I do not know if it is because of my reading taste changed or the author wrote this book halfway before he died, but i do not know if i will finish reading this book.
The story is set in the 1665, with marine rivals between the British and the Spanish. Mostly about lifes of pirates and officers(good and bad). Storyline was nothing like what Michael Crichton has in Jurassic Park, Congo nor his more recent works; Prey and Next.
I am halfway but i am putting the book down...at least for some time till i am less bored with it.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Monday, November 1, 2010
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
It has been ages since I last read a "storybook". The last was "Five Persons you meet in Heaven"by Mitch Albom and that was in May 2009. have read all the 4 previous Dan Brown books. Was putting this book for a while as I hope this was not a similar book as Da Vinci Code.
I am glad that this story was as intridging as the Da Vinci Code. The story was full of logical explanations (to me) with twists and turns along the way. That is the no. 1 plus point about Dan Brown because most fiction books do have quite a bit of illogical plots.
Now about the negative stuff in this book. Firstly, I do not understand why must there be a woman with the hero in all his books. Does Robert Langdon need a sidekick? Secondly, I do not like the way the story unfolds itself in the end. Lastly, I thought it was a bit illogical, though not completely, that the villian was a one-man show. It seemed like this villian was able to beat all the CIA, professors, police etc.
Anyway, this nearly 700 pages long book took me >2 weeks and with my workload, I felt it was quite an accomplishment for me to even finished the book. Overall, it was a very good read and the storyline was nearly as good as Da Vinci Code.
I am glad that this story was as intridging as the Da Vinci Code. The story was full of logical explanations (to me) with twists and turns along the way. That is the no. 1 plus point about Dan Brown because most fiction books do have quite a bit of illogical plots.
Now about the negative stuff in this book. Firstly, I do not understand why must there be a woman with the hero in all his books. Does Robert Langdon need a sidekick? Secondly, I do not like the way the story unfolds itself in the end. Lastly, I thought it was a bit illogical, though not completely, that the villian was a one-man show. It seemed like this villian was able to beat all the CIA, professors, police etc.
Anyway, this nearly 700 pages long book took me >2 weeks and with my workload, I felt it was quite an accomplishment for me to even finished the book. Overall, it was a very good read and the storyline was nearly as good as Da Vinci Code.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wink and Grow Rich by Roger Hamilton
From the title, you would think that this book is riding on Napolean Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" classic, which is highly recommended by many international speakers and authors. I chose to read this book because it is not too thick and it seems not a difficult book to read. And best of all, there are drawings in some pages :)
The story is about a young man who went around to find wealth and met a number of wise and wealthy people who teached him how to find wealth. There are too many lessons to be learnt so I will just write out the takeaways from each of the people he learned the lessons from.
The Well (beginning)
- Think it, Ink it (write it down)
The Optometrist
- Clarity and focus on vision
- 4 levels of communications a) exchange, b) connect, c) motivate & d) inspire
- Choose the level you want to play at
- What you see is always what you get
- Ask and you shall receive
The Plumber
- Think it, ink it, do it, reveiw it
- Learning is a game
- Invest more of your time, spend less of it
- Invest more of your money, spend less of it
The Gardener
- Your well is in your words
- Wealth is the beginning, not the end
- Sow, nurture and reap
- Your position is your compass
The Fisherman
- To know and not to do, is not yet to know
- Value is the river in which wealth flows
- Becaome an inspired work-in-progress
- Plan to fail
The Rower
- See the wood from the trees
- Opportunities lie in every moment
- The key to leverage is how you use it
- Sustainable wealth follows a rhythm
The Musician
- Time is your most precious asset
- Harmony is the foundation of wealth
- Time has seasons
- It's not just what you do, it's when you do it
- When you resonate, you accumulate
The InnKeeper
- You settle for your standards
- A five star life is easier than a two star life
- Your environment is your playground
- You are the results of your choices
Here's one quote which I think its good
"You won't make dollars if you can't make sense."
