Batched Book Reviews #13

TED Talks, The Staff Engineer’s Path, Escaping the Build Trap, Foundryside, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

Published in

VP of Books

2 min readOct 3, 2023

TED Talks (4-/4) — My go-to book for public speaking. I first read it years ago when I started public speaking, and it gave me really valuable guidance. I recently re-read it and have now decided to go back to it with each new talk I prepare. The book is full of advice that can improve most presentations. Some of the tips are pretty basic, while others might make you rethink the whole idea of your talk. Regardless, I highly recommend every part of this book.
The Staff Engineer’s Path (4-/4) — The ultimate guidebook for Staff Engineers. While waiting for an audiobook, I wondered how similar it would be to Will Larson’s “Staff Engineer”. It turns out, it’s a completely different book. While Will provides a good understanding and a high-level overview of the role, Tanya delves into the daily challenges and offers solutions to those problems. To add a bit more: it’s absolutely packed with tips and advice. Given my reading approach, I anticipate at least 3–4 re-reads to fully grasp all the insights.
Escaping the Build Trap (3/4) — How to build a product without building too much. This is a very good book on the principles of product development, emphasizing the importance of experimentation. It guides you on how to tackle product discovery while spotlighting the most common pitfalls. I found myself nodding along as the book described various bad practices; it seems I’ve encountered them all 😅. (Free in audible.com Plus Catalogue)

Foundryside (3-/4) — Industrialized programmable magic. I was drawn to the world, particularly its magic system where special symbols are employed to distort reality. While not unique on its own, the twist is that items engraved with these symbols can communicate in a basic manner, and a series of symbols can be aliased to create reusable pieces — sounds familiar? However, the plot didn’t capture my interest much. But well, you can’t have it all.
A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking (2+/4)— Can you fight with dough? The protagonist is a wizard with a unique knack for influencing baking. This is a fresh premise, and the book is certainly entertaining, but beyond that, it doesn’t offer much. It unfolds as an average generic fantasy tale, albeit with an interesting twist.