Tag: Biography

“The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” By Alice Schroeder Review

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Here is the book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha.”

It is important o mention that this book cover topics as:  1) Trade offs of various forms of success. 2) Value Investing. 3) Importance of Relationships. 4) Internal Values. 5)  Understanding your purpose and priorities. 

This book is a little bit long, but the value which you get from this book is really worth the time you’ll spend reading this book. However there are couple of parts of this book which really felt like a waist of paper because it was so uninteresting to me but that could be just me here.

The writing style here is okay for the most part but there are moments where the writing style turns into complete into a text book from high school which no one cared about and never read. 

And for me personally I was super disappointed because Ive heard so many good things about this book, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. For me this book feels more like a trivia of Warren Buffer personal life than his business life. 

This book is more about what Warren Buffet did before he got to the point where he is now. But it isn’t about what he did for business but it is more about where he bought a house, what he did when he was a kid, who he meet along the way, who he hang out with in the early stages of his career and so on. If the author would cut these things out then this book would be like 200 pages long with true value instead of over 900 pages with very little value and a lots of boring moments.

However if you consider this book a biography of Warren Buffet instead of a business book then this book is very good and I would give this book 4 stars but since it is ranked as business book means that I can’t give that rating to this book. However this book as a biography still isn’t the best biography I’ve read but it was good enough for me to give it 4 stars if it was ranked as biography

I need to give this book points for showing us that Warren Buffet is a complex character, and there is a lot to him which we don’t know about. And after reading this book I want even more to have a talk with Warren Buffet because it really shows how smart and how unique he really is. An I truly think after reading this book that I and Mr. Buffet would vibe if I ever get the chase to talk to the man. 

I give this book 3 /5

“Heavier Than Heaven: A Biography of Kurt Cobain” By Charles R. Cross Review

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Heavier Than Heaven traces Kurt Cobain’s life from his early days in a double-wide trailer outside of Aberdeen, Washington, to his rise to fame, fortune, and the adulation of a generation.

You might not know that but I’m a fan of Nirvana so this book was a must read for me. So when I saw this book at the bookstore I knew that I needed to read this book. 

For the most part it was a decent book, but there was couple of parts which was boring and the book would be much better if these parts were cut short of they were not in the book.

The author does a pretty decent job at putting together Kurt Cobains’ life and his quick rise to fame. So I need to give the author point for that.

The writing style could be much better. I lot couple of biographies and this one is far from them because of the writing style was poor. 

The last chapter was pretty fucked up (excuse my language if you got offended here). I don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t read this book yet.

This book feels like Courtney Love approved versions of “actual events” which really made me pretty angry. Because I picked up this book to read about Kurt Cobain and his life and not read Courtney Love’s version of Kurt Cobain.

However this book gives us couple of cool facts about Kurt Cobain and his life which I didn’t know about, so of course I needed to give this books points for that. 

I give this book 2 / 5

“My Struggle: Book Two: A Man in Love” By Karl Ove Knausgård Review

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Having left his first wife, Karl Ove Knausgaard moves to Stockholm, Sweden, where he leads a solitary existence. He strikes up a deep friendship with another exiled Norwegian, a Nietzschean intellectual and boxing fanatic named Geir. He also tracks down Linda, whom he met at a writers’ workshop a few years earlier and who fascinated him deeply.

So this book was my first book by this author and probably the last because I truly hated this book because it was nothing for me. If this book did anything for me it was just to make me want to never get married. Because the way how the author describes his life and how he left his first wife and how he treated his second wife gave me an idea of how much of assholes some people can be. 

The writing style was the worst I’ve seen for very long which oh boy really speaks for itself. It might have something to do with me being very picky since last December.

The plot itself really sucked, Because I personally don’t care of the life of someone I never heard before. And during reading this book this plot made me dislike the author more and more.

To be honest here, I gotta admit that this book is probably the most boring book I’ve read since 2020. I really didn’t care for it and I’ve tortured myself with reading this book. And this book is a sign that I’ve should DNF books which I don’t like rather than suffer and torture myself with them.

