Brian's 2013 Book Log

[Devi]

I really love the sound of that book, added to my wishlist! I wont ask to swap as I still owe you two books.

[Brian.]

Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

 

Synopsis

There just isn't enough time for everything on our 'To Do' list - and there never will be. Successful people don't try to do everything. They learn to focus on the most important tasks and make sure they get done.

There's an old saying that if the first thing you do each morning is to eat a live frog, you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that it's probably the worst thing you'll do all day. Using 'eat that frog' as a metaphor for tackling the most challenging task of your day - the one you are most likely to procrastinate on, but also probably the one that can have the greatest positive impact on your life - Eat That Frog! shows you how to zero in on these critical tasks and organize your day. You'll not only get more done faster, but get the right things done.

Bestselling author Brian Tracy cuts to the core of what is vital to effective time management: decision, discipline, and determination. In this fully revised and updated second edition, he provides brand new information on how to keep technology from dominating your time. He details twenty-one
practical and doable steps that will help you stop procrastinating and get more of the important tasks done - today!

(taken from Amazon)

 

 

My Thoughts

I picked this book up from my local library after browsing the shelves for something that would catch my eye. I have been pretty good procrastination wise but I have been drifting along career wise for a little while. This book looked quite interesting and it looked nice and concise so I decided it would be worth a shot.

 

This book is broken into 21 sections with each section dealing with a different part of the overall time management plan. At the end of each chapter there is a short summary which details what your next step should be and what you should do to make the most of your time. Everything is well explained and laid out in a very easy to read way.

 

Like a lot of books in this field it is geared more towards middle management types who work in an office environment (this is not me). Despite this I found a lot of good points and there is a lot that I think I will use in my job and life. I planned to take a few notes along the way and when I had finished I ended up with 30 pages worth.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[Athena]

Nice review, Brian ! It sounds like a good book. I'm not sure if it's my thing to read, as for me it's more about energy management than time management, but if I were to read a book on time management the one you read sounds pretty good.

[Brian.]

The Money Tree by Martin Bamford

 

Synopsis

Money. We rarely have enough of it, and we certainly struggle to make best use of it. Many people unwittingly throw money away and most of us find the whole subject confusing, complex and, frankly, boring. But it doesn't have to be this way. This step-by-step guide is here to help you master your money. Its no-nonsense approach and tips from the experts will equip you with all the confidence and knowledge to simply and effectively take control of your own financial future. When it comes to money, the more you know, the faster it will grow.

 

 

My Thoughts

Like far too many young(ish) people in the UK I have a pretty solid grasp of mathematics but when it comes to personal finance my education was lacking. Although I am in the fortunate position of being comfortable financially I know that I handle money pretty badly. I borrowed this book from my local library in the hope that it would help me get a grasp of it.

 

This book covers how to manage money rather than how to save it in an everyday way, this is an important distinction as I was looking for a book on the former. Bamford explains things such as pensions, investment, mortgages, debt and savings in a very easy to understand manner. There is a chapter devoted to each separate area along with two final very important chapters.

 

The second to last chapter is about where to go for advice and what qualifications to look when looking for a financial adviser. I don't think I've seen a chapter like this in a book about finances before and it is a very welcome addition. The final chapter pulls everything together and explains how to set out a solid long term financial plan.

 

There is little in the way of hard and fast 'do this' when it comes to what to do with your money. Bamford lays out how to make your decisions but says that ultimately the decision can only be taken by you. Having finished this book I now feel that I have a much better understanding of personal finance and how to get mine into shape.

 

A final important note is that some of the facts and figures were out of date due to the ever moving world of financial governance. I didn't find this a problem as I just double checked them on the internet as I went on.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[Athena]

Would you say the book contains general enough tips for people outside the UK, to understand and benefit from it, or is it mainly about how things work in the UK and thus wouldn't be of any use to me? (I'm from the Netherlands, we probably have similar rules but some things are set up differently I think.) Nice review, btw .

[Brian.]

It's based around the regulations in the UK specifically so I don't think it would be of great use to someone who lives outside the UK. There is probably some cross over but large sections of it won't apply. I am sure that there must be a similar book from a Dutch author out there somewhere.

[Brian.]

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Synopsis

It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have
found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may
have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready?

(Taken from Goodreads)

 

 

My Thoughts

This book first come to my attention on this very website, Steve's (Karsa Orlong) book thread to be more precise. I read the premise and it sounded like my kind of thing so I stuck it in my wishlist with the hope that I would pick it up in a charity shop at some point. Eventually I had enough of waiting for a copy to surface so I purchased it on my Kindle and sat back to enjoy the ride.

 

The world has effectively been bled dry of oil and mass sections of the populations are living in tower blocks made of whatever is left lying around. To escape the struggle of everyday life people log into a virtual reality game called OASIS. Just like some of the biggest MMORPG's that are about today there is crossover with real world money. Sadly, our hero Wade is from a poor background and although he loves to spend time in OASIS he is restricted to what he can do due to his situation.

 

There is a way out however, in the form of a hunt for an Easter egg hidden in the game by the developer James Halliday. The hunt has been going on for a few years when Wade manages to solve the first part of the quest. This reignites the search within the public mind and suddenly the race is on to get the prize.

