Thursday, 26 June 2008
Book 4 - Sun Tzu the art of war
Well the book by sun tzu The art of war is quite famous, especially since it gained the reputation in the 1980s for being a buisness book manual. Made famous in the film Wall Street (which is one of the films i actually quite like). Now Sun_Tzu, is obviously not around anymore (if he even existed, which is not entirely clear).
Review
This book was an interesting read. For instance Sun tzu does come up with some good advice, which does sometimes sound like common sense. One example of this is that the best way to win a war is to avoid fighting one, as well as some very good examples of points being made, which were of interest in getting into the eras of the warring states period of chinese history.
However the book in the end did not seem as good as i hoped it would be. Much of the chapters were irrelevant, despite having some interesting quotes and detail examples of interest.
In the end i have given this book the Ak 3 star rating of good. This means that i did find it an interesting book to read, but not one i would say is a must read.
Review
This book was an interesting read. For instance Sun tzu does come up with some good advice, which does sometimes sound like common sense. One example of this is that the best way to win a war is to avoid fighting one, as well as some very good examples of points being made, which were of interest in getting into the eras of the warring states period of chinese history.
However the book in the end did not seem as good as i hoped it would be. Much of the chapters were irrelevant, despite having some interesting quotes and detail examples of interest.
In the end i have given this book the Ak 3 star rating of good. This means that i did find it an interesting book to read, but not one i would say is a must read.
Labels: Book review, Buisness manual, China, Chinese History, Education, Gold Star, Literacy, Reading, Sun Tzu, The Art Of War, Wall Street, Warring States
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Book Review 3 - George Orwell by Gordon Bowker
Well i have decided to cover a biography again today. Will try and review a different book type tomorrow. For today i selected George Orwell
by Gordon Bowker.
George Orwell or Eric blair his real name, is the United Kingdom Author who was one of the most influencial people of the 20th century. He wrote several very influencial books, including 1984 and Animal farm amongst others. Now for the review below
Review
This book did provide some interesting details about orwell life. For instance it was very thorough and covering his life from boarding school, to burma, life in paris poverty. The book was more difficult to read than obama autobiography, but that maybe due to something i have noticed (with one big exception) that autobiographies written by the person themselves are often more personal and involving. Nevertheless, i found this book a very useful guide and introduction. It does also point out some of orwell (eric blair his real name) faults as well, which i found interesting as it helped to show orwell as a person.
In my review i shall give this book the AK 4 stars of Very good. Now do not misunderstand, i still enjoyed and recommend this book, but i believe it might have been better if easier to read.
by Gordon Bowker.George Orwell or Eric blair his real name, is the United Kingdom Author who was one of the most influencial people of the 20th century. He wrote several very influencial books, including 1984 and Animal farm amongst others. Now for the review below
Review
This book did provide some interesting details about orwell life. For instance it was very thorough and covering his life from boarding school, to burma, life in paris poverty. The book was more difficult to read than obama autobiography, but that maybe due to something i have noticed (with one big exception) that autobiographies written by the person themselves are often more personal and involving. Nevertheless, i found this book a very useful guide and introduction. It does also point out some of orwell (eric blair his real name) faults as well, which i found interesting as it helped to show orwell as a person.
In my review i shall give this book the AK 4 stars of Very good. Now do not misunderstand, i still enjoyed and recommend this book, but i believe it might have been better if easier to read.
Labels: 1984, Animal Farm, Author, Autobiography, Biography, Book review, Burma, Eric Authur Blair, George Orwell, Paris Gordon Bowker, Reading, Spanish Civil War
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Book 2 - The Audacity Of Hope By Barack Obama
Well now to review a more topical, if more controversial book. The book i will now review is the Audacity of Hope By Barack Obama.
Well i am sure that i do not need to make much introduction of the author, who is running for president of the United States (for those that have been asleep for the last 10 months or so). One reason i got this book was to try and learn more about this person (even if i am not american, the US elections have got me interested in them) But the question remains, was this a good book or not.
Review
Well when i read this book, i was not sure what to expect. After all it was being written by a politician and politics is notorious for self serving people (and i have read political biographies which have not been so good).
However, after reading it i found this book to be refreshingly optimistic. It was an easy book to read, being a mixture of Obama views on politics with opinions about Hurricane katrina, US Iraq policy where he wondered whether he was wrong after celebrations by iraqis in baghdad, to his opinion of President George W Bush when he first met him (which is much different to what you would expect it to be). It also covered a lot of Obama life, from his struggles commuting between Washington DC and Chicago and problems with having a home family life.
