While I didn&#39;t quite hit my 2022 goal of 30 books, I did manage to read 20 books.
<h2>Books I Loved</h2>
These were my top books I read this year, in no particular order.
&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;What If? 2&quot;
 author=&quot;Randall Munroe&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/KY9FWxyG/whatif2.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/KY9FWxyG/whatif2.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={233}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-if-2-additional-serious-scientific-answers-to-absurd-hypothetical-questions-randall-munroe/18153615">https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-if-2-additional-serious-scientific-answers-to-absurd-hypothetical-questions-randall-munroe/18153615</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 Randall Munroe does it again. He brings his scientific curiosity to answer some pretty absurd questions. He does it with a good sense of humor and easy to understand language.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Chokepoint Capitalism&quot;
 author=&quot;Rebecca Giblin &amp; Cory Doctorow&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/VLZr4fLG/chokepoint-capitalism.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/VLZr4fLG/chokepoint-capitalism.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={196}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/chokepoint-capitalism-how-big-tech-and-big-content-captured-creative-labor-markets-and-how-we-ll-win-them-back/9780807007068">https://bookshop.org/books/chokepoint-capitalism-how-big-tech-and-big-content-captured-creative-labor-markets-and-how-we-ll-win-them-back/9780807007068</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 This was a fantastic read looking at how some of the tech and media giants have used the lack of competition to squeeze musicians, writers, developers and the rest of the creative industry. While this book only focuses on the creative industries, there are a lot of similarities all over. Cory and Rebecca do a good job explaining the problems, how we arrived at them, and what we can potentially do to even the playing field. I even wrote a <a href="/posts/2022/12/07/chokepoint-capitalism-a-review">post about it</a>.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Unit Testing Principles, Practices, and Patterns&quot;
 author=&quot;Vladimir Khorikov&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/FRnqyKXS/unittesting.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/FRnqyKXS/unittesting.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={239}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-if-2-additional-serious-scientific-answers-to-absurd-hypothetical-questions-randall-munroe/18153615">https://bookshop.org/p/books/what-if-2-additional-serious-scientific-answers-to-absurd-hypothetical-questions-randall-munroe/18153615</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I&#39;ve been doing a lot more unit tests over the last year or two. This book did a good job going over how to write better tests and ways to improve the code to make tests better and easier to write. A good read for developers. The code examples are in C#, but the principals could be applied to other languages.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)&quot;
 author=&quot;Katie Mack&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/NF2SZZHy/endofeverything.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/NF2SZZHy/endofeverything.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={195}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-end-of-everything-astrophysically-speaking/9781982103552">https://bookshop.org/books/the-end-of-everything-astrophysically-speaking/9781982103552</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 Being a space nut, this was a fun read learning about the various different ways the universe might end. Katie Mack did a fantastic job describing it with a good mix of humor and not-too-complicated language.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<h2>Books I Would Recommend</h2>
While not my top books, these were all good and I enjoyed them.