 

This is essentially a battle between good and evil with loads of 70's & 80's pop culture references thrown in. When I say loads, I mean loads, it is really heavy with them and even though some undoubtedly passed me by, I got the majority of them. None of the characters is particularly well developed and the writing was a bit patchy in a few places. However, despite this it is a great read which ratchets up the tension as the book progresses.

 

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who is a gamer or a child of the 80's. It is packed with nostalgia galore.
 

4/5 (I really liked it).

[Karsa Orlong]

Glad you enjoyed it, Brian

[Athena]

Nice review , I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's been on my TBR for a while, what's holding me back is I bought a big paperback version of it so it's awkward to hold (should've waited for a smaller one, didn't know they were going to release a bigger one first and then a smaller one). I'll have to get around to reading it sometime, though, I've heard lots of good things about it (including from you and Steve).

[Devi]

The cover basically sold me on the book before I even read your review!

 

Oh and i have a copy of dissolution by cj samson and the handmaids tale by Margaret Atwood, let me know if you are keen.

Edited August 28, 2013 by Devi

[Athena]

I have to agree, that's a very nice cover. My cover looks like this (it's black with white, yellow and red illustrations on it).

Edited August 28, 2013 by Athena

[Brian.]

The cover basically sold me on the book before I even read your review!

 

Oh and i have a copy of dissolution by cj samson and the handmaids tale by Margaret Atwood, let me know if you are keen.

 

I've read The Handmaid's Tale, I'm assuming the swap you were after is for The Cellist of Sarajevo? If so, a friend of mine has already relieved me of it.

[Brian.]

I have to agree, that's a very nice cover. My cover looks like this (it's black with white, yellow and red illustrations on it).

 

I just grabbed any old cover off of the net, as I read it on the Kindle I had no cover.

[Devi]

I've read The Handmaid's Tale, I'm assuming the swap you were after is for The Cellist of Sarajevo? If so, a friend of mine has already relieved me of it.

Nope, it's because I still owe you two more books.

 

I thought you had read the handmaids tale already, but wanted to ask to be sure.

[Athena]

I just grabbed any old cover off of the net, as I read it on the Kindle I had no cover.

x

Ah! Sorry. For a Kindle cover I normally use the one that the Amazon page shows of the Kindle edition (although of course it's not as important as a paper book's cover).

[Brian.]

Nope, it's because I still owe you two more books.

 

I thought you had read the handmaids tale already, but wanted to ask to be sure.

 

I have a terrible memory, I had forgotten all about that

 

x

Ah! Sorry. For a Kindle cover I normally use the one that the Amazon page shows of the Kindle edition (although of course it's not as important as a paper book's cover).

 

If I read it as a physical book I use the one that I actually have but if it's an ebook I just look for one that isn't too big for the forum.

[Brian.]

The Doors of Perception/Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley

 

 

Synopsis

In 1953, Aldous Huxley took four-tenths of a gram of the drug Mescalin, sat down and waited to
see what would happen. When he opened his eyes everything was transformed. He describes his experience in The Doors of Perception and its sequel Heaven and Hell.

(taken from goodreads)

 

My Thoughts

I have a keen interest in psychoactive drugs (reading about, not doing) and this classic of the scene has been on my wishlist for a while. I came across it while browsing books in my local library on Tuesday so I just had to take it out. It's seen as a psychedelic classic along with books like Food of the Gods by Terence McKenna.

 

First up, this book is pretty short, my edition was only 120 pages long and contains both The Doors of Perception and Heaven and Hell. Both are about 50 pages long, with Heaven & Hell having several appendixes afterwards. The only previous Huxley that I have read is Brave New World which I enjoyed a lot and really started my love of fiction. This book is quite unlike that in both style and substance, I guess this is to be expected, it is non-fiction after all.
 

The main idea that is explored in Doors is that psychoactive drugs, in particular mescalin, allow the user to bypass the brain's natural filters. He also discusses how perhaps artists already see the world in this way to an extent. Mescalin makes it possible for non-artists to see things as artists see them. Quite frankly this is not something I necessarily  agree with but the premise is an interesting one.

 

The reason this gets 2 stars from me is that it is pretty difficult to read. I base my ratings on how much I enjoyed reading the book and although I found it mentally stimulating I can't say that I enjoyed it.

 

2/5 (It was OK).

[vodkafan]

Sounds interesting Brian I am tempted myself now..(to read the book not take the drug)

[Brian.]

Understand Existentialism by Mel Thompson & Nigel Rodgers

 

Synopsis

Understanding Existentialism breaks down this complex mode of thought into more manageable sections, enabling learners to get to grips with the key concepts within the movement. Readers learn about the significant thinkers such as Sartre and De Beauvoir to Beckett and Camus. For both newcomers and experienced students alike, this book enhances their understanding of a philosophy designed to give meaning and direction amongst the uncertainties of modern life.

(taken from goodreads)

 

 

My Thoughts

This is another one of my random library finds. I had no intention on borrowing a book on philosophy but when I picked this up I realised that I had no idea was existentialism actually is. I have read one book in the 'Teach Yourself' range before and I found that easy to read so I decided to give this subject a go.

