|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
my rating |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.89
| 1,160,989
| 2016
| Sep 13, 2016
|
really liked it
|
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F* - A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson I was relatively late to this book as I read Sarah The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F* - A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson I was relatively late to this book as I read Sarah Knight’s The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*** years ago and thought it was a shame (and maybe misogynist) that Manson’s later-published book sold more copies (probably because of the better-designed cover) without bothering to mention her book. Knight’s book is mostly about setting boundaries, so I assumed this book would be the same. I was mostly wrong. I wanted to put Manson’s book down after the first 10 pages (the Introduction) because it seemed like a childish rant; a juvenile attempt to put the F-word in every sentence. If one makes it through (or skips!) the introduction, the rest is quite readable and a rather serious psychology or self-improvement book (as opposed to self-help, which Manson opposes and tried in the past only to get a lifelong stalker as a result. Perhaps the stalker is just penance for the fact that he used dozens of women, including the future stalker, in dozens of countries for sex in an admitted effort to feel validated for which he expresses some remorse but mainly just for its consequences for him personally, not for the women, p. 45). For me, this book may be one of the most helpful for learning to deal with the difficult people in your home, church, school, and workplace. I have reviewed a few books of that genre, such as Mark Goulston’s Talking to Crazy. It’s a subtle tweak– if someone is bothering me, it’s likely because my values differ from theirs: They don’t give F’s about the same things I do; they give F’s about things I don’t think they should give a F about. My own metric or standard doesn’t apply to them; they’re not me. I must accept the person’s own values as I can’t readily change them, even if I think their values are “crappy” (sic). The anxious, narcissistic, profane, lazy, etc. person who threatens to ruin my day or mood can only do so if I insist on measuring them by my own metric. “We get to control what our problems mean based on how we choose to think about them, the standard by which we choose to measure them” (p. 61). “The solution lies in the acceptance and active engagement of that negative experience—not the avoidance of it, not the salvation from it” (p. 32). “If you want to change how you see your problems, you have to change what you value and/or how you measure failure/success.” (64) Page 60 has a great example of how Manson gets upset with how his brother doesn’t engage in text messaging with him, and through a Five Why exercise he ultimately realizes it’s because he measures their relationship and his success as a brother by how well they remain in phone/text contact, a metric his brother doesn’t care about. Manson does offer his own list of bad or destructive values (using another word), however, suggesting not everything is relative. (S)ome values and metrics are better than others” (p. 66). “(Good values) lead to good problems that are easily and regularly solved. Others lead to bad problems that are not easily and regularly solved.” But this is still subjective. Pleasure, material success, always being right, and staying positive are four he outlines as bad or a “false god.” “Good values are 1) reality-based, 2) socially constructive, and 3) immediate and controllable. Bad values are 1) superstitious, 2) socially destructive, and 3) not immediate or controllable. Honesty is a good value because it’s something you have complete control over, it reflects reality, and it benefits others (even if it’s sometimes unpleasant)(p. 70). My own repeated tendency to value being right all the time drives a lot of how I feel about myself and others. “If your metric for life success is to be right—well, you’re going to have a difficult time rationalizing all of the bull* to yourself” (p. 67). However, I do strive to counter this by showing empathy to others and listening to their perspectives, and trying to learn from my mistakes. I agree that knowledge is the enemy of improvement and “certainty is the enemy of growth” (p. 94). I’ve also come to realize that I have forgotten more than I now know, which also makes me humble about what I may misremember. I read this book after reviewing Ryan Holiday’s Ego is the Enemy, which I highly recommend, and it has some overlapping themes from the Stoics’ practice of keeping death in mind and realizing we’re all going to end up as dust. “(O)nce we become comfortable with the fact of our own death—the root terror, the underlying anxiety motivating all of life’s frivolous ambitions—we can then choose our values more freely, unrestrained by the illogical quest for immortality, and freed from dangerous dogmatic views” (p. 156). “The only way to be comfortable with death is…to choose values that stretch beyond serving yourself, that are simple and immediate and controllable and tolerant of the chaotic world around you. This is the basic root of all happiness” (p. 161). “(T)he knowledge and acceptance of your own mundane existence will actually free you to accomplish what you truly wish to accomplish, without judgment or lofty expectations” (p. 51). It’s also helpful to remember that “Happiness is not a solvable equation” (p. 24). We are always going to have obstacles, tragedies, and people are going to do things to us that make us unhappy. “Nobody else is ever responsible for your situation but you. Many people may be to blame for your unhappiness, but nobody is ever responsible for your unhappiness but you. This is because you always get to choose how you see things, how you react to things, how you value things. You always get to choose the metric by which to measure your experiences” (p. 80). Narrowing your options and rejecting alternatives (ie: making a commitment) instead of chasing so many possibilities and suffering from FOMO is another good piece of advice. Like Sarah Knight’s similarly-named book, there are some thoughts on relationships and the importance of boundaries. “The mark of an unhealthy relationship is two people who try to solve each other’s problems in order to feel good about themselves. Rather, a healthy relationship is when two people solve their own problems in order to feel good about each other… You both should support each other. But only because you choose to support and be supported. Not because you feel obligated or entitled.” (p. 139). “People with strong boundaries understand that they may hurt someone’s feelings sometimes, but ultimately they can’t determine how other people feel…It’s not about giving a F about everything your partner gives a F about; it’s about giving a F about your partner regardless of the Fs he or she gives. That’s unconditional love, baby,” (p. 141). To sum up: “This, in a nutshell, is what “self-improvement” is really about: prioritizing better values, choosing better things to give a F about” (p. 72). Four stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
May 20, 2024
|
Jun 20, 2024
|
Jun 27, 2024
|
Paperback
| |||||||||||||||||
| 1637554052
| 9781637554050
| 1637554052
| 4.31
| 32
| unknown
| Mar 19, 2024
|
really liked it
|
Radical Humility: Be a Badass Leader and a Good Human by Urs König I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley with the expectation, but not Radical Humility: Be a Badass Leader and a Good Human by Urs König I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley with the expectation, but not requirement, that I write a review. The opinion is my own. The book is about how to be soft on people and hard on results. The author has his own life experiences from athletics, business experience and coaching, and the Swiss military. He was most deeply shaped by the example of his father, who evidently was one of the OGs of demonstrating radical humility and is the real inspiration for the book. The author has also done his homework on effective teams and research on humility (the bibliography is about 20% of the book). Empirically, environments that promote transparency and humility from executives, and psychological safety for employees tend to be more productive and have better retention. I gleaned a lot from this book on building cohesive communication within a team and leading when one has authority but not the level of experience or expertise as subordinates. “Leadership is a set of cooperative relationships that maximizes the efforts of others to achieve something bigger and better…more simply, leadership is getting important stuff done through and with other people” (loc. 270-271). I liked that definition of leadership to differentiate it from management. Some aspects of implementing Radical Humility may be off-putting to an introvert. It involves developing “strong personal relationships” with your colleagues, making the worksite more of a family than a job. While studies show that modern workers crave these kinds of connections and it helps improve retention, there are some caveats for me. One quote that the author could have included in the book is one I credit to Andy Stanley: “Trust is the intersection of integrity and competence.” There are a number of Boss es and colleagues who I’ve opened up to on a personal level who then didn’t remember the conversation later; it was repeated. There have been other Boss es who showed great empathy and even inquired about spiritual matters only to be too “hands off” when it came to doing the work, making me question whether the Boss actually cared about anyone or it was just a show. As a U.S. Foreign Service Officer assigned to a two or three year tour in an office with locally-employed (ie: native) staff who work there as a career, it can be challenging to figure out how to lead in such a way that gets results but does not overdrive the office or call for unnecessary stress such as restructuring. The local staff may also have had abusive experiences with previous managers and are wary of being vulnerable. My last two work roles involved managing much of the day-to-day of an office in which I was the backup to the Senior Manager but had no direct reports of my own. In both instances, I spent Day 1 having one-on-ones with the other employees to learn what they liked/disliked about the job and what their challenges and goals were. I found this worked well to build rapport and trust, similar to what Koenig discusses in this book and I further used his data and anecdotes to make this concrete in my leadership style. Like König, I agree of the importance of showing that you’ll not ask a team member to do something you’re not willing to do yourself; to lead by example. “Psychological safety” is a buzzwork I hear more of in my government workplace. A senior Director mentioned it on a call with other managers this year; she explained it and the importance of trying to utilize it amongst staff. I agree with the author that it’s absolutely necessary for people to have the freedom to speak up without fear of backlash or retribution. I appreciate his quoting from Ray Dalio and others, as well as presenting exercises in how to lead an office in developing radical transparency. How many lives would be saved and disasters averted if that were the culture in major corporations? Sadly, I’m quite certain it’s not made its way into the Foreign Service culture. But cultural nuances vary. While Latin American colleagues were very quick to open up about their families, health struggles, and frustrations, I’ve found less enthusiasm initially sharing in Eastern Europe and Asia. In my personal experience learning from the many other American managers in my career, it’s hard to be “tough on results” when you’re friends with colleagues on a deeper level. I had a good manager who cared about people on a personal level, but was never one to hang out after hours or attend activities, making it clear from her past experiences that she could not be “friends” with colleagues whose achievements she rated; it led to conflict and hurt feelings. This aspect goes unexplored in the book. It’s one thing to be able to be a military peacekeeper and give direct orders to your troops, but another when it’s a voluntary job. The real weakness of the book is that the author tries to tackle too much with one swing of the bat. He easily could have three books from the material in the book. It is denser than it needs to be with a bit too many acronyms and lists. There is also a bit of repetition at the end that makes it redundant rather than reinforcing. It’s also one of my pet peeves when an author writing in Chapter 13 refers back to an obscure concept from a previous chapter with a simple “Remember Chapter 2?” I made many highlights, it was all helpful content, but it was a bit much. The authors’ ideas and personal stories deserve to be bestsellers, but bestsellers are more compact and easier to digest. I wouldn’t hesitate to hire him as a coach and I hope that he continues writing (and finding strong editors) so that he improves his presentation. I will sign up for his newsletter 3.5 stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
May 15, 2024
|
Jun 22, 2024
|
Jun 24, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| B002BD2V2Y
| 4.27
| 457,570
| Feb 1942
| May 28, 2009
|
really liked it
|
