Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World by Rand Fishkin
Advice for perspective founders mixed in with stories from the author’s company. Open about missteps he made to be avoided. 4/5
The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century’s On-line Pioneers by Tom Standage
A short book on the rise of the telegraph and how it changed the world. Peppered with amusing stories and analogies to the Internet. 3/5
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
A memoir of the author growing up and into his mid-20s. Well written and interesting. Audiobook is read by the author but he’s okay. 3/5
The Age of Benjamin Franklin by Robert J. Allison
24 Lectures about various aspects of Franklin and his life. Each lecture is on a theme so they are not chronological. I hadn’t read any biographies previously but this might help. 4/5
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
3rd book in the Lady Astronaut series. Mostly concerned with trying to find and stop agents sabotaging the Moonbase. Works well and held my interest. 3/5
Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks
A collection of long New Yorker articles from the 1960s. One on a stock corner even has parallels with Gamestop in 2021. Interesting and well told even when dated. 3/5
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming
James Bond takes on Gangster/Agent/Voodoo leader ‘Mr Big’ in Harlem, Florida and Jamaica. The racial stereotypes are dated but could be worse. The story held my interest. 3/5
My Scoring System
- 5/5 = Brilliant, top 5 book of the year
- 4/5 = Above average, strongly recommend
- 3/5 = Average. in the middle 70% of books I read
- 2/5 = Disappointing
- 1/5 = Did not like at all