This book really takes the price for the worst autobiography so far, which is truly a price now on days because there are dozens and dozens of autobiographies. 

This book was really a waste of time and money. And I truly wished that I’ve never read this book because I wouldn’t lose anything and I would have time to read something different instead.

I give this book 1 / 5 

“Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future” By Ashlee Vance Review

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Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the genius’s life and work, from his tumultuous upbringing in South Africa and flight to the United States to his dramatic technical innovations and entrepreneurial pursuits. Vance uses Musk’s story to explore one of the pressing questions of our age: can the nation of inventors and creators who led the modern world for a century still compete in an age of fierce global competition? He argues that Musk is an amalgam of legendary inventors and industrialists including Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Howard Hughes, and Steve Jobs. More than any other entrepreneur today, Musk has dedicated his energies and his own vast fortune to inventing a future that is as rich and far-reaching as the visionaries of the golden age of science-fiction fantasy.

If you are like me and you are a big fan of Elon Musk and a big geek of Tesla and SpaceX, you will enjoy this book. Because this book provides us with a lots of information about Elon Musk and what kind of a person he is in his comapnies and behind closed doors.

This book is excellent and inspiring. It might also give you motivation about following your dreams and make cool projects no matter the odds against you. If you are afraid of taking action because you think that your business will not make it than remeber that Tesla had very small chances to succeed back in 2003 but look at it now.

This book shows that being reckless like Elon Musk helps. Elon Musk was reckless in two areas: in the risks he took, and the way that he manages his companies.

The attitude which the author took with hounding to Elon Musk and wearing him down till he agreed to cooperate with this biography, was amazing but still there are couple of things which this book could be better.

There are moments in this book which the author is like”Holy crap, Elon Musk is CRAZY”. And thats the thing every genius is in their own way crazy untill everyone sees that they are actually not that crazy after all.

Elon Musk’s comapnies are also the most exciting companies ever. And the fact that you can read about their early struggles at the beggining are amazing, and really brings a light that every company have the change to succeed no matter what.

The writing style itself is pretty good but there are times where the writing could be much better than it actually was. But I think that in this asspect and in this book that doesnt matter that much because of the whole concept of this book and idea behind it.

Even if you are not the biggest fan of Tesla, Space X, Solar City or Elon Musk you will at least have the opinion that this book is pretty decide and worth reading. Because there are always something to learn when it comes to big and important people like the goat himself aka Elon Musk.

Elon Musk is an important innovator of our times, but the author could take different take with this book. Of course the author had many interviews with Elon Musk and it would be very dope if he had mentioned stuff about there interviews and his feelings he got out of these interviews. It would have been also very dope if the author had involved some of these interviews in this book and not just talk about Elon Musk and his dope companies.

Of course this biography isnt the best one which you can find. But still you will learn something from it and most of you will enjoy it.

I give this book 4 / 5

“The Wolf of Wall Street” By Jordan Belfort Review

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By day he made thousands of dollars a minute. By night he spent it as fast as he could, on drugs, sex, and international globe-trotting. From the binge that sank a 170-foot motor yacht and ran up a $700,000 hotel tab, to the wife and kids waiting at home, and the fast-talking, hard-partying young stockbrokers who called him king and did his bidding, here, in his own inimitable words, is the story of the ill-fated genius they called.

This book has a lots of hatters coming after it which should happen. Because this books isnt half bad as many other books which have been reviewed on this blog.

If you are triggered by drugs, violence or lots of sex maybe dont read this book, because this book has a lots of these things and even more.

Two of the central themes of this book are finance and market manipulation, which make a lots of people pissed off. But the central themes which people also forget about when it comes to this book is how money can ruin people, and how being in charge can go south.

The story is told mostly in dialogue which is pretty much a unique way to do it. And it really gets funny and super interesting at many times throughout the book.

The whole book is about Jordan Belfort and how he was able to manipulated the market to his own advantage. There are many describsions of how some of the money was laundered.

