Batched Book Reviews #16

The Lean Product Playbook, The Case for Keto, We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families, Defiance of the Fall 11, The Primal Hunter 7, Fae and Fare

Published in

VP of Books

2 min readDec 2, 2023

The Lean Product Playbook (3/4) — A playbook, guidebook, cookbook. It’s probably the most practical and hands-on book about product development I have read. That’s both good and bad at the same time, depending on what you’re looking for. It’s worth reading after some more high-level ones like Inspired.
The Case for Keto (3-/4) — Don’t read “scientific” books by journalists. Or at least not by this particular journalist. There’s just not enough substance, and the content density is too low. So why do I still rate it above the recommendation level? Because it’s not terrible, it’s well-written, and probably worth reading in the end. Just don’t expect too much.
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families (3-/4) — An important topic, but not a great book. Or maybe it’s me and my inherent incompatibility with history books. I had hoped for a detailed sociological and psychological study of why the Rwanda genocide happened, or at least vivid and stunning memoirs. This book attempts to deliver both but falls short in quality — the study is not deep, and the memoirs are not heart-wrenching.

Defiance of the Fall 11 (4-/4) — The most grandiose LitRPG series. Seriously, no other one I’ve read has such a vast universe, so many characters, so many mechanics, and so much progression. The 11th book continues to deliver that.
The Primal Hunter 7 (4-/4) — Action, humor, progression, an overpowered character, and a bit of ruthlessness. Primal Hunter continues to deliver all of that at the highest level.
Fae and Fare (4-/4) — 61 hours of content consumed without switching to something else even once. Wandering Inn (Vol. 1–4/4, BBR#15) remains one of my favorite LitRPG series, even though it’s only the second volume. This one was heavy on action and discovering the world, with the usual dose of hope-punk vibes. The plot is building.