&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age&quot;
 author=&quot;Annalee Newitz&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/RCfzsnQg/fourlostcities.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/RCfzsnQg/fourlostcities.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={198}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/four-lost-cities-a-secret-history-of-the-urban-age-annalee-newitz/16712885">https://bookshop.org/p/books/four-lost-cities-a-secret-history-of-the-urban-age-annalee-newitz/16712885</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 This was an interesting read on ancient cities. I had never even heard of two of the cities prior to reading this. It was an interesting look into the history of urban living, how it began and developed, and how these cities faded into history.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy&quot;
 author=&quot;Cathy O&#39;Neil&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/XvN4xXm1/weapons-of-math-destruction.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/XvN4xXm1/weapons-of-math-destruction.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={196}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/weapons-of-math-destruction-how-big-data-increases-inequality-and-threatens-democracy-cathy-o-neil/11438502">https://bookshop.org/p/books/weapons-of-math-destruction-how-big-data-increases-inequality-and-threatens-democracy-cathy-o-neil/11438502</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 Most of what I read I was already aware of. Still, Cathy did a good job talking about what the issues with algorithms are, and why they can be problematic.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics&quot;
 author=&quot;Tim Harford&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/T3nGK5hy/datadetective.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/T3nGK5hy/datadetective.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={199}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-data-detective-ten-easy-rules-to-make-sense-of-statistics/9780593084663">https://bookshop.org/books/the-data-detective-ten-easy-rules-to-make-sense-of-statistics/9780593084663</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I&#39;ve been a fan of Tim&#39;s writing. This book is no different. It&#39;s an interesting read helping give you some rules of thumb when reading about statistics and data. I know I&#39;ve been guilty from time to time of some of the things one should avoid when being presented with data.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Responsible Javascript&quot;
 author=&quot;Jeremy Wagner&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/x86dyMTR/responsible-javascript.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/x86dyMTR/responsible-javascript.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={204}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://abookapart.com/products/responsible-javascript">https://abookapart.com/products/responsible-javascript</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I know that I&#39;m a little weak on making my websites more performant. This book did a good job talking about how to improve both JavaScript performance and examples of some things you can do to make your sites more user-friendly.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Night the Lights Went Out&quot;
 author=&quot;Drew Magary&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/brPdgmR1/nightthelightswentout.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/brPdgmR1/nightthelightswentout.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={200}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-night-the-lights-went-out-a-memoir-of-life-after-brain-damage/9780593232712">https://bookshop.org/books/the-night-the-lights-went-out-a-memoir-of-life-after-brain-damage/9780593232712</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I&#39;ve always enjoyed Drew Magary&#39;s writing on Defector and heard about his brush with death. This was an interesting memoir talking about his road back. Would recommend.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Walkaway&quot;
 author=&quot;Cory Doctorow&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/kgmn6Tcm/walkaway.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/kgmn6Tcm/walkaway.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={190}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/walkaway/9780765392770">https://bookshop.org/books/walkaway/9780765392770</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I&#39;ve generally enjoyed Cory Doctorow&#39;s writing style. The story had an interesting premise even going so far as to touch on some of today&#39;s economic issues. Without giving too much away, some of the jumps in time were a little rough, but easy enough to follow. I enjoyed it, but it was not my favorite Doctorow novel.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Born a Crime&quot;
 author=&quot;Trevor Noah&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/nLDDCyxd/bornacrime.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/nLDDCyxd/bornacrime.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={196}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/born-a-crime-stories-from-a-south-african-childhood/9780399588198">https://bookshop.org/books/born-a-crime-stories-from-a-south-african-childhood/9780399588198</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I appreciate Trevor&#39;s comedy and the way he hosts The Daily Show. It was interesting reading about all he and his family had to deal with growing up in South Africa.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Project Hail Mary&quot;
 author=&quot;Andy Weir&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/HsZs8YFw/projecthailmary.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/HsZs8YFw/projecthailmary.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={199}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/project-hail-mary/9780593135204">https://bookshop.org/books/project-hail-mary/9780593135204</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I enjoyed this. It definitely had the same style as The Martian. The story had a good pace and was interesting.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Passion Economy: The New Rules for Thriving in the Twenty-First Century&quot;
