Review: Why Do I Feel Like an Imposter?: How to Understand and Cope with Imposter Syndrome

Why Do I Feel Like an Imposter?: How to Understand and Cope with Imposter Syndrome by Sandi Mann
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I switched from a true introvert job, researching new technology for a big company, to being a techie sales person. You betcha I feel like an imposter at times, even after decades, and feeling more so the more there is to learn. I found this book quite interesting, although the focus was not what I expected. A lot of the book focused on the difference between the sexes. According to the book, this is mostly thought of as a woman’s issue, but it impacts quite a few men as well. I found this part of the book, the majority, quite interesting. The book also talks about imposter parenting, which I didn’t find as interesting. So why do I feel like an imposter? One reason could be that some people just don’t like me, and some people just like making others feel bad. This book provides some of the logical arguments to move on from this. Good read, and short.

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Review: A Great Place to Work for All: Better for Business. Better for People. Better for the World.

A Great Place to Work for All: Better for Business. Better for People. Better for the World. by Michael C. Bush
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Diversity and trust, trust and diversity.

The points here all seem to boil down to this. I don't recall much actionable advice beyond common sense, except for involving a consultant.

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Review: Cave of Bones

Cave of Bones by Anne Hillerman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was enjoyable in that you get to visit with some of the Tribal Police from earlier books by Hillerman and her father. But this didn’t have the feel of the earlier books in the series, especially the early Tony Hillerman books. What made the earlier books interesting was the unique characters from the tribal areas, the descriptions of the sparsely populated land, and the plots that greatly borrowed from American Indian traditions. While you get some of the old characters here, they don’t sparkle. The land is well described, but the highlight of this book is lava fields in Winter – not the most cinematic location. The “Indian content” just didn’t seem that interesting here. I had found that the books Anne has written were getting better as she gained experience, but this wasn’t a better one. I already have her next one, and hope it rebounds. I listened to the audiobook version of this, narrated by Christina Delaine. I liked the narration, except for when Officer Manuelitto’s sister calls Chee “Cheeseburger.” She’s being a brat when she calls him that, and the continuing teasing is grating.

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Review: Assault: Thoroughbred Legends

Assault: Thoroughbred Legends by Eva Jolene Boyd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As I work my way through the Thoroughbred Legends series (one left!), I found this one broke the mold, in a good way. Most of these stories are very formulaic, telling the history of the breeder, owner, trainer, and main jockey, and following the horse through its training, races, and breeding, with a heavy dollop of ancestry and progeny name-dropping. When you combine all those elements in what are generally short books, you don’t get very deep into any kind of compelling story. Add on the fact that most of these champion racehorses are owned by old-money families from East of the Mississippi and you find many of these stories feel similar. This one, though, was different. Assault was a horse against the odds. He was small, and damaged one foot when young, enough that he had to run in special shoes throughout his racing life. He was bred by a major Texas rancher, quite unlike most other breeders and owners in this series. And Assault was a bust as a stallion, so the progeny section was quite short. Of all the horses in this series, Assault was likely the one with the fewest races run as the favorite. He was certainly a winning underdog and a great subject for a racing biography. Given this wonderful material to work with, the author weaves a story that holds interest all the way through. Well done.

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Review: Machine Learning

Machine Learning by Ethem Alpaydin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found this a good re-introduction to machine learning. By re-introduction, I’m using my perspective based on experience, having worked in AI and neural nets twenty years back, but keeping up through pop science magazine articles and such since then. For me, I was reminded of many of the methods I knew, and a few I hadn’t heard of. Short. Nice description, just what you want.

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Review: On Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Story of George Orwell’s Masterpiece

On Nineteen Eighty-Four: The Story of George Orwell’s Masterpiece by D.J. Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story of a book like 1984 begins with the story of its author. “On 1984” describes the life of Orwell, from birth to death, including many of the events that shaped his thoughts and writing. Orwell’s biography fills at least a half of this book. The remainder covers some analysis of the book and a history of the book, subsequent films and other media, and its impact on society. I found the author biography to be most interesting, to learn of Orwell’s previous writings and his time in Spain.

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Review: The Cuban Comedy

The Cuban Comedy by Pablo Medina
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s a story that seems to be leaning to becoming a magic realism story but never really gets there. Then it seems to be becoming a romance, but it never really gets there. Then it seems to be a story about the revolution, but it never really gets there. There are bits of humor throughout that kept it interesting, but in the end I didn’t find much memorable.

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