Batched Book Reviews Archive #8

From 01.01.2023–07.02.2023

The Batched Books Reviews Archive is a collection of my usual book reviews, but they cover books I read before I really started putting effort into writing those reviews. I’ve gone back and adjusted them to match my current review style, but they are usually not that good.

Non-fiction:

• Staff Engineer (4/4) — A truly insightful read. Highly recommended for anyone who wonders what lies beyond the senior engineer role. Also a good read for any engineering manager.
• How to Talk So Little Kids Will Listen (4-/4) — As a father of a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old, it was a very valuable read. I’m not sure how easy it will be to apply the advice in practice, but let’s see. Also, many of the practices apply to adults as well.
• The Culture Map (4/4)— A very interesting position. It goes through various cultures and positions them on ~5 axes (e.g. approach to hierarchy, approach to feedback). My main takeaway: if you think you’re a decent communicator, this book brings you back to the drawing board as you realize a big chunk of employed strategies are culture-dependent.
• Effortless (3-/4) — It’s not bad, but it’s neither innovative nor particularly well written. If you have read anything even slightly similar, it’s not worth your time.
• When Einstein Walked with Gödel (3/4) — A series of essays about math, mostly interesting stories about mathematicians or popular problems. I liked it a lot.
• How To (4/4) — Probably the funniest book I have ever read. If you like absurd humor and science, then this is a must-read.
• When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing (3+/4) — I like this one quite a lot. Heavily based on data and research. Tries to share some insights about timing based on (mainly) physiology and psychology. Light, interesting, short, useful.
• Make It Stick (3-/4)— Decent book about learning and memory, but I didn’t get as much from it as I expected. Which, in hindsight, is not surprising — I no longer learn things by heart these days. Well-written, quite interesting, but most useful for learners (kids, students) and teachers.
• Born a Crime (4-/4)— Tales about a teenager in South Africa during apartheid. Very well written, quite funny, and interesting. Turns out I accidentally reread this one (not sure how it happened), and it was still fun but probably not the best use of my time. Definitely recommended to read once. 🙂

Fiction:

• Iron Prince (3/4) — Progression fantasy, but this time in a sci-fi environment. Nothing spectacular, but decent and fresh.
• Year One (3-/4) — Post-apo where the virus either kills people or gives them magic abilities. It’s a nice twist, and objectively it’s a good book, I think, but for some reason, it didn’t click for me. Won’t go for vol 2.
• Posthumous Education (3+/4) — Great continuation of “Fred, the Vampire Accountant” series (Vol 1–4-/4 in BBRA#5). Entertaining as always.
• Phoebe’s Tale: From His Shadow (3-/4)— Dresden Files vibe, well-written (I liked the diary narration), but I still had to force myself to go through the first half. Then it got a bit better. Not good enough for me to continue with this spinoff series, but I got interested in the main one (Nightlord).
• Gideon the Ninth (3-/4)— Necromancers in a sci-fi environment? There is potential in this, isn’t there? But, this potential was totally lost for me. I managed to finish the book only through strength of will. No decent world building, no interesting plot, no interesting characters. Can’t recommend.