Category: review

Categories
review

The Four Hour Chef

I’ve finished another of the books that I’m trying to read in 2015. I think that I’ve shared posts and things from Tim Ferriss before, but this is probably the first time that I’ve written anything about any of his books. The Four Hour Workweek and The Four Hour Body are both interesting because of the underlying philosophy that is at work in both: strip things back to the bare essentials and focus on what is effective.

The Four Hour Chef is a step further; despite the title and the focus on cooking, it’s really a meta-guide to what is going on in Tim’s previous two books and to an effective learning process in general. It’s showcasing a very considered set of examples in to how to do things well, how to become an expert. In the book, cooking is the mechanism for exploring this, but there is a lot of examples of skill- and expertise-building in other settings too. I found it quite an inspiring read. There was a lot of neat stuff that I learned that will help me in the kitchen (practice makes perfect of course!) but also the approach to learning that is covered in the first section was helpful too.

Continue reading “The Four Hour Chef”
Categories
review

Book Review: Poke The Box

A few weeks ago I was sick. I had to take time off, pause and not really do much of anything. This is really hard when you’re in a house with a toddler. It’s one thing if you’re in the office and they’re in another room playing with your wife; quite another if you’re trying not to move too much in case you feel sick again, and they’re bouncing up to you asking to watch Frozen for the third time that day.

Being ill also coincided with feeling a little down. I don’t know why, but whenever I have to make decisions about the “what next?” for my business I feel a little down. I correlate it with thoughts of “but what if this isn’t a good idea?” and the doubts of “what if this really backfires or doesn’t go anywhere?” I was thinking about the coming academic year (which is out of sync with the business year by about six months, so it always feels a little odd when planning) and what new things I might do, when might I find time to write the next books and what shall I do about the projects on the back burner…

Doing all of this when feeling sick is not a good idea.

My wife, thankfully, suggested that I read an inspiring book to help find my mojo again, and after only a second’s pause I reached for my Kindle, curled up on the couch a bit more and started re-reading Poke The Box by Seth Godin.

Continue reading “Book Review: Poke The Box”
Categories
review

Another book down

I’ve been away for a week! I don’t want to boast and brag or anything, and I’m straight back to work this week. But it’s important for me to keep tracking my goal of reading ten books from my bookshelf in 2015.

The latest book that I’ve finished is Cosmos by Carl Sagan. This book has been on my to-read list and on my bookcase ever since I started watching some YouTube videos aimed at sharing his work and inspiring others. Sagan had a wonderful way of describing the universe, of laying out the way the cosmos is and how amazing it all is. I started reading this book about eighteen months ago when my daughter was born. I would hold her in one arm and read to her, but because there was so much going on around then it returned to the bookcase in favour of sleep.

I can whole-heartedly recommend this book. It will make you appreciate just how marvellous the world and the universe is, and how life is a wonderful, amazing thing.

Four books down, six to go on my list…

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Categories
review

The Reading List 2015, Update 1

In January I shared that one of my goals for this year was to read some of the books that I have bought or have been bought in recent years, but have yet to get around to reading. I tried this the year before, but it never worked because – surprise, surprise – I didn’t make the goal concrete enough. This year, I had to do something different, so like it says in the previous post I made a list of ten books that I would read in 2015. They wouldn’t be the only books I’d read this year, but they would be some which I had to read.

So far I’ve read three and started a fourth:

  • What If? – a great book which applies science and creative thinking to wonderfully strange questions. One of my favourite passages is in the introduction, where Randall Munroe says “…it turns out that trying to answer a thoroughly stupid question can take you to some pretty interesting places.“
  • The Upside of Irrationality – a book which I both loved and hated. One of the things I really liked was how inventive some of the experiments were, the lengths that the experimenters would go to in order to test or measure a behaviour. At times though, I was a little frustrated by some similar sorts of experiments. Still worth a read.
  • The Ocean At The End Of The Lane – the only fiction book on the list, and a great little story. I read it pretty much in one go on a single train journey (and a cafe stop when I got off the train). If you like the fantastical and scary fairy tales for grown-ups then this might be your cup of tea.

I’ve started reading Playing At The World which looks at the history of role-playing games. I need to take my time with it though; it’s hyper-detailed, a serious academic work and not just a pop cultural story. I also started reading Serious Play, but I think when I bought it I may have mistaken it for another book, so I’m going to take another look soon. It may be that I replace it with another book off my oh-my-gosh-how-many-unread-books-do-I-own-pile.

I like reading for pleasure, but I also like to be inspired. Each of these books has inspired me in some way already, and the ideas form part of the mosaic of thoughts I put out in my work. It’ll be interesting to see how the other books impact.

What have you been reading lately?

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

Categories
review

Nathan Reads: How To Tame Your PhD

The Short Version

“How To Tame Your PhD” is the must-own, must-read, ultra-helpful book for PhD students of any and every discipline. Filled with information and insights related to the heart of a postgraduate researcher’s journey, Inger Mewburn has created a how-to guide that I whole-heartedly recommend – in case I wasn’t being clear about how I feel already!

Now, read on for the longer review!

Continue reading “Nathan Reads: How To Tame Your PhD”
Categories
review

Nathan Reads: The Path Of A Doer

I was first introduced to “The Path Of A Doer” (David Hieatt with illustrations by Andy Smith) by Paul Spencer (who blogs fairly often over at The Digital Doctorate); Paul was directing a local GRADschool, and used this book in his introductions to emphasise some great attitudes and behaviours for participants. It was inspiring stuff, and so afterwards I tracked it down.

Here’s my review:

It’s brilliant. Only 68 pages long, direct and to the point. Every page has a neat illustration of the point being made. Every page takes you a step further along the path of being a Doer. The book has the subtitle “A simple tale on how to get things done.” It is simple, but powerful. No fluff, no fat – follow the steps and you’ll see results. It doesn’t share a complex system, or answer every question – but it will make a difference.

I don’t think I need to say more: if you want some inspiration, or you want a great little gift for a friend (Christmas is coming!) then pick this up.

Thanks for reading!

Nathan (@DrRyder and @VivaSurvivors)

PS – please take a look at my Patreon campaign for the Viva Survivors Podcast!

Categories
review

Nathan Reads: Gamestorming

Books Books Books

There are some great, helpful books on PhD topics (and vivas too, including my own short ebook on viva preparation, Fail Your Viva!) and about once a month I’ll post a review of a book which I’ve found really valuable, and which I think could be really valuable to PGRs in general.

The first up is “Gamestorming” by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo. This is a book that I have found invaluable in the kind of work that I do, and I think that it is something which can really help people in lots of ways.

Using a Heuristic Ideation Technique, which I saw first in Gamestorming.
Using a Heuristic Ideation Technique, which I saw first in Gamestorming. Picture taken at a workshop on blogging I delivered several years ago.
Continue reading “Nathan Reads: Gamestorming”