Style: Non-fiction
The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking – Edward Burger
by
Curtis McHale
The purpose of this book is right on the cover, Burger and Starbird are going to teach you the 5 elements they feel go into effective thinking and there are a number of good points they make. While the book isn’t groundbreaking, there are a number of excellent takeaways like those listed above to help…
Never Enough – Jennifer Breheny Wallace
by
Curtis McHale
In Never Enough we take a look at how the achievement culture that is prevalent in society today is harming children as they are pushed to compete more, achieve more, all in a quest to get into the “best” education so they can be “set for life”. Wallace analyses how this focus on achievement harms…
Barking Up The Wrong Tree – Eric Barker
by
Curtis McHale
Eric Barker is going to be the new guru that saves us from all the other gurus that purport to know how to achieve success, by turning to science to tell us what matters in our quest for success. Yes it matters more if your boss likes you than if you are good at your…
Quiet – Susan Cain
by
Curtis McHale
In Quiet we get a look at what Susan Cain calls the extrovert ideal. We see this in the world around us as everyone is expected to network, and “lean in” to situations at work, and be collaborative….all the damn time. If that’s not you, and it’s not me, then this is a good book…
I Didn’t Do The Thing Today – Madeline Dore
by
Curtis McHale
Madeline Dore takes a hard look at the poisonous productivity culture that has permeated our lives and gives readers tools to reject it. No you don’t need to find the best morning routine on YouTube, or the best task manager and system to use it. You need to take a break, visit a friend with…
Breaking Busy – Alli Worthington
by
Curtis McHale
In Breaking Busy, Alli Worthington, takes a look at how being “busy” is intoxicating, how we wear it like a badge of honour. The whole book has strong Christian overtones with much talk about forgetting about the approval of society and only looking for the approval of God. If the God talk is going to…
DevOps with Kubernetes – Stephen Fleming
by
Curtis McHale
This is a very high-level overview of what DevOps is in the first section and then how Kubernetes works in the second section. While I hoped to glean something from this, it should have been a blog post. At least if it was a blog post the numerous spelling mistakes and grammar issues could have…
Everything and Less – The Novel in the Age of Amazon
by
Curtis McHale
This is a fairly academic look at how Amazon has affected the world of literary fiction, and genre fiction. It takes a brief look at the enshittification cycle that Amazon is embarking on as it changes it’s stance from growing the sellers on it’s platform, to driving prices down and extracting as much profit as…
Read Write Own – Chris Dixon
by
Curtis McHale
This is a techno-utopian look at how “blockchain” can solve all our social ills on the internet, by a man who has been involved in funding many of the companies that are bring the internet ills to us. Yes Chris Dixon is part of a16z which has helped fund many companies that are “disrupting” our…
A Simplified Life – Emily Ley
by
Curtis McHale
Ley is writing a book, predominately to women, about how to simplify your life. Pair down your commitments, cut back on all the stuff you have in your house, don’t fall into consumer culture. This is a decent book in the genre, and only has a light touch of Christian overtones instead of throwing it…