Tagged in Book ReviewsA book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described or analyzed based on content, style, and merit.
Review: The Great Stagnation - How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick, and Will (Eventually) Feel Better13 May, 2013
Short book, easy and quick to read, goes briskly through American history recollecting all the low hanging fruits it ate that made America this great economy. The subtitle of the book suggests that the author, Tyler Cowen, will make a case that the fruit was the reason why it got sick. Not the case - Cowen goes on to explain why the lack of the low hanging fruits made it sick, and why it is taking a while to recover. A technological plateau is the reason why we got sick - the pace of innovation
Adriano Marques
Reviewing Cognitive Surplus - How technology makes consumers into collaborators11 May, 2013
There is great effervescence out there as people talk about how internet is revolutionizing the way people interact, consume information, create content, share information and collaborate. Whether this revolution is good or bad, society is definitely never going to retreat to the old ways of a pre-internet world. We're left to deal with these changes, and this book does a great job in explaining the source and fundamentals of this revolution, going back in history a far as Johannes Gutenberg [h
Adriano Marques
Quick review of The Singularity is Near - When Humans Transcend Biology08 May, 2013
This is one of those complex big books, with lots and lots of technical details, hundreds of references and dozens of new words to your vocabulary. What some would call a book nightmare, this is certainly not the case. Albeit long, it was extremely well written, and once you get started you can't stop it until is over. Ray Kurzweil is a futurist who have been devoting his life predicting the future, and his work in this book consists of a thorough elaboration on what is currently on the works fo
Adriano Marques
Review: Content Rules - How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, eBooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business.15 April, 2013
Creating a personal blog seems to be some sort of rite of passage that most internet users have gone through. Keeping up with it, is yet another rite that only a very small percentage of them manage to pass. I am still trying to keep that up, and I have to admit that it is challenging to create the habit to post relevant content often. This is where this book comes in handy - it takes you by the hand and gives awesome ideas on how to elaborate interesting content and keep up with your blog, pod
Adriano Marques
Review: Here Comes Everybody - The Power of Organizing Without Organizations06 April, 2013
Written with a content focus similar to The World is Flat 3.0 [https://www.xnv.io/posts/the-world-is-flat-3-0], this book does a great job at explaining the internet potential for leveraging outstanding feats through its users current un-organized social behavior. This subject isn't new, but it is far from irrelevant - we live in a world where change is promoted through inexpensive clicks, revolutions are started on social networks and businesses rises and fall with customer reactions on social
Adriano Marques
Outliers - The Story of Success26 March, 2013
The title and subtitle of the book may lead you into thinking that this is yet another book with a recipe on how to be successful through successful people's stories. Not so much the case. The book does recount the story of several successful people, but puts into perspective the uncontrolled and unforeseeable environmental factors that truly propelled them to success. One of the examples of the book is Bill Gates, who had free and unlimited access to advanced computers at walking distance f
Adriano Marques
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Business Don't Work and What to Do About It21 March, 2013
If I had to summarize the most important lesson learned while reading this book in one sentence it would be: A true Entrepreneur should not go to work in his business, but rather dedicate his effort working on his business. According to the author, the key to a ill fated business is an entrepreneur failing to act equally on the three key roles he has to play (technician, manager and entrepreneur) by focusing on the technician role and devoting all of his time doing the hands-on job of providing
Adriano Marques
The World is Flat 3.021 March, 2013
Quick and easy book about how flat the world have become through technology and how people can now interact with each other regardless of geographical distances for the benefit of society. Several heart warming recounting of people who gave up on their confort to make the world a better place using the internet and accompanying technologies, starting a social business or helping people in developing countries to find their way out of poverty. The book also talks about the bad consequences of a
Adriano Marques
Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You about Business13 March, 2013
It is been a long while since last time I played chess, but I still remember how to play it! Chess players are well know as strategists, and the ability to make decisions during the game and be always prepared to change your strategy to cease an opportunity or to counter-attack an unseen move are core abilities of any entrepreneur. For starters, the book brings up one of the mistakes entrepreneurs usually commit by assuming that being the first at a given market is a reason for succeeding in t
Adriano Marques
Red Moon Rising08 March, 2013
Outstanding book for those who would like to learn more about the not so obvious and not so publicized backstage history on one of the most peculiar periods mankind have gone through in modern history. I have always had a special interest for Space Exploration and modern History, and this book is a perfect marriage of both subjects covering with minute and unbiased details about the beginning of the Arms race, Space race and Cold War covering the events that occurred right after Second World Wa
Adriano Marques
How to build your own Spaceship02 March, 2013
When I first read the title of this book I was sure it couldn't be real. Rocket Science is well known as a very complex endeavor and couldn't be covered in a how to, however long it could be. After reading some positive reviews, I decided that it was worth going through it, and now that I'm done couldn't be more pleased with all the spaceship building caveats and challenges I learned with it. This book won't prepare you for building a spaceship, but will definitely satisfy most of your curiosit
Adriano Marques
Insanely Simple25 February, 2013
Simplicity is currently one of the hottest subjects amongst entrepreneurs, developers and designers. Despite the name, simplicity isn't always obvious, easy or simple to implement, and this book does a good job pointing out several examples from experiences the author had while working closely with Steve Jobs at Apple. This is a fine book with good insights on Apple's case studies compared to other big players in the market like Intel and Dell, and for that reason it is worth reading. I felt,
Adriano Marques
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