Category: Paper Chase

Posted in Paper Chase

Q4 2022 + Q1 2023 Read It

Posted on by Michael

Discipline is Destiny is Ryan Holiday’s second in a planned four part series following the four stoic virtues of Courage/Temperance/Justice/Wisdom.  It follows his familiar style of a general theme broken up into short chapters about historical figures.  The themes include The Body, The Temperament, and The Soul.  Some of those figures here include Marcus Aurelius, Queen Elizabeth, Lou Gehrig, and Angela Merkel. It’s another inspiring achievement for the author who has dedicated his life to the stoic one. 9/10

A classic re-read of an all-time favourite, A Catcher in the Rye.  J.D. Salinger’s novel from 1951 follows protagonist Holden Caulfield around New York City after he gets kicked out of yet another boarding school.  Meeting up with former school mates, girls he’s dated, a few scoundrels and best of all, his sister Phoebe.  Young Phoebe is the voice of reason in Holden’s troubled life and one of the most endearing relationships in popular reading.  She’s not enough to save him from himself as he makes mistake after mistake. One of the best novels of all time, Catcher in the Rye remains a must read. 10/10

Steven Pressfield’s latest book, Put Your Ass [Where Your Heart Wants To Be] has a straightforward concept – if you want to get stronger, go to the gym.  If you want to write, get up early and write.  If you want to be in the movies, move to Hollywood. It is a swift kick for a lot of us that put things off and never seem to get to them, for one reason or another.  The chapters are short, often less than a page long so easy to fly through the book. My favourite part was the story about James Patterson who would go into work two hours early to his advertising job and work on his books/writing.  If you focus, and put the time in, it’s amazing what can be accomplished in just a few months or a year. 8/10

Psychology of Money is one of those books that frequently appears on Instagram pages as a must read business book.  Written by former Wall Street Journal columnist, Morgan Housel, his first book covers a lot of topics and uses stories throughout to help make his point.  He talks about various financial crises, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and Amazon.  Housel writes that we all bring different ideas to money depending on who we are, our beliefs, life experiences and the era we grew up in.  The basic tenants of the book are to invest early, invest often, don’t be distracted by outside noise, and stay the course.  It is boring advice but Housel shows that slow and steady more often that not wins the race. 10/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Q3 Read It 2022

Posted on by Michael

The third book in the A Song of Fire and Ice series, A Storm of Swords by George RR Martin won several awards after being published in 2000.  This section of the story contains several weddings including Joffrey’s, Tyrion’s, and the dreaded red wedding. The latter is no less shocking having seen it on TV and now reading about it.  In other chapters, the Night’s Watch are on the move back to the wall, Khaleesi marches onwards, and Arya travels with the Hound in one of the novel’s best plotlines.  This epic book rivals the first for its staggering achievement and thrilling action.

10/10

Viktor Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning is one of the most popular books that gets recommended as a must read.  It has sold over 20 million copies and translated into 24 different languages.  The powerful first half of the book describing day to day life in a German concentration camp is a must read to discover the power of human resilience in devastating circumstances. The second half describes Frankl’s logotherapy philosophy.  Frankl’s main message here is that people must find something to live for and that will help them survive anything, even the horrors of a concentration camp.

8/10

Steven Hyden’s book This Isn’t Happening goes into great detail on the band Radiohead surrounding the recording and release of their seminal Kid A album in 2000.  Recognized as one of the top albums of the aughts, Kid A is a recording that was initially panned by critics and many fans alike.  The book also takes in the history of the band leading up to Kid A as well as the aftermath of their recordings and career.  Hyden is a knowledgeable music writer and here he has created a fascinating look at a polarizing album.

9/10

Prairiefire Magazine – Winter 2021-22, Volume 42 No. 4

Posted in Paper Chase

Q1 + Q2 Read It 2022

Posted on by Michael

Reading this book in early 2022 while the trucker’s “Freedom Convoy” worked its way across Canada to then occupy downtown Ottawa was a stark contrast in realities. Colson Whitehead’s book, The Underground Railroad, from 2016 was hugely popular – it won a Pulitzer Prize before eventually being turned into a TV show.  The book follows Cora as she escapes the plantation she is enslaved on in order to find a better life. In the book, the underground railroad is an actual railroad that takes ex slaves around America through secret tunnels. Even as Cora runs further and further away from the plantation, her past is never far behind. It’s a powerful book that should be widely read.  

