Batched Books Reviews #2025.8. Non-fiction

Non-fiction

• The Mythical Man-Month (3/4) — A classic with lessons that remain true, though much of its wisdom has already spread into modern software culture. More useful as historical perspective than as fresh guidance. Valuable, but less engaging to consume today.
• The Cryptopians (3/4) — A history of Ethereum — full of drama and personalities. Focuses more on conflicts, politics, and The DAO fallout than on technical details. Worth it if you want the story of crypto’s early chaos, less so for deeper insights.
• Making Things Happen (3/4) — A practical, no-fluff guide to project management. Covers estimates, scheduling, organization, and bits of leadership. First hardcore project management book I’ve read, and I’m not disappointed.
• Lifespan (3+/4) — A deep, science-heavy look at aging and longevity. Ambitious and inspiring, though at times speculative. It presents an overview of current research, from genetics to lifestyle interventions, and frames aging as a disease that can be slowed or even reversed. The book shifted my perspective on what medicine could mean in the future. Great if you want to know where the science of lifespan extension might be headed, but not always grounded in what’s actionable today.
• The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (3+/4) — The book mixes leadership advice with ideas from mindfulness and personal growth. Walks a tight line between deep insight and spiritual fluff, often drifting into a spiritual register that won’t work for everyone. More philosophy than manual, but valuable if you can filter out the buzzwords and focus on the core lessons.
• Discipline Is Destiny (3-/4) — Exploration of discipline’s role in greatness, though more inspirational than instructive. It surveys many lives and stories to show how self-control underpins success, but it never gets into the weeds of how you build it. You’ll get value from the philosophy, but will need to do your own work to translate it into practice.
• Obviously Awesome (4/4) — A short, no-fluff manual on positioning that cuts through the noise and gives you a usable framework.Highly focused and deployable. The style is lean, with minimal narrative filler. Best when you’ve got a product and need to figure out how to position it.

Fiction

• A Plain-Dealing Villain (3−/4) — Daniel Faust vol 4. Faust is too much of a pushover for my taste. The world still lacks depth. But its also still an easy, lightweight and well-written read.
• Chrysalis (Books 1–3) (3+/4) — A fun monster-evolution LitRPG. There is some bigger plot arc behind otherwise episodic progression, and the main character slowly but streadily gains personality. Ant perspective is really well painted and refreshing. Narration by Jeff Hays (Dungeon Crawler Carl) is a big bonus.
• The Killing Floor Blues (3-/4) — Daniel Faust vol 5. Nothing special. Action happens in prison. Still no clue why I read this series.

Stats:

• Books read this year: ~80 (+10)
• Books on the shelf: 10 (-2)
• Books on the wishlist: 223 (-0)