Books Recap for July 2019

In August I finished 3 books and read about 970 pages. That brings my grand total up to 20 books. I was hoping to hit my goal of 21 in July, but my current book is a grind, and finding time to read it has been equally difficult. Let’s take a look!

Book 1: Dealing with Problem Clients

Admittedly I stacked the deck a little bit with this book. Written by my friend Nathan Ingram, it was short and easy to consume. So I knew I’d start July off strong, reading the book basically in a day.

That said, there’s lots of great advice for freelancers in there. Case-in-point:

I’ve been freelancing for over 15 years and I’m still getting great advice out of it.

I think my favorite advice was about the client he called the “Question Mark” – someone who asks a lot of questions, eats up your time, and doesn’t hire you. I’ve already adjusted my initial meetings because of the insight he provided!

Book 2: Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick

I’ve always admired Mitnick’s work and love all of his books. Ghost in the Wires is autobiographical and it’s cool to get his perspective on the stuff he’s done, since most of it was reported by a media that doesn’t actually understand what he does.

It totally reads like a work of fiction, which is amazing. One of my many thoughts:

I enjoyed the story! There was lots of great personal and technical details in it. It read like a work of fiction.

That said, there was a point towards the end where I started skimming over the details of his hacks because I was more interested in the overall events. Either way, fantastic read.

Book 3: Recursion by Blake Crouch

Pretty much the only reason I picked this book up (at a book store the first day on vacation) is because Paul Jarvis tweeted about it and I thought it sounded cool. It also helps with my goal to read my fiction.

I absolutely crushed this book over the course about about a day and a half. Paul’s tweet is right on the money: It’s crazy basically from the first or second page. It was a mind bender, emotional, and takes a common trope and puts an interesting spin on it. I highly recommend it!

Currently Reading: Guns, Germs, and Steel

So now we are on the behemoth that is this book. It’s long, sure, but not longer than other books I’ve read this year. But it’s super dense. I mean, it’s about how and why certain societies evolved faster than others, and how that shaped the world.

There’s a lot of stuff in it, and the author kills you with examples. It also reads like an academic paper at times.

But…there’s a lot of interesting info in it (like did you know Monarch Butterflies are poisonous to humans, or Strawberries evolves so that birds would eat them and discard the seeds for germination?). So I’m going to soldier through it and hopefully finish it before I leave for Orlando in 11 days.