9/10

The first book in a series that will follow the songs of the Bee Gees decade by decade. Starting off in the 60s, this volume is split between the group’s Australian beginnings and it’s first brush of international fame with their first UK albums. The book written by several authors including Winnipegger (and friend) Grant Walters is expertly written with many in-depth anecdotes about the Gibbs’ brothers writing and recording history. It is a book that will keep both the hardcore and casual fans entertained throughout.

8/10

On top of work, working towards a Business Analyst certificate occupied a lot of my time in early 2022. This book taken for the Business Re-Engineering course was a companion for a few months.  Workflow Modeling is a way of looking at the design of work/process mapping to gain more insights into where process improvements can be made. Certainly, dense with a lot of information, the second edition by Alec Sharp and Patrick McDermott has several interesting business stories and is swimming with swim lane diagrams.

7/10

Prairiefire Magazine – Summer 2021, Volume 42 No. 2

Posted in Paper Chase

Q4 Read It 2021

Posted on by Michael

A bit late with this posting, but here it goes:

A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 2

A Clash of Kings is the second novel in George R.R. Martin’s series, A Song of Ice and Fire. Like it’s predecessor, there is a lot plot covered in its many pages. A few highlights include the struggle between Stannis and Renly Baratheon to take the crown, Arya Stark’s journey, Theon Greyjoy’s heel turn, Tyrion Lannister becoming the king’s hand and Jon Snow travelling well behind the wall.  With so many characters and plot points, it would be easy to get lost but Martin does a masterful job of keeping everything together.  While it doesn’t pack as much of a punch as the first novel, it is still a terrific read and the description of the war at King’s Landing is a thrill.

9/10

The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

The first of Ryan Holiday’s big three stoicism books is The Obstacle Is The Way.  Released in 2014, the book is broken into three main sections – perception, action and will. The format is familiar to some of his other books of short stories taken from history.  While summarizing some of those historic lessons, Holiday can make it all very simplistic to prove his point. After several years of reading his writing, some of the stories and lessons may be blunted by being familiar but Holiday does have a unique ability to make the reader want to learn more about the many stories he shares.

7/10

Sponsored Ad – British Classics. Great Expectations

Great Expectations is Charles Dickens’ 13th novel and one of his most beloved. The story follows Pip, starting as a young lad who lives with his sister and her husband in the country with dreams of becoming a gentleman in the city. His dreams come true through a secret benefactor that pays his many bills.  Along the way, Pip falls for the beautiful Estella who he meets through the mysterious Miss Havisham.  Great Expectations is a very good story with many memorable characters and a few twists and turns to keep the reader engaged.

8/10

Posted in Paper Chase

Q3 Read It 2021

Posted on by Michael

Among all the self-improvement books out there, one that appears every now and again is Cal Newport’s 2016 book, Deep Work. At the beginning, the book is more scholarly but then it starts to settle in to rules to follow.  Much of today’s work life involves reading emails, answering instant messages, and being tugged in 20 different directions. What Newport gets into is the importance of going deep on a project without distractions for a few hours a day.  He also preaches such ideas as getting off social media, think about problems when doing other activities, focus on important tasks, and not working so late that you burn yourself out. All of these items while simple in theory can be hard to do in the office so one must find ways to incorporate deep work into their routine. A fine book about an important topic.

8.5/10

Sebastian Barry’s A Long Long Way was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005. The novel tells of Irishman Willie Dunne who signs up with the allies to fight in WWI. The war conflict also causes much conflict for those left behind in Ireland who are under British rule.  Willie has a hard time connecting with his policeman father and the love of his life who he meets just before joining. The novel is wonderfully written as it speaks of the horrors of war on both the front and home lines.

7.5/10