Noise by Daniel Kahneman

 

Noise caught my eye because of my favorable impression from Daniel Kahneman on Thinking, Fast and Slow. I was excited to read Noise, but also mentally prepared that this would be a tough one. And it was.

I started reading this in the summer of 2021 and got about halfway through. I actually started the blog in the fall thinking I would finish the book soon...but I never did. I did read a few more chapters in the summer of 2022, but I'm still not done. While I have not given up yet, I also don't know that I am going to finish it.

Noise is the term for variability in judgements and decisions; the little and unthought of things that can impact how people make come to conclusions. There are some fascinating examples: judges who give sentences in the morning versus the afternoon. This applies to all sorts of fields.

While the topic is interesting, the writing is dry. I also found there was a lot of overlap with Thinking, Fast and Slow. My work book club wanted to read this at one point, but I steered them away as this is a difficult book to read. Good topic, poor delivery.

My rating for Noise: 2 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

The Guest List was a recommendation from earlier in the summer. It took me a while to get around to it, but I am glad I finally read it. The Guest List is a murder mystery at a wedding occurring on a remote island. At the climax of the night, the power goes out and it is quickly discovered someone is very bloody outside the wedding tent.

Each chapter is written from a different character's perspective. And they rotate from the days leading up to the wedding to the wedding night itself. There are a lot of characters, but it is easy to keep everything straight with how the chapters are presented. As the book progresses, the reader discovers how everyone is intertwined. You are wondering who did it?

This book is laid out and felt like a movie script, similar to The Last Thing He Told Me (which I read earlier this year). At times The Guest List feels too cliche with some events and how characters are described, but I can live with that. I really liked the ending though. It is not often I am completely surprised by the ending, but I was, and I actually liked the outcome.

My rating for The Guest List: 4.5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The Power of Moments by Chip Heath & Dan Heath

 

I was searching for books for my work book club and I came across The Power of Moments. I liked the topic (exactly as it sounds) and I knew this would be a good read as I enjoyed reading other books by Chip and Dan Heath.

The Power of Moments is about creating moments (vs expecting them to happen) though elevation, insight, pride, and connection. Moments can happen at peaks, milestones, or even pits. They are more memorable when they are unexpected and infrequent. Stretching for goals - and failing - creates moments. Recognizing others in a personal way (not programmatic) creates moments. One interesting part was how people often know what the right thing to do is, but it is much harder to quickly act on that judgment. Moments can help people find their purpose (purpose is more important than passion). And a deep connection, rather than length, is the best for relationships.

The examples used throughout are great. Things like high school students announcing where they are going to college, the couch-to-5k initiative, redesigning the MRI machine to be children friendly, and the hotel popsicle hotline. At the end of every couple chapters, there is a brief summary and application of the themes. 

This book hit home on many levels - work, personal, and as a coach. The book club also really seemed to enjoy this book. I highly recommend this for anyone.

My rating for The Power of Moments: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

 

This was the second book I read on my second honeymoon. It is a very unique concept - a library with an infinite number of books, each telling your life story if you made a different choice at any point in your life.

This story chronicles Nora, who tries taking her own life. As she approaches death, she enters the midnight library, where she reads about different lives - if she married her long-term boyfriend, if she traveled with a friend, if she stayed in a band, if she dated a different guy, if she pursed swimming (which she excelled at). She finds that while some stories bring happiness, there can be unexpected lows leaving her wanting more. She keeps reading, trying to find the answer.

Like I said, this is a very unique concept, and something everyone probably day dreams about every now and then. The book was darker than I expected and frankly not really a light read on the beach. But, it was interesting.

My rating for The Midnight Library: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

As I was getting ready for my honeymoon (and summer in general), I wanted to stock my shelves with books to read. I asked around for suggestions and did some Googling. This was a suggestion and it really caught my eye as a light, fun read. Indeed, that is what it was.

The book is about a husband who disappears when a major fraud occurs at his company. He leaves behind a note for his wife to "protect her", implying for her to protect his 16-year-old daughter from a prior marriage. The wife and daughter do not get along, but they both really want to find out what happened to their husband and father. A U.S. Marshall and FBI agents meet with them to gather more information, but the two go on a journey as the daughter recalls information from her earliest years. They quickly find out he is not the man he pretends to be, as he has a complicated past.