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis’ works are classics and this particular book was undoubtedly the most-cited book I had never read. I can The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis’ works are classics and this particular book was undoubtedly the most-cited book I had never read. I can't help but wonder at how there’s no longer any room in the marketplace of ideas for a work like this in modern Christianity. It is ironic that this book is still a revered classic taught in Reformed and conservative Bible colleges and seminaries. Anyone writing like Lewis today would undoubtedly be banned as too dangerously imprecise and liberal in his theology and be dissected by the empowered “theo bros” on social media for his evident non-Reformed beliefs that salvation can be lost and that there may be a purgatory. I recalled John Piper’s observation that the divisive discourse on Twitter (especially after the 2016 elections) was “demonic” while reading Screwtape’s advice to Wormwood. As the book has 31 chapters (like the book of Proverbs), my wife and I decided to read it for a nightly devotional. Written 14 years before C.S. Lewis would marry, much of the book relates to the temptations of a single man and his ego, and the subtle demonic work of stoking our angst in everyday situations like living with an annoying person (blinding us to our own ability to annoy) or trying to win approval of a certain crowd in order to please ourselves. There’s also the demonic use of the everyday distractions to keep our thoughts on ourselves rather than God or others, something undoubtedly easier for demons today relative to previous eras. There are also chapters once the single man pursues marriage, and the petty selfishness one is forced to deal with in the mirror when married to another sinner in a fallen world. Lewis’ brief observations about differences between women and men may not be accurate in some views, but they were useful as we used this to reflect on our own marriage. I found some of the chapters plowed my soul a bit and provided some epiphanies. Letter 12 was one of the most powerful chapters for me, where Screwtape points out to Wormwood that “A few weeks ago you had to tempt him to unreality and inattention his prayers: but now you will find him opening his arms to you and almost begging you to distract his purpose and benumb his heart. He will want his prayers to be unreal, for he will dread nothing so much as effective contact with the Enemy. His aim will be to let sleeping worms lie.” The lesson being that as we progress in the faith, the intimacy with God and the conviction that comes with it can be almost frightening, and we long for a fantastic distraction and to keep God at a distance. “(A) column of advertisements in yesterday’s paper will do.” In the same chapter, Screwtape writes “It does not matter how small the sins are provided their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing…safest road to Hell is the gradual one…without milestones, without signposts.” He notes the ultimate lament of one of the fallen who remarked on his arrival in hell that “‘I now see that I spent most of my life in doing neither what I ought nor what I liked.” Letter 20 deals with Wormwood’s attempts to move his patient toward sexual sins, which the patient is evidently praying about, and God is answering the prayers. “(Y)our man has now discovered the dangerous truth that these attacks don’t last forever.” I surmised the patient had faith in James 4:7b (NIV) “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” In Letter 27, Screwtape instructs his nephew to encourage the patient to “thrust it away by sheer will power and to try to continue the normal prayer as if nothing had happened,” when distractions about sex or love or other temptations come to mind during prayer. Because if the patient instead acknowledges the thought “and lays that before the Enemy,” in prayer does harm to the work of Satan and his demons. It’s much better for the demons if the patient’s conversations with God contain him trying to hide things in shame rather than let the Savior into all areas of his heart and mind. This edition concludes with a Preface where the author explains both the ease and the strain of writing the book and then “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” a piece Lewis wrote years later for the Saturday Evening Post as a way to say things he felt were unsaid in the original book. The Toast includes both a look back at the beginning of the 20th century and predictions on where “democracy,” which the demons have found the least-pliable form of government for their work, will be twisted by demons from a political ideal or form of government to a “belief that all men are equal.” This leads to men resenting other men, and dictators making sure no one rises above another to threaten their own power. School grades will become meaningless as equal self-esteem ( “‘parity of esteem’” ) becomes the goal rather than actual learning. “All incentives to learn and penalties for not learning will vanish.” The future generation “soft from lifelong pampering” is ripe for demonic plucking and ultimately “will destroy democracy.” But Screwtape makes it clear that the overthrow of such democracies are simply a means to an end–” the destruction of individuals.” In all, I give the work four stars. It is a classic and there will likely never be another like it. Some of the chapters are difficult to get the full meaning without understanding the British context in that moment in time and at what (or whom, in some cases) C.S. Lewis was hinting. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
May 2024
|
Jun 15, 2024
|
Jun 17, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 1982197773
| 9781982197773
| 1982197773
| 4.12
| 1,147
| unknown
| Feb 27, 2024
|
really liked it
|
It's Hard for Me to Live with Me: A Memoir by Rex Chapman with Seth Davis This is a raw and unfiltered memoir. Chapman is a bit like an artist; rather It's Hard for Me to Live with Me: A Memoir by Rex Chapman with Seth Davis This is a raw and unfiltered memoir. Chapman is a bit like an artist; rather than creating on a basketball court, he now creates by communicating life as he sees it, and as he remembers it, without really trying to rationalize or make sense of it– the ink is on the page and it is what it is. One of its greatest values – and challenges– to me was that it made me question the value of what Kentuckians like myself have idolized since childhood. I grew up going to games with my parents, who had season tickets. I can remember (just barely) watching Rex Chapman play at Rupp when I was seven years old; I remember the phenomenon that meant so much to the state. I remember his shoulders carried ridiculous expectations and everyone wanted just a glimpse of him. I remember watching on TV with my mom when he injured his back (while dunking) and had to miss games. What none of us knew before this memoir was that same night his long-time girlfriend had an abortion. What only a few University of Kentucky administrators and boosters knew was that they repeatedly discouraged him from dating her for the sole reason that she was Black. Three times, Chapman had racial epithets keyed into his car by “fans” during games. Even after being drafted as a lottery pick, his first meeting with the Charlotte Hornets’ results in him discouraging Rex from dating black women because of how it would look to certain white people. At UK, Chapman played for a coach whose alcoholism everyone worked to cover up. Boosters handed cash to players after games. It was a culture full of lies, corruption, and enablement in which the media (who was never blind to these things) was also complicit. Rex writes of the guilt he feels in not speaking up, not being willing to push back against racism or others’ judgments. But he was 19 years old and just wanted to play basketball. I also can’t help but feel complicit. Those of us who have lived vicariously through the exploits of 18-21 year old kids on a court or a field never stop to ask what the cost is to them. Only after a major injury or some other tragedy do we stop to take stock of the silliness of worshiping “student athletes.” There’s no telling the ways others at UK were damaged by the vicious beast created by our collective hero worship– which sells tickets, TV rights, memorabilia, and donations to the athletics program that makes money off all of it. The 2024 NIL settlement allowing players to basically be employees only begins to address the grievances. Another value of this book is Chapman’s open recollections of what it’s like to be addicted to opioids for years. Rex is no angel and doesn’t make himself out to be one. His ego and addictions hurt many people, including himself. Late in his NBA career, he was prescribed oxycontin after a surgery, even though he didn’t need it, which led him down a dark road for many years. The medical malpractice is sad and staggering. Only through stalwart friends and family was he able to get into a medical facility that ultimately saved his life. Much of the book is a tribute to those people who saved him in those dark times. If you’re a Kentucky basketball fan, this book is a must-read, even though it will be painful for you to read it. There are plenty of anecdotes about UK basketball and the NBA in the 80s and 90s. (Rex revealed further interesting stories that didn’t make the final edit on his X account.) If you’re a Kentuckian, you should also read it as another look at how the opioid crisis has affected our state at every level of society. Chapman was on top of the world and lost everything, he is still living week-to-week with heavy debts and his life has been painful. But he’s still processing, pursuing therapy and the odd jobs that come his way, and finding a way to create. It’s a great accomplishment to write something that is as unvarnished as this. It’s hard to rate someone’s personal testimony, but I give it four stars. There are some editing mistakes and some of Chapman’s “not in the book” tweets have made me wish more was in the book. (Kudos to Seth Davis, by the way.) ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
May 2024
|
May 20, 2024
|
May 27, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1591847818
| 9781591847816
| 1591847818
| 4.14
| 74,954
| Jun 14, 2016
| Jun 14, 2016
|
it was amazing
|
Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday This book earns five stars for the way it plowed my soul. I own The Daily Stoic, and I expected this book to be Stoici Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday This book earns five stars for the way it plowed my soul. I own The Daily Stoic, and I expected this book to be Stoicism explained with some quotes from Greco-Roman philosophers rather than a book full of life lessons from the biographies of both ancient and modern, the famous and not-so-famous. Some of the lessons come from Holiday’s own life, his dismissal from American Apparel giving him a humbling perspective on the fleeting nature of relative fortune and fame. Holiday’s prolific reading shines through, as well as his reminder to the audience that this book saw a dozen drafts before publishing, a grueling process that we are prone to forget due to his other “success.” He writes that he shredded every discarded draft and mulched it into his yard, serving a reminder that he too will one day turn into mulch. It’s a good reminder that both ourselves and those who antagonize us will both one day both be gone and forgotten. The Christian will recall that there is an eternity for the soul, and that our real treasure is in heaven. (Holiday also quotes from the New Testament a bit.) Seeking esteem or power or security in this life is ultimately futile. Before this book, I had never really thought about ego as separate from confidence, pride, or self-esteem. The audiobook version includes an interview on Tim Ferriss’ podcast in which he briefly discusses the definition of ego used in the book, but this is my own conception: Ego is that sense of insecurity you feel when doing something. That sense that you need to prove yourself, that you’re being underestimated, or that your life needs to achieve some level of “greatness” or “success” to matter. It’s when you can’t get out of your head about it. Holiday doesn’t mention narcissists in the book, but psychologists tell us that every narcissist is someone with a deep insecurity that fuels their behavior– the fear of being found out. Ego is also that feeling when you experience some degree of success– money, fame to some degree, a job that others covet, etc. and it goes to your head. You double down to display not just confidence, but also dominance, and you get offended if you’re not getting what you think you deserve– as if life is somehow unjust to you. You want what you have, but you also want something else; you feel you deserve it, and you succumb to the temptations (infidelity, insider trading, etc.) that ultimately undermine in some way the success you’ve earned. Ego is also when deep down you’re letting others define success for you, being sensitive to what others say you “should” do to be successful. Don’t be distracted by what others think your path should be, define your own path. From Seneca: “" Won’t you be walking in your predecessors’ footsteps? I surely will use the older path, but if I find a shorter and smoother way, I’ll blaze a trail there. The ones who pioneered these paths aren’t our masters, but our guides. Truth stands open to everyone; it hasn’t been monopolized. "As Jeff Henderson recently reminded me, you have to be okay with others being wrong about you. “What is more important, the being or the doing?” One has to fall in love with the work, to enjoy doing it whether anyone notices or not, whether the song sells or the designs are rejected, or someone else gets the promotion because they’re the CEO’s nephew. Do you work "as for the Lord, not for men." Whether or not Holiday gets the details about Belisarius’ life correct, he uses the tale of the massively successful Byzantine general who is later put on trial by his Emperor Justinian, as an example of anti-ego personified: “Belisarius could win his battles. He could lead his men. He could determine his personal ethics. He could not make the Emperor like and appreciate him. He had no ability to control whether a powerful dictator would treat him well. The same is true for our work. How we respond to this dilemma determines who we are as people as well as the quality of what we will create. Can we do the right thing even if it’s not recognized? Will we work hard for something that can be taken away from us? Will we lash out and be wronged just because someone else doesn’t play by the rules?” Ego is resistant to learning. The humble learn, and the humble are also content with progress they’re making that no one else sees. It’s not 10,000 hours to master something, it’s infinite hours, because we can always improve and we can always learn something from others. Bill Walsh went 2-12 in his first season with the San Francisco 49ers, which is how the media and fans measured him– no better than his predecessor. But Walsh had information they didn’t have; he could see discipline and culture changes being implemented in the team, and he became a champion in short order once he had players who bought into the new culture and system. He was confident the wins and losses would take care of themselves if he kept doing things the right way. Interestingly, passion is also a hindrance. John Wooden and Eleanor Roosevelt were both dispassionate, according to the author. When we’re passionate about something, we feel others should be as well and feel offended or unappreciated if they’re not. We let emotion and an ultimate outcome we desire drive us rather than focusing on the work itself. Wooden is famous for teaching his players how to tie their shoes– for focusing on the atoms of the basics, believing that it would lead to the best result. A favorite story from the book is that of Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, who earned a spot in the band through an open tryout. Rather than revel in his success, he hired a professional guitar instructor in order to get better as he didn’t feel he was quite good enough. In love with mastering his craft, he’s now considered one of the best guitarists in the world. Ego can’t improve because it only sees the validation as the worthy goal. Holiday promotes the practice of apprenticing. The way to be where you may want to be in the long-run is to clear the way for someone else to succeed and to learn from them. Let them take the credit for your work. Be lesser, do more; say little, do much. This will gain you support and favors down the road. While plenty of famous people in history had egos, correlation is not causality– no one is great because of their ego. Holiday points to Howard Hughes who is somehow held up as a celebrity hero. Hughes inherited great wealth, which he did everything to squander, was insane, self-destructive, abusive, and arguably the worst businessman in the 20th century, having lost himself and the US government millions of dollars. (People have compared Elon Musk to Howard Hughes but Musk