Steven D. Ward's Blog, page 8
February 15, 2014
Marcus Aurelius
A man must stand erect, not be kept erect by others.
-Marcus Aurelius
February 6, 2014
Review: The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force
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The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force by Jeffrey M. Schwartz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was really excited to get into this book, expecting to learn a bit about how the brain, quantum mechanics, and Buddhist philosophy works. It turned out that the book wouldn’t get much deeper than the working knowledge I already have of the later two, and the discussions of the former are so technical as to be difficult to grasp even after several re-listens.
This might not be...
February 1, 2014
February Reading List Newsletter
Happy Lunar New Year!
Most of you probably know it as “Chinese New Year,” but here in South Korea it’s actually referred to as “Lunar New Year.” It’s one of the two biggest holidays of the year (the first being Chuseok, a Fall harvest festival), and a time when businesses shut down and people make the pilgrimage to their hometowns to spend time with family. An interesting quirk: This is also when Koreans traditionally consider themselves to age an additional year. Yes, the w...
January 27, 2014
Review: The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World
The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World by Niall Ferguson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The content of this book is clearly 5 stars. The problem is, in the audiobook format, it is extremely difficult to follow for a book whose title seems to imply a simple history lesson.
75% of this book went over my head. This in spite of re-starting from the beginning three times. I finally gave up on being able to follow it 100% and it paid off when about halfway through the book, when it gets clo...
Review: The New Geography of Jobs
The New Geography of Jobs by Enrico Moretti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a great book and I would absolutely recommend it for anyone trying to get a deeper understanding of the economic situation in the United States.
So why four stars?
As a person soon returning to the US after about 9 years abroad and looking at a career change (along with more schooling) in the process, I was expecting some concrete ideas on career paths to pursue and cities/states to think about moving to.
This type of i...
January 26, 2014
Review: The Korean War: A History
The Korean War: A History by Bruce Cumings
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve read a lot of criticism of this book and it’s author in the past, so much so that I delayed reading it for a long time. I’m glad I finally read it because, while there are certainly problems with it, it certainly does fill in the gaps in the literature in regards to atrocities committed by allied, and, especially, South Korean forces.
Not too long ago I visited the POW camp on Goeje Island while on vacation and many of th...
January 25, 2014
Review: I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling With Villains
I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling With Villains by Chuck Klosterman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I bought this book on a whim, thinking it was something along the lines of a tell-all by a hacker. I was, not, however, disappointed to find out I was wrong when I actually started reading the book and saw it was a collection of essays philosophizing on villainy.
I was pulled in quickly by the writer’s lucid musings on pop culture and human psychology. The humor and wittiness had me on the hook until the...
Review: The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The story of this book is not told in a sequential narrative, rather, it is told in layers. The most important thing to the author is to put the reader in his shoes. The book qualifies is technically a novel, but O’Brien’s authentic experience shines through even when details of the stories are changed for any number of reasons.
Volumes of positive reviews about this book have already been written, but I’d like to add one thing ab...
January 22, 2014
Review: Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals
Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals by Saul D. Alinsky
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’d heard of this book in passing several times, but turned off by the “radical” label, I guess you’d say I avoided it. I probably assumed it was some ultra-left wing manifesto. That aspect of the book is present, but if you look deeper there are deep lessons about what goes on in modern day politics.
When I heard that this book was influential on the lives of top politicians like Hillary...
January 20, 2014
Review: The Cauliflower Chronicles: A Grappler’s Tale of Self-Discovery and Island Living
The Cauliflower Chronicles: A Grappler’s Tale of Self-Discovery and Island Living by Marshal D. Carper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is 1/3 travelogue about Hawaii, 1/3 about training BJJ, and 1/3 coming of age story. The author is a talented writer that pulls the reader in with him, but I must admit I found myself skimming many of the anecdotes not related to training.
I would recommend this book primarily to people interested in BJJ that do not have a wealth of experience with it, as th...
