CheshTech Picks of the Month:
Welcome to the first blog post on the CheshTech Picks of the Month! Every month I will layout at least two book reviews from what I read that month. Reading is a big passion of mine and something I think is important for my well-being. Reading is such a great way to open your mind to new perspectives, learn interesting things, and also help relieve stress.
I will be reviewing one business related book, and also one personal book each month. I hope both books will help inspire you to read them, or other books.
In January, I selected When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi as my personal book. It’s an incredibly moving book that really makes you reflect on what makes life important to you and worth living.
My business pick of the month was The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley. This book was fantastic in making you realize the addictive consumer lifestyle and keeping up with Joneses can be hurtful in your quest for wealth. It teaches you how to save and properly invest your money.
This month, I added a third book to celebrate Black History Month. Alright let’s get to it! Here are my February CheshTech Picks of the Month!
Business: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
A book every startup founder should read giving great detail on how you should focus on your MVP (Minimal Viable Product) and focus on continuous innovation. As someone who works in technology, I’m surrounded by startup founders and working with them on their applications.
This book provides tremendous knowledge in how a startup founder should approach the beginning stages of the startup. It focuses on understanding the core features that you want for your MVP and plans for future iterations.
Constant innovation is needed in today’s business world especially when the user and consumer expects improvement on a regular basis. This book does a great job of giving you the tools and strategies needed to not waste resources and be a successful startup.
The Lean Startup suggests as a business owner you should focus on being lean and adapting to customer feedback, data analysis, and also providing an opportunity for your team members to be on-going entrepreneurs and innovate.
Personal: Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism and Progress by Steven Pinker
In today’s world, it’s very easy to always be negative and talk about all the problems that we are currently facing. Enlightenment Now provides a more positive perspective and highlights how far the human race has come over the last few centuries, while still recognizing the important problems we face today.
From a global perspective, the world is in a much healthier place and we have access to things that people would have literally killed for 150 years ago. We have solved problems and made the world better now than it has ever been in the past.
A quote that stands out to me and something I didn’t think to realize is from former President Obama at his address to Howard University:
“If you had to choose one moment in history in which you could be born, and you didn’t know ahead of time who you were going to be–what nationality, what gender, what race, whether you’d be rich or poor, gay or straight, what faith you’d be born into–you wouldn’t choose 100 years ago. You wouldn’t choose the fifties, or the sixties, or the seventies. You’d choose right now. If you had to choose a time to be, in the words of Lorraine Hansberry, “young, gifted, and black” in America, you would choose right now.”
Despite all the problems we face, it’s still important to recognize the progress we’ve made as a species and use that as continuous motivation to improve. We still have major problems to overcome, some of which have come from solving the problems of old with unintended consequences.
However, this book lays out possible solutions and how if we remain positive and focused on solving our problems, we can be in a much better place 200 years from now.
Black History Month Special: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
A powerful novel that tackles important and difficult questions surrounding pride, betrayal, and the ability to forgive. This is a fictional love story that tells the tale of newlyweds Celestial and Roy in a moving portrayal that is heartbreaking, and a story that won’t leave your mind anytime soon.
The story is excellently written and it captivated me making it hard to put down despite being difficult to read at times from an emotional perspective. Roy is wrongfully convicted of a crime and sentenced to over 10 years of prison time.
Celestial is faced with the challenge of holding onto the love she has for Roy, while also recognizing the reality of the situation of having to live without him. She is a strong and independent person and finds comfort in a childhood friend throughout the story.
The story has some twists and turns, but where it is the most powerful are within the themes it conveys to the reader. Pride, betrayal, and the ability to forgive are the themes that stood out most to me.
The story gives an insight to the mind of three characters and the impact a wrongful conviction can have on the people closest to them. I highly recommend this novel and it was an Oprah Winfrey pick in 2018.
Thoughts???
All three of these books were great reads in their own rights. Have you read any of these books? What recommendations would you have for March’s CheshTech Picks of the Month? Contact me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and I’d be happy to discuss the books and hear your thoughts!