For the most part this whole book is a roller-coaster sort of a ride. Because there are a lots of times where you are like “he will get caught really soon”. But all these times you think so, it doesnt happen.

The lifestyle which Jordan Belfort has in this book makes the whole book more interesting to read. But yes some people will not like the book and his lifestyle will make it worse.

It’s a tale of excess and hedonism. And all these hardcore feminists will hate this book because there are times (a lots of times) where women are treated badly.

The writing style was actually good. It was simple, humorous and descriptive.

One of the best parts about this book is that Jordan are calling his life as “rich and dysfunctional”, which could mean that he knows that the shit he have done wasn’t okay.

This book is about his sturggles with various things like drugs, Feds after him and how to laudry more cash. I personally read a lots of nonfiction books and I found this book refreshing because for once a nonfiction book wasnt about how people got into fame. This book starts when Jordan Belfort first day at Wall Street and in the next chapter it goes forward when he is the boss of Stratton Oakmont, Inc.

However there are times while reading this book where you will feel like you are a drug addict yourself. Because of the way how Jordan Belfort describes things and explain things.

I give this book 4 / 5

“Trump: The Art of the Deal” by Donald J. Trump Review

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Trump in action aka how he runs his business and how he runs his life. He meets the people he needs to meet, chats with family and friends, clashes with enemies, and changes the face of the New York City skyline. But even a maverick plays by rules, and Trump has formulated eleven guidelines for success. The Art of the Deal is an unguarded look at the mind of a brilliant entrepreneur and an unprecedented education in the practice of deal-making. It’s the most streetwise business book there is—and the ultimate read for anyone interested in achieving money and success, and knowing the man behind the spotlight.

I know that this guy seems drunk or high out of his mind most of the time based on the things he had said or done for the past 30 years. But this book is actually amazing and it shows how an amazing business man he is. 

This book is half autobiography and half bragging as you can expect from Donald Trump. But it is still 100% interesting, I personally dont Im a fan of his or fan of politics however I couldn’t stop reading this book.

This book will give you some good business lessons that are simple but people forget about them. So far this book is one of the best business books for beginner which you can read. 

No matter if you like this guy or not you will most likely learn something from it. Because it really shows that wealthy doesn’t happen overnight but rather throughout the years. 

This book is both very interesting and very engaging. Dont forget that Donald Trump is a showman and a very good business man. 

For the most part this book is a hands-on approach to your business mixed with very good advice, making your intentions known to the public and waiting until things fall into the right place for you to move with your plans.

However this book involves a lots of talk about Trump was dealing with licensing and zoning boards which gets boring after sometime. 

There are also many times in this book about him calling people up personally, and how these people were often happy to have that done. And there are also times in this book where he is choosing the marble for the floors or brass for railings, even taking an interest in air conditioning and piping.

For the most part this book is a good book even 30 ish years after it was written and published. 

If you are one of these people who wants to understand his early business background and influences better then this book is for you to read. 

In this book Trump discusses some of his early project in depth and concludes with a summary of which deals were successful, which ones were not, which ones he had to rework. 

This book is definitely a classic and a must read book in the business field. 

In this book Donald Trump is pretty honest about the early deals and business he has done. 

This book contains a lot of wisdom and knowledge that can be applied to in making various business deals but also in life in general. It will also give you knowledge about how to treat others and also about marketing yourself and your skills.

I give this book 4 / 5

“A Woman Makes a Plan: Advice for a Lifetime of Adventure, Beauty, and Success” by Maye Musk Book Review

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When Maye Musk decided to make gray hair glamorous, she became an international supermodel and worldwide speaker in her sixties – a far cry from the young divorcée living in Durban trying to make ends meet to provide for her three children. Things have not always been easy for the mother of South African-born entrepreneur Elon Musk. She struggled emotionally and financially as a single mother to Elon, Kimbal and Tosca, battled weight issues and had to restart her life and her practice as a dietician in numerous cities over and again. In her compelling memoir, Maye shares hard-earned wisdom and frank, practical advice on careers, health, adventure, and more.