 author=&quot;Adam Davidson&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/XvyJ0RHw/passioneconomy.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/XvyJ0RHw/passioneconomy.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={194}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-passion-economy-the-new-rules-for-thriving-in-the-twenty-first-century/9780804172776">https://bookshop.org/books/the-passion-economy-the-new-rules-for-thriving-in-the-twenty-first-century/9780804172776</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 This book wasn&#39;t quite what I expected it to be, though looking back at it, I&#39;m not entirely sure what I was expecting. It was still an interesting take on succeeding as a smaller business in the present day economy.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Dark Pools: The Rise of the Machine Traders and the Rigging of the U.S. Stock Market&quot;
 author=&quot;Scott Patterson&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/Kv6xcDcS/darkpools.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/Kv6xcDcS/darkpools.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={195}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/dark-pools-the-rise-of-the-machine-traders-and-the-rigging-of-the-u-s-stock-market/9780307887184">https://bookshop.org/books/dark-pools-the-rise-of-the-machine-traders-and-the-rigging-of-the-u-s-stock-market/9780307887184</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 The stock market &amp; computerized trading has become a fascination to me. This book does a great job talking about the rise of high-frequency trading and how it has caused some of the problems we see in the stock market today.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;It&#39;s Better to Be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness&quot;
 author=&quot;Seth Wickersham&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/fWjY7Q9p/bettertobefeared.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/fWjY7Q9p/bettertobefeared.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={200}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/it-s-better-to-be-feared-the-new-england-patriots-dynasty-and-the-pursuit-of-greatness/9781631498237">https://bookshop.org/books/it-s-better-to-be-feared-the-new-england-patriots-dynasty-and-the-pursuit-of-greatness/9781631498237</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I&#39;m by no means a Patriots fan, but I found this to be an interesting look into the 2 decades long dynasty of Brady-Belichick and the Patriots.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music&quot;
 author=&quot;Dave Grohl&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/L55SS72t/storyteller.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/L55SS72t/storyteller.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={199}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-storyteller-tales-of-life-and-music/9780063076099">https://bookshop.org/books/the-storyteller-tales-of-life-and-music/9780063076099</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 Dave Grohl has always seemed to be an interesting and unique person. This was an interesting memoir talking about his growth from High School punk musician, through Nirvana and eventually Foo Fighters. If you&#39;re a fan of any of his work, I&#39;d highly recommend this.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Nudge: The Final Edition&quot;
 author=&quot;Richard Thaler &amp; Cass Sunstein&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/1XKXjDW2/nudge.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/1XKXjDW2/nudge.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={196}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/nudge-the-final-edition/9780143137009">https://bookshop.org/books/nudge-the-final-edition/9780143137009</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 This was a fantastic read into how we as humans can be persuaded into doing things in ways we don&#39;t always recognize. The authors do a good job going into the good and bad of it.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Apollo Murders&quot;
 author=&quot;Chris Hadfield&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/mgr32phq/apollomurders.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/mgr32phq/apollomurders.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={193}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-apollo-murders-9781668601075/9780316264532">https://bookshop.org/books/the-apollo-murders-9781668601075/9780316264532</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I enjoyed this book. It had a good story that pulled you in. As a space fan, I definitely enjoyed the tie-ins with the Apollo program. The ending wasn&#39;t my favorite part, but it did tidy up the story arcs. Would still recommend it to anyone.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Leviathan Falls&quot;
 author=&quot;James S. A. Corey&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/3wwXCxw3/leviathanfalls.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/3wwXCxw3/leviathanfalls.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={195}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/leviathan-falls-9781705024997/9780316332910">https://bookshop.org/books/leviathan-falls-9781705024997/9780316332910</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I did enjoy this as the final book in the series. Given that this is the end of a long series, I still haven&#39;t come to a complete decision on how I feel about how the story was ended.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<h2>Books I Was More &quot;Meh&quot; On</h2>
This doesn&#39;t mean that you won&#39;t like them, I just was only luke-warm on them.
&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Moonshot: Inside Pfizer&#39;s Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible&quot;
 author=&quot;Albert Bourla&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/QNcT7Tqp/moonshot.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/QNcT7Tqp/moonshot.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={199}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/moonshot-inside-pfizer-s-nine-month-race-to-make-the-impossible-possible-9798200746163/9780063210790">https://bookshop.org/books/moonshot-inside-pfizer-s-nine-month-race-to-make-the-impossible-possible-9798200746163/9780063210790</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 The book had a little too much of a “Rah Rah” feel to me which I guess isn&#39;t surprising since it was written by Pfizer&#39;s CEO. When I picked it up at the library I was hoping there&#39;d be a little more meat to it.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;

Books I Read in 2022

Earlier this year I backed a Kickstarter campaign by Cory Doctorow &amp; Rebecca Giblin for their new book Chokepoint Capitalism. I had read several of Cory&#39;s books and consider him someone who is knowledgeable about the creative industry. So when the Kickstarter campaign popped up in my feeds, I decided it was worth my investment, and a read.
