Summer reading

I was wondering what non-tech related literature you guys are currently checking out when your noses aren't buried in cert books. These are the titles I have recently ordered:

Culture Map by Erin Meyer
Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond
Think & Grow Rich by Napolean Hill

I plan to start with Culture Map after I complete GPEN. It was recommended to me by the CIO after a discussion with him about the communication style differences between Americans and the Dutch. The other two books I've just had in the back of my mind for a while, but kept putting off for studies. Since I'm working on my 3rd cert this year (CISA and PSM I done), I figured I'll take a break and do some leisure reading. Well, I use the term break loosely since I want to start a free Python course soon followed up by machine learning plus I will begin meeting with a Dutch language coach in a few months. I might need an extended leave of absence from work to get more hours in the day to do everything that I wish to do lol.

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LordQarlyn

Culture Map sounds great and any of the books on cross cultural relations especially in workplaces are great reads for anyone planning to work outside their own country or collaborates a lot with peers, coworkers, and colleagues from other countries. A sobering statistic is that as much as 70% of expatriate Americans fail in their overseas assignments yet few companies that expand abroad do not offer any cross cultural training or other preparation for their employees they send overseas.

Anyway, as you probably surmised, I like to read books on cultural relationships for my non-tech non-leisure readings, and sci fi for my leisure readings.

DatabaseHead

Sounds good!

Raising Cain, almost done. Raising a son, written by a couple of Harvard educated Psychologist. Very informative!
The End of Money - Crypto Currency related

E Double U

@ LordQarlyn - I've been doing well the 2+ years that I've been here, but still feel like I can improve. I've worked on international teams back home, but the difference is Americans were in the lead. But outside of my professional life I feel I am even more submerged into Dutch culture because I live in a small city so I probably deal with more cultural differences than someone that lives in Amsterdam which is more international. It's been a great experience so far.

yourtechcareer

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto)
Nassim Nicholas Taleb is the same author who wrote The Black Swan and Skin in the Game.

the_Grinch

The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall/dp/0394720245/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1532653199&sr=8-1

This was one of the most interesting books I've ever listened to. It is incredible long, but it paints a picture of parks in New York (both city and state) that one would never have thought of. If you got the time I would purchase it immediately and dig in because this guy was amazing. He did some low things, but also accomplished a ton.

NavyMooseCCNA

I'm re-reading "Winds of War" by Herman Wouk. I also downloaded "The Martian" by Andy Weir. During my vacation at the beginning of the month I re-read "The Shining" and read the sequel "Dr. Sleep" both by Stephen King.

E Double U

Interesting stuff guys!

PCTechLinc

Interesting for me, since I just started reading again (after countless years of focusing on IT education). I just got done reading The Poseidon Adventure, as I only saw both movies before. I'm about to start reading The Exorcist. I'm trying to figure out a book list for when I'm done with my MBA. I'm going to try and stay away from the Harry Potter collection my wife has, but I want to find something to keep my brain busy between cert studies.

yoba222

I wish I could get past the first page of Antifragile because I keep hearing great things about it.
In the mean time, some Brandon Sanderson fantasy fiction and then Secrets and Lies... by Bruce Schneier. That one is probably disqualified for being a tech book (technically), but I'm alternating between him and Sanderson, chapter by chapter.

SteveLavoie

Stephen Covey 7 habits of highly effective person.... I read it when I find time, I didnt touched it since return from vacation.. well maybe I should have read it completly while in vacation lol

cyberguypr

I've been focusing on leadership stuff and in the last month finished 'A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership' and 'Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity'. Working now on 'Influence Redefined: Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be, Monday to Monday'.

DatabaseHead

Just started reading this book:

Toxic In Laws

If you have in laws on either side messing up your life, this book explains a lot of the issues. My mother is a control freak and it drives my wife nuts and my mother in law is the same in a different way, different approach. This book has helped my wife and I realize a lot of the external pressures have caused a lot of the stress.

gespenstern

I approve the list, especially the second.

To extend on this, I'd add:

"The Bell Curve" by Herrnstein and Murray
two other choices were removed for self-censorship reasons

Jasiono

I actually finally picked up some books:

Stephen King: Pet Semetary, The Outsider

The Golem and the Jinni (only got it because the pages looked nice and my last name)

I also got The Art of War, see what that's all about.

