Book Summaries and Project Management
Tag: Sparknotes
ou may know Joe Bastianich from watching him on television as a judge on Masterchef or as an investor on Restaurant Startup. His biography is both entertaining and interesting. If you like watching cooking shows, eating at fine dining restaurants, or have an interest in wine, I think you will enjoy this book.
Managing Oneself is succinct and packed with useful advice. My favorite insight is from chapter 4 which illustrates the differences between readers and listeners. Knowing whether you are a reader or a listener is a key to performing at your best. It also helps you interact with others by identifying if they are readers or listeners. It can be read in under an hour and I encourage you to buy a copy and read it for yourself.
My favorite part of the book is the Van Halen "no brown M&Ms" contract clause discussed in chapter 4. If you don't read anything else on the summary, I suggest reading my notes on chapter 4.
Before writing this, Jesse Itzler decided to live in a monastery with the Monks of New Skete as an experiment and life experience. He kept a journal during his stay there and the main contents of the book are from his journal.
Tiger Woods' life is an incredibly fascinating story. The author's are brutally open in this book and they dig into plenty of the negative aspects of his life. Regardless of whether you like him or not, there is a lot to learn from his successes and mistakes. Even if you don't like sports, I think you will enjoy this biography.
"If you’re ok with looking like everyone else, then the essence of this book will be lost on you." - Paul Akers
This was a good biography, and Benjamin Franklin is an interesting person to read about. He had such a diversity of interests. If you enjoy this book I also recommend reading Walter Isaacson's biography of Leonardo da Vinci.
These are my general notes and lessons learned more than a full summary like I normally write. The book is well written and easy to follow, it kept me interested the entire time. If you are interested in learning about Genghis Khan I definitely recommend this book.
In 2019 I listened to Getting Things Done and it helped improve my productivity so much that I read it again in 2020. David Allen says "The implicit purpose of this book is urging you to operate from a higher level. To assist you in making your total life expression more fulfilling and better aligned with the big picture."
Greenlights is the biography of the first 50 years of Matthew McConaughey's life. He is a great storyteller and narrates the audio version himself, which makes it even better. Listening to the book feels like sitting in his home while he tells you his life story. There are many pearls of wisdom in his stories.