https://deanebarker.net https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/let-world-see-you/ So, it’s tough not to like this book, because Sam Acho is an engaging writer and seems like a lovely person. But the book is unfocused, and doesn’t seem to go anywhere. The title (and subtitle) hint… Sat, 30 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/let-world-see-you/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/last-days/ I’ve read two other books in this series, and they’ve been amazing. This one was…less so. It reminded me of The Phantom Menace, which was a Star Wars movie that was more about political maneuvering… Sat, 30 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/last-days/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/basic-christianity/ A bit of a mixed bag. I feel like the book is geared towards people who know what Christianity is, but need to be convinced of it? It’s not the introduction of Christianity to the completely unknowing… Sun, 24 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/basic-christianity/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/sons-wichita/ This is a history of Fred Koch and his sons. Fred started what would become Koch Industries. He had four sons: So, the players are Charles and David, against Frederick and Bill. Their mother, Mary,… Fri, 8 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/sons-wichita/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/last-jihad/ This is a first-rate political/military thriller. Some backstory: Joel Rosenberg wrote five books in the “Last Jihad” series. Someone gave me book #4 – “The Copper Scroll” – and I loved it. So, now… Fri, 8 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/last-jihad/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/just-enough-research/ I did not write a review for this book. Fri, 8 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/just-enough-research/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/open/ This is a compelling auto-biography. It reads fast and stays interesting. Agassi claims to hate tennis. His father groomed him to be a tennis player, and the stories he tells of his childhood border… Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/open/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/copper-scroll/ This is Christian/Conservative spy fiction, if that’s even a thing? It’s perhaps telling that the cover has a praise quote from Rush Limbaugh, and there’s another from Sean Hannity on the inside flap…. Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/copper-scroll/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/1913/ An interesting look at the world in 1913, before the Great War. The book doesn’t mention the looming war, and that’s kind of the point. It goes city-by-city, discussing what was happening in each, on… Fri, 25 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/1913/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/house-gucci/ Fascinating history of the Gucci family and company, from the patriarch and his humble origins as a leatherworker in rural Italy, down through the generations, including the sensational murder which… Sun, 20 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/house-gucci/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/conversion-fanatic/ A solid look at experimentation, but be aware it’s version conversion-focused. You should get this from the title, but the book only cares about one thing: getting people to fill out a form or press a… Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/conversion-fanatic/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/ab-testing/ A good overall discussion of A/B testing. More strategic than tactical – this is a book to convince executives to try experimentation, not for marketers to apply it. (Disclaimer: it was written by the… Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/ab-testing/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/walking-bible/ I’m not rating this one because I quit about halfway through. What bothers me is that I don’t know why I didn’t like it. I am very interested in the subject matter. This should absolutely be a book I… Sun, 13 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/walking-bible/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/tyranny-metrics/ An excellent look at how metrics can be used poorly to justify bad policies. Either we measure the wrong thing, measure it the wrong way, or – more often than not – game the measurement system so that… Sun, 13 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/tyranny-metrics/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/storyteller/ I liked this book because it’s obvious Dave Grohl wrote it. It clearly wasn’t ghost-written, because the writing can be a little cliched and breathless sometimes, and there’s an authenticity to that…. Sun, 13 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/storyteller/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/sea-we-swim-in/ A lovely analysis of why stories matter so much to us. The book dissects the concept of “story” into these areas: The author provides lots of examples of each, from both the creative arts and the… Sun, 13 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/sea-we-swim-in/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/is-this-anything/ Here’s the thing to understand: this is 400 pages of Seinfeld’s standup. That’s it. It’s very little more than this. I thought this was an examination of Jerry’s creative process. It’s not at all…. Sun, 13 Mar 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/is-this-anything/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/row-daily-breathe-deeper-live-better/ I don’t know what to make of this book. Someone on the Internet recommended it. The point is this: you should row on a rowing machine every single day. The entire book seems to be devoted to… Wed, 26 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/row-daily-breathe-deeper-live-better/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/uncommon-type/ A lovely little book of short stories by Tom Hanks. The hook is that every story “features” a typewriter in some way (in quotes, because some appearances are brief – Hanks apparently collects old… Tue, 25 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/uncommon-type/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/making-sense-science/ A solid look at how science works, and how the media and the public interpret it. The book can get depressing. Science is not exact. It’s vague, and sometimes not reproducible, and complicated to… Tue, 25 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/making-sense-science/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/knowledge-graph-cookbook/ An eclectic introduction to the idea of a knowledge graph. My only gripe is that you have to wait until about halfway through the book to figure out what a knowledge graph is, in specific nuts and… Mon, 24 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/knowledge-graph-cookbook/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/world-travel/ I miss Anthony Bourdain. I miss his voiceovers. He was such a great writer when he was writing for himself to speak. This book is useless to me, but I still loved it. It’s ostensibly a travel guide…. Tue, 18 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/world-travel/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/soldiers-reason/ The book is what it claims to be: a comprehensive history of RAND. The problem is that it’s just not that interesting? RAND (short for “Research and Development”) is a company created by the U.S. Air… Thu, 6 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/soldiers-reason/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/vanderbilt/ Enormously entertaining history of the Vanderbilt family by CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who was a Vanderbilt on his mother’s side. Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt was a self-made man. He started ferrying… Tue, 4 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/vanderbilt/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/king-content/ This is the messy story of the tail end of Sumner Redstone’s life and the struggle for control of his companies: National Amusements, and, by acquisition, Viacom and Paramount. And it really is the… Tue, 4 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/king-content/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/brief-history-time/ Okay, let’s get this out of the way: I didn’t understand 90% of this book. And I don’t think most other people will either. My question is this: can you not understand a book, but still get something… Thu, 30 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/brief-history-time/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/knowledge/ I literally picked up this book because I’ve always been intrigued by The Knowledge, which is the test of city geography that London’s black cab drivers have to pass before they get licensed. It’s… Mon, 27 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/knowledge/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/beginning-ethereum-smart-contracts/ On the plus side, this book had a good explanation of blockchain in the beginning. It also explains the basics of Smart Contracts. But it’s essentially a user manual for a bunch of software tools. A… Mon, 27 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/beginning-ethereum-smart-contracts/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/white-trash/ This is the story of class in America. Specifically the “lower” class. In contrast to the Utopian image of Colonial America, the early years of the country were marked with extreme poverty. Before the… Sat, 25 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/white-trash/ https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/silent-night/ I loved the idea of this book, but the reality was a mess. The problem with documenting the Christmas Truce (an actual event) is that it’s told largely in legend. It was impromptu and distributed – it… Sat, 18 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000 https://deanebarker.net/reading/reviews/silent-night/