2021
11 BooksThe boy, the mole, the fox and the horse
Scrum: a breathtakingly brief and agile introduction
The giving tree
Anxious people
The leopard
Zikora
Zero Zero Zero
An excellent introduction to the global cocaine trade — production, distribution, logistics, and financing are all covered. The history and evolution of the cartels & mafias in Columbia, Mexico, Italy and Russia was fascinating, even the bits I already knew.
I was hoping for more details on the Italian/European organisations, beyond the ‘Ndragheta. The occasional diversions into reflections, poetry and minor characters added to the bulk. (I completely understand Roberto’s need for that reflection—his books have cost him a free life.)
User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play
A good book with lots of insights into the evolution, current state, and best practices of design and UX. The book loses a fair bit by just being too verbose, and often winding around minor characters and unrelated developments. The book would’ve been much improved by chopping 100 pages off the length.
The Biggest Bluff
A really good book about Poker, and a trained psychologist’s journey to learning it while interviewing some of the best players in the business. I thoroughly enjoyed the book’s weaving of Maria’s poker journey, the intro to Poker, and the exploration of behavioural and psychological aspects of the game.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
A memoir written as a letter to the mother. It’s beautifully written, though disjoint as times, as our thoughts often are.
I loved the sections of experiences with mom and grandmom, of finding love, of loss (twice), and of addiction. The short section of friends lost to drug addiction was simple yet moving. The prose sometimes, written as thoughts flow, often made comprehension hard.
It was a bit hard to read, to stay interested in. Yet, there are many moments from the book, both beautiful and sad, which have stayed vividly in memory.