I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of this book. Very refreshing and I had learnt a lot. My main learnings are the "4 levels of communications", "think it, ink it, do it, review it", "invest more of your time, spend less of it", "your well is in your words", "sow, nurture and reap", "become an inspired work-in-progress", "you settle for your standards" & "a 5 star life is easier than a 2 star life".
Fantastic book. I would recommend all to have a read if you are interested in not only having more wealth but to have a better life.
The story is about a young man who went around to find wealth and met a number of wise and wealthy people who teached him how to find wealth. There are too many lessons to be learnt so I will just write out the takeaways from each of the people he learned the lessons from.
The Well (beginning)
- Think it, Ink it (write it down)
The Optometrist
- Clarity and focus on vision
- 4 levels of communications a) exchange, b) connect, c) motivate & d) inspire
- Choose the level you want to play at
- What you see is always what you get
- Ask and you shall receive
The Plumber
- Think it, ink it, do it, reveiw it
- Learning is a game
- Invest more of your time, spend less of it
- Invest more of your money, spend less of it
The Gardener
- Your well is in your words
- Wealth is the beginning, not the end
- Sow, nurture and reap
- Your position is your compass
The Fisherman
- To know and not to do, is not yet to know
- Value is the river in which wealth flows
- Becaome an inspired work-in-progress
- Plan to fail
The Rower
- See the wood from the trees
- Opportunities lie in every moment
- The key to leverage is how you use it
- Sustainable wealth follows a rhythm
The Musician
- Time is your most precious asset
- Harmony is the foundation of wealth
- Time has seasons
- It's not just what you do, it's when you do it
- When you resonate, you accumulate
The InnKeeper
- You settle for your standards
- A five star life is easier than a two star life
- Your environment is your playground
- You are the results of your choices
Here's one quote which I think its good
"You won't make dollars if you can't make sense."
I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of this book. Very refreshing and I had learnt a lot. My main learnings are the "4 levels of communications", "think it, ink it, do it, review it", "invest more of your time, spend less of it", "your well is in your words", "sow, nurture and reap", "become an inspired work-in-progress", "you settle for your standards" & "a 5 star life is easier than a 2 star life".
Fantastic book. I would recommend all to have a read if you are interested in not only having more wealth but to have a better life.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Guide to Becoming Rich Without Cutting Up Your Credit Cards by Robert T Kiyosaki
I have this book for quite a while and have not picked it up as I was a bit bored with Kiyosaki books as the main contents are always the same, ie the quadrant and the different money making methods (Business, real estate and paper investments). As I was getting busier with my work, I decided to have an easy read.
This book proved that it was about the same as his previous books. My take away from this book is expenses should not increase at the same rate as your income.
It teaches some methods on how to reduce your overrun credit bills, how to reduce your bad debt and teaches on what are good debts which are good leverages in building a long term income.
Anyway, if you have read his Guide to Investing, I believe it covers most of what you can read in this book.
This book proved that it was about the same as his previous books. My take away from this book is expenses should not increase at the same rate as your income.
It teaches some methods on how to reduce your overrun credit bills, how to reduce your bad debt and teaches on what are good debts which are good leverages in building a long term income.
Anyway, if you have read his Guide to Investing, I believe it covers most of what you can read in this book.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Practical Solutions for Everyday Work Problems by Elizabeth Chesla
When I saw this book, there were only 2 things in my mind. One is that even though it does not look brand new, it is still rather cheap and the other being I can get some tips in solving my work problems, which seems to be coming at me continuously throughout the whole day. After going through the book, here are my 20 takeaways.
1) State current situation, then the desired situation.
2) Identify the problem.
- problem must be a fact, not an opinion.
