What ya reading? Version 425108

[JohnnyB]

Red Notice, by Bill Browder
This is a great book. Tells the story of Bill Browder, who was the founder of Hermitage Capital and the largest foreign investor in Russia following the break up of the Soviet Union and right up through the rise of Putin and into the 2000s. A very insightful book for seeing how corruption operates and how the very rich become so rich in these types of environments. Well worth reading.

[troutman]

^^^
Next on my reading list.

[JohnnyB]

Rewiring Education: How Technology can Unlock Every Student's Potential, by John Couch, Jason Towne and Steve Wozniak
A bit disappointing. The author is the former head of education for Apple and the book certainly comes across as a case of everything looking like a nail when you're carrying a hammer. The enthusiasm for tech as the solution to education is a little too narrow minded and doesn't seem to show a very good understanding of how educational change processes and implementation actually work.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Red Notice, by Bill Browder
This is a great book. Tells the story of Bill Browder, who was the founder of Hermitage Capital and the largest foreign investor in Russia following the break up of the Soviet Union and right up through the rise of Putin and into the 2000s. A very insightful book for seeing how corruption operates and how the very rich become so rich in these types of environments. Well worth reading.

I enjoyed that book. In some ways it’s so insane it doesn’t seem real. It’s a really interesting read though.

[JohnnyB]

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, by Klaus Schwab
High level and big picture. Klaus Schwab is the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum and gives a really valuable big picture vision of the changes of the 4th industrial revolution and societal changes, challenges and opportunities. The appendix has a lot of valuable info.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by Slava

I enjoyed that book. In some ways it’s so insane it doesn’t seem real. It’s a really interesting read though.

I found it all too real. Having spent more than a decade in China and seeing how wealth, corruption, power and governance have developed here makes for an interesting contrast while having enough similarities on some points to feel that the pieces fit comfortably into place.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

Yuval Noah Harari's new book "21 Lessons for the 21st Century" is brilliant.

He explains issues facing modern society such as the failures of liberal democracies and rapid technological development and provides talking points and solutions on how humanity can somehow cope. This gave me a greater understanding about why the world seems like such a mess right while also scaring the crap out of me with what the future might hold. My favourite bit of advise was that due to how quickly society is changing for the first time in history children should no longer look to their parents for guidance.

I enjoy Harari's writing style and he is quickly becoming one of my favourite authors. I would even consider him to be the new Jared Diamond.

He really is an amazing writer. He's not afraid to tackle head on what others are afraid to.....humans are becoming less relevant by the day. Major companies driving autonomy are offering a glimpse as to where we're headed in short order (amazon, google etc), there's really no future for people in the future that these companies we cheer on push towards.

He sums it up in such a simple manner. Read Sapiens, mostly through Homo Deus and plan to read 21 century next. It really should be standard reader for everyone.

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by jayswin

He really is an amazing writer. He's not afraid to tackle head on what others are afraid to.....humans are becoming less relevant by the day. Major companies driving autonomy are offering a glimpse as to where we're headed in short order (amazon, google etc), there's really no future for people in the future that these companies we cheer on push towards.

He sums it up in such a simple manner. Read Sapiens, mostly through Homo Deus and plan to read 21 century next. It really should be standard reader for everyone.

I agree with the take on Sapiens and Homo Deus, but I really felt like in 21 Lessons he was writing a book while a bit full of his own hype. Numerous times he steps beyond his area of knowledge to profess on things that he shouldn't really be professing on. His first two books are outstanding, but I think the success of those and the global recognition he has gained went to his head a bit on 21 Lessons.

[photon]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

Dune Messiah, by Frank Herbert
Not as good as the first Dune, but it's still cool sci-fi.

The six are one of the modern wonders IMO.

God Emperor of Dune might be my favorite.

Tried Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu but got kind of bored with it.

Just started The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch, it's got me hooked big time.

Next will be Autonomous by Annalee Newitz after hearing the author on Sean Carroll's podcast, Mindscape

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by photon

The six are one of the modern wonders IMO.