This book is a biography book, but this book would be better under the category of advice book or self-help book. This book is sort of a mix between memoir book and a self-help book. So it is kind of hard to pin it down to a specific genre or field.Because Maye Musk gives us succinct and practical advice from her life so that we may avoid some situation which she been through. 

Maybe Musk shows us that she have been through some shit in her life and she is trying in this book to show us that there are always a solution to every bad situation we get into. She are showing us in this book that there are always we can do in a negative point we get into to make it out of it and make our lives to some kind of better. 

By telling us all the shit she been through, Maye is trying to show us that we need to open out eyes fast and trying everything we can to get out of it. 

This book might be a little bit over hyped but it doesn’t make it to a good book which many woman might enjoy.

This book begins with Maye Musk introducing us to her current day career which she haves and her opinion about aging which a lot of people are afraid of. Then the book goes to a brief summery of her life and what she been through in both a abuse marriage and in her career. She also gives us a lot of advices on that we can’t accept negative situation and make them to our day to day life.

We also get in this book a brief summery on how she was raised by her parents and how she raised her own kids which of course are Tosca, Kimbal and Elon Musk. She describes in this book her approach to parenting, instilling autonomy and allowing them to pursue their own interests. She tells us how she raised her kids in an abuse marriage and how she was trying to make things work.

She is telling us how she get out of some very dark points in her life and how she was capable of move to new countries and new cities.

She is telling us how many times she was rejected in different fields but it didn’t never stop her to trying to get what she wants. 

Chapters in this book are very short, every chapter isn’t longer than 10 pages. Which makes it very fun and quick read if you looking for something which you may read in one or two sittings. There are also several pictures in this book which makes the chapters even shorter.

The writing style is pretty okay, it almost seems like the writing style was chosen specifically for people who are learning English. Because the language is very basic and everyone who is learning English will be able to understand. The writing style feels like she is talking to you or like you are listening to a very chill podcast.

The plot is great. It is a little bit different than other biographies / autobiographies out there. Because she is only giving us the brief summery of her life and career. And she isn’t going deep into her life experience and everything which she was doing. 

This book would be great for you if you are looking for a short read or if you want to get to know Maye Musk in a brief summary without worrying if the thing you are reading on wikipedia is bull shit or not. 

There is something missing in this book. The thing which the book is missing is that Maye Musk could have explained more her life and not just give us a brief summary of everything. 

There were times where this book was more or less like “42 years of age this happened, 45 years of age that happened, 69 years of age cover girl etc”. There were times where this book felt like she was listing everything which she have achieved throughout the years. 

However this book is aiming at showing woman that they are worth more than they think they are. But also showing woman that they need to take care of themselves and not care about what some toxic people have to say about them. She is showing us in this book that our health is much more important than some of us may think and that we need to take care of our health everyday. 

Maye Musk is showing us in this book that not everything is glamorous in your personal life or in your career life. She also doesn’t fail to show us that woman shouldn’t beg man to be in their life. Maye Musk is showing us that woman shouldn’t be with a person who isn’t treating them good enough and give them the respect they need. 

I give this book 3 / 5

"Greenlights" by Matthew McConaughey Review

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91Biography book written by Academy Award® winning actor. This book is an unconventional memoir filled with raucous stories, outlaw wisdom, and lessons learned the hard way about living with greater satisfaction.

Alright, alright, alright. That’s what I’m talking about. This book very easily wins every rank in this blog. The fact that this book is a bestseller at New York Times (at the time of writing), really proves that this book is more than an good book.

This book deserves the hype which it got, and it is an MASTERPEICE. All these high expectations which you might have for this book are worth it, because this book is amazing. And no Matthew McConaughey didn’t pay me for say this, but I would love to interview him for this blog and talk about his book.

The storytelling which Matthew McConaughey give us in this book is brilliante. And these memorable stories from his life are something you will not forget so easily. I personally thing that his stories and the whole book will stay in my head for couple years at least.

Not only can Matthew McConaughey act but he can also write and he is a fantastic author and storyteller. And his passion makes it even more fun and enjoyable to read. And all these things together made me don’t want to end this book.