Those are non-tech books. My tech book I got is The Hacker Playbook 3 and I will be getting a lot of coursework next week during my SANS conference

I've gotten to a point where I can sit there and read through technical books, but I have lost my ways of enjoying a good book that's not techie

stryder144

I have been burning myself out with technical books, so I took a hiatus and read Treasure Island. I then started reading War and Peace (again, haven't gotten through that one yet) and Zero Days. I also have a stack of books that I would like to get through by the end of the year, in no particular order:

Strengths Finder 2.0 - Tom Rath
My Life & The Principles of Success - Ross Perot
5 Love Languages for Men - Gary Chapman
From Anger to Intimacy - Gary Smalley
How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey
Leadership Secrets of the Rogue Warrior - Richard Marcinko
The Rogue Warrior's Strategy for Success - Richard Marcinko
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work - John Gottman
The Love Dare - Stephen & Alex Kendrick
The Purpose Driven Life - Rick Warren
Tender Warrior - Stu Weber

As you can tell, some books are for personal, or internal, growth. Some are for helping to keep the work/life balance. And others are to get a different, not IT view of things. With all of the certification exams that I have taken this year (seven so far and three more to go), I feel that I have become way too unbalanced developmentally. Mixing things up will help create an internal balance to go with the external balance that is so necessary for a successful life. I am thankful that my wife has been as supportive as she has been.

My plan is to read a few pages a day from one fictional book and one self-improvement book a day. I will also be taking three more certification exams by the end of the year, maybe four. So I will need to find a balance for adding in the technical stuff, too. I have also wanted to read through the entire Bible, so I might try to figure out how to add that in, as well.

NavyMooseCCNA

Jasiono wrote: »

I actually finally picked up some books:

Stephen King: Pet Semetary, The Outsider

The Golem and the Jinni (only got it because the pages looked nice and my last name)

I also got The Art of War, see what that's all about.

Those are non-tech books. My tech book I got is The Hacker Playbook 3 and I will be getting a lot of coursework next week during my SANS conference

I've gotten to a point where I can sit there and read through technical books, but I have lost my ways of enjoying a good book that's not techie

The Art of War is good, I also recommend "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Mushashi.

Jasiono

NavyMooseCCNA wrote: »

The Art of War is good, I also recommend "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Mushashi.

Very awesome, thank you!

E Double U

Just added How to Win Friends & Influence People to my list.

Has anyone read The Phoenix Project? It was just recommended to me so I'm curious if anyone here has applied any lessons learned from it to your own project.

stryder144

I started The Phoenix Project but got sidelined by the Mark Russinovich fiction books he wrote. Very compelling reads. Now I am behind...

DZA_

I'm planning on picking up a few introductory books on option investing. I haven't decided on which ones but will browse for a few books on Amazon to get me going. I've manage to get a few recommendation from a past CISO who mentioned a few books on servant leadership.

@EDoubleU - The Culture Map book looks pretty interesting, I'll give it a go on my next Amazon order.

E Double U

@ DZA - The Culture Map is helping me a lot with understanding the cultural misunderstandings I've had within my team. Very insightful peace of work.

@ stryder - What were your takeaways from The Phoenix project so far?

Master Delgado

I usually read (for fun) around summer or the Holidays.

Last summer made my way through all four of Dan Simmons' Hyperion books (very, very enjoyable).

This summer just finished his two follow-ups: Ilium and Olympos (Ilium was great, getting through Olympos felt like a second job).

I work in IT and read sci-fi...what are the chances huh?

Dakinggamer87

John C. Maxwell - The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth and Max Out by Ed Mylett

PCTechLinc

I read The Phoenix Project based on a recommendation from my previous Director. I finished reading it in two days because I just couldn't stop.

As far as what I took away from it... I stopped being like BRENT and answering my phone and emails. I just started focusing on tickets and tasked work, and it has helped me be more productive and show objective deliverables.

DatabaseHead

Completed Toxic In-laws. Very informative and provides some solid insights....

Not sure what's going to be next.

E Double U

Master Delgado wrote: »

I work in IT and read sci-fi...what are the chances huh?

2x the nerd

stryder144

E Double U wrote: »

@ DZA - The Culture Map is helping me a lot with understanding the cultural misunderstandings I've had within my team. Very insightful peace of work.

@ stryder - What were your takeaways from The Phoenix project so far?

My main take away is to look at IT constraints (Brent) and try to find ways to eliminate them or at least reduce them.