There are many book lovers in the world. I am one. I am not enthused about book clubs that need us to read the same book at the same time. Why? There are just so many genres to read about, each book reading pattern is as unique as the readers’ fingerprints. Just like friends, if you pay attention and don’t transport your memory of their younger days to their present days, the friends change subtly over time too. Those changes are often reflected by the kinds of books they are reading.
Just like good friends, good books don’t go away. May you find one or two, from the following reviews, that you are interested in reading right away. For all the others, I hope it is not whether you will read them, but when you will read them.
The Worth of Water
By Gary White and Matt Damon
We are in a world with abundance that is so unevenly distributed. We can all relate to what life is like to spend hours every morning to get buckets of murky water to survive.
This is a book that gives concrete paths to solve the water and sanitation problem.
- Supporting microloans, a sustainable market-based approach, can help hundreds of millions to tap into existing water infrastructure to give them water, and allow them to use the time to go to school or to earn more income.
- Supporting resourceful teams to help utilities improve operations and find more paying customers to keep investing in better infrastructures in urban areas.
- Supporting Governments, wealthy nations and NGOs can reach the poorest , most rural regions.
Check out the book or the water.org. It feels immoral to do nothing for the billions who happen to be born somewhere without water and sanitation.
Night Train to Lisbon
By Pascal Mercier
Raimund Gregorious teaches classical languages at a Swiss school. Everyday is the same routine, down to the minute until one day. On his way to school, he saved a beautiful woman, who was about to jump off a bridge. This one day, he questions his life and leads him to an extraordinary book about an extraordinary person, Amadeu De Prado, in Portugal. He boards the last train to Lisbon. His adventure turns into unbelievable discoveries of deep human connections as he retraces the life of Amadeu, his families, his loved ones, and his comrades.
Life is not what we live, but what we imagine living. At times dreamlike, at times unreal, this is a book that stirs your mind to reveal something new to yourself.
In Limbo
By Deb JJ Lee
For those who have immigration experience, over time, they recognize that immigration is a multi-generational journey not an event. It is an experience that sends a person, the families and future generations to an alternate universe where the new universe offers contrasts in family values, morals and cultures.
Beautifully narrated and illustrated, this book shares the journey of a first generation Korean American how she copes with the challenges of family relationship, identity uncertainty, loneliness and friendship.
Many first generation Asian American will resonate with the growing up of the protagonist Deb. It is a good read for both their parents and them to appreciate the multi-generational implications of the migration.
Poor Charlie’s Almanack
By Peter D. Kaufman
Charlie Munger is almost 100. He died a few months ago. His wisdom, humor and fatherly advice have lived on in his speech and his book. He said “acquisition of wisdom is a moral duty”.
His commencement speech to the USC Law Graduates, to advise them on a good life, particularly resonated. His speech is full of gold and offers values for anyone. Here are some of his worldly wisdom.
- The safest way to get what you want is to try to deserve what you want. You want to deliver to the world what you want to buy if you were on the other side. It is a golden rule.
- Be a learning machine. Develop a multi-disciplinary knowledge in important domains: business, psychology, math and history.
- Hard work and strong work ethics are essential. As obvious as it is, we often forget it when things are not going well.
Mr. Munger continues to advise us in this universe even though he has moved on to another universe. Hope you will not miss the advice.
Influence
By Robert B. Cialdini
The abundance of knowledge and information overload overwhelm the smartest of all. This is an era of short cuts to influence decision making. It is a world where relationship building could get you further than the traditional intellectual and emotional intelligence. First published in 1984, the latest edition in 2021 continues to capture the psychology of persuasion.
If you are a compliance professional to influence others or you are someone who doesn’t want to be tricked by these psychological shortcuts, this book makes an important book to read.
For shortcuts to the book, the seven shortcuts include “reciprocation”, “liking”, “social proof”, “authority”, “scarcity”, “commitment and consistency”, “unity”. Or you can ask the large language model, chatGPT, Gemini and the like, to give you a summary to decide where to deep dive into.
You may also be intrigued by the author on the importance of preventing the abuses or misuses of these shortcuts, so as to keep the shortcuts working effectively for the majority.
The autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
By Benjamin Franklin
You may be familiar with Mr. Benjamin Franklin as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, a drafter and signer of the Declaration of Independence. I discovered so much more of his impact on my daily lives after reading his autobiography.
Written by Mr. Benjamin Franklin from 1771 to 1790, this unfinished account of his own life remained relevant if not more relevant with the US state of affairs.
The first set of notes is a letter that started with “Dear Son”, where Mr. Franklin talked about his lifes, his younger days, the lessons learned, the business and the errors he has made. The discourse is candid and particularly touching to share life lessons from father to son.
The second set of notes was written a few years later. It listed out the 12 moral virtues + humility. Mr. Franklin created a “spreadsheet” to practice the virtues and tracked his progress. He had expected to acquire the habit of one virtue each week, and ended up taking a year to cycle through the 13 virtues. His design and rigorous progress tracking on virtues are amazing to read and to practice.
The last set of notes illustrated his printer business and his public services. His setup of public libraries, his establishment around the concepts of firefighting and military has impacted all of us living in the United States. His kite experiment, to demonstrate the connection of lightning and electricity, once again reminded us the importance of multidisciplinary knowledge to better understand the world.
It is a book to read, also a book to read multiple times.
Every single day we are missing the people, the places and the events around us. Being in Silicon Valley for decades, I have the illusion I know about the area, until it becomes obvious that there are so many new discoveries waiting. In his unique lens, the author 鱸魚 shares absolutely delightful anecdotes that transport me to a more beautiful, more diverse, more humane Silicon Valley beyond the technology, the tech start-up, the magnificent seven and the venture capitalists.
His message will stay with me for a long time – Silicon Valley is a colorful puzzle that provides spaces for everyone to participate and there is such a broad spectrum of possibilities for everyone to have a role in it. Such contrasts make up a beautiful landscape.
This is a book for everyone to relate to Silicon Valley, including those who are too busy to notice the stories, and those who live far away.
I am enchanted by the author and his Silicon Valley stories. I subscribe to his blog and can’t wait to read his new book 我失敗的美式生活 (I fail in living the American life).
oliviatamccue 