The book is a page turner as you want to figure out A) will they find this guy before the investigators do and B) what exactly occurred in his past to make him go on the run. It is a very easy read as I finished it in one day on the beach. In my opinion, the story was a bit cliché and felt like it was written as a movie script...which it would not surprise me to see this turned into a movie some day. I should also say this is a very new book. It came out in May, so expect to see this book near you this summer.

My rating for The Last Thing He Told Me: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey

 

I heard about The Inner Game of Tennis a couple times, so I decided to give it a chance. As it was waiting in my queue, my work book club was looking for suggestions and I recommended this one.

The Inner Game of Tennis is about how to address the mental side of performance. It uses tennis as a metaphor, although frankly a lot of the examples are very much about tennis. The author's themes are things like fewer instructions = less overthinking, showing is better than telling, trusting oneself, no substitute for experience, and relaxed concentration. I liked the parts about competition bringing out the best in yourself and focusing on the next point, not the entire match.

The author's background is as a tennis player and coach, but he was written versions using other sports as the example. Tennis was the original book. It was actually written in 1974. It is impressive how much of what was written is still, and probably even more, true in today's world. 

The book is reader friendly in that it is only about 130 pages and an easy read. I loved all the tennis examples, but if you're not a big tennis fan then you might skim over some parts. But the ending tied it all together very well, connecting the dots to life, work, or really anything. I especially think this is useful for middle school & high school athletes as well as coaches.

My rating for The Inner Game of Tennis: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Mr Nice is an autobiography by Howard Marks about his life. I don't usually copy & paste from the book's description, but it's hard to explain his background:

During the mid 1980s Howard Marks had 43 aliases, 89 phone lines, and owned 25 companies throughout the world. Whether bars, recording studios, of offshore banks, all were money laundering vehicles serving the core activity: dope dealing. Marks began to deal small amounts of hashish while doing a postgraduate philosophy course at Oxford, but soon he was moving much larger quantities. At the height of his career he was smuggling consignments of up to 50 tons from Pakistan and Thailand to America and Canada and had contact with organizations as diverse as MI6, the CIA, the IRA, and the Mafia.

Clearly, an interesting story. However, the writing was atrocious. It was choppy, with significant scene shifts mid-paragraph. It was also overly detailed. I had to carefully re-read parts at times because I missed what was happening. It is hard to know what is true and what is not...the crazier the stories, the more attractive this is to readers. Eventually, his story was turned into a movie.

First time in a long time that I did not finish reading a book. It was too slow and painful. I probably made it 80% of the way, but frankly I lost interest.

My rating for Mr Nice: 1 star out of 5. Get it here!

Range by David Epstein

My team at work started a small book club. Range was our first book. We had a month to read the first half of the book, which we discussed, and then we had another month to finish the book and discuss. I tend to read fast, so I read the week of our meetings. But because of the gap, I took notes to remember the chapters.

The subtitle does a good job describing the book: why generalists triumph in a specialized world. The author's examples are really good. Things like letting kids play different sports vs focusing on one sport. Trying many different instruments. Trying and failing vs being led toward the answer. Using analogies and fresh perspectives to solve problems. The point is breadth's benefits outweigh deep specialization.

This was one of the better business books I have read. I liked that the examples were long and specific and thought they flowed together nicely. I had a hard time seeing how this would conclude, but that was decent with commentary on how to think about resumes and applicants. The author's piece of advice was "don't feel behind". Personally, I liked one other quote he concluded with, which is a common quote except that the last part is often forgotten: "A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often times better than a master of one."

While I classify this as a business book, it applies to all aspects of life. Some might find parts of it heavy, but I would definitely recommend the book.

My rating for Range: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

 

American Dirt is really, really good. About as good as it gets for a fiction book. American Dirt is a fictional story of a Mexican woman and her son running for their lives and attempting to cross the boarder into the United States. She was a bookstore owner who had encounters with the local cartel leader, seeing his more personable side. Her husband, a journalist, writes a story about the local cartel leader that exposes much about him. Shortly after, the cartel kills her entire family. They go on the run.

The book is a page-turner. Very well written, with Spanish woven in. You are on the edge of your seat throughout, along for the journey and hoping they make it to the boarder. There were one or two parts at the end that I did not love, but overall it was a very good book.