himself points to Hughes as a cautionary tale he’d rather avoid.) One of Holiday’s unsung heroes is W.T. Sherman, the Union general known for razing Atlanta and the South in a scorched earth campaign to help bring the Civil War to its end. Holiday writes that Sherman was a national hero who was put forward as a presidential candidate, along with Ulysses S. Grant. Sherman declined the nomination, and his letters reveal a humble character throughout his life, focusing on his own task and never endeavoring to be more than he thought he should be. Grant, on the other hand, accepted the ambitions of others, ran for President, was arguably a bad President, and later lost all of his savings in an attempt to get rich quick, forcing him to write his deathbed memoirs in order to provide for his family. Sherman criticized Grant’s choices as a cautionary tale. This was a different take on Sherman and Grant’s lives than I’d known. (Gen. George McClellan is another Civil War character that Holiday points to as an example of ego– McClellan being sacked by Lincoln for demonstrated incompetence and McClellan airing his grievances afterward and running against Lincoln in 1864.) Ego ultimately makes failure permanent. Those who have made choices and burned bridges due to their egos may not suffer the type of public justice we might like, but our personal lives and biographies are replete with evidence that we suffer painfully. Tension, loneliness, anxiety are the punishments enough. I’m an avid reader of history, I’m particularly fond of out-of-copyright memoirs written in the 1800s. There are plenty of important people who held positions of power, influence, engaged in important events, treaties, and other work that has since long been forgotten. While the actions have echoes that helped shape the present day, the people themselves are long forgotten– unappreciated, in a grave that may not even be visited. That said, this book was a convicting reminder that I want my life to mean something, to leave a mark, to be “great” to some degree. Holiday reminds me that we want to believe we’re building these monuments in our lives for all time when actually we will mostly just end up as mud, mulch just like his initial manuscripts. For him, the writing is the work that matters, not whether it sells copies. But he has “Ego is the Enemy” tattooed on his arm to serve as a daily reminder. Five stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Apr 23, 2024
|
May 13, 2024
|
May 18, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0830822577
| 9780830822577
| 0830822577
| 4.27
| 9,859
| Jun 1980
| Jun 30, 2000
|
it was amazing
|
My wife and I read this book together as part of a daily devotional. It works well in that way. Each chapter is a teaching based on one of the Psalms
My wife and I read this book together as part of a daily devotional. It works well in that way. Each chapter is a teaching based on one of the Psalms of Ascents, Psalms 120 - 134. The Psalms are some of the oldest in Scripture and were sung by Jewish worshippers on their way “up” to Jerusalem for one of the required festivals. They have both laments as well as express hopes and blessings upon the Lord. Peterson’s way is not a verse-by-verse exposition of the text, but rather a way to capture the overall sense of the Psalm related to our relationship with God and turning into a thought and action-provoking sermonette. “(T)he trip to Jerusalem acted out a life lived upward toward God, an existence that advanced from one level to another in developing maturity–what Paul described as ‘the goal, where God is beckoning us onward–to Jesus’ (Phil 3:14)” (loc. 240). Peterson wrote the book while pastoring a church, he wrote these as sermons for his flock. He writes of the convictions that undergirded his work: “The first conviction was that everything in the gospel is livable and that my pastoral task was to get it lived” (loc. 2492). Another conviction is that “men and women who believingly follow Jesus…are best guided and energized by a fusion of Scripture and prayer” (loc. 2517). The original book was written in 1980 and revised, only slightly according to the author, in 2000. His observations on the world in 1980, citing sources from journals and other sources of the 1970s, seem perhaps more apt for today: “One aspect of the world that I have been able to identify as harmful to Christians is the assumption that anything worthwhile can be acquired at once. We assume that if something can be done at all, it can be done quickly and efficiently…there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a long apprenticeship in what earlier generations of Christians called holiness” (loc. 197-206). “As long as we think the next election might eliminate crime and establish justice or another scientific breakthrough might save the environment or another pay raise might push us over the edge of anxiety into a life of tranquility, we are not likely to risk the arduous uncertainties of the life of faith. A person has to get fed up with the ways of the world before he, before she, acquires an appetite for the world of grace” (loc. 311). There is much truth about how the world is, our identity in Christ, the duty and delight of the Christian pilgrim, and examples of faith from others and the author’s own experience. “The Christian life is going to God…Christians travel the same ground that everyone else walks on, breathe the same air, (etc.)...(but) we know we are accompanied by God, we know we are ruled by God…he guards our very life (loc. 558). Some paragraphs recall to mind C.S. Lewis. “Christian discipleship is hazardous work…There are no easy tasks in the Christian way; there are only tasks that can be done faithfully or erratically, with joy or with resentment.” (loc. 950). “Will we let God be as he is, majestic and holy, vast and wondrous, or will we always be trying to whittle him down…insist on confining him within the boundaries we are comfortable with, refuse to think of him other than in images that are convenient to our lifestyle?” (loc. 1486). One quote that stuck out at me in the 2024 culture of social media and sports/entertainment/political influencers vying for clicks, donors, sponsors, including within the Church: “(W)hen an ancient temptation or trial becomes an approved feature in the culture…Christians have a stumbling block put before them that is hard to recognize for what it is, for it has been made into (an idol)...an object of veneration…One temptation that has received this treatment, with some special flourishes in America, is ambition. Our culture encourages and rewards ambition without qualification. We are surrounded by a way of life in which betterment is understood as expansion, as acquisition, as fame..It is the oldest sin in the book, the one that got Adam thrown out of the garden…What is fairly new about it is the general admiration and approval that it receives” (loc. 1874). “It is difficult to recognize pride as a sin when it is held up on every side as a virtue, urged as profitable and rewarded as an achievement” (loc. 1898). As Peterson writes, one is convicted or inspired to read, pray, worship (even when we don’t feel like it), and “believingly, trustingly obey. Simply obey” (loc. 2553). Five stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Mar 17, 2024
|
Apr 17, 2024
|
May 17, 2024
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0664234135
| 9780664234133
| 0664234135
| 3.92
| 116
| Jan 01, 2012
| Mar 16, 2012
|
it was amazing
|
Jesus and His World by Craig A. Evans This insightful book by a well-credentialed scholar draws on recent and current archaeological finds to push back Jesus and His World by Craig A. Evans This insightful book by a well-credentialed scholar draws on recent and current archaeological finds to push back on some of the more novel and media-sensationalized hypotheses about the veracity of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life. In countering these arguments, Evans introduces the archaeologists and their finds that have greatly helped educate scholars over the last 30 years about the life of the first century C.E. before the destruction of Jerusalem in 80 AD. The book is technical in nature, but helpful to the layperson (myself). The book is a good look at “biblical archaeology, defined by Hendel as “the rigorous correlation of textual data from the Bible and material evidence from archaeology” (p. 9). Only five percent of biblical sites have been excavated, and those only partially. Scholars have to examine literary accounts for verisimilitude - comparing their description to what we know archaeologically to the way things really were, and their similarity to other accounts of the time. These help us critically examine claims such as Jesus being a Cynic, or illiterate, or various assertions about burial customs and symbols in Israel at the time. Evans explains some of what we know about the towns of Galilee, including Sepphoris, which was a larger town just kilometers away from Nazareth that is curiously not named in the Gospel accounts (unless you consider “a city on a hill” to be a reference to it, or his criticism of the trumpeting of hypocrites drawn from what the crowd would have witnessed in the town’s theater). The Gospel accounts suggest Jesus visited largely villages in Gallilee and avoided the larger towns. Much can be learned from Sepphoris’ city dump about its distinct Jewishness compared to more Greek-oriented towns not far away. Evans cites many literary texts from the period, whether it’s the scrolls from Qumran or Roman sources, some of which are known only in fragments from later Roman sources. It is fascinating that many of Jesus’ biblical references to the Old Testament come from the Aramaic interpretation, which complications are known as the Targum. “Thanks to the discoveries at Qumran and elsewhere near the Dead Sea, we now know that Targums – the plural form can also be ‘Targumim’ – were written as early as the first century bce. It is hard to see how Jesus could have absorbed so much material that is consistent with the emerging targumic tradition if he did not frequent the synagogue” (p. 71). Evans provides overwhelming evidence of widespread literacy, even among the poor, slaves, etc. in the Roman world. He also shows how well texts even before the first century BCE have been found preserved thousands of years later, largely due to the material on which they were written. This is important for determining how close we may be to the original Gospel accounts from what we have: “The fourth-century Codex Vaticanus was re-inked in the tenth century, which shows that it was still being read and studied some 600 years after it had been produced. If the first-century originals, or ‘autographs’ of the Gospels continued in use for 150 years or more, they would still have been in circulation when the oldest copies of the Gospels that we possess today were copied. Papyrus 45 from the Chester Beatty collection dates to about 220 ce. It preserves large portions of all four New Testament Gospels” (p. 91-92). The book includes a long look on the burial practice of first century Jerusalem, and how it was somewhat altered by the massive expansion of construction works Herod and others. Due to the lack of space, the deceased bones were collected one year after the death, placed into an ossuary that was then placed in the family tomb. This included criminals who were not permitted to be buried in the family tomb. These ossuaries have preserved bones that also give evidence of diseases that were present and, in a unique case, evidence of the method of crucifixion. Certain tombs and ossuaries of prominent figures, such as Caiphas the high priest, may also be identified and give more light on the timelines we know of when certain priests and prefects held office. These chapters helped me realize how complicated the political situation was at the time and how explosive certain teachings of Jesus were. Evans also helps the reader see how different first century accounts are to our more modern ways of writing literature. A modern book would probably begin by describing Jesus’ appearance, his manner of walking, the clothes he wears, more names of friends, etc. The ancient world does none of that. “As we ponder these questions, we realize that we know little about Jesus apart from his provocative teaching and even more provocative deeds” (p. 171). There is a great bibliography at the end. I find no reason not to give the book five stars. The book is a short and insightful read. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Apr 17, 2024
|
Apr 30, 2024
|
May 17, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1982142057
| 9781982142056
| 4.24
| 765
| Mar 03, 2020
| Mar 31, 2020
|
liked it
|
Mitch, Please! How Mitch McConnell Sold out Kentucky (and America, too) by Matt Jones and Chris Tomlin I enjoy reading out-of-copyright travel memoirs Mitch, Please! How Mitch McConnell Sold out Kentucky (and America, too) by Matt Jones and Chris Tomlin I enjoy reading out-of-copyright travel memoirs written by Americans abroad in the 19th and early 20th centuries, once a popular genre. This book is a close modern equivalent I've found; Jones makes similar first-impression observations about all 120 Kentucky counties like any foreign tourist might. But instead of asking locals about, say, nearby gold deposits, he asks them about Mitch McConnell, and finds locals just as hesitant to reveal answers. It’s hard to write a really engaging account of 120 counties as even just devoting 2-3 pages to each makes it a longer book than most will read. (The book could have done without any of the footnotes, which are exclusively his co-author’s attempts to be funny.) I grew up in Central Kentucky and have had family and connections scattered throughout the state, so I have had the fortune to see much of it and Jones brings to my attention changes in places I haven’t visited since childhood. I got to know something about all 120 counties during a sting with a Commonwealth government policy job, and I can vouch for the cultural differences that can be seen just crossing a county line. Jones’ interactions with the locals, the unique county cultures, and the local stories are mostly interesting (albeit containing some factual errors). The compilation of 34 years of the unsavory dealmaking of Mitch McConnell, as well has his importance to, and absence from, Kentucky also supplements the book. What a difference it makes to a state when someone engages in largely 34 years of ignoring large swathes of it, taking it for granted. Much of it reads like Thomas Frank’s What’s the Matter with Kansas (whom Jones never references), showing how rural Kentuckians vote against their own interests, such as Medicaid. Jones puts forth a persuasive thesis, allegedly convincing to large Democratic donors and even to Party kingmaker Sen. Chuck Schumer, that a widely known local Democrat with roots and knowledge of the entire state must be put forward to unseat McConnell, and he’s uniquely positioned for that role. Jones correctly diagnoses the problem: “(T)he Democratic Party has completely abandoned rural America in both words and deed. Social justice, minority rights, environmentalism, gun control…become the entirety of the Democratic Party platform…Religion, patriotism, and other values that matter to rural Americans are often secondary issues in liberal