In the End i did enjoy this book and it did have an effect of making me more determined to work at making my own life better. Which is why this book will be getting the Ak 5 star rating of excellent.
Well i am sure that i do not need to make much introduction of the author, who is running for president of the United States (for those that have been asleep for the last 10 months or so). One reason i got this book was to try and learn more about this person (even if i am not american, the US elections have got me interested in them) But the question remains, was this a good book or not.
Review
Well when i read this book, i was not sure what to expect. After all it was being written by a politician and politics is notorious for self serving people (and i have read political biographies which have not been so good).
However, after reading it i found this book to be refreshingly optimistic. It was an easy book to read, being a mixture of Obama views on politics with opinions about Hurricane katrina, US Iraq policy where he wondered whether he was wrong after celebrations by iraqis in baghdad, to his opinion of President George W Bush when he first met him (which is much different to what you would expect it to be). It also covered a lot of Obama life, from his struggles commuting between Washington DC and Chicago and problems with having a home family life.
In the End i did enjoy this book and it did have an effect of making me more determined to work at making my own life better. Which is why this book will be getting the Ak 5 star rating of excellent.
Labels: Audacity Of Hope, Barack Obama, Book review, Literacy, Optimism, Politics, Reading, United States Elections
Monday, 23 June 2008
Book 1 - How to be a Complete and utter failure in life, work and everything 441/2 Steps to Lasting Underachievement by Steve Mcdermott
Well here is my first book review.
The first book i shall review is How to be a Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work and Everything: 44 1/2 Steps to Lasting Underachievement
by Steve Mcdermott
Now you might be asking, why review a Self help book. Surely a more serious topic to start with. Well the reason for picking this book i shall outline below
Review
This book is a fun filled unusual self help book. Unlike several other self help books it turns upside down the conventional wisdom of hyper optimism and nauseating at times go win it attitude.
This book instead uses humour, describing how not to have goals, with great attention paid in each step to show how to become a complete and utter failure. This book is also one that you can read again and again, being simple to read. You can open this book and read a page a day, easy enough done even for those that are not exactly the most avid readers. Sadly i failured to complete the book target and ended up falling into the trap it warned about of success, but i am sure if you take this book literally you too can end up a complete failure.
Well i read this book, it remains one of my favourites and i can recommend this book to anyone that is interested in it.
I shall now use my review of this book to give this book Ak 5 star rating of excellent.
The first book i shall review is How to be a Complete and Utter Failure in Life, Work and Everything: 44 1/2 Steps to Lasting Underachievement
by Steve McdermottNow you might be asking, why review a Self help book. Surely a more serious topic to start with. Well the reason for picking this book i shall outline below
Review
This book is a fun filled unusual self help book. Unlike several other self help books it turns upside down the conventional wisdom of hyper optimism and nauseating at times go win it attitude.
This book instead uses humour, describing how not to have goals, with great attention paid in each step to show how to become a complete and utter failure. This book is also one that you can read again and again, being simple to read. You can open this book and read a page a day, easy enough done even for those that are not exactly the most avid readers. Sadly i failured to complete the book target and ended up falling into the trap it warned about of success, but i am sure if you take this book literally you too can end up a complete failure.
Well i read this book, it remains one of my favourites and i can recommend this book to anyone that is interested in it.
I shall now use my review of this book to give this book Ak 5 star rating of excellent.
Labels: Book review, How to be a Complete and utter failure in life, reader, Reading, self help, Steve mcdermott, work and everything 441/2 Steps to Lasting Underachievement
Welcome to Ak book reviews
Hello and welcome. I have set up this blog to review books that i have read and wish to review.
I believe this site will be of interest to anyone that is interested in getting to know whether a book is worth buying or not (not to worry i do not intend to reveal intricate plot details, eg i will not tell your who dunnit in murder mystery books i review).
I shall review books and give them marks out of 5, with 5 stars being a book i would recommend as excellent and 1 star being a book, i would suggest staying away from.
So i shall now begin with book reviews, enjoy and hope you enjoy your stay.
Also feel free to comment or ask i review a book and i will try to accomodate any requests.
I believe this site will be of interest to anyone that is interested in getting to know whether a book is worth buying or not (not to worry i do not intend to reveal intricate plot details, eg i will not tell your who dunnit in murder mystery books i review).
I shall review books and give them marks out of 5, with 5 stars being a book i would recommend as excellent and 1 star being a book, i would suggest staying away from.
So i shall now begin with book reviews, enjoy and hope you enjoy your stay.
Also feel free to comment or ask i review a book and i will try to accomodate any requests.
Labels: Ak, Book review, Buying, Interest, Reading
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