- problem must be manageable (something can be done to solve it)
3) Set goal
- Specific, measureable, ambitious & realistic
4) Break problem into parts
- questions and answers must be relevant
- keep records
5) Must have positive attitude and beliefs (must believe that you can before things are done)
- face reality, do not run away from the problem
- trust intuition
- be patient
6) Be in a good environment
7) Observe to see what others overlooked
8) Put yourself in other people's shoes
9) Practise creativity
10) The more creative you are, the more possibilities you can uncover. And the more possibilities you uncover, the more likely you are to find the best solution for that situation.
11) Just start to write something, anything to stop the writer's block.
12) Brainstorm. No censor, no criticism
13) Listing - list all possible answers, without thinking to come up with best answers.
14) Mapping - Enables you to see realtionship between different ideas.
15) Drawing connections - connecting between random words and the problem
16)No creative solution. Normally stuck in one way of thinking due to problem handled in certain way. Need paradigm shift.
17) Evaluation solutions.
- Ranking by criteria. Effectiveness, feasibility, time, cost. human resources, difficulty/ease of implementation, risk. Use table to rank.
- Pros and Cons
18) Errors in reasoning during evaluation.
- Appeals to emotions. Fear, vanity, flattery, scare tactics, peer pressure, pity
- Assuming a possible consequence will happen if you do something.
- Thinking you have only 2 options when you could have more options.
- Reasoning going in circles, ie no real reasons
- Assuming a situation which might not be true.
19) Action Plan
- Break solution down into tasks to be accomplished
- Determine order in which tasks must be completed
- Determine who will handle each task
- Determine how long for each task and how much it costs
- Set specific start and end dates for each task
- Develop contingency plans
20) Present the solution
- Consider your audience
- Clearly define the problem
- Summarise the problem
- Present the solution
- Anticipate objections.
I felt that the book is a good book for beginners in starting his/her working life. It give the basic steps to look at problems. It has been refreshing, though i had hope to learn new ways to tackle problems.
1) State current situation, then the desired situation.
2) Identify the problem.
- problem must be a fact, not an opinion.
- problem must be manageable (something can be done to solve it)
3) Set goal
- Specific, measureable, ambitious & realistic
4) Break problem into parts
- questions and answers must be relevant
- keep records
5) Must have positive attitude and beliefs (must believe that you can before things are done)
- face reality, do not run away from the problem
- trust intuition
- be patient
6) Be in a good environment
7) Observe to see what others overlooked
8) Put yourself in other people's shoes
9) Practise creativity
10) The more creative you are, the more possibilities you can uncover. And the more possibilities you uncover, the more likely you are to find the best solution for that situation.
11) Just start to write something, anything to stop the writer's block.
12) Brainstorm. No censor, no criticism
13) Listing - list all possible answers, without thinking to come up with best answers.
14) Mapping - Enables you to see realtionship between different ideas.
15) Drawing connections - connecting between random words and the problem
16)No creative solution. Normally stuck in one way of thinking due to problem handled in certain way. Need paradigm shift.
17) Evaluation solutions.
- Ranking by criteria. Effectiveness, feasibility, time, cost. human resources, difficulty/ease of implementation, risk. Use table to rank.
- Pros and Cons
18) Errors in reasoning during evaluation.
- Appeals to emotions. Fear, vanity, flattery, scare tactics, peer pressure, pity
- Assuming a possible consequence will happen if you do something.
- Thinking you have only 2 options when you could have more options.
- Reasoning going in circles, ie no real reasons
- Assuming a situation which might not be true.
19) Action Plan
- Break solution down into tasks to be accomplished
- Determine order in which tasks must be completed
- Determine who will handle each task
- Determine how long for each task and how much it costs
- Set specific start and end dates for each task
- Develop contingency plans
20) Present the solution
- Consider your audience
- Clearly define the problem
- Summarise the problem
- Present the solution
- Anticipate objections.