circles, and many Kentuckians feel they aren’t an important part of Democratic platforms…If given the choice between a Democratic establishment that mocks or ignores them and a party that appeals to them directly, they will choose the devil that validates their importance every time” (p. 331-332). He also notes that it would almost certainly take a pro-life Democratic candidate (like Rocky Atkins) to win Kentucky, something the Democratic party would never stomach. (Spoiler alert) I liked this book while also finding it disappointing and anticlimactic. Ultimately, Jones decides not to be that guy and is relieved. But there can be no chinks in McConnell’s armor if nobody tries, and Jones builds the whole book up as a call for heroes but decides not to even try himself. McConnell certainly took Jones’ threat seriously, assigning a tracker to follow him and his girlfriend, filing a lawsuit over the book and over Jones’ sports talk radio show over a perceived unfair political advantage. A dirty maneuver that would have resulted in Matt being silenced indefinitely waiting for the hamstrung FEC to make a ruling. Democratic competitor Amy McGrath also piled on, using influence to have Jones removed from a local television show he’d created before he’d come close to making any decisions on whether to run. In the end, Jones likes his talk radio show instead, and McConnell was quite safe in the 2020 election. Jones is clearly smart, he has a law degree from a good school and has successfully built a wide-reaching business and platform. He also has connections, I appreciated his visits to various legends of Democratic politics in the Commonwealth. Perhaps my favorite chapter was his interview with David Williams, who has dealt with his ego and the damage it caused to his marriage and personal life when he was once a political power broker of the Kentucky Senate. But besides his (and Tomlin’s) trivial factual errors, he also showed lack of detailed policy knowledge and clearly defined political positions. He has to be a little bit of a narcissist-- anyone who is on the radio every day and selling his own personal brand for a living. In the end, he decided to be a back-bencher and stay out of the arena. To me, this decision has severely weakened his credibility in talking about politics at all. I recommend this book to fellow Kentuckians, particularly those who may work in state or local government. Three stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Apr 04, 2024
|
May 08, 2024
|
May 12, 2024
|
ebook
| |||||||||||||||
| 4.36
| 1,061,578
| 2011
| 2015
|
liked it
|
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Before listening to the book, I learned from Tim Ferriss’ podcast that when the original ve Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Before listening to the book, I learned from Tim Ferriss’ podcast that when the original version of the book was published, it sold only 2,000 copies; a major flop. A change in book cover, title, and minor tweaks to a couple chapters and it became an incredible bestseller. This has always stuck with me– the quality of the content didn’t really change, but a slight tweak in visual appeal makes all the difference. Sales “success” is as much marketing and luck in timing as it is in hard work. The book is a sweeping “history of everything” which would likely be dry without Harari’s constant references to modern parallels (politics, technology, wars, etc.) of ancient phenomena and events. I found that aspect a bit annoying, and less accurate, as he’s not an expert in the more modern events to which he refers. As the book is based on his university lectures, I can see how this style of writing makes the otherwise dry information popular to his students. This will sound snobbish, but I’ve reviewed a lot of books on ancient and modern history and not much of this book was new information and the modern historical commentaries and his ignorance of basic Christianity was pretty annoying. To prove his point in the closing chapters that homo sapiens are now moving toward “intelligent design,” working on gene editing, cybernetics, etc. some of the paragraphs below are the result of me utilizing AI to take my written notes from the book into a summary (with my light edits). AI didn’t quite do the job I wanted, however, so I still have a heavy hand. The book delves into various aspects of human history and evolution. The author argues that neural networks evolved over millions of years, and their development has a significant impact on human behavior. He highlights how the key shift towards invention of fire and cooking led to changes in the size of intestines and brain capacity due to dietary changes. The author presents a debate surrounding the fate of neanderthals, with some arguing that homo sapiens wiped them out, while others suggest they simply died out. Replacement theory is apparently the politically correct or most popular theory as scientists or the general public would be uncomfortable with interbreeding. However, recent studies show a small percentage of homo sapien DNA comes from neanderthal DNA. Harari emphasizes the unique ability of sapiens to think abstractly and establish complex social structures like limited liability companies. The author draws parallels between myths in Christianity and Catholicism with the concept of corporate entities, suggesting that these “shared myths” unite people and contribute to cooperation. Among all the animals, only Sapiens can invent constructions such as the limited liability company and fiat money. Harari discusses the agricultural revolution, highlighting the role of plants, particularly wheat, in shaping human society. He argues that the shift towards agriculture led to an increase in population and a greater dependence on a single food source, leading to risks like overpopulation and ecological vulnerabilities. The book also explores the development of writing systems, such as those invented by the Sumerians and Incas, enabling the storage of larger amounts of data necessary for crop yields and trade. Hierarchies and racist structures are presented as myths invented to serve as a means to protect social structures. Harari challenges the notion of "natural" behavior, stating that biology and evolution provide possibilities, but it is religion, particularly Christianity, that deems certain behaviors as "unnatural." He discusses various aspects of human social behavior, including sexuality and gender roles. The author sees the benefit of studying history as giving us a view of the possible alternatives that could have happened, and therefore the myriad of possibilities ahead of us. But I see history as helping us think widely about our context and to realize there is nothing new under the sun; our current situation is a consequence of decisions many years ago that echo into the present. Technological progress is wedded with scientific progress, and a 19th-20th century development is that the military is increasingly driving that technological innovation. (I question this. Were not defense structures and catapults great drivers of advances in engineering and the harnessing of physics and math?) Battle prowess used to be based on organization, not deliberate technological development. Harari writes that sapiens are now defined by "imaginary" groupings such as the nation state and consumer tribes (think: sports team fans, political parties, etc.) Even as we have seen a decline in international wars since 1945, our modern civilization irrationally guards against the scariest but most unlikely events such as terrorist attacks instead of the real threats of chronic disease, murders, and suicides. Harari explores whether we modern sapiens are happier than the first neanderthals. We now understand our happiness is a function of chemicals in our brain– dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin. But “happiness” is subjective and measured differently in different times. Ultimately, he concludes a Sapien that enjoys his freshly-caught game over a fire was equally “happy” in brain chemicals as any modern Sapien. The conclusion of the book deals with how sapiens are engaging in “intelligent design” breeding, gene editing, talking about cyborgs, etc. He engages in some thinking about the Gilgamesh Project and ethics. He would even have the reader ponder the ethics of breeding neanderthals. What happens to self and meaning, values, memories, etc. if human brains are networked? These are important questions that have yet to be worked out. In all, I give this book 3 stars out of 5. I suspect that perhaps the majority of people who own this book didn’t make it through the first few chapters; it sits on their bookshelf or coffee table as a signal of supposed intelligence or aspirations. To them I would say there are better books to read about many of the topics the author covers. I also recommend listening to his interview with Tim Ferriss. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Mar 2024
|
Mar 28, 2024
|
Apr 14, 2024
|
Paperback
| |||||||||||||||||
| 1250286050
| 9781250286055
| 1250286050
| 4.23
| 22
| Aug 27, 2024
| Aug 27, 2024
|
really liked it
|
I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an opportunity to review the book. Opinions below are my own. This is a good book and I'm te I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an opportunity to review the book. Opinions below are my own. This is a good book and I'm tempted to give this book five stars to help its sales because its content is an important and well-documented reminder of the threats faced to democracy and rule of law in the United States during and immediately following the 2016 election, as well as the genesis of the current war in the Ukraine and associated misinformation campaign, all of which have implications for the 2024 election. A better subtitle for the book is probably "The Rise and Fall of Paul Manafort, and the Danger Posed by Foreign Lobbying." One criticism of the book (and current subtitle) is that it does not examine the foreign lobbying that the United States' own government does abroad. My main criticism is that it is largely about the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) but he never details the actual language of the Act, its state penalties, fines, and statute of limitation. Describing it in detail would have made it less muddy given the inconsistent prosecution fo the FARA and the author's criticisms. I kept asking "What exactly can the DOJ do under the law? What would have been the maximum penalties?" The author could have spared a couple pages up front to set up the rest of the book. The book grew out of a graduate thesis by the author, "studying how post-Soviet dictatorships manipulate Western audiences," during the run-up to the 2016 election. Michel shares a greater history of foreign governments' lobbying in the United States which I found informative. The grandest example being Russia's "bankrolling" of former U.S. senator Robert J. Walker in 1868 to lobby to complete the negotiated purchase of Alaska from Russia, which had been previously been dead in public opinion as "Seward's folly." Undisclosed payments to Walker resulted in anonymous newspaper articles and eventual persuasion of Congress to seal the deal. Afterwards, rumors and evidence of congressional bribery by a Russian national-- including a conversation between Secretary of State Seward and President Johnson-- were investigated by congress, but no convictions were made and the purchase was already history. There were no laws requiring someone like a former senator to disclose he was now a paid agent by a foreign government to influence U.S. policy. The book details the events in World War II that led to the passage of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)of 1938, namely the investigation by congress of Ivy Lee, the godfather of modern public relations--spinning public travesties in American media for his high-paying patrons, as well as weaponizing lobbying for foreign adversaries-- in his case, the USSR (just prior to Stalin's purge), Fascist Italy, and Nazi Germany. Lee was the direct precursor to Manafort and Michel writes of the similar trajectories and ignominious end of both characters. FARA was amended after Pearl Harbor, and again in 1966 as it gained importance during the Cold War. The author mentions "a range of convictions" under FARA in the 1960s but frustratingly does not detail these to help the reader understand how effective or ineffective it may have been. Congress and the Department of Justice had a difficult time not explicitly targeting U.S. citizen lobbyists-- who have a constitutional right to petition their government -- and trying to differentiate them from "propagandists" who were explicitly repeating lies of foreign governments on behalf of "foreign principals." The 1966 amendment increased disclosure requirements for those engaged in "political activities," basically lobbying, on behalf of foreign entities. Academics and scientists weren't included, a glaring omission that Michel notes would come back to haunt the law as universities accept millions of dollars from foreign governments via various offshore entities. But enforcement of FARA has always been weak at best, there was never a strong cop on the beat asking questions and keeping records. The lax enforcement over decades created an environment where foreign lobbyists like Manafort scoffed at the disclosure requirements. (It was not until 1999 that we learned from Russian archives that sitting U.S. Congressman Samuel Dicktein was on the Soviet payroll from 1940 to the 1950s.) Michel notes congress' well-meaning attempt at strengthening enforcement via the 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) and amended FARA in an effort to increase transparency amid the rapidly growing lobbying industry that was attracting more and more former U.S. officials into its sphere. But the LDA didn't require details about meetings or the specifics of the work, and Congress made it so lobbyists for foreign companies-- instead of governments explicitly-- could file under the LDA instead of FARA. Congress apparently didn't contemplate that some foreign companies operating in the U.S. weren't solely profit-focused investors and may instead be proxies for foreign governments. (It is ironic because Ivy Lee himself was lobbying for one of the Nazi's collaborating corporations and not the Reich itself.) The number of registrations under FARA fell by two-thirds (loc. 2506). The author shows the troubling implications as think tanks and universities are increasingly the recipients of foreign funds and have become agents of PR, money laundering, or worse by undemocratic governments. The Clinton Foundation was another egregious example as donations ebbed and flowed based on Hillary Clinton's proximity to real power. (The author notes that the Obama Foundation refuses foreign donations.) Similarly, by 2017 three quarters of Donald Trump's real estate sales were going to anonymous buyers and many foreign regimes spent lavishly at Trump's D.C. hotel (as uncovered after Trump left office and by investigations within some of those countries). Manafort's long history shilling for dictators like Ferdinand Marcos and Mobutu Seko are detailed as is his long history in Ukraine making millions from Yanukovych's pilfering and laundering of state funds. The court documents, Mueller Report, and Senate Intelligence Committee investigation are all sourced along with a great investigative piece from The Atlantic. But fewer people remember Bob Dole as a foreign agent; Michel reminds us that when he ended his life a multimillionaire and water-carrier for the UAE, the Congo, Krgyzstan, and a sanctioned Russian oligarch. Michel notes all of the people connected to the Trump White House who were prosecuted under FARA, some of whom -- like Manafort-- were convicted and later pardoned of their heinous crimes, others like Steve Wynn-- an agent of the Chinese Communist Party-- who got off due to statute of limitations or juries not buying that they should have known better. "Trump's campaign chief; his foreign policy and economic advisor; his national security advisor; his CIA Director; his personal lawyer; and both the lead and deputy finance chiefs of the Republican National Committee...his deputy campaign manager, (and) his inauguration committee fundraiser" all had undisclosed links to foreign lobbying campaigns that resulted in prosecution (loc. 4553). That is a timely reminder for 2024. The author ends his book that noting that while Manafort's pardon and Congress' lack of action to strengthen the laws (drafting a couple bipartisan bills that have gone nowhere) have likely emboldened despotic or undemocratic regimes to continue their lobbying activities, ultimately, it's "American firms...officials...nonprofits...consultants...and the American lobbyists helping dictators and tyrants around the globe" that are the real threat (loc. 5346). Our Founding Fathers created a republic that relies on men of good character to make it work. Time and again, the ideals of the republic have been undermined by unscrupulous characters who are willing to sell their principles to a foreign power. Four stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 20, 2024
