My Book Reviews

  ISBN: 978-1800750937 Verdict: 👍👍 👍   I was drawn to this book after watching Vivek on the American GOP Primary Debates, where I felt he performed very well, so wanted to know more about this ‘America first’ candidate. I was hooked until I got to the last bit and his promotion on views on ‘civic service’ which has both pros and cons. The book is targeted, as one would expect, for an American audience and references US laws and examples  throughout, however the underlying principles are worth of noting.   Some bits from the book that I found interesting;   “Basically, being woke means obsessing about race, gender, and sexual orientation. Maybe climate change too.” – p5 “When companies use their market power to make moral rules, they effectively prevent those other citizens from having the same say in our democracy.” p19.  " Maintaining the appearance of virtue becomes more important than the virtue itself” p156.  “That leads to a classi...

  ISBN: 978-0-349-43146-6 Verdict: 👍 👍   👍   👍   I picked this book up in a charity shop in London’s Portobello Market and after reading it I felt guilty for not paying the full price as this book is definitely great value in terms of both information and advice provided. As you may be aware I judge a book by the number of insights I highlight as I read a book and in this case the book was ruined by my highlights – Thus, I would strongly recommend reading this book.   The core concept of Red Teaming is nothing new, i.e. the role of the devil’s advocate , however what this book promotes is structure and how to provoke as opposed to formal assessments of strategies, plans, assumptions etc. I will not , as my usual pattern, share some quotes from the book as having purchased this at a charity shop I want to encourage others to get a copy and look at it - It will be very much worth it !

  I SBN: 978-0857197689 Verdict :  👍 👍   👍     I really enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it.  The author starts by stating the premise of the book where “ doing well with money has a little to do with how smart you are and a lot to do with how you behave ” which if you really think about it ~ is so true. He then goes on to explain this premise throughout the book. There are some brilliant quotes in the book e.g., Voltaire’s observation that “history never repeats itself, man always does ””. and again my highlighter ✏ was well used.  Below are just a few quotes from this book but there are so many more;  “ There are a million ways to get wealthy, and plenty of books on how to do so. But there’s only one way to stay wealthy: some combination of frugality and paranoia” p57. “Anything that is huge, profitable, famous, or influential is the result of a tail event” p73. “A hyper-connected world means that the talent pool yo...

  I SBN: 978-1-298-7022-6 Verdict :  👍👍   The title is slightly misleading, as it’s not so much ‘let’s talk’ but more let’s get other people’s experiences, views, and reflections then share with the audience - which worked for me , as the author introduces some interesting individuals. The book is a nice read once you get past page 31 . Then on page 33 the author Introduces us to Johann Hari’s book Stolen Focus (which I subsequently bought) and then we had ‘lift off.’ And the book became an enjoyable read. The book is not a self-improvement type book i.e., presenting frameworks or rules but presents  a set of lessons and experiences which were shared by third parties, and I did find myself highlighting some interesting quotes and conversational strategies. Below I list some of the bits I highlighted and who the quotes can be attributed to; P34 [ Johann Hari] - ‘ If you’re interrupted , it takes you on average twenty-three minutes to get back to the same level...

  I SBN: 978-0-8575-0479-1 Verdict :  👍👍   👍 This is one of those books that one must read in full to fully appreciate the whole story, ignoring the constant British tabloid reportage and thus truly understand the subsequent decisions the Prince has been forced to make. In the book the Prince discusses his Mother, his Military career and passion, his grandmother HM the Queen Elizabeth , his relationship with family. A constant theme in the book is the Prince's dislike of the British Media, who  attack him and now his  wife over years and used by the staff to remove bad press from other members of the royal family. Below are some of the snippets I highlighted while reading; P 94 ‘ unlike so many girls I met, she wasn’t visibly fitting herself for a crown the moment she shook my hand’ (re his girlfriend Chelsey who on p 156 who ‘ wasn’t up for a lifetime of being stalked? ’ ) P121 ‘The paps had always be grotesque people’ , ‘more radicalized’,...