I felt that the book is a good book for beginners in starting his/her working life. It give the basic steps to look at problems. It has been refreshing, though i had hope to learn new ways to tackle problems.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Fish! Sticks by Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen and Harry Paul
This is sort of a continuation of the 1st book, Fish!. For those who have not read the 1st book, it would be better if you read it 1st before reading this book. This is in fact the 3rd installment from these authors of the Fish! philosophy. The 2nd book is Fish! Tales, which are real life stories about people who used the Fish! philosopy.
This book differs from the 1st book in that the 1st book teaches about the concept of the philosophy and this book introduces methods to make the change sticks.
There are 3 main ingredients in this book; Find it, Live it and Coach it.
In any job, one must be committed to something. There must be something that you believe dearly in order for you to function as productive worker. There must be something that makes you have passion in what you are doing, so that you are constantly thinking of new improvement ideas. It may be that you want to be supportive to your colleagues, it may be that you want to create a good working environment or it may be that you want to better yourself every year. Whatever it is, you have to "Find it".
After finding your committment, you have to "Live it". If your committment is to support your colleagues, you will find ways to live to your committment. You can observe if your colleagues need assistance in certain jobs, or you can help by simply suggesting a method to make your colleagues' job easier. Living true to your committment requires discipline and consistency.
Coaching others sometimes can be difficult, especially if the other party is a more senior or experienced person. In "Coach it", it does not matter who the other party is. What matters is if you have better ideas and experience in doing that exact task. We are all good at something, be it writing a report, repairing the TV, analysing data or even a leisure workout.
Practising all these 3 parts would help to make any change sticks in any organisation.
This book differs from the 1st book in that the 1st book teaches about the concept of the philosophy and this book introduces methods to make the change sticks.
There are 3 main ingredients in this book; Find it, Live it and Coach it.
In any job, one must be committed to something. There must be something that you believe dearly in order for you to function as productive worker. There must be something that makes you have passion in what you are doing, so that you are constantly thinking of new improvement ideas. It may be that you want to be supportive to your colleagues, it may be that you want to create a good working environment or it may be that you want to better yourself every year. Whatever it is, you have to "Find it".
After finding your committment, you have to "Live it". If your committment is to support your colleagues, you will find ways to live to your committment. You can observe if your colleagues need assistance in certain jobs, or you can help by simply suggesting a method to make your colleagues' job easier. Living true to your committment requires discipline and consistency.
Coaching others sometimes can be difficult, especially if the other party is a more senior or experienced person. In "Coach it", it does not matter who the other party is. What matters is if you have better ideas and experience in doing that exact task. We are all good at something, be it writing a report, repairing the TV, analysing data or even a leisure workout.
Practising all these 3 parts would help to make any change sticks in any organisation.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Fish! by Stephen C Lundin, Harry Paul and John Christensen
Of the 3 books in the Fish! series, I started reading the last and latest one, Fish! for Life. Reading just a quarter of that book, I felt a compelling urge to get my hands on the 1st installment before continuing with the book.
I am so glad that I got this book in super quick time and also finished reading it within 3-4 hrs. In fact, if you are a fast reader, I believe you should be able to finish the book in 2 hours. I was engrossed when the story unfolds on the work environment as it was very similar to mine. Plain boring to many of my staff. I was interested to know how Mary Jane, the main character, would be able to motivate her staff to have better output and give better customer service.
The 4 main ingredients are:
1) Choose your Attitude. We have a choice to choose our attitude everyday at work. We can choose to be grumpy and be zombie like or we can be as cheerful as a humble bee.
2) Play. Having fun at work with your colleagues would make your job more interesting and produce happier workers.
3) Make their Day. How do we engage our customers so that we can "make their day"?
4) Be Present. When corresponding with a customer, either external or internal, we are often distracted by our phones and interruptions. Being present with the customer shows your respect and your dedication to that person, which in turn will be reciprocated.
Though it looks difficult to implement in my office, I would try to do something. 1st, I believe I have to get a copy for my line manager. Stay tune for the reviews of the next 2 Fish! books.
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