Monday, February 20, 2017

Tools of Titans, by Tim Ferriss

The full title of this book is, "Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers." Mr. Ferriss hosts a very popular podcast and this is an edited and annotated collection of interview comments from his successful guests.

On the plus side, there are tons of interesting thoughts to be found.
On the negative, if someone reads this with the expectation of finding a formula to help them succeed, they're in for a tough time. Not because there aren't great ideas and solid advice, but because there's too much.

Probably better indexing would help the reader seeking an "answer."
The happy reader will either enjoy all the comments from Mr. Ferriss' very interesting guests, or if they are pursuing a self-improvement goal, will pick and choose a crisp clear path, and be willing to leave many great ideas on the side lest they be a distraction.

As for me, I don't want self-help advice. I don't seek out entrepreneurial ideas. But I really enjoy reading this stuff and looking for leads to new ideas or practices, and cool twitter feeds or web sites that I've not heard of. So for me, this was a very enjoyable read.


Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Any Minute Now, by Eric van Lustbader

This promised to be a spy novel, but had traces of voodoo or other un-named para-normal ideas running through it. It was also confusing, in that many of the characters seemed to show up inadequately defined. The plot was heavy on conspiracy and coincidence. Our hero, Whitman, was interesting enough though. The book was okay, although I understand why fans of the author's previous novels would be disappointed by it and its departure from his more normative narrative style and themes.