|
Mar 24, 2024
|
Mar 24, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0310255953
| 9780310255956
| 0310255953
| 4.44
| 466
| Apr 01, 2005
| Apr 04, 2005
|
it was amazing
|
Devotions for a Sacred Marriage by Gary L. Thomas I have read several books on marriage and recommend only two: For me, this book is second only to Tim Devotions for a Sacred Marriage by Gary L. Thomas I have read several books on marriage and recommend only two: For me, this book is second only to Tim Keller's The Meaning of Marriage. My wife and I have never read Sacred Marriage, but I like how this book's rating is higher. I disagree with the author that couples should only read one devotional a week; my wife and I did this almost every night, reading the devotional and discussing before prayer. Perhaps your context is too busy to make that happen, or you've developed many issues that the chapters will bring up (like you need a week to discuss it), but I found almost every chapter to be a good Gospel-affirming conversation starter. I encourage you to being the book early in your marriages and then return to it later. We filled our pages with highlights. A daily challenge: “'How can I love my spouse today like he [or she] has never been or ever will be loved?' We're not called to judge our spouses—ever; we are called to love them. We are not called to recount their failures in a Pharisaic game of “I'm holier than you”; we're called to encourage them. We are not called to build a case against them regarding how far they fall short of the glory of God; we are called to honor and respect them "(p. 15, 17). "It's simply not fair to ask your spouse to fulfill you. No one can. If you expect your spouse to be God for you, your spouse will fail every day and on every account" (pg. 34). "(Marriage) is a holy road that can lead us toward God...The difficulty of marriage is both its challenge and its glory" (p. 117). "As believers filled with God's Holy Spirit, we can choose to be kind. We can choose to be patient. We can choose to be gentle. But when virtue becomes a stranger, any relationship will begin to sour" (p. 148). ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 09, 2024
|
Mar 06, 2024
|
Mar 09, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1642259179
| 9781642259179
| B0CPJV6KS6
| 4.00
| 20
| unknown
| Jan 09, 2024
|
liked it
|
From Tension to Transformation: A Leader's Guide to Generative Change by Janet M. Harvey I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley with a From Tension to Transformation: A Leader's Guide to Generative Change by Janet M. Harvey I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley with an opportunity to review the book. I have little doubt that Janet Harvey is an effective executive coach, and most of the book is her personal anecdotes from those one-on-one experiences helping someone see how their personality traits, biases, etc. are contributing to team dysfunction. She has the confidence of a formerly high-performance athlete and an introspection -- truly comfortable in her own skin-- that is rare. She attempts to distill her nuggets of wisdom and trademarked curriculum into a book and while I appreciated some of the pearls, I found it just didn't flow well. The author drops a bombshell halfway through the book, revealing her own difficult life-changing epiphany that could have been the basis for a different kind of book articulating her comeback story. While being fired from her job, an executive in the company tells her "I would never hire you for an operational leadership position because people can't stand to work for you" (loc. 1200). She explains in a few pages her introspective journey and commitment to change that led her to her style today-- to build teams and focus on collaborative projects. This is a remarkable item almost buried in the book. I appreciated her comments on tension the most. I'm a middle manager, working in an office where I'm sometimes a buffer between staff and managers higher up. While the ground-level staff who carry the bulk of the actual work may have decades of longevity, the average tenure of managers is only 2-3 years. It is an environment where change is always expected, and tension can be there; staff live in a tension of embracing a change or waiting it out. "If you take away nothing else from this book, I hope you take away...the value of pause" (loc. 2473). I found the reminder helpful to slow down and be mindful, to sit with the tension, and take time to identify the source and possible solution. Sitting in your own tension to identify those items where you need to change yourself. To find personal "sovereignty," which is describing the peak of emotional health. There's also a significant amount about psychological safety, where you create an environment where team members feel truly safe to speak out and voice their concerns. In summary: Problem/conflict -> tension -> moment to pause and be curious -> listen -> identify the problem -> move on to the creative solution, the "generative change." Perhaps the next closest book that I have reviewed to this one is Robert Sutton's Good Boss, Bad Boss which I recommend highly. A better editor probably could have repackaged this in a more readable format. The diagrams and graphics are helpful, but there seemed to be so much back-forth reference to previous concepts that it was difficult to follow. For example, her key acronym for "generative change" is ACAAR and the individual components are explained over several paragraphs instead of just up front writing it as an acrostic. She begins with "R" (for results) first, explains them in an a different order than the acronym, and never really makes it memorable. Part of this book's problem may be a language problem. While the books is written for all "leaders," today's executive MBA curriculums are so jargon-heavy it is difficult to translate to the middle manager or team leader. When an author trademarks her own concepts, it's slightly off-putting to me. She writes a lot about helping leaders find "their authentic selves," but given the misogyny she's witnessed in her career and basic math, I can only imagine that some of her clients' authentic selves are narcissistic; she does not talk much about dealing with that level of toxicity. "(As a leader, your job is to shape a world where people love their life's work. That's it" (loc. 1776). I appreciated this admonition, but also found it a bit much. Your identity shouldn't be in your job or your company, or else you'll find it dissatisfying. The tasks and asks of a company are myriad and you'll be tasked with things that are not "your life's work." She refers to the recent massive turnover in the workforce as millions of people have moved to new jobs multiple times in recent years. I think some of that is based on disenchantment of taking a job at XYZ company expecting it to be their "life's work," and it quickly rings hollow. Yor company is not your family, your friends, or your church. Your company may fail just the same as you may move for a loved one who gets sick or for a spouse who finds something really meaningful herself. I prefer Sutton's admonition to Boss es-- to leaders-- to begin a new employee's career with an exit interview, helping the new hires set goals for themselves so they will have achieved them by the time they move on to the next role or next company. In all, I give this book 2.5 stars out of 5. The author has shown she's a good coach delivering her curriculum in person, but a better editor could make a good book out of it. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 15, 2024
|
Mar 2024
|
Mar 09, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0310138922
| 9780310138921
| 0310138922
| 4.54
| 1,515
| unknown
| May 10, 2022
|
it was amazing
|
Not in It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church by Andy Stanley At the risk of spoiling it, similar to Andy Stanley's sermon style, the bo Not in It to Win It: Why Choosing Sides Sidelines the Church by Andy Stanley At the risk of spoiling it, similar to Andy Stanley's sermon style, the book's key points are summed up in a couple of paragraphs, right at the climax of the book: "Reducing faith to a list of beliefs provides us with plenty of margin not to love, forgive, provide for, celebrate, and pray for people we disagree with. Reducing faith to a list of beliefs frees us to slander people we don't align with politically. It gives us license to mock, jeer, and celebrate the failure of people whose views differ from ours. If your version of Christianity leaves the door open to those behaviors, you're nothing like your Father in heaven. And you're nothing like his Son. You are an instrument of disunity. You are working for the enemy...If what was most important to Jesus is not most important, or at least somewhat important, to us...we're probably not followers. Users perhaps. But not followers." (p. 112). The second main point: "If taking a political stand is causing division in your local church...but since you're *right*, you're convinced it's *all right*...you'e got some unhitching to do. If making your point on social media isn't making any difference but makes it difficult for outsiders to take our faith seriously because your tone leaves readers wondering if *you* take the teaching of Jesus seriously, you've got some unhitching to do. And perhaps some apologizing" (p. 163. "Unhitching" refers to not using Old Testament language of protecting a physical kingdom out of the context of the current New Covenant under which we now live.) How you feel about those two quotes above is a litmus test of what you already feel about Andy Stanley and what you will get from reading the book. Either you'll disagree with it and it will challenge you to articulate why, or you'll agree with it and find some peace of mind that someone's church is like-minded in this regard. Stanley's heroes are the first and second century Christians who lacked readily-available Scripture, lived in a morally depraved and physically difficult society, yet rejoiced in a risen Savior and were called "Church" by Paul, Peter, and John's epistles despite their struggles with sin, differing cultural practices, and failures. The faith spread because these were known for their actions and were willing to die for their beliefs. I'm reminded of Richard Wurmbrand's Tortured for Christ, where he escapes the USSR only to find the Western church more busy spending time and ink debating doctrinal trivialities instead of focusing on evangelism and caring about their international martyred brethren. Stanley quotes Russell Moore-- "Someone with an unhealthy craving for controversy can always convince himself that he's a warrior for Christ--instead of a captive to his passions." Quoting Emperor Trajan's response to Governor Pliny, who had asked for clarity on Trajan's order to arrest Christians across the empire as Pliny suggested Christians are often fairly good Roman citizens. "Whoever denies he is a Christian and really proves it-- that is, by worshipping our gods even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon through repentance." Stanley observes: "Early Christians were not despised for their behavior. They were despised by the empire for their allegiance to Christ... (Andy's paraphrase): The problem with Christians is that they love their Savior more than they love their country!" Stanley revisits the early days of the COVID pandemic where North Point went to an online service and he got lots of emails and tweets suggesting he would burn in hell. He recounts how he called every single church member who had said they were leaving the church over the issue to have a conversation about it. "You saved my marriage, but I won't stand for this." (I remember this at the time as I was living overseas and frequently listening to the podcast. A church member and friend of Stanley's almost died from COVID in intensive care.) The older I get, the less I see any excuse for other Christians using the word "heretic" or "apostate" for those who preach a resurrected Jesus Christ. It's the most contrary thing to what we see in the New Testament epistles that I can imagine and is definitely not from the Lord. May we all repent of this. He also reminds us: "Jesus said we are the light of the world, not the US Congress. We are a city on a hill, not the United States of America. We are the salt of the earth. We are the body of Christ" (216). If we're spending more time, energy, and money trying to capture political office for Jesus rather than seeking to save the lost, then we're doing it wrong. I give this book 4.5 stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Feb 2024
|
Feb 11, 2024
|
Feb 23, 2024
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0060929871
| 9780060929879
| 0060929871
| 3.99
| 1,886,336
| 1932
| Sep 01, 1998
|
really liked it
|