 

The book is laid out in about 10 chapters which cover an introduction to the topic, the key ideas behind it and finally ending with the key players involved in existentialism. There are loads of references to the literature and art involved in the movement along with plenty of quotes. There is a little repetition along the way but it feels like its important rather than needless.

 

I really enjoyed reading this book despite the rather heavy subject matter, its pretty easy to read. Occasionally with difficult subjects I feel as though I am being left behind a bit but I never really experienced that emotion reading this book. I can't claim that I understood and absorbed everything but I do feel as though I have a much better grasp of existentialism than I had before. Another thing which I really liked is that no previous knowledge of philosophy is assumed and famous quotes are broken down and explored.

 

I now look forward to reading some Satre and Camus for the first time as I know more about the subjects covered in their books. I also feel that I now have an even better appreciation of Crime & Punishment by Dostoyevsky.

 

If you are someone who would like a better understand of existentialism then I heartily recommend this book.

 

4/5 (I really liked it).

Edited September 1, 2013 by Brian.

[Brian.]

Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro

 

Synopsis

In a sublime story cycle, Kazuo Ishiguro explores ideas of love, music and the passing of time. From the piazzas of Italy to the Malvern Hills, a London flat to the 'hush-hush floor' of an exclusive Hollywood hotel, the characters we encounter range from young dreamers to cafe musicians to faded stars, all of them at some moment of reckoning. Gentle, intimate and witty, this quintet is marked by a haunting theme: the struggle to keep alive a sense of life's romance, even as one gets older, relationships flounder and youthful hopes recede.

(taken from goodreads)

My Thoughts

Another one of my whimsical library selections. I chose this book based on the blurb and the author. Before reading this I hadn't read any of Ishiguro's work even though I have two of his books on my TBR.

 

This is a collection of 5 stories which are all tied together by music. Each one covers a relationship between two or three people and how as time changes so does our relationships. The writing is fairly sparse and light which makes this book easy to read.

 

I found parts of the stories to be beautifully written but for me these were few and far between. For some reason the stories left me feeling a little flat and I was glad to finish the book. I've not given up on Ishiguro as reviews for this book seem to be a little mixed.
 

2/5 (It was OK).

 

[chesilbeach]

I read Nocturnes a while back, and I didn't think much of it either.  I felt that the stories were unfulfilled novels rather than short stories, and I think the only one I enjoyed (although it was still flawed) was the one set in Venice.  I have read another of his novels, and thought the writing was much better, but it was the story was quite sterile and clinical, leaving me a bit removed from it.

[Brian.]

I read Nocturnes a while back, and I didn't think much of it either.  I felt that the stories were unfulfilled novels rather than short stories, and I think the only one I enjoyed (although it was still flawed) was the one set in Venice.  I have read another of his novels, and thought the writing was much better, but it was the story was quite sterile and clinical, leaving me a bit removed from it.

 

I think the majority of other reviews I read mentioned the same feelings chesil.

 

 

On a slightly different note. I was going through some stuff on Goodreads and  I have read 63 books so far this year compared to 58 for all of last year. However I have read nearly 4000 pages less, I suspected I had been reading more novellas this year compared with last year but I had no idea the page count would be so different.

[frankie]

Yes you do. You know that he spoke at Rory Gilmore's Yale graduation and that (I think) Richard thought he was a bore.

 

Well let's just say that's secondhand information, from fictional character(s)

 

 

The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway

 

This sounds pretty great, I have to add this to my wishlist. Thanks for the review!

 

The book is loosely based around the real life event of a cellist playing regularly in the rubble of destroyed buildings during the siege of Sarajevo. Although he is the focal point of the book the cellist actually doesn't feature all that often and is used to link the three other characters.

 

Wow. The courage, the humanity. Like the cellists on Titanic.

 

 

The Doors of Perception/Heaven and Hell

 

Such a shame you didn't really enjoy the book. A few people have recommended this to me, but I have to say they are ones whose reading tastes I know nothing about I think I have this on my wishlist but I'm not that keen anymore...

[Brian.]

Such a shame you didn't really enjoy the book. A few people have recommended this to me, but I have to say they are ones whose reading tastes I know nothing about I think I have this on my wishlist but I'm not that keen anymore...

 

You are right, it is a shame, particularly because I wanted to like it so much more than I did. I still have the Terence McKenna book Food of the Gods on my wishlist so hopefully that is a better book than Doors was.

 

I'm about halfway through The Leopard by Jo Nesbo and I'm loving it so far.

Edited September 9, 2013 by Brian.

[Athena]

On a slightly different note. I was going through some stuff on Goodreads and  I have read 63 books so far this year compared to 58 for all of last year. However I have read nearly 4000 pages less, I suspected I had been reading more novellas this year compared with last year but I had no idea the page count would be so different.

x

That's pretty interesting to know!

 

I didn't know you could see pages stats. I didn't begin recording my progress until June last year. So far (January - August) I've read twice the amount of books as last year June-December). I've also read a lot more pages but the difference is less. I've also read more short(er) books.