<PostImage
 src="/images/posts/2022-12-07-chokepoint-capitalism-a-review/book_cover.jpg"
 alt="The cover of Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We'll Win them Back by Rebecca Giblin & Cory Doctorow"
 width={295}
 height={450}
 centered
 shadowed={false}
/>
Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We&#39;ll Win them Back is at it&#39;s core a book about how companies like Amazon, Google, Apple, TicketMaster, and others are hurting the creative labor industry. We&#39;re talking authors, musicians, TV &amp; movie writers, app developers and more, and how they are being squeezed by big tech and other big companies to the point where it can be hard to make a real living.
I can&#39;t begin to do as good of a job explaining all of this as Cory and Rebecca can, so I will encourage you to buy the book at your local bookstore, or check your local library. But I did want to make a few points and share some of my takeaways.
<h2>My Thoughts</h2>
First off, copyright law in America, and in many countries for that matter is broken. Amazon dominates the eBook and audiobook market. Part of the reason for that is that they were able to lock people into their systems, myself included. All the audiobooks you get through Audible and the overwhelming majority of eBooks you buy from Amazon have DRM attached to them. This means that you can only read and listen to them through Amazon. If you decide you want to switch to a different service or device, all your purchased content gets left behind. You can&#39;t take it with you, at least not without breaking the law and risking fines and possible jail time. That shouldn&#39;t be allowed to happen. If you buy an eBook from Amazon, you should be able to transfer it to a Nook if you switch devices, and vice versa. This shouldn&#39;t be controversial and the law can fix this. Being able to switch platforms would weaken Amazon&#39;s hold and could help authors and publishers get better deals.
Second, antitrust laws need to be updated and enforced. Too often antitrust is looking at consumer harm in the here and now, and not considering what will happen down the line when the big companies can corner the market. Cory and Rebecca had this apt quote:
<blockquote>
However, the Chicago School had a unique remedy for the problem of monopolists being able to pervert their regulators: eliminate regulation altogether! No regulation, no regulators, no regulatory capture, no problem (somehow, preventing monopolies from forming in the first place didn&#39;t seem to cross their minds).
</blockquote>
There hasn&#39;t been much enforcement of it late and companies like Ticketmaster have been able to grow bigger and bigger, swallowing up everyone, and then using that size to corner the market. Looking at Ticketmaster, if you&#39;re a small venue, good luck getting any major acts to come if you refuse to do business with them.
<blockquote>
US antitrust law is actually pretty great (and new bills in the pipeline as we write this would strengthen it further), but the US political consensus has been that antitrust is mostly a dead letter, a quirk of history that can be ignored the same way we ignore laws that require you to hire a boy to run ahead of your auto-car with a lantern and a bell to warn horse-riders that you&#39;re coming.
</blockquote>
Stop monopolies from forming and fostering true competition would certainly help the creative industry get better deals.
There&#39;s a lot more that Rebecca and Cory cover, but you&#39;d do better hearing it from them rather than me.
<h2>My Takeaways</h2>
Reading the book has left me thinking about how I consume media.
I&#39;ve been on a physical book kick at the moment, but I still do appreciate the portability of being able to use my Kindle. I have no reason to upgrade at the moment, but I will probably give serious consideration to moving to Kobo or another device when the time comes. I&#39;m also going to start branching out with where I buy my eBooks. I&#39;ve generally just bought them from Amazon...because duh, it&#39;s easy! Now, I&#39;m probably going to see where else I can buy them, ideally DRM-free.
One of the other things mentioned in the book is how much the auto-generated playlists from the likes of Spotify can make or break artists, especially those just starting out. While I certainly enjoy some of the playlists that Spotify generates for me, I think I&#39;m gonna try to look at other websites and services that might help recommend me new artists to listen to. And of course I will continue to purchase the actual records of some of my favorite musicians.
