Review: Small Fry

Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I reviewed Walter Isaacson’s book on Steve Jobs, I noted how Jobs came across as petty and manipulative, and in my review I said that I was glad I never worked for him. After reading “Small Fry” I am doubly glad I was not in his family. At times, you feel you are reading a real life Cinderella story, but without a prince to change the world. The mindset of the author seems too forgiving, though. I can buy that, despite the obvious business intelligence, Jobs was truly, as Trump might say, a bad hombre when it came to dealing with people. He seems to operate on a different plane, seeming much like the narrator in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Breakfast of Champions”. That dichotomy, between Jobs heinous way of treating people, and his daughter’s relatively steady and low-emotion description of her life with her father, is intriguing. I checked my Facebook feed during the time I was reading this, and a friend posted a quote attributed to Steve Jobs, which was actually Apple’s advertisement copy that starts “Here’s to the crazy ones”. It implies that crazy geniuses should be forgiven for the craziness while celebrating the genius. After reading his daughters book, this made me cringe.

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Review: Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet

Taming the Sun: Innovations to Harness Solar Energy and Power the Planet by Varun Sivaram
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was pleasantly surprised by the width of topics covered in this book. It isn’t aimed at individual home owners, but describes the technology and its use at a high level. I found the discussion on the economics of solar in comparison with other energy sources, and the outcome that wasn’t black or white, but gray, was refreshing. The author explains how solar works well with other sources of energy filling in when the sun’s down. Obvious, yes, but it leads to conclusions that aren’t always talked about when talking about solar. The author also provides some background into the march of solar technology into more efficient materials and more usable substrates on which those materials can be used as a coating. I haven’t kept up with the solar industry in decades, so this was a good update.

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Review: Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design

Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design by Charles Montgomery
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I remember decades ago I read William Whyte’s book on, among other topics, urban design. The book was called “City”. “Happy City” seems to be cut from similar cloth. A difference, though perhaps only in my selective long-term memory, was that Whyte’s book had a lot of observations tied to corporations’ benefits brought about by the designed and built environment. “Happy City” covers very similar topics, but from the built environment’s impact on individuals. And I recall that “City” was quite 1950s boosterish on urban planning, “Happy City” carries more of the environmental mindset you’d expect nowadays. At times, this becomes like one of the many pop science books on happiness, describing the research on how different situations regarding the built environment and transportation impact emotions. I enjoyed the topics covered, although I did find parts repetitive.

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Review: Come with Me

Come with Me by Helen Schulman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In the end this was a standard family drama. There are a lot out there, so why pick this one? I was intrigued by the blurbs on the book identifying this as strong on location and employment, focusing on the families of Silicon Valley. What was different about those living in the tech bubble? I suspected a good story. In addition, there seemed to be a bit of a sci-fi angle here. Having enjoyed some books recently that sounded in a similar vein I tackled this one. I enjoyed the story to a point, and I enjoyed the characters, though none could be thought of as all positive. What disappointed me was the technology aspect of the story. The author positioned a technology that forecast alternative life paths given details of the history of a person. There isn’t an attempt to explain this technology, and it receives very little play in the story. In fact, the technology aspect could have been replaced completely with, say a fortune teller to the same effect. It’s magical realism, with software as the delivery mechanism. The problem is the magical software angle was too far out given the expectations of the sci-fi label on the book. The book begs for something a bit more believable, and a bit more part of the story. But given this is mostly a drama, I’d consider this on the whole ok.

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Review: Own Your Future: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur and Thrive in an Unpredictable Economy

Own Your Future: How to Think Like an Entrepreneur and Thrive in an Unpredictable Economy by Paul B. Brown
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book starts with the belief that the best way to get ahead in your career is to apply entrepreneurial skills, either within your job working for someone else, or running your own business. The book then gets a bit repetitive, covering typical career advice mixed in with describing a process for creating new businesses. The combination of those two facets of work is interesting, but as both are very well covered in other books, you look for things that really stick out. I didn't find anything incredibly unique here. I did enjoy the author's personality in the text, and would consider reading others by him on a more specific topic.

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Review: The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness

The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life, and Achieve Real Happiness by Ichiro Kishimi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nice introduction to Adlerian psychology. The format, a Socratic dialog/debate, lent itself to building a broad base of understanding while allowing some topics to have deeper discussion. Having no prior knowledge of Adler’s thinking, I found this very interesting, and worthy of further investigation. I found the fiction of the discussion, much like Goldratt’s “The Goal”, was not great literature, but succeeded in getting the story across in a readable way. The young questioner was annoying, but not unlike others I have known.

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Review: Financially Forward: How to Hack Your Wallet in the Digital Age

Financially Forward: How to Hack Your Wallet in the Digital Age by Alexa Von Tobel
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked this up because it looked like it covered interesting topics, was by someone I had heard of, was short, and was showcased at our local Barnes and Noble. This promised to analyze the current crop of fintech tools. Since I use some of these tools, and I’m always looking for better, this was promising. After reading this, I was a bit underwhelmed. This book meanders all over the place within personal finance. There are basic definitions, some intro to planning, trends in personal finance, pointers on raising financially aware children, and the future of blockchain. Having read quite a few personal finance books, I found that this wasn’t really written for me. I did get something out of it though – the author includes a list of apps and services that are currently available. Some I heard of, some I use. The author also tags the large number of these services where she is an investor. Given she has spread her investments around this arena, you might think this book was written to help “advertise” these services, and there is a feel that this is part of the purpose of the book, given the focus on some of the lesser known highlighted apps. I often don’t appreciate books that are written as advertisements, but given the topic this is interesting and has some value, if only to increase awareness. Probably a better question is whether this book provides value to readers that are new to personal finance and planning. The author covers some of the basics, with advice aimed at the uninitiated, so it probably isn’t a bad book to read early in your learning. So for newbies, not a bad read. For more experienced readers, more of a skim or a skip.

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