Category: Paper Chase

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Charles Duhigg – supercommunicators

Posted on by Michael

supercommunicators is Charles Duhigg’s deep dive study into why some people are able to quickly build connections with others through conversations. The book focuses on three main types of conversation questions that must be answered to understand what is trying to be accomplished – “What’s this really about?”, “How do we feel?”, and “Who are we?”.  Duhigg uses examples from business, law enforcement, medicine, entertainment, etc to show real life examples including a lengthy analysis on the inner workings of Netflix. 

supercommunicators as a whole is interesting and brought up a few ideas that I was able to quickly adopt into real life conversations.  Ex) What kind of conversation is this?  On the downside, the book does feel a bit long and unlike his book The Power of Habit, was not as quickly read.

7.5/10

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Cal Newport – Slow Productivity

Posted on by Michael

Over the last several years, writer Cal Newport has become a very popular figure in the productivity/business world.  His seminal book, Deep Work, is an essential read for knowledge workers. His latest book, Slow Productivity, came out in the late winter of 2024.  With a subtitle of “The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout”, the book’s three main tenets that are written about extensively are Do Fewer Things – Work at a Natural Pace – Obsess Over Quality.

This is a very important topic for office workers who are in a constant state of busyness to the point of burnout. Several of the ideas presented by Newport in the book are quite good.  An example is estimating the amount of time a project will take to give others a realistic idea of when it will be complete. This along with keeping a running list of upcoming projects will help you and others see where you are spending your time.  Other ideas do not seem as fleshed out and seemed rushed.  Better than the book, listening to Newport’s appearance on the Art of Manliness podcast may be all that a curious person would need on this topic.

7/10

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Steven Pressfield – The War of Art

Posted on by Michael

In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield describes the ways in which resistance keeps us from achieving our goals. Resistance comes in many forms such as procrastination, fear, and self doubt. While the book’s main focus is on writing, the same concept can be applied to self-improvement, house projects, office work, painting, etc.   Overcoming this resistance and putting in the work is the difference between an amateur and a pro.

Like his other non-fiction books, The War of Art is an easy to read book with chapters being just 1-2 pages long.  It’s easily relatable as Pressfield touches on many topics that stop the average person from doing what they set out to do and ways to overcome this.  There is a reason this book keeps getting recommended by so many people/websites – it’s an inspiring bit of quick reading to help refocus on the task at hand whether it’s writing, painting, learning, or working.

8.5/10

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Albert Camus – The Stranger

Posted on by Michael

The Stranger written by Albert Camus was first published in 1942 during the Nazi occupation of France.  The book is written in the first person of Meursault and is broken into two parts.  At the start of the book, Meursault attends his Mother’s funeral in the country.  He shows little emotion during the small, sparsely attended ceremony before returning to his home in Algiers. Several days later while at the beach with friends, he kills an Arab stranger for no apparent reason. 

The second half of the book then deals with the trial as everyone tries to figure out what made him do it.  Meursault wonders why everyone keeps trying to attach meaning to the events that lead up to the murder.  The book is highly celebrated as being one of the best novels ever written. It’s a simply written, straightforward story that is filled with far deeper meaning than what is written on the page. Far smarter people than me will say it’s a book on existentialism and absurdism.  I just found it utterly fascinating. 

10/10

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Monica Ali – Brick Lane

Posted on by Michael

Monica Ali’s first novel, Brick Lane, was published in 2003 and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. The story follows Nazneen as she grows up in a village in Bangladesh before moving to London in an arranged marriage to someone double her age.  Chanu is a good man but full of bluster and certainly not the one she would have chosen for herself.  While raising two children, Chanu decides that living on the lower end of British society is not for him and wants the family to move back to Bangladesh.

The rest of the family is resistant, while Nanzeen looks for a life outside of the marriage.  Part of the book deals with Nanzeen’s sister who stayed in Bangladesh and lives a very different life. That part of the story that takes up sections of the book was not as compelling and at times took away from the main story. Overall, it is an interesting look into a world that some of us would not normally see.

7/10