The war on drugs and cartel violence has been going on for a long time. Almost to the point where most people are numb to the stories. Writing a personal story about one individual makes everything feel much more real. Sometimes, this can make a greater impact than statistics, pictures, or news articles.

The book is somewhat controversial in that it received a ton of positive reviews and praise when it was first released. This attention brought upon others to criticize things like the author's race, writing about other cultures, stereotypes, and the list goes on. Each person has their own opinion on all of that, but there is no doubt this is a well-written book and it brought significant attention to a sad issue that too many face.

On a personal note, this book was strongly recommended by multiple friends. I purchased the book as a gift to my wife, knowing she would like it but also fully knowing I would read, too. We decided to read it together, staying with a couple chapters of each other. It actually worked out pretty well.

My rating for American Dirt: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

 

Apologies on the cover. I could not find a clearer picture on Google.

Wonder is a wonderful book about Auggie, a child with a severely deformed face who has been home-schooled his entire life. As he approaches 5th grade, his parents push him to go to school. Auggie is worried about how others will react to his face. He gets off to a tough start, experiencing bullying and struggling to fit in. Over time, things change and improve.

This is a great book for kids. It is easy to read and has great lessons. The book is mostly written from Auggie's perspective, but there are some parts that are written from other character's perspectives. This is probably the best feature of the book, because this kind of thinking is so critical. Getting to see how people view the same situation is very interesting. Understanding other people's point-of-views is equality as important as the main message in the book - kindness.

This was a very quick read. It was on my shelf for years. After reading lots of non-fiction, I wanted to switch gears and read something lighter. This hit the spot. It is also a movie that I heard was pretty good. I have yet to watch it as I wanted a chance to read the book first. I am a big believer in reading the book first - the book is always better!

My rating for Wonder: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Red Notice by Bill Browder

 

This is a really good book. I do not usually start posts that way, but Red Notice is a strong candidate for my "top books of 2021". I actually had this book on my radar (and my bookshelf) for a while, but I was a little worried it would be too political. I try to escape that hoopla when I read. When I saw this on my boss's boss's reading list, I figured I should open it up. I am glad I did.

Red Notice gets off to a fast start and had me hooked from the beginning. Bill Browder's grandfather was a big player in communism in the U.S., even running for President. His family is fully of smart people, particularly in mathematics. Bill struggles to find his way, deciding to pursue capitalism to be different than his family. He has a fascination with Eastern Europe, which in the very early 1990s is undergoing the fall of communism. Investment opportunities are abound, especially in Russia. Bill Browder goes on to become the largest outside investor in Russia up to 2005, until he is chased out of the country. Eventually, one of his lawyers in Russia dies in the police's custody.

The first half of the book is great. I could not put it down. The second half turns more political with Browder getting banned from Russia, the never-ending pursuit and cover-up from the Russian government, and Browder's efforts to get redemption on behalf of his murdered lawyer. It is still interesting and moves at a good pace, but it is different than the first half of the book.

I learned a lot reading this book. The transition out of a communist state is interesting. The investment opportunities. The oligarchs. Russian culture. Inner government workings, in both Russia and the U.S.. Why Americans cannot adopt Russian orphans. All very fascinating.

Lastly, Bill Browder did a great job writing this. It was very easy to read. There was humor. He did a wonderful job describing scenes and conversations. I felt on the edge of my seat wondering what happened next.

My rating for Red Notice: 5 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke

 

Annie Duke was a former professional poker player. With this debut book, she offers her insights on decision-making and handling uncertainty. That is her main point - differentiating decisions and outcomes. A good decision can result in a bad outcome (the Seahawks throwing the ball at the goal line near the end of the Super Bowl only to be intercepted), while a bad decision can result in a good outcome (driving home safely after too many drinks). Uncertainty is present in many decisions and sometimes luck is the difference. That is certainly the case in poker.

I figured this book would be right up my alley - business, poker, decision-making, risks, uncertainty, probability. It hits on a lot of my interests. Unfortunately, I found the book full of fluff, repeated examples, and little new research. Her writing style is very wordy...I thought her points could be summarized much quicker, maybe better suited on a blog. Many of the sources she referenced were books I already read (acknowledging I read a lot on this topic). I will say her examples are current, although she repeats them too often in the book. I do not mean to be so negative, as I found the "wanna bet" exercise insightful and the last two chapters of the book were solid.