<h2>One Last Word</h2>
Again, I would highly recommend everyone go read this book, it&#39;s fascinating looking at how these companies have put the squeeze on the creative industry. But while I&#39;ve focused here on some of the issues, Rebecca and Cory do a much better job diving into them, and more importantly, digging into possible solutions. I&#39;ll leave you with this quote from the book:
<blockquote>
The increasing financial precarity that has accompanied these forty years of antitrust neglect is one reason why so many people are desperate and angry, and perhaps also helps explain why they are willing to listen to demagogues promising to blow the system up.
</blockquote>
Because while this book focuses on the creative industry, you can see parallels across all industries and the general population within in.
<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710957/chokepoint-capitalism-by-cory-doctorow-and-rebecca-giblin/9780807007068">Buy Chokepoint Capitalism: How Big Tech and Big Content Captured Creative Labor Markets and How We&#39;ll Win them Back</a>

Chokepoint Capitalism: A Review

I didn&#39;t read as much as I wanted to in 2021, managing a measly nine books.
&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America&quot;
 author=&quot;Marcia Chatelain&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/3JTQPJtY/franchise-golden-arches.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/3JTQPJtY/franchise-golden-arches.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={199}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/franchise-the-golden-arches-in-black-america-9781684577019/9781631498701">https://bookshop.org/books/franchise-the-golden-arches-in-black-america-9781684577019/9781631498701</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I had heard about this book on{&#39; &#39;}
 <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2020/07/06/the-complicated-history-of-mcdonalds-and-black-america/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">
 Marketplace
 </a>{&#39; &#39;}
 and given the tumultuous 2020, felt like this would be an interesting read to maybe give myself some insight. It was an interesting read
 going into areas where McDonald&#39;s did well and where it fell short.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The MVP Machine: How Baseball&#39;s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players&quot;
 author=&quot;Ben Lindbergh &amp; Travis Sawchik&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/bvGGwDJS/mvpmachine.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/bvGGwDJS/mvpmachine.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={193}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-mvp-machine-how-baseball-s-new-nonconformists-are-using-data-to-build-better-players/9781541698925">https://bookshop.org/books/the-mvp-machine-how-baseball-s-new-nonconformists-are-using-data-to-build-better-players/9781541698925</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I&#39;ve been a big fan of Ben&#39;s{&#39; &#39;}
 <a href="https://blogs.fangraphs.com/category/effectively-wild/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">
 Effectively Wild Podcast
 </a>{&#39; &#39;}
 and his previous book{&#39; &#39;}
 <a
 href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-only-rule-is-it-has-to-work-our-wild-experiment-building-a-new-kind-of-baseball-team-includes-a-new-afterword/9781250130907"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noreferrer"
 >
 The Only Rule Is It Has to Work
 </a>{&#39; &#39;}
 so I decided to pick this up and wasn&#39;t disappointed. It was a great look into how teams and players are trying new things to get a leg up
 in the game.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Money: The True Story of a Made-Up Thing&quot;
 author=&quot;Jacob Goldstein&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/1X0V1kzW/money-goldstein.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/1X0V1kzW/money-goldstein.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={200}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/money-the-true-story-of-a-made-up-thing/9780316417198">https://bookshop.org/books/money-the-true-story-of-a-made-up-thing/9780316417198</a>&quot;
 thoughts={&lt;&gt;Having listened to Jacob on NPR&#39;s Planet Money podcast, I had heard about this book and thought it had an interesting premise.&lt;/&gt;}
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Field of Schemes: How the Great Stadium Swindle Turns Public Money Into Private Profit&quot;
 author=&quot;Neil Demause &amp; Joanna Cagan&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/dVFQmjbR/fieldofschemes.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/dVFQmjbR/fieldofschemes.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={202}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/field-of-schemes-how-the-great-stadium-swindle-turns-public-money-into-private-profit-revised/9780803260160">https://bookshop.org/books/field-of-schemes-how-the-great-stadium-swindle-turns-public-money-into-private-profit-revised/9780803260160</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I had figured out a while ago that publicly funded sports stadiums were a raw deal. This book only enforced my opinion on why these are
