Show where you are in your reading challenge, and the last 5 books read:
(From Instagram)
Creativity, Inc. – ★★★★
Interesting background on the history of Pixar, good thoughts on fostering a creative culture, and really liked the focus on giving and receiving difficult feedback, but disappointed in the fact that every anecdote seemed to end with “and then the team worked 100 hour weeks for months and never saw their family but we got it done.” Or “then they worked two straight weeks instead of taking their Christmas vacation.”
Rating: 4 stars
Crossposted on Goodreads
Conclave – ★★★★
Finished reading Conclave by Robert Harris yesterday. Kept expecting it to turn into a conspiracy thriller but turned out just to be a well written procedural into process of electing a pope. With good characters and a few twists along the way.
Originally picked up Conclave because of the movie without being familiar with Harris, but after reading it now I’m interested in reading Fatherland and Pompeii that seem to maybe be even more up my alley.
Rating: 4 stars
Ten Free Ebooks for Getting Free from Haymarket
Haymarket Books is giving away Ten Free Ebooks for Getting Free including titles like How We Get Free, Hope in the Dark, and Let This Radicalize You that look like good reads to help us rise to the current moment. (via Kottke)
A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers #2) – ★★★★★
Finished the last 10% of this on a plane and boy were there some dusty moments. Great story with some twists that I somehow completely missed were coming.
Left some larger world stuff unexplained at the end that I wanted to know more about. With the way this book’s focus was so completely different than the first not sure I’ll get those questions resolved. Still loved it though and definitely will be jumping to book 3 and continue to read anything else Chambers has written.
Rating: 5 stars
Crossposted on Goodreads
Service Model – ★★★★★
Fantastic. Loved it. Funny, thoughtful, sad, funny, and a bit depressing a few times including the very end. Uncharles was such a great character and loved the way he developed through the story, though I’m sure he wouldn’t admit it.
Rating: 5 stars
Crossposted on Goodreads
How to Speak Machine – ★★
Turned out to be pretty entry level book. Maeda spends the majority of the book’s 200 pages explaining the basics and extolling the value of UX research, product design, agile delivery, and iterative development and comparatively little on the actual premise of the book.
Rating: 2 stars
Full thoughts and review on BrianBehrend.com.
A Wrinkle in Time – ★★½
I always thought this was one of my favorite books as a kid but I’ve now given it multiple tries as an adult and I just don’t like it much at all.
I have specific fond memories of The Chronicles of Narnia but none really of Wrinkle in Time. I’m starting to wonder if I actually liked it when I was a kid or maybe something about it doesn’t just work for me anymore.
Rating: 2.5 stars
Crossposted on Goodreads
Buy A Wrinkle in Time on Bookshop
Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales – ★★★★½
A few of these seven LGBTQ fables were truly fantastic and overall the complete collection came together really well for me.
These aren’t just retellings of the same old fables but now with two princesses. Each story was generally thoughtful and subtle that did a great job of imparting a strong moral lesson in the end. Goose Girl and New Name were my faves.
Now I have to go bug my kiddo to see why she only gave it 3 stars.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Crossposted on Goodreads
Buy Other Ever Afters on Bookshop
Thoughts on Deep Work
Finished reading and wrote up a blog post on my thoughts on Cal Newport’s Deep Work. A book I’ve been wanting to read for a good bit and I ended up having a lot of takeaways including some notes on changes to my personal habits I’ve already made.