/list_rss/159263337?shelf=read' +} >> posts/010_read.xml -- cgit v1.3