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review

The Four Hour Chef

I’ve finished another of theĀ 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.

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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)

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Books in 2015: A Goal

2015Books

For someone who loves reading, I make a lot of excuses for not getting around to books. “I didn’t have time yet.” “My Kindle was out of power.” “I got it in print but it’s massive.”

Well no more! My plan is not to limit myself to the ten books in the photograph during 2015, but I plan to make sure that I do read these books in 2015. Here’s the books and they whys: