Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris My rating: 4 of 5 stars An exceptionally challenging book that everyone should read. (The part about marriage/relationships was particularly difficult to get through without catching myself thinking “yeah, but…”) […]
Last night we played through ‘Death House‘ (which Grant renamed “Spoooopy Creppy House’) at our work D&D club. The story revolves the haunted house – duh – of the Durst family, who have a – duh – particularly nasty history. So I came up with a Durst family coat of […]
Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier My rating: 2 of 5 stars I’ll disclaim this all with the fact that I agree with the thesis statement: I think “BUMMER” is (unknowingly?) building incentives for us to tear ourselves apart, both individually and collectively. […]
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson My rating: 5 of 5 stars I’m adding this to my tiny shelf of “required reading and re-reading.” 10 years ago, I’d have called this book “valuable.” 5 years ago it would have been “important.” Today, when nearly […]
How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics by Michael Pollan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Overall a great primer on the current state of inquiry into the legitimacy of psychedelics (largely psilocybin and LSD) as a form a mental health treatment. The book did drag a […]
Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything by Guy Kawasaki My rating: 3 of 5 stars tl;dr Not terrible, but not life-changing either. Probably not worth the read unless you’re within a couple years (give or […]
Ever since reading Mike Rohde’s ‘the Sketchnote Handbook,’ I’ve been enamored of sketchnoting. Alas, I just don’t get a lot of opportunities to practice!Think about it: most of the times tha…
The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz My rating: 4 of 5 stars At first, I was a bit disappointed; ‘The Hard Thing’ seemed like a simple “this is my story, so learn some lessons from it” management book. […]
Against Empathy: The Case for Rational Compassion by Paul Bloom My rating: 4 of 5 stars Well-researched and well-argued, though it would have been better titled ‘Against the Cult of Empathy’ or (even more low-key) ‘Against Just Empathy.’ View all my reviews
[Today is Mom’s birthday. She’s not hitting a ‘milestone’ age and, given my Father’s Day post last year, it would probably makes more sense to write this in May. But where’s the fun in that?] Against all odds, it appears that the workforce is getting younger and I’m staying the […]
© 2025 — Kurt Anderson