 raw deals. I learned more details on how they&#39;ve been able to pull it off. The book goes into detail on how bad these deals are how owners
 were able to swindle us all.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Premonition: A Pandemic Story&quot;
 author=&quot;Michael Lewis&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/h40Ggbr3/premonition.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/h40Ggbr3/premonition.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={197}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-premonition-a-pandemic-story-9781713631897/9780393881554">https://bookshop.org/books/the-premonition-a-pandemic-story-9781713631897/9780393881554</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 Having lived through 2020, I understood that the US Government royally screwed up its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading this book
 gave me a better idea of why the different departments struggled to get a handle on it.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don&#39;t Know&quot;
 author=&quot;Adam Grant&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/3JDMZ2Rx/thinkagain.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/3JDMZ2Rx/thinkagain.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={199}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/think-again-the-power-of-knowing-what-you-don-t-know-9781984878106/9781984878106">https://bookshop.org/books/think-again-the-power-of-knowing-what-you-don-t-know-9781984878106/9781984878106</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 I wrote a{&#39; &#39;}
 <a href="https://kpwags.com/posts/2021/10/27/think-again-review" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">
 whole post
 </a>{&#39; &#39;}
 on this. It was a good read looking at trying to get us to change our thinking and recognizing when we might not know as much as we think
 we do.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Cult of We: WeWork, Adam Neumann, and the Great Startup Delusion&quot;
 author=&quot;Eliot Brown &amp; Maureen Farrell&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/15X48kcp/cult-of-we.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/15X48kcp/cult-of-we.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={199}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-cult-of-we-wework-adam-neumann-and-the-great-startup-delusion/9780593237113">https://bookshop.org/books/the-cult-of-we-wework-adam-neumann-and-the-great-startup-delusion/9780593237113</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 It still amazes me reading about the WeWork saga that it got as far as it did. I had heard some of the craziness that was going on thanks
 to{&#39; &#39;}
 <a
 href="https://www.marketplace.org/shows/make-me-smart-with-kai-and-molly/weworks-whole-bananapants-story/"
 target="_blank"
 rel="noreferrer"
 >
 Make Me Smart
 </a>
 , but until I read this book...let&#39;s just say...wow!
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Is Destroying Jobs and Killing the American Economy&quot;
 author=&quot;Josh Kosman&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/RF1JTwNK/buyoutofamerica.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/RF1JTwNK/buyoutofamerica.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={196}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-buyout-of-america-how-private-equity-is-destroying-jobs-and-killing-the-american-economy/9781591843696">https://bookshop.org/books/the-buyout-of-america-how-private-equity-is-destroying-jobs-and-killing-the-american-economy/9781591843696</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 This book just made me angry seeing Wall Street &amp; Hedge Funds come in and destroy companies and jobs for a quick buck. But as angry as I
 might be over what happened, I feel that it&#39;s important to know what and how it happened. This book does a good job of giving examples and
 talking about the history of it all.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;
<hr />

&lt;BookRead
 title=&quot;The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion&quot;
 author=&quot;Jonathan Haidt&quot;
 coverImageSrc=&quot;<a href="https://i.postimg.cc/sD2xf6w0/righteousmind.jpg">https://i.postimg.cc/sD2xf6w0/righteousmind.jpg</a>&quot;
 width={196}
 height={300}
 link=&quot;<a href="https://bookshop.org/books/the-righteous-mind-why-good-people-are-divided-by-politics-and-religion-9798200560639/9780307455772">https://bookshop.org/books/the-righteous-mind-why-good-people-are-divided-by-politics-and-religion-9798200560639/9780307455772</a>&quot;
 thoughts={
 &lt;&gt;
 This was my second attempt at reading this book. I finished this time. It wasn&#39;t a bad read, but it was felt like a dense read. The
 explanation Jonathan gives does seem to fit some of the things we see going on in politics today.
 &lt;/&gt;
 }
/&gt;

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