While this definitely late, *sigh* I’m planning on being more active in this regard on posting to get a little more out there and help others.
The way this is organized is for each book I’ve read I’ll provide a brief statement on the story and have the link with the books information.
*DISCLAIMER* The thoughts and opinions provided by me in this blog are of my own and do not reflect any opinions of my employers **
The Afghanistan Papers – Craig Whitlock
Reading this book was like taking a trip inside memory lane not because of the service that I’ve completed but rather the entire narrative that was applied to the war and portrayed outright by most organizations or sentiment. Known now as the longest war this book explores the FOIA request on documentation on a organization that was created known as “SIGAR” stands for Special Investigator General Afghanistan Relations. Essentially the premises of this book explores various interviews that were collected out of public view from war commanders that regularly updated the pentagon and congress on war efforts. While the public was not privy to this knowledge until this FOIA request, Craig provides extensive research and citations of various instances of public display of an alternative narrative provided. It’s been well known the efforts in Afghanistan were becoming a stale mate and to no surprise behind the scenes it was well known but hidden from the public.
2. Ultra Learning by Scott Young
While I’m sure some of you reading this review might roll your eyes “another self help book?” and while that might have some truth in context its much more. At least in my opinion this book is life changing because it provides various techniques, perspectives, and experiences that are relevant to learning any subject. If you’ve wondered why do you struggle with a subject or learning a vast amount of information in a short time this could be the book for you. I’ve come across this through a LI comment that recommended it and did a search and audiobooked it on Audible and by far it was great. Like any tasks or endeavor while it seems daunting this breaks down how Scott essentially finished a MIT CS Degree via MOOC courses publicly available to understand computer science without going back to school in a matter of a short time span. If I remember correctly it was about a year and that was cramming a traditional four year degree, while this sounded a little outlandish he further explained his methods and even blogged on the experience how he did it. This wasn’t just a book on his learning and mastering but rather a introspective understanding of learning and the ability to accelerate this process to outsmart your competition. I can’t recommend this book enough if you find yourself currently in a rut.
Source to purchase this book
3. Going Clear
Lawrence Wright provides a stunning story about the religion defined as “Scientology” I have to admit that at first I was hesitant on taking on this book. Why? Well like many I’m sure most have heard the term “Scientologist” but I didn’t really dive deep into the subject because everyone has their beliefs. Its hard to ignore the bad publicity you can see on Scientology so I wanted to understand the origins and this book explains the transcendence of the founder L. Ron Hubbard. While the live of this person is pivotal on the creation of Scientology in the early days it eventually changed leadership to David Miscavige in present day. This book talks about the “Sea Org” and accounts on stories of the traveling of various members of the “Sea Org” and some unfavorable fortunes for the participants but nonetheless this is ripe with stories that will keep you reading page after page. Lawrence Wright has been featured on many media outlets but notably what led me on to this as well is this HBO Documentary of this book. Essentially Scientology challenges the governments IRS department to get clarification on “Religious Tax Exemption” which allows it to operate with tax exemption further solidifying its outside appearance. However, from stories of defectors and ex-scientologists it appears this is ran more like a business entity with numerous participants putting in large sums of money to move up a hierarchy of status only to reach this level and continue to invest large sums for more “training”.
https://www.amazon.com/Going-Clear-Lawrence-Wright-audiobook/dp/B00AYLFLCM/ref=sr_1_1?crid=230BFRQTF52RY&keywords=going+clear+hbo&qid=1649527015&s=audible&sprefix=going+clear+hbo%2Caudible%2C242&sr=1-1
4. Red Roulette
Red Roulette dives into the story of Desmond Shum who is living in exile tells a riveting story of the start of China’s push into the new economy in the late 1990s and into the 2000s. While China was isolated historically from the global markets the rush of emergence in entrepreneurs and business enterprise coupled with looser laws allowed some to prosper. Especially for Desmond his wife detailed relationship throughout the book by the name of Whitney was able to connect Desmond to powerful political families in the Chinese government. At the time business was mostly dominated by males in this region but Whitney was able to break through barriers and with Desmond. Notably this story is a inside look into the vast thin ice that many prominent figures in China operate in as his spouse has been “disappeared for years” and surprisingly showed up in the media once this book was released. If you’d like a chilling story on rising from being impoverished to power and then out of favor this is the book for you.
5. Green Lights – Matthew McConaughey
Greenlights
Green lights is an enlightening journey of journal entries throughout Matthew's life and classifies his wins as "Green Lights". Recommend this book on the understanding of reflection but to understand the journey we all encounter in life with many useful reflections that are relatable.
6. Alexander the Great – Phillip Freeman
Alexander the Great was one of my favorite historical characters that I’ve come across, throughout high school. I figured it was time to invest some time to understand more about his story and have been also considering reading more on other figures out of interest. This book does a great job of showing the origin of Alexander and the fight against Xerxes. Macedonia where Alexander spends a large portion of his childhood enthralls him as he springs to power of the Macedonia army that would use military tactics unknown to the enemy at the time. He was known for being a formidable military leader with agile tactics that would overcome numerous battles, but this story goes into the background of his uprising to learn how he saw the battlefield.
7. I Alone Can Fix It – Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker
I’m always trying to stay current on books that relate to events especially by New York Times. This book examines the final year of the presidency of former president and provides perspective on conversations and interviews throughout the year as events unfolded. Obviously the elephant in the room would be how the pandemic rocked the world with the turbulence of events that shook every country in the world. Carol and Philips focus in this book were the handling of events from the outside how it was portrayed versus what was gathered internally and with some sources not on the record or anonymous its a very insightful look into the staff and general decorum of the staff internally.
8. El Narco: Inside Mexico’s Criminal Insurgency – Ioan Grillo
Ioan Grillo a phenomenal author that dives into the region of Mexico from an outsider perspective to understand what was driving crime rates that substantially rises throughout the mid 2000s in Mexico. Ioan describes that “El Narco” isn’t to signal that a group was responsible for this rise but rather a force and movement that was happening. Ioan steps into the history of the region and how this movement has evolved from decades of previous involvement to now a more para-militaristic response a insightful read.
9. Billion Dollar Loser – Reeves Wiedeman
It would be hard to exist in 2022 without hearing about the company “WeWork” well maybe that’s because major buildings in cities have this word on the buildings and at first I couldn’t grasp the concept. This was prior to covid when workspaces were being leased and re-imagined as more interactive with beer taps, kombucha, and nitro brew coffee along with games throughout the workspaces to create more openings. While I was unable to see any wework spaces this book provided the rise and fall of WeWork but rather the fall of Adam Neumann who was characterized as a charismatic entrepreneur and was publicly hailed as a “unicorn” startup. Unfortunately the company filed a S-1 statement with the SEC and was rife with losses that made it untenable for investment brokers to move forward.
10. The Body Keeps the Score – Bessel van der Kolk M. D.
A incredible book that explores the power of healing and how the paradigm of neurofeedback and meditation are not just essential but pivotal in treatments for putting the neuroplasticity in activation. This isn’t just a self help book on techniques but rather the power of relationships to heal and how it can offer new hope. Its an unforeseen issue on trauma but it effects major swaths of populations around the world and this doctors insights provide the foundation of recovery. From the Amazon description “One in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence.” This not only opened my eyes but piqued my interest to understand the thesis of this book you won’t be disappointed.