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| 2022 Goodreads Challenge |
My initial plan was to read about 18 books, which is a bit more than I manage in a normal year. I wanted to read a mix of fiction and non-fiction, and planned to alternate between one of each. I had a queue already on Goodreads and was all set.
It went well the first two months, but then I came across some non-fiction books that were so exhausting or boring that I gave up on them (I list them below in a separate section).
I also was not happy with other parts of my life, which led me to binge read two easy to read guilty pleasure thriller series. That's the reason I ended up with 54 books read in the year.
One thing I kept from last year is the use of Readwise to retain knowledge from the books. This led me to take highlighting and taking notes much more serious.
This year I'll start with a goal of 24 books, which seems reasonable. But if I learned something over the last few years, then nothing goes according to plan.
Non-Fiction
A quick read about how to structure your work and life for more focus. I didn't agree with a lot of this book. I think it is suited for a certain person who isn't me. The stuff I agree with is the usual: focus on fewer things, remove distractions, and have a life.
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I was seeking a book about hiring and behavioural interviews and this
mostly fit the bill.
It goes into the different stages of hiring: preparation, screening, interviews,
deciding & offering and on-boarding.
I liked the focus on looking for reasons to say “no” through the whole
process.
I would have liked to have more about behavioural interviews, but the section
was at least a good introduction.
The suggested entire interview process with every interviewer repeating the same
questions seems a bit tedious. I am sure the results are great. I wonder what
effect this has on the interviewees.
In general, the book assumes a buyer’s market with the attitude towards the
applicants only switching in the offer phase.
The on-boarding section is short and punchy. This appears to be a bit of an
afterthought.
I heard about this through a podcast interview with the author.
It was still not what I expected, but in a good way.
It is about how we deal with the limited amount of time we have on earth, and about good or bad ways to deal with it.
A lot of it will sound familiar, and he quotes many authors who have written about related topics.
My quick summary would be:
- enjoy everything you do at that moment for what it is
- choose a few things to focus on
- don’t worry about missing out on opportunities, you can’t avoid it anyway
- just don’t worry so much
- everybody is winging it
I think this book could have been a lot shorter, but probably because I am still optimizing for time and sometimes things just take as long as they take.
I
really enjoyed this book, as with many of this kind of books, it is
about a simple idea that most likely could have explained in a few blog
posts.
That being said, the change from carrot/stick management to
something more meaningful is something important, especially in the
knowledge industry.
The book could do with an updated version. A lot of the examples are out of day and feel a bit dusty.
I am now using the framework of autonomy, purpose, and mastery when working with a team, but also when I evaluate my job and motivation.
This is a great book about product management. I have seen many companies falling into the build trap by focusing on delivering more and more features to the users, while not thinking about the outcomes. It also goes into the details of the structure of product organizations, POs vs. PMs and how the product organization relates to the rest of the company.
More product people and leaders should read this.
My Hygge Home: How to Make Home Your Happy Place
I love the idea of Hygge. Creating a home for cosiness and togetherness should be the goal. Balancing this with the real world, with its messiness and pack of dogs that is keen on destroying everything, is another matter.
But occasionally, I have my Hygge moments and I aim to create the environment to have these more often.
A Philosophy of Software Design
We read this in our book club at work. There are many things I like about this book, but also a lot I disagree with. One thing that stuck in mind was his preference for big functions and classes.
Thinking in Systems: A Primer
I didn’t like it as much as I should have. I
can’t put my finger on it, it might just be the writing style.
Even all the references to the environment or general leftism didn’t help!
The chapters I enjoyed most were the zoo and the last two chapters. I guess they were the most practical ones.
Radical Focus: Achieving Your Most Important Goals with Objectives and Key Results
This is basically a brief intro to OKRs. It consists of an explanation, a fable, and some real life examples.
It didn’t tell me anything new, but it is well written, and you get through it in a day.
Given up or paused non-fiction
Who: The A Method for Hiring
I disagreed with most of the premises of this book and gave up about halfway through.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Revised and Updated: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
I think this is probably a great book. Something about the language makes it super hard for me to read. Ideally, I would like an executive summary.
For now, I pause this and come I will come back to it when I feel up to it.