This whole book was so fucking engaging and brilliant to read that I couldn’t stop reading it. When I personally tok a break from this book I couldn’t stop thinking about this book. Which really shows how incredible Matthew McConaughey is at writing and storytelling.

The whole book felt like setting down with Matthew McConaughey, over a glass of whisky or bourbon or whatever you drink and listen to him telling you his whole life story. This book wasn’t a borden to reading about someones life story but rather as a motivational book.

This entire book was motivating, funny, well written, smooth as porcelain and something coming from the heart. This book shows that not only is Matthew McConaughey a great actor but also that he have some high writing and story telling skills which most author don’t have.

The quality of this book is surprising, because it is much better than you can expect. This whole book isn’t just 300 pages with words which you will forget in one month like a lot of biographies are. This book does also involve pictures, poetry and letters written by Matthew McConaughey. Matthew McConaughey dives deep into his life and himself to find the answer he were looking for throughout his life. And he brings these answers and questions in a form of a book.

If you are into biographies and you enjoy reading them just as I do, then this book is a MUST READ, no matter if you like, love or hate him. This book isn’t only about him. This book is also about people, different cultures, the Experiences in life and find your path in life.

This book is more or less may open your eyes on some stuff. because it involves death, strangling with your identity and how to find deal with “red lights”, “yellow lights “ and “green lights”.

I give this book 10 / 5

“Heath Ledger. Osobisty album Heatha Ledgera” by Suzanne Lander Review

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93This one isn’t a typical book as we all book nerds imagine. This one is a photo album with descriptions of what kind of person Heath Ledger was.

In this book you can find some quotes from people who know him either from work, personal life or just had walked to school with him. In this book you can find a lot photos of Heath from different movies, galas or interviews.

98 % of this whole book are only pictures of Heath which it means that this whole book can be read in just 2-3 hours.

I personally had the best time ever reading this book and it gave me a much better understanding of who Heath Ledger was. And I need to say that I’ve cried once or twice while read this book, because Heath was and still is one of very few people I look up to.

This book also doesn’t fail to show us that Heath wasn’t just a “pretty boy”, he was intelligent, kind, nice and so much more than this. And his looks was just a bonus.

But I feel like the book could be better done. Like the cover, could be nicer done. The papers feels poorly done. But after all these things aren’t something which matters to that much of course if the book isn’t destroyed.

I give this book 5 / 5

"James Dean. Żyć szybko" by Philippe Besson Review

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95James Dean is a meteor, myth, actor of three movies (Rebel Without a Cause, East of Eden, Giant), a young man with an angelic face, behind which also seems to be a part of a demon. It is known that he was nearsighted, that he lost his mother early, that he was close to a crime, that he loved both women and men. What made him a symbol of a generation? Philippe Besson decided to capture his personality, get closer to him, almost touch him. James Dean. Living fast is therefore an impressionistic portrait, which is to separate truth from falsehood, but myth has its own rules. The author plays various characters from the actor’s immediate environment and the biggest star of the time, to talk about him

Its a non-fiction written as a imagine create by the author. If this doesn’t throw you off, then keep reading and maybe read this book. It’s important to say that at the time of writing this book is only avaible in Polish and French.

What had annoyed me personally reading this book was that the author claims that this book is non-fiction but in the end it is the opposite. He creates stories about what people who know him thought about James Dean. There are also some chapters written from James Dean’s perspective which is another read flag why you shouldn’t read this book.

Some fans of James Dean may find this book rude or inappropriate. But that’s the world we live in.

This book would have been better if the author had  cut out the chapters written from James Dean’s perspective. What I mean by that is that chapters written from perspective of people who were around James Dean is fine for the most part.

The writing style is boring and out of place for a topic like this, because we don’t know what James Dean felt like in important moments in his life because we haven’t meet him and we didn’t talk to him. So we can’t write a non fiction book as a fiction book.

Overall this book is short, text itself is pretty big and you can literally read it in one sitting and pretty much you can read this book in one shitting.

I give this book 1 / 5