If you have not read anything on decision-making, how brains think, and/or risk & uncertainty, then this is a good book to get you up to speed. But frankly this book is getting a huge lift because of who the author is.

My rating for Thinking in Bets: 2 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

 

I often saw Sapiens recommended on various sites over the past few years and thought it sounded interesting, but other books had higher priority on my list. I finally ordered it online, using a Barnes & Noble gift-card (separate story on that at the end of the blog). When it arrived, it was like a textbook - thick and heavy.

Sapiens is a detailed account of humans, from the very beginning. He really covers everything: biology, religion, political structures, capitalism, happiness, and more. The book is in chronological order, taking the reader through what he describes as the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. The book ends with a climactic prediction of where the future is going.

It is a very insightful book from a historical perspective. I certainly learned a lot. I found myself asking my wife "did you know..." quite a bit. The author makes many connections and tries to provide explanations linking one thing to the next. I believe those who write about history intertwine their own view at times, and one could make that argument in Sapiens, but I really appreciated the author admitting this at times and acknowledging the uncertainty.

The downside of this book is it is long and weighs a ton, which probably intimidates most readers. It honestly might be the heaviest book I have ever read. But once you open the book, it is an enjoyable, easy read with intermittent jokes and current day comparisons.

My rating for Sapiens: 4 stars out of 5. Get it here!

Bonus: Online ordering at Barnes & Noble. I have an affinity for Barnes & Noble as I used their cafe for years studying for exams. After finishing exams, I got a membership and prefer to buy books in person. With some of their recent changes, I have found it hard to find books I want in the store, so I thought I would give online ordering a shot since I was looking to add about 5 books to my collection. Their website was a disaster. I struggled to enter my membership number, I struggled to check out, I struggled to use a gift-card. I honestly wasn't sure my order went through. It pains me to say this, but I cannot recommend anyone order books online from Barnes & Noble. Hopefully they get their website figured out.

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old

 

This book was on my nightstand for most of 2020. I would pick it up, read a few pages, and then put it down. I always forgot where I was. I finally decided I needed to finish this book.

The book is a diary (literally daily journal entries) written by "Hendrik Groen", who is a resident in a retirement home. His musings are about daily life in the retirement home. An odd book, but it works. It is humorous, very real, and at times dark. But Hendrik makes the best of it. It is a uniquely written perspective into life on that side of the fence. 

Worth sharing that this is based in the Netherlands and was translated, so there are elements of vocabulary and things that are not customary in the U.S., but it is still easy to follow.

"Hendrik Groen" is in quotes above because there is no author listed in the book. Is Hendrik a real person? Or is this a work of fiction? After some Google searches, it is a work of fiction written by Peter de Smet, who is a librarian near retirement who has never written a book before. Pretty cool.

My rating for The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 1/4 Years Old: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!

P.S. There is a follow up book, On the Bright Side, 85 Years Old.

Papillon by Henri Charriere

 

Papillon is an autobiography of a man sentenced to life in prison who continually tries to escape. He was convicted of life in prison in 1931 for a murder in Paris he claims he did not commit. He is sent to the penal colony of French Guiana. The book details the conditions, escapes, set backs, and eventual freedom.

The writing style is a bit choppy, although there are valid reasons for that - the book is set in the 1930s (written in the 1960s), it was translated from French, and the editors let Papillon's style of talking come through in the writing. It is a very long book, coming in at almost 550 pages. The book was very popular in France and eventually worldwide when it was released. The treacherous conditions are hard to fathom and was certainly eye-opening. Penal colonies are something worth researching if you don't know much about them. The story of escape is what captures the reader as you are constantly wondering how will he permanently escape.

This had potential to become a classic (and some may view it that way), but there are accusations that parts of his story are not his own. He was certainly a prisoner in French Guiana and he eventually escaped. But it seems he retold a few stories of other prisoners, escapes, and encounters as his own. On one hand, that is a disappointment, but on the other, these stories would never be heard without a masterful story line.

My rating for Papillon: 3 stars out of 5. Get it here!