Post: #351

Just read Josh Kaufman's The Personal MBA. I recommend this book to anyone who's 1) Thinking of getting an MBA, like Kaufman says, save your money and read this book instead. 2) Interested in starting a business.

This book covers everything from accounting, finance, management, to creating effective systems, evaluating business ideas, office politics, getting the best people to work for you, etc. All in all, very useful book for anyone wanting to make money.

One of my favorite parts was his chapters on destroying procrastination completely and getting things done. Filled with good tips. If you read this book, I suggest make notes while doing it.

Also contains many good book tips for further reading, which is a good plus for every book worm.

Post: #352

Just finished Gorilla Mindset. Mike's writing pushed me to move across the country 18 months ago and this book prompted me to reframe multiple topics in my life.

Yes, it covers many areas he's already hit upon. Yes, its broad and requires to localize and pinpoint strategies. Its a book comprised of blunt object tools. You have to be the scalpel and fine tune things.

Hundreds of us have benefited from his writing. ON that basis alone, its worth purchasing. However, with the passage of time those ideas becomes internalized and learned. This writing reinforces and strengthens past concepts while giving new tweaks to go even further.

The battle is inbetween the ears and Mike knows this.

Its wort the $10 bucks and is a quick read, you'll be done in under 4-5 hours.

Post: #353

Strength finder 2.0

personally I had a great experience with the book in that it basically

tells you what your talents are. I didn't think nothing of it but its a

little overpriced for 15$ to get the book new with a code.

You can buy the code alone but I've read better stuff in the book that

wasn't online.

I did the test and it was extremely accurate in my opinion and was

worth that it helps me on a action plan of what I can do with my

talents.

I was so enthralled that I paid another 15 for my dad to do it however

I think his results were far from accurate. I think its mainly because I

had a very strong understanding of all the words in the test. My dad

understood about half of them since hes not a native English speaker

and thus he choose neutral quite often.

Post: #354

Confessions, St. Augustine.

I confess to skipping fairly large parts of it. It's probably a beautiful book to read through when you're fully embracing a Christian lifestyle and practicing it, because it seems to sing best when you are.

That said, the first, oh, 70 pages or so are arresting, if only because Augustine begins his book with something similar to a mystical, apophatic address to God, turning from one question about God's existence to another, asking "Where are you? You are in all things, and yet we cannot see you" and so forth. This is not to be mistaken as Augustine doubting his faith: it is a form of spiritual exercise common back in that period, particularly in the work of Thomas Didymus if I remember the name right. You would put to yourself conflicting thoughts about God -- e.g. "God is Good, but I cannot conceive of God, so therefore God is not Good" -- the point being to remind yourself that God was transcendent.

Augustine then travels through more or less his entire life; it's as though the book is a full examination of conscience, though we know it's in fact a partial text and it's theorised Augustine was intending to work his way through the entire Bible explaining it but only got as far as finishing off Genesis. It's an intriguing text.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #355

1984 by George Orwell

Timeless classic that I have read for the first time. Nodded my heads several times throughout as many themes of the book has become reality today, for example thought crimes. The recent outrage over the meetups are such an example.

And here is another example from my native Sweden which is very similar to the kind of work Winston is doing at the ministry of truth, e.g. alter books to fit the current narrative:
http://www.thelocal.de/20111108/38739

"The publishers had already changed the original phrase used for her father as king of a South Seas island from Negro King to South Seas King"

Post: #356

El evangelio según Jesucristo (The gospel according to Jesus Christ) by José Saramago

Don't know if I translated the title correctly, I read it on Spanish tho.

Post: #357

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth by Chris Hadfield

This was an autobiography of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield written by himself as a biography interspersed with life philosophy. He's been to space 3 times and the heaviest focus is on his last trip when he was the Commander of the International Space Station and spent 5 months in orbit.

Overall quite the fascinating read, the guy has lived a pretty cool life. Started in the military and became a flight test pilot but he was always working toward his goal of becoming an astronaut since he was nine. Most of the life philosophy stuff is presented as what it takes to become an astronaut. Interestingly what he believes is most important is your mindset and to think like an astronaut. Its stuff people on here will relate to and can learn from.

Tons of interesting life of an astronaut stuff, such as some of the pre-launch rituals they have like toasting with water laced with rocket fuel and taking a piss on the back right wheel of the bus that drives them to launch.

Would definitely recommend

While he was up there he made a bunch of videos of daily stuff done in space, kinda cool to see how zero gravity affects the minutiae of life

Post: #358

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. This was a great book about a an Aussie escaped convict and heroin addict who ends up living in a Bombay slum back in the 80s and also gets into the higher ranks of the city's mafia. Its a really long book but I really enjoyed it, there's lots of adventure, including a stint in Afghanistan, a brutal Indian prison and a few months in a rural Indian village. The author is an interesting character who lived on the edge for most of his life but my favourite characters were the Indian locals, especially his buddy Prabakar. I highly recommend this book.