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Book Review #3 of 2024) This was the most frequently cited book in other works that I had read, so the time had come Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (Book Review #3 of 2024) This was the most frequently cited book in other works that I had read, so the time had come to finally read it for myself. It is a remarkably easy read, not nearly as disturbing to me as 1984. I imagine it was scandalously boundary-pushing for its time, what with its imagery of a completely promiscuous society and with the centrality of Ford to the narrative. Perhaps I should follow with Macaulay's What Not or Zamyatin's We, since Huxley is accused of plagiarising their works (among others). I found the futurism interesting-- helicopters, television, and other inventions that were not ubiquitous in 1931. Living in 2024, my first reaction to the book was that many in the West today, particularly young people who spend much of their days on Instagram and Tiktok, and increasingly with AI-generated partners and fantasies, would see the World State society as utopian, rather than dystopian. It is easier than ever to say "history is bunk" (p. 32) when social media is flooded with so much information it's hard to separate fact from fiction, and when so many people question the motives of those who write credible history. "Every one belongs to every one else" seems a utopian dream-- there is no monogamy or commitment, only pleasure. When one encounters inevitable ups and downs of emotions, chemical reactions in our brains, soma is there to take it away. We would all be comfortably numb, have all our physical needs met, and be satisfied in the nobility of our assigned roles in life-- be it Alpha or Epsilon. “Has any of you been compelled to live through a long time-interval between the consciousness of a desire and its fulfilment?” (p. 39). Unlike 1984, the government control doesn't seem a cynical enslavement of a few elites to maintain their power in a war against other nations, in Brave New World the system was established by others to bring about the above "improvements" to society (although apparently opposed in a nine year civil war). Bernard Marx, who was one of those we find was born thinking differently--more independently--is more of an annoying character than a hero. In a society where everyone is happy, he's miserable. Disappointingly, but perhaps realistically, when he finally gets the esteem that his insecure personality seems to inwardly crave, he uses it poorly to boast and engage in activities-- such as promiscuity-- he previously seemed principled against. There clearly are some references (ie: Ford) about mass production and industrial management, which was becoming a business school subject in the 1930s: "(I)n the time of Our Ford (people) used to write about scientific progress. They seemed to have imagined that it could be allowed to go on indefinitely, regardless of everything else. Knowledge was the highest good, truth the supreme value...Our Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t" (181). Having a Native American reservation in the book that has been preserved for whatever odd reason was quite a twist. The Savage was also a bit of an odd character, educated purely on Shakespeare and the primitive rituals he observed as a quasi-outsider. Despite living a life of community rejection on the reservation, in the World Society he reaches the conclusion that liberty is better than the never-changing numbness or synthesized happiness. "But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin” (191). The World Controller Mustapha Mond acknowledges that the ideas and emotions in Shakespeare are beautiful-- and even that there "quite probably is" a God--but the individual pursuit of beauty and happiness as defined by Shakespeare's characters threatens the stability of society. “Because our world is not the same as Othello’s world. You can’t make flivvers without steel—and you can’t make tragedies without social instability. The world’s stable now. People are happy; they get what they want, and they never want what they can’t get...they're not afraid of death; they're blissfully ignorant of passion and old age; they're plagued with no mothers or fathers...And if anything should go wrong, there's soma. Which you go and chuck out the window in the name of liberty, Mr. Savage. Liberty!" (175). The ending of the book is a bit disappointing. Mustapha Mond comes across more as a benevolent father, having also been born with an independent mind and ideas but choosing to sacrifice it for the happiness of society. "Civilization has absolutely no need of nobility or heroism. These things are symptoms of political inefficiency. In a properly organized society like ours, nobody has any opportunities for being noble or heroic" (189). But he takes care to give those other independents a life on islands with others similar, away from the rest of society but free to interact with others different than themselves. The televised exploits of the Savage drive people around the world to frenzied lust to experience his exploits-- what it must feel like to feel pain, to bleed, to inflict pain and experience raw emotion. What lessons are we to take from his suicide? Perhaps enjoyed the soma-filled orgy of the night before but regrets it as a betrayal of the principals he has chosen to maintain? Reading other famous figures' thoughts on the book, I suppose Huxley was making a satire of socialist utopian fantasies at the time. But in doing so, I think he painted a utopian society more ideal than others' imaginations. Perhaps also Huxley was criticizing both ideas based on ancient religion as well as the atheistic, socialist utopian ideas that were supposed to somehow replace them. Perhaps I need to read Huxley's Brave New World Revisited (1958) to get his own interpretation. I suspect he wouldn't be surprised by the direction we're going in 2024. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 11, 2024
|
Feb 05, 2024
|
Feb 10, 2024
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 1333529864
| 9781333529864
| 1333529864
| 4.33
| 3
| Aug 21, 2015
| Feb 02, 2018
|
really liked it
|
Explorations and Adventures in Honduras (1857) by William V. Wells "It is our ignorance of Honduras which has thus far allowed us to leave it a hidden Explorations and Adventures in Honduras (1857) by William V. Wells "It is our ignorance of Honduras which has thus far allowed us to leave it a hidden and useless treasure." - William V. Wells This is part of my collection of reviews of travel memoirs about Honduras written in English prior to 1927. Books written by U.S. and European travelers had a good market for about a century and plenty are available for download as they are past copyright. The books about Honduras are remarkable for expressing optimism about Honduras' potential for foreign investment due the richness of soil and natural resources, the favorable (weather) climate, and its lack of development, education, and modern technology. The most complete history of this era containing the most citation of available sources at the time is likely Hubert Howe Bankcroft's History of Central America, Volume 3, 1801-1887. Wells' collected books and articles from Central America in connection with his newspaper and writing possibly contributed to Bankcroft's extensive library. Adventures in Honduras, finished in 1856, is largely well-written and was cited heavily by later books of the era I've reviewed. His background and motivations for traveling to Honduras via Nicaragua is somewhat shrouded in mystery. The only thing made clear in the book is that he's from San Francisco and is investigating the largely un-tapped gold and silver resources of Honduras, department of Olancho specifically, with a mind of being a ground-floor investor in the next gold rush, such as he'd experienced first-hand in California where the gold rush era was in full swing (1848-1855). Wikipedia's sources and elsewhere tell us that he was a merchant sailor from Boston; he mentions travel to South America in the book. After following the gold rush to California, Wells briefly became part owner of a San Francisco newspaper, evidently where he learned journalism as a trade. Wells and his brother-in-law (James Whelpley) formed the Honduras Mining and Trading Company in "early 1854" after reading various reports (cited in the book) about gold deposits in Honduras, in the state of Olancho (Walker's Expedition to Nicaragua, p. 41). Wells traveled to Central America in August 1854 and was there until some part of 1855 ( "nine months" per a NY Times review of the book at the time; the first article published by Walker was in a July 1855 edition of a U.S. magazine). There are a handful of anonymous travelers with him in the book, particularly in Nicaragua, denoated only by the author by their first initial. Wells' first book -- Walker's Expedition in Nicaragua -- published in 1856 lists Whelpley and others as on the journey to Nicaragua while Wells travels "alone" to Olancho. Walker's arrival in Nicaragua is mentioned in Adventures in Honduras and the author makes no predictions of his outcome from his 1856 vantage point. Wikipedia notes that Walker was married in 1854, but Wells does not mention a wife or brother-in law (explicitly) in this book. It appears from other sources that Whelpley was the main purveyor of the gold project and later had a career in selling mining equipment whereas Wells probably never went back to Honduras again. The first quarter of the book takes place in Nicaragua, begging the question as to why the party landed there when there were other means at the time of getting to Honduras directly. Wells and his party came well-prepared with letters of introduction to several leading men, including Francisco Castellon, "Provisional Director" of Nicaragua and only nominally in control as he was fighting an ongoing civil war with the deposted leader Fruto Chamorro. Remarkably, Wells notes in Walker's Expedition to Nicaragua that "during his abesnce, Mr. Byron Cole, one of those remaining at Leon....proposed to the Provisional Director, Castellon, that he should augment his forces by sending for 'the renowned (William) Walker,'" resulting in a "grant of land (21,000 acres) to Mr. Cole and his associates" for enlisting Walker in the cause-- which Cole is later able to do. So, one of the most consequential filibustering attempts by a U.S. citizen attempting to colonize another country without U.S. government approval or involvement was begun by Wells' initial foray into Nicaragua! While largely mum about his true feelings toward American involvement in Central America or expressing outright optimism about William Walker's foray into Nicaragua in this book, Wells is much more explicit in Walker's Expedition to Nicaragua that "we may look cheerfully and hopefully to the speedy accomplishment of American rule in Central America," (p. 14). But similarly in Explorations and Adventures concludes there is "one remedy—a peaceful immigration of Northern men, who, by intermarriage, would gradually change the character of the Southern (Central American) race" (p. 521). Wells' time in Nicaragua is largely notable for the danger, being delayed from traveling due to wandering patrols of Chamorro's troops and skirmishes. All of his observations reaffirm for me what I gathered from Bankcroft's History, that Nicaragua was not a functioning country but a mountainous territory that included a collection of three independent city-states-- Leon, Managua, and Grenada-- that were constantly at war (not to mention Chinandega, Rivas, and other strongholds). Wells observes that the wealth and any entrepreneurial initiative of the people had been completely sapped by decades of civil war in which there was no enforcement of human rights, much less property rights. "Truly the happy days of Nicaragua seemed gone, and the country, once a dreamy paradise of pleasure and lazy enjoyment, given up to the hand of the destroyer" (p. 45). He stays at the home of a Don Mariano, one of the wealthiest men of the country, who had made trips to San Francisco to safeguard his family's assets, but found what remained of his wealth in Nicaragua expropriated by the Liberal/Castellon cause as much as the Servile/Chamorro party in the interminable war. Wells rights that only the property of those under French, English, or American consular flags were considered protected, such that people eagerly sought to store their belongings in those houses before imminent attacks. Wherever Wells travels, he is assumed to be a U.S. government emissary, and it appears he tries little to dissuade others to that effect in order to receive greater hospitality and safety. "The U. S. government had dispatched so many of these honorable emissaries to Nicaragua that every American is regarded as occupying some official capacity." Wells encounters a handful of Americans, Italians, Germans, and French who have migrated to Nicaragua either recently or decades past, ranging from doctors to soldiers of fortune and on both sides of the civil war. Wells writes that "about twenty" were enlisted in the army on both sides. Wells meets several leading men of Nicaragua, and Castellon writes him a letter of introduction to Honduras' President Cabañas. Wells also has the good fortune to meet Francisco Morazan, a natural son of the legendary Central American leader, whose biography (and a full English translation of his last will) Wells summarizes in an appendix to the book on the history of Central America. Eventually, Wells is able to travel precariously by a canoe-like craft to Amapala, the free port of Honduras established in 1846 by the Italian Carlos Dardano, whom he befriends, and from there onward to the mainland toward Tegucigalpa. Much of the book is Wells' meanderings and observations in great detail on plant and animal life, as well as the geological attributes of the country. He notes in detail the various species of birds, many of which are unidentified and the existence of some which are yet unverified today. The book also includes hand-drawn sketches by a native he brings along with him, which are fine works of art (he laments that he unfortunately lost many others in his journey back to San Francisco). He greatly enjoys the natural sugary drink of "tiste," finds everyone carries "aguardiente" for what ails them, and he enjoys the abundance of wild fruit. He does some sporatic sport hunting along the way which makes the modern reader cringe, he sees some of the wild cats of the country in places they no longer exist. He carried some basic medicines with him from California and "heals" ailing villagers along the way, such that his fame spreads as a "doctor," "U.S. Minister," and wealthy businessman. He makes a lot of observations on the culture from the plight of starving villagers (there had been a locust devastation) along the way to the wealthy elites of Tegucigalpa to the rather independent-natured people of the department of Olancho. Wells is heavily focused on the mineral deposits he finds, taking samples back with him to New York and San Francisco for testing. He is well-versed in previous writings and focused on negotiating a contract in Olancho, where he can apply more modern methods of panning and digging for gold on the Guayape river. He interviews everyone he comes across about gold and finds legends but also verifiable evidence that peasant people are able to do "washings" (primitive panning) for gold in streams and come away with enough in a few days to make ends meet. There are plenty of stories of people who have found "pounds" of gold and everyone is likely guarded as they bury any large caches they do have. I greatly enjoyed his encounters with some of the leading families of the country who still hold great power and wealth today. He develops a relationship with President Cabañas, who had moved his operations to Tegucigalpa in the ongoing conflict with Guatemala and its Honduran commander Guardiola (who would replace Cabañas by the time the book was