God Emperor of Dune might be my favorite.

Tried Ball Lightning by Cixin Liu but got kind of bored with it.

Just started The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch, it's got me hooked big time.

Next will be Autonomous by Annalee Newitz after hearing the author on Sean Carroll's podcast, Mindscape

I haven't read Ball Lightening, but The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu was worth reading. I lost a bit of momentum on the second book of the trilogy, but the first was some good sci-fi.

[OutOfTheCube]

Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Really cool sci-fi that plays about a bit as an anthology, slowly revealing each character's motivation for venturing to the planet Hyperion. Envisions a very far future where humans have gone well beyond earth, and sometimes some of the headier world building stuff gets lost on me, but the character stories are excellent and mysterious page turners. I haven't finished it quite yet but am excited to see how it all comes together.

[photon]

Yeah Hyperion was a lot better than I thought it'd be.

Three Body Problem I agree the first was good, but I never made it through the second to get to the third.

[mikephoen]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Really cool sci-fi that plays about a bit as an anthology, slowly revealing each character's motivation for venturing to the planet Hyperion. Envisions a very far future where humans have gone well beyond earth, and sometimes some of the headier world building stuff gets lost on me, but the character stories are excellent and mysterious page turners. I haven't finished it quite yet but am excited to see how it all comes together.

I love Hyperion and the sequels. Highly recommend reading all 4 books in the series. I actually think Hyperion is the weakest of the four books, even though it is really awesome.

I reread them last year for the third or fourth time, and they stand up great even though they're 25+ years old now.

[troutman]

I'll be getting this:

[DownInFlames]

^ Written by Mike Myers' brother. He has books about BNL and Todd Rundgren too.

[GordonBlue]

going to pick this up from the library today. quite looking forward to it.
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing

This is a reading of the thrilling account of one of the most astonishing feats of exploration and human courage ever recorded.

In August of 1914, the British ship Endurance set sail for the South Atlantic. In October 1915, still half a continent away from its intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in the ice. For five months, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs, were castaways in one of the most savage regions of the world.

Lansing describes how the men survived a 1,000-mile voyage in an open boat across the stormiest ocean on the globe and an overland trek through forbidding glaciers and mountains. The book recounts a harrowing adventure, but ultimately it is the nobility of these men and their indefatigable will that shines through.

[Knut]

Listening to The Singularity Trap by Dennis E Taylor right now . It has been great so far and I cant wait to get back into my car to listen to more.

[JohnnyB]

Success in Africa: CEO Insights from a Continent on the Rise, by Johnathan Berman
A collection of perspectives and lessons on the African business environment from CEOs of large, successful businesses that have succeeded and grown in Africa.

I'm seriously considering a move to Africa for the next stage of my career and found this to be a very useful book for gaining a perspective on the continent that was both sophisticated and local, rather than just Western stories of Africa's outlook. I would highly recommend this for someone wanting to learn about business in Africa from a bird's eye view.

[JohnnyB]

The New Education: How to Revolutionize University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux, by Cathy Davidson
This starts off a little slow with a somewhat long introduction to the historical context of universities in the US, but when it gets going into the examples of possible models to follow in revolutionizing universities the content becomes more stimulating. Definitely a book written for academics at universities, but ultimately a pretty good book for anyone with a high level of interest in the subject.

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

going to pick this up from the library today. quite looking forward to it.
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing

This is a reading of the thrilling account of one of the most astonishing feats of exploration and human courage ever recorded.

In August of 1914, the British ship Endurance set sail for the South Atlantic. In October 1915, still half a continent away from its intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in the ice. For five months, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs, were castaways in one of the most savage regions of the world.

Lansing describes how the men survived a 1,000-mile voyage in an open boat across the stormiest ocean on the globe and an overland trek through forbidding glaciers and mountains. The book recounts a harrowing adventure, but ultimately it is the nobility of these men and their indefatigable will that shines through.

This is an amazing book. You're in for a treat.