Curse Of The High IQ by Aaron Clarey. I've read all of Clarey's books and will continue to do so although this was my least favourite, maybe its because I'm not cured with a high IQ haha so couldn't relate to all of the topics. Its definitely an interesting read but a lot of it is just rehashing ideas and observations that the author has wrote about becfore in his other books and his blog, Captain Capitalism. I recommend the book, its cheap and easy to read but if you've already read his other work, you won't be reading many new ideas.

Post: #359

Born Free by Joy Adamson. Old book from the 60s, describes English couple who were park rangers in Africa and adopted a lion. I liked the book, mostly the descriptions of the nature and the detailed behaviour of the lion.

Post: #360

Just finished I am Zlatan, Zlatan Ibrahimovic's biography. He is a football player approaching the end of his career and one of the best in the world. His family were Yugoslavian refugees during the Balkan War and so he grew up in a very poor Swedish neighborhood. He had a very tough start to his life and career, but ended up being, at one point, the best paid football player in the world.

His book covers everything from his professional mindset to his negotiation tactics with European football clubs. It's a great book and I can't recommend it enough.

Post: #361

Post: #362

Just finished Replay by Ken Grimwood. Brilliant little time travel story, it's Groundhog Day with a lot more heft and more interesting concepts.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #363

Theodoric the Goth by Thomas Hodgkin. It tells the epic story of the rise and fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy, built upon the ruins of the western Roman empire.

Post: #364

(03-30-2016 09:27 AM)Thomas the Rhymer Wrote:  Theodoric the Goth by Thomas Hodgkin. It tells the epic story of the rise and fall of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy, built upon the ruins of the western Roman empire.

Now this sounds like it's right up my alley. What did you think of it?

Post: #365

Just finished Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

The original language for this book is Greek and there are many translations floating around. Unfortunately I first picked up an older English translation which for me as a non-native English speaker was challenging to say the least. I had to stop a quarter into it because I had to look up ancient English words too often. I did some research online and found a more recent translation by a guy name Gregory Hayes which was much easier to read.

This edition started with a solid background story of Marcus and his work. It was likely never indented for publications and it's survival was hanging by a thin thread a few times during the antique world. In addition it is likely that some part of the text may have changed as it passed down through generations.

All that aside I think it was an enjoyable book although not an easy read. Marcus shares a lot of wisdom and a lot of it resonated with me. For example he talks a lot of about perception and how you perceive an object or an event can make it into either a hurdle or an opportunity. Another theme in the book is that we shouldn't worry about death or how our name is remembered after we are gone.

WRA (Would Read Again) after all this information has sunk in a bit.

Post: #366

Many people here are interested in highly-paid drilling or diving jobs... others are interested in cruising and sailing... So, I'd like to recommend an excellent little thriller from John McKinna, "Tiger Reef". Mc Kinna knows his stuff around boats and SEA...

About the author: "John is an Underwater Technical Supervisor and Operations Manager... former offshore commercial diver of twenty years experience, he came on the Jules/KLUP team last year as an adjunct to his current primary line of work, that of internationally-known novelist. Like his wife Teresa, he is an avid free-diver, spearfisherman, lobster hunter, and cruising sailor. "

Post: #367

Just finished "The Art Of The Deal" by Donald Trump.
Certainly the most interesting and entertaining autobiography/business book I've read so far.
You really get an idea of how the Don thinks, also insights on the mechanisms/conventions/procedures of real estate business amongst the big players.

Post: #368

Did anyone read Strategikon, by Mauricius (I think)?

What are your thoughts? Worth reading?

Post: #369

Finished Solomon Was Here by Mordecai Richler

Second time reading this one, Richler is probably my favourite novelist. A hard book to summarize but mostly it centers around the Gursky family, a Jewish immigrant family that settles in Saskatchewan and the three sons become bootleggers and parlay their success in that into a hugely successful liquor business. The story ranges all over the place both in time and place, from 19th Century London, where the Gursky brothers grandfther lived to the middle of bumfuck Quebec where our main character owns a cottage. The main character is one Moses Berger, a man whose father was once employed by the Gurskys and who becomes obsessed with the mysterious middle brother of the Gursky clan, Solomon, who is believed to have died in a mysterious plane crash. If you're not Canadian (and likely even if you are) you'll learn a lot about the place and like all of Richler's work it gets gut splittingly funny at times. Highly recommend

Quote before the book that tells you a lot about what you'll be reading

"Cyril once observed that the only reason for writing was to create a masterpiece. But if you haven't got it in you to make a great work of art there is another option - you can become one."

Post: #370

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Post: #371

Recently read both "The 50th Law" and "33 Strategies of War" by Robert Greene and "The Manipulated Man" by Esther Vilar.

Post: #372

The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett.

Quickest summary I can give for the book is "Game of Thrones, on a far smaller scale, better verisimilitude, less cynical, neater plot."

This one apparently engaged public interest back in the late eighties when it was released. It's considered one of Follett's "masterworks" and it was way out of his normal genre: he wrote Eye of the Needle and other political thrillers. (In passing, for God's sake go and read one of his few non-fictional books: On Wings of Eagles, the story of how Ross Perot organised the rescue of two of his US employees held prisoner in Iran after the Ayatollah took over. It's a brilliant, tense piece of work and unlike a lot of poilitical books, its account of events has not been challenged once by anyone from the Islamic set.)