published). Cabañas warns him of danger in going to Olancho, which had been granted immunity from taxes and military conscription due to their fiercely independent nature, but writes him letters of introduction nonetheless. Wells enjoys a visit to the hacienda of the Ferrari family, Italians whose family are still rich and well-known in Honduras. There are other leading families whose names are recognizable to Hondurans today, and likely related. Wells makes the most of his time: "I secured from the supreme government some valuable privileges, among which was the right to enter into all manner of contracts for mining or commercial purposes with natives of the country, which must be subject to the sanction and approval of the government. All mechanical implements, machinery, scientific instruments, and other articles necessary for the eventual consummation of such contracts were to be admitted free of duty, and the vessels unrestricted in their navigation of the rivers. This decree having been published i the Gaceta, the government organ, my kind friend Cabanas, to impart additional importance to my enterprise, sent me an appointment as 'Honduras Consul General in the United States,' a passport through Honduras signed by the Minister of Hacienda, a packet of introductory letters to all persons of importance in Olancho, and particularly to the Zelaya family." In Olancho, he enjoys the hospitality of the Zelaya family (whose progeny in 2024 are the most powerful political family in the country). While Olancho is technically under authority of Honduras, General Don "Chico" Francisco Zelaya, his brothers, and children essentially govern the department and were seen by the peasants as "the local sovereigns of all that section of country, being mainly dependent upon them for clothes and the ordinary articles of life, and recognizing 'el General Don Chico,' as they affectionately styled Don Francisco, for their 'father' and 'patron.'" "The government is thus a a very compact and well-established despotism—a little republic within a republic, with a few forms of election to gratify the middle classes or dependents upon the great landholders," and perhaps little has changed up to modern times. The Zelayas own swathes of land for cattle raising and rivers with gold placers, which the women ask Don Francisco permission to pan. "I resolved never to leave Olancho until I had entered into a contract with the general for the introduction ofAmerican capital and labor into the country," and indeed he spends months in Olancho exploring, negotiating, and waiting for the Zelayas' signatures on a contract. He visits Jutecalpa (where Zelaya's younger brother is mayor) and other parts in the company of an educated (but promiscuous) priest. He experiences local fiestas, witnesses bullfighting, cockfighting, and other pasttimes in the department. On a personal note, he visited the ruins of what he called "Olancho Viejo," which was the original town of San Jorge de Olanchito founded by Diego de Alvarado sometime after 1530 as the ancient capital of the district. The village was likely destroyed by a landslide from the neighboring hill of Boquerón, which the natives ascribed (incorrectly as a volcano) to God's wrath on the greed and avarice of the villagers. The town was relocated to the modern district of Yoro, where it is called Olanchito. My father-in-law is from Olanchito and confirmed the knowledge of the collapse of Boquerón. The elder Zelaya explains the interesting history of the Zelaya family, how they migrated to Honduras with a charter from Spain in 1540 to introduce cattle ranching to the country, the charter which coveyed the present Zelaya estates. "The Don gave me a detailed account of the expedition of his doughty ancestor into Olancho, the attacks and cattle thefts by the savages, the discovery of the gold, and the rapid peopling ofthese beautiful valleys by the enraptured Spaniards, who at last made Olancho what it has since remained, the great cattle-raising section of Central America." The author ascribes these statements to Zelaya over the course of the trip: "Ah! my friend," said he, "God grant that some of the hardy and intelligent men you describe may visit this lonely spot, and show us how to extract the gold which, in our ignorance, we are daily walking over!" Such a remark, coming from the principal man ofthe department, was to me a conclu sive evidence of his desire to introduce industrious Americans into Olancho for the development of the gold placers. " "Ah! Don Guillermo, your countrymen are, beyond doubt, destined to rule the world; such progress in the useful arts is astonishing, and none of the old races can everhope to compete with you. I only fear that your friends may not credit the stories you will one day recount of Olancho, and that the enterprising men of El Norte may refuse to visit us. If you never return with your great company, I shall feel thatmy dear Olancho will never become known to the world." Ultimately, Francisco Zelaya grants the contract with the author to return to San Francisco and bring American labor and capital to mine the land. If the modern American reader finds this distasteful, I would note that Wells' book also recounts the British government's attempts to colonize the Gracias a Dios and extending their claim all the way to Olancho, suggesting their true intention was not just the mohagany coast, but the gold of the interior. He recounts a recent event where British explorers tried to laid seige to Jutecalpa and were put down by Zelaya. Wells returns to Tegucigalpa where he tarries a few days before heading back to Amapala to find passage back to the United States. He visits some of the older silver mines in the department of Tegucigalpa, mines that are still producing silver but whose riches lay behond the technological know-how of the earlier Spanish and now the Hondurans. Wells' book likely inspired others searching fortune up to the 1890s, by which time several English, French, and American companies came to the country to invest in mining operations. The book ends with a summary of the history of Central America and chapters with greater detail on the economy, plant and animal life, weights and measures, and other detailed aspects of Honduras. This essentially summarizes the overly idealistic attempt at a unified and democratic Central America-- Morazan's dream: "The successive eras of bloodshed and anarchy are illustrations of the great truth that republican institutions can not exist where popular ignorance and unprincipled rulers are constant enemies to progress and the blessings of liberty. Auspicious as was the dawn of freedom upon Central America, it is true that, since that event, the country has afforded but a melancholy caricature upon the name of republicanism, indicating by incontestable facts that its ruin was but precipitated by the separation from Spain." Wells reinforces history (re-discovered by a U.S. professor in the 1960s but missing from Wikipedia) that, in his desire to work with E.G. Squier to build the trans-continental railroad, Cabañas changed his mind about encouraging the immigration of foreigners and enlisted the help of Americans in the fight against Guatemala and Guardiola--including possible union with the USA. "To Cabañas should be ascribed the double honor of conquering his inborn prejudices against foreigners, and of giving the principal impulse to an enterprise likely to assume an importance second to none in the present age...The extraordinary liberality of Cabanas in encouraging foreign enterprise was also now used against him by his enemies with fearful efiect. Overtures were made to North Americans in Honduras for the enlistment of Californians in the Liberal cause, but unsuccessfully." Cabañas would ultimately be defeated and overthrown by Guardiola, in league with Guatemala, and the rule of "Guardiola thenceforth has been that of an ignorant and unscrupulous tyrant." By the time Wells finishes writing his book, Guardiola has "enacted (prohibitions to) the entrance of foreigners into the country...and excluding Americans from residence at sea ports." Wells records that Cabañas retreated to Grenada (Nicaragua) to ask the pro-democratic American forces with William Walker for assistance. However, "the invasion of Nicaragua hy the forces of Costa Rica, and the disastrous issue of that expedition; the diplomatic relations arising between the new government of Nicaragua and the United States; the elevation of Walker to the presidency, and the alliance of the states against his government, are events transpiring in 1856, and must hereafter be subjects of more detailed history." I give this book 4 stars out of 5 for its detail and great historical value. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 2024
|
Feb 02, 2024
|
Feb 10, 2024
|
Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0310366070
| 9780310366072
| 0310366070
| 4.24
| 227
| unknown
| Aug 23, 2022
|
really liked it
|
What To Do Next: Taking Your Best Step When Life is Uncertain by Jeff Henderson Having read a host of self-improvement books that include lessons like What To Do Next: Taking Your Best Step When Life is Uncertain by Jeff Henderson Having read a host of self-improvement books that include lessons like "it's okay to make a mistake, so long as you learn from it and apply the lesson going forward," my purpose in reading this book was to ensure I was making the best possible decision possible in order to avoid potential regret a year from now. I came across this book at a discount one night when I was stressed about a major career decision I had to make. I related immediately to the opening pages of the book "What was next for me, according to fear, was failure. But fear wasn't the only voice chiming in. Its distant cousin, constant uncertainty, had a few other things to say as well. Not to mention his twin brother, doubt" (p. 4). Serendipitously enough, the author's inspiration for the book was his decision to leave the very same place that I was making a decision about returning to. I enjoyed this book more because I was very familiar with the author's context, namely metro Atlanta (and my wife is also a UGA alum and avid fan). Trying to review this objectively, it is a readable book with several personal anecdotes; there are several portions that can help anyone systematically approach a decision. It can help you develop some new patterns of thinking as you analyze what may be next for you. There are doubtless more spiritual aspects to his personal decision that he leaves out of the book; it is written with a non-Christian audience in mind. A Christian reader may be frustrated that he is not more overtly spiritual. But the book is upbeat and readable. The author has a website where one can take a free assessment to help examine aspects of the pending decision to change jobs and get feedback in the form of a score -- a red, yellow, or green light. Henderson pushes back on our internal voices debating and stressing about whether we're "behind," or the "money wall" is unscalable, etc. We should initially take stock of what we do have -- experience, resources, a network, a current job. ( "The path to your dream job often leads through your day job," p. 25) He gives some good pointers, such as humbling yourself and working hard in the initial days to expand your network, and to recruit a panel of advisors. For most of us, a decision requires an uncomfortable waiting period in which we should "wait actively" to leverage the time and our current day job to our advantage-- to create "optimal options...financially, relationally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually" (p. 79). Having changed careers a few times, a tough one for me has always been to finish strong at the current role I'm departing. Henderson offers practical advice, such as sharing your "finish plan" with your team so that expectations and output are practically managed. Writing thank-you notes and making sure not to "leave muddy footprints" is also important. The book also contains an assessment for gauging where your "dream job" may be that I found helpful. Essentially, the "NEXT," is the middle of a ven diagram of calling, gifting (ie: strengths), and timing. Clues about calling come from thinking about what problems you tend to want to solve, or what you may feel the most pleasure doing. Strengths are those listed by the StrengthsFinder survey. "Calling asks, 'Shouldn't someone do something about that?' Gifting asks, 'Could that someone be me?'" (p. 145). Timing is helped by examining the assessment mentioned above and other specific factors. "Find something that bothers you, breaks your heart, or you can't stop thinking about. Line up the opportunity to see if your gifting matches what you can uniquely bring to it. And ask, 'If not now, when?'" (p. 148). I found this section to be the most helpful. The most introspective part of the book for me was Chapter 8 - Letting Go. "We can't receive what's next until we let go of the past" (p. 151). "What is holding us back is something we've never let go," (p. 164). This requires letting go of past mistakes, specifically forgiving others who may have hurt you in the past, and letting go of what others say. This is a multi-step and continual process. It helps to make a short list of people whose voices truly matter to you, to help you filter out others you've been worried about in the past. And this thought is critical for me, I've been helpfully wrestling with it since reading it: "One of the most freeing decisions you can make is to let people be wrong about you. You don't have to defend yourself...every moment you defend yourself against what others may say, that's one more moment you rob yourself of pursuing what's next" (p. 164). Henderson helpfully includes a section on what to do when the dream dies-- using anecdotes of entrepreneurs he knows who experienced failure or bad timing in their venture, learned from it, and were able to resurrect it. "There can't be a great story without villains such as challenges, defeats, and obstacles to overcome," a reminder that the "dream job" or right decision won't come without difficulties (p. 182). He provides some suggestions for turning negative thoughts around. Convert "I don't really know what I'm doing" to "I'm learning how to do something I've never done before" (p. 195). Ultimately, "don't build a life you won't enjoy," (p. 205). Perhaps the weakness of the book is that, while the author made a career decision that required much thought, stress, and the proper mourning process afterwards, he really didn't have much to lose. He was already a nationally-known speaker and pastor with decades of experience, a wide network, family support, and with one child already out of the nest. The greatest threat was perhaps to his pride, which he addresses in a helpfully open fashion in the book. People asking him why he would leave his calling as a pastor at a large church to pursue an independent role with something perhaps less concrete or harder to explain. That example alone may be something most people cannot relate to. In all, I give it 4 stars. It was very helpful. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Jan 10, 2024
|
Jan 23, 2024
|
Feb 03, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1433566133
| 9781433566134
| 1433566133
| 4.52
| 44,220
| Apr 2020
| Apr 07, 2020
|
it was amazing
|
Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund My wife and I read this like a devotional book, we read a chapter (8 pages on average) each night after which we'd dis Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund My wife and I read this like a devotional book, we read a chapter (8 pages on average) each night after which we'd discuss and pray. I recommend that approach. It served as a daily teaching or reminder that the Bible teaches that "the bent of God's heart is mercy. His glory is his goodness" (p. 147). The only things God is described as being "rich" in are mercy and kindness (Ephesians 2). "The only two words Jesus will use to describe his own heart are gentle and lowly (Matt. 11:29). And the first two words God uses to describe who he is are merciful and gracious (Exodus 34:6-7)" (ibid). This book combats our ingrained and conscious or subconscious belief that our obedience strengthens the love of God-- when that is contrary to the Gospel of grace. Ortlund draws heavily on Thomas Goodwin and other Puritan or later Reformed writers on the topic of the depths of God's mercy. While the Bible and those same Puritans rightly wrote at length describing God's perfect justice and the measure of his wrath, Ortlund painstakingly illustrates the marvelous Gospel truth that there is rest and perfect forgiveness and no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. In the Bible, His anger requires provocation, but "not once are we told that God is 'provoked to love' or 'provoked to mercy,' as that is his natural bent toward his covenant children. God is not like us, who love conditionally and with limits." The message of this book is that we tend to project our natural expectations about who God is onto him instead of fighting to let the Bible surprise us into what God himself says...The natural flow of the fallen human heart is toward reciprocity, tit-for-tat payback... intractably law-ish. "Isaiah reminds us that his thoughts are not our thoughts, his ways are higher, and the context of that passage is about God's blessings and covenant with a wayward Israel that deserved punishment." God's thoughts are so much higher that not only does he abundantly pardon the penitent; he has determined to bring his people into a future so glorious that we can hardly bring ourselves to dare for it, "(pg. 154-161, great quote from John Calvin included)." That God is rich in mercy means that your regions of deepest shame and regret are not hotels through which divine mercy passes but homes in which divine mercy abides "(p. 179). That Jesus is friend to sinners is only contemptible to those who feel themselves not to be in that category" (p. 114). Read the book and enjoy the rest that it offers. 4.5 stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Dec 2023
|
Dec 31, 2023
|
Jan 05, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0814436366
| 9780814436363
| 0814436366
| 3.93
| 1,979
| Oct 21, 2015
| Oct 21, 2015
|
liked it
|
Talking to Crazy by Mark Goulston I realized that I read this book years ago but never wrote a review; I had forgotten that I'd read it and found it wh Talking to Crazy by Mark Goulston I realized that I read this book years ago but never wrote a review; I had forgotten that I'd read it and found it when looking for a book on how to talk to irrational people. So, I re-read it, along with all the highlights I'd made years ago, and found it helpful. The book is good to keep handy as a reference, but difficult to read in its entirety as every chapter is focused on a specific scenario and many may not apply to anyone in your life. I read it after reviewing the One-Way Relationship Workbook. The author shares anecdotal stories from his own psychotherapy practice (possibly heavily modified or made up as there is no way to verify). Most of his techniques focus on active listening and empathy. Irrational people in our lives trigger us and we have to deal with our own crazy before leaning into theirs. But once we acknowledge their crazy and give them a safe space to vent, they may be less crazy and you can move forward. Goulston deals first with scenarios involving workplace relationships before getting into marriage relationships, teenage or adult family members, and others. Everyone becomes irrational at some point, and all of us have relationships with people who become irrational regularly due to personality, work stress, etc. The "Sanity Cycle" involves identifying the other person's modus operandi, realizing that their crazy isn't about you, leaning into their crazy, showing the person that you're not the threat, and moving that person to a sane place. The author walks through the "nine most common M.Os of irrational people" and gives a scenario about how to deal with each one. Some people are just emotional, others are manipulative/needy, some are fearful, etc. He gives a helpful tip on identifying whether someone may be a sociopath or narcissist during a first date or a job interview: "Ask the person what has frustrated, upset, or disappointed him in the past." If he responds by blaming other people for his problems, that's a sign of a personality disorder. The book also includes exercise to help you identify your own crazy and your own worldview that may need to move to a healthier place. There are helpful tips in maintaining your poise when dealing with someone whose irrational behavior has triggered you to likewise want to escalate the situation. The weakness of the book is the various scenarios that are very specific, there could be more explicit reference to central tenets. As I was re-reading this book, I marveled at how people I had met since the first time I'd read it were people for whom I still needed these bits of wisdom. Perhaps I subconsciously absorbed much of the book back then and this has helped me be a more effective listener. In any case, I now have a guidebook or toolkit that will help me communicate and understand people better. I give it 3.5 stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Dec 15, 2023
|
Dec 31, 2023
|
Jan 05, 2024
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1344124607
| 9781344124607
| 1344124607
| 5.00
| 1
| unknown
| Oct 07, 2015
|
it was amazing
|
History of Central America, Volume 3, 1801-1887 by Hubert Howe Bancroft This is such an incredible work that one marvels how it was produced without th History of Central America, Volume 3, 1801-1887 by Hubert Howe Bancroft This is such an incredible work that one marvels how it was produced without the internet--in 1887! Upon finishing, I began reading about the author and marveled at how he'd never even been to Central America; I was convinced he'd spent considerable time in Panama due to his knowledge of the isthmus, his citation of English newspapers from there, and the in-depth history of the Panama railroad and canal construction. In fact, the author's obituaries indicate he had a library of over 60,000 books and periodicals and developed a system for inde xing data used by a small army of researchers he paid to quickly compile volumes of books. Bancroft published 39 such works between 1874-1890, including a seven volume history of Mexico. One hopes the government documents, gacetas, Central American newspapers, and even older textbooks, largely written in Spanish, still exist in some form at the University of California, which bought his library in the early 20th century. Surely this tome was a requisite university textbook for years, it provides an almost grueling year-by-year account of political activity in each of the five Central American countries and ends with a more condensed summary of the isthmus of Panama, then part of Colombia (or Nueva Granada). The sections are helpfully broken up into time periods in which each country gets a chapter. He then concludes with a brief summary of culture, people, laws, and commerce looking at the current state of each country in 1887. For much of this broad summary, he relies on travel books written by other Americans during the period (E.G. Squier, William Wells, etc.). I would note that Bancroft, who apparently was the son of abolitionists, takes a much less racist and condescending tone than the American travelers. My goal was to learn more about the context of Honduras in the 19th century and this was the perfect book. A fantastic resource for anyone serious about researching Central America or Panama. I made hundreds of annotations. Five stars. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Nov 2023
|
Dec 15, 2023
|
Dec 21, 2023
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1250135990
| 9781250135995
| 1250135990
| 4.31
| 10,427
| Jan 17, 2017
| Jan 17, 2017
|
really liked it
|
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson (Book Review #22 of 2023) Listening to the author read this book in 2023, it seem Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson (Book Review #22 of 2023) Listening to the author read this book in 2023, it seems remarkable to me that he published it in 2017, before George Floyd and so many other incidents that furthered the national conversation on race and reconciliation. He is writing in 2017, where fear is high as Trump is now President as the "antidote" to Obama. This book is indeed written in a style like James Baldwin, delivered loosely in the form of a church service with "hymns," prayers, and a sermon. I don't feel I can write an adequate review or critique of Dyson's book, but I definitely learned a great deal and appreciated the way in which he poignantly strives to educate white Americans of how it feels to be Black in America. He provides a helpful list of books to read in various categories. I have only read a couple of authors he referenced, such as Ta-Nehisi Coates. At the time of writing, Dyson was a professor at Georgetown University, having held offices in other universities. I found the discrimination and doubt he experienced at Carson-Newman University in Tennessee to be the most personal, where the Dean personally held a grudge against him after he had gotten a scholarship offer from Princeton to pursue his PhD. (I heard a white pastor in Knoxville once recommend this book to his large congregation.) Dyson is a baptist minister who believes there is a point of agreement of "moral repair" in America that even atheists can agree on; that America has a "moral foundation" that we can return to. His progressive theology, including a year-long effort toward ordaining women, once got him removed as a senior pastor in a conservative Black church, a story he tells matter-of-factly, though with some sadness ( "We are our own worst enemy." ) While outspokenly pro-affirmative action, his proposal for reparations sounds more like a voluntary offering than wealth redistribution-- he calls for white people to set aside money for scholarships for minorities and donations to provide schoolbooks and opportunities for Black kids to experience summer camp, go to the movies, or other opportunities they are often not readily afforded. He points out the problem with biblical editors usually adding the title "Good" Samaritan to Jesus' parable of the Samaritan. Jesus nowhere implies that the other Samaritans were bad, but the sinner that Jesus is instructing in that passage is coming from a point of view that they all are. Having that title in the passage creates a subtle racist overtone. Dyson leaves it to the reader to understand that there are too many white people who are prejudiced against Blacks but hold a few out as "good" exceptions to the rule. This was powerful and educational for me. Born in 1958, the author could harp on many personal grievances for having his civil rights violated by the police, such as being pulled over multiple times, beaten once, for no reason. He gives his point of view as the son of a Black man who was sadly resigned to racism and skeptical his scholarly son could achieve anything and as a father of a child who he has to educate on how to deal with the police in order to avoid fatal outcomes experienced by so many others. He was once stopped and harassed after someone called the police when they saw him disciplining his son in the back seat. The irony, he writes, is that Black spanking is to discipline Black kids not to make white police officers angry. I think he wants whites to simply accept their responsibility to try and stop such injustices, as they are the ones who have the political power and financial resources to do so. Movies depicting the struggle of black people overdramatize what the real-life white person may have done in order to attract white stars to play lead roles and white Americans to watch the movie. This misleads both Black and white people from the truth of what little the white people have done, and the great work and trials the Black people faced largely without help. This exacerbates the "plague of white innocence," as the author puts it, when white people should be acutely aware of how much slavery, Jim Crow laws, and racism have slowed the progress of Blacks as a people. Dyson includes a helpful lesson on the n word, how and why Black people use it, and why white people can't be a part of that conversation. I give this book four stars out of five. I imagine Dyson is a controversial figure, as he has debated other Blacks on his beliefs. This book has put me on the lookout for future articles from him on current issues. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Nov 28, 2023
|
Dec 02, 2023
|
Dec 17, 2023
|
Hardcover
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
my rating |
|
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| 3.89
|
really liked it
|
Jun 20, 2024
|
Jun 27, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.31
|
really liked it
|
Jun 22, 2024
|
Jun 24, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.27
|
really liked it
|
Jun 15, 2024
|
Jun 17, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.12
|
really liked it
|
May 20, 2024
|
May 27, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.14
|
it was amazing
|
May 13, 2024
|
May 18, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.27
|
it was amazing
|
Apr 17, 2024
|
May 17, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 3.92
|
it was amazing
|
Apr 30, 2024
|
May 17, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.24
|
liked it
|
May 08, 2024
|
May 12, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.36
|
liked it
|
Mar 28, 2024
|
Apr 14, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.23
|
really liked it
|
Mar 24, 2024
|
Mar 24, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.44
|
it was amazing
|
Mar 06, 2024
|
Mar 09, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.00
|
liked it
|
Mar 2024
|
Mar 09, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.54
|
it was amazing
|
Feb 11, 2024
|
Feb 23, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 3.99
|
really liked it
|
Feb 05, 2024
|
Feb 10, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.33
|
really liked it
|
Feb 02, 2024
|
Feb 10, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.24
|
really liked it
|
Jan 23, 2024
|
Feb 03, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 4.52
|
it was amazing
|
Dec 31, 2023
|
Jan 05, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 3.93
|
liked it
|
Dec 31, 2023
|
Jan 05, 2024
|
|||||
|
| 5.00
|
it was amazing
|
Dec 15, 2023
|
Dec 21, 2023
|
|||||
|
| 4.31
|
really liked it
|
Dec 02, 2023
|
Dec 17, 2023
|
Loading...