If you've read a lot of Cold War thrillers out of the eighties a lot of the elements will be familiar. The good guys have maybe a flaw or two but they're not the moral greyfaces that George Martin likes. The bad guys are shitheads and cowards who are undone at the end. The women are given a small dose of proto-feminism in that they're misunderstood witches and/or implausibly successful entrepreneurs in the medieval period, but they've all got big tits, pretty faces, and fuck like rabbits once they're with the guy/s who become their husbands (actual or otherwise). There are five paragraphs of characters thinking about life and their situation before we move on to the next dialogue interaction and plot point. Follett I think is a lot better researched than George Martin about how medieval societies actually worked, and he manages to turn up plot points out of historical minutiae that Martin couldn't make interesting in 2000 pages or more if he tried. (In its way, Follett's book achieves the same effect as Dan Brown with The Da Vinci Code: Follett takes small elements of history and makes them interesting. It's when he uses history and the practices of the time to advance his plot that the book is at its best. Less so when he takes five paragraphs of narrative to explain how a cathedral is put together, though he's more or less stuck with this since the whole book turns around the building of Kingsbridge Cathedral.) And Follett understands -- unlike George Martin -- that you can achieve complexity in a novel without a cast of characters six pages long.

If there's a flaw it's that the characters do tend towards the cardboard, but there are some plot turns in the story that do pack a punch, and if you've any interest in the history of architecture the book will be interesting. It's a gem of a book, some flaws, but overall a pretty good reading experience.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #373

The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory. You have to travel down the odd street of assholes sometimes.

Let's get the obvious stuff out the way: there's a decent amount of Feminist Author Intentional Lecturing (FAIL, for short) in this thing, lots of (female) (and one homosexual) characters saying "O I IZ SUCH AN UNFORTUNATE WOMAN, I HAVE TO SIT AROUND IN MY LACE AND PEARLS AND CRY ABOUT MY FATE IN LIFE DESPITE NOT HAVING TO EARN A LIVING WHILE THE BOYS GO OUT AND KILL EACH OTHER TO KEEP ME IN HOUSE AND HOME."

If you can ignore that, though, it's a pretty fast and easy read. 500-odd pages and I burned through it in maybe 3-4 days or so. And standing astride the feminist bullshit is a good dose of Red Pill. This is basically the story of Anne Boleyn's rise and fall, as told from the perspective of her sister, Mary Boleyn. It therefore features Henry VIII and (off to one side) his break with the Roman Church to form the Anglican Church (or, really, his assumption of control over the Church in England.)

In its way it's a potent (and unintentional) sermon against women gaining power by fucking their way to the top. Henry for all his seeming alpha characteristics (he fucks multiple women, including Mary Boleyn herself, and is, after all, a medieval king) is played endlessly by Anne. She strings him along for years. One can have some professional regard for both the tightness and relentlessness of her game: he didn't get to fuck her once before Henry's divorce had come through, and there were any number of alternative young, nubile ladies-in-waiting available in Henry's court. He basically tosses his first wife (and Queen), Catherine of Aragon, entirely aside for Anne, and for an encore more or less rips up the English Church in order to marry her. Part of it was driven by Henry's need for a male heir -- all bar one of Catherine's children died very young or were stillborn, and the one who survived was a girl, not a boy. England had only recently been put back together after the Wars of the Roses and Henry needed a legitimate son by his wife in order to prevent the succession being thrown into dispute again (he had fathered a number of bastards, but making them king was another matter entirely). Even so, Henry really, really, really wanted to fuck Anne and have a son with her, and eventually, he got to do the first.

But as said, it's an unintentional sermon against taking power, because Anne had to basically push a reigning Queen, royalty in her own right, off the throne and more or less take it by force. It had never been done before. She had to coerce Henry to make her his queen before she'd let him fuck her. Once she did that, though, she had set a precedent, and her position was forever unstable: Henry went on to keep fucking everything that moved (he'd had six wives and a lethal case of syphillis by the end of his life), and it didn't take long before Anne (and her brother, and several of their close friends) was beheaded for trumped-up (maybe) charges of adultery, witchcraft, and incest.

It's worth a read, believe it or not, if only because it delves convincingly into the motives and activities of everyone moving around in that time. It is historical fiction, meaning that it is at least partially a hypothesis, but it's not a bad one. The film with Scarlett Johansen, Natalie Portman and Eric Bana is not a patch on it.

God save us from people who mean well. -storm

Post: #374

Did one of you guys write this? Hilarious; as if Bukowski decided to do a book set in a Dilbert-esque world of pointless offices. Very aware of fundamental human nature as well.

Post: #375

A Brief History of Russia, by Michael Kort.

It was pretty good. The book goes from the 10th century B.C. up to 2008. My only complaints were that the author seemed slightly biased against Putin, and that the book was a little too brief (about 250 pages, plus appendixes/bibliography). But overall I enjoyed it and I learned some things, so I give it an 8/10.