Sameer Ajmani
Engineering Director @Google for the Go language team #golang. @DoSomething board member. Opinions my own. Spread joy → Empower others → We succeed together 🔗
10+ Book Recommendations by Sameer Ajmani
Modern Air Combat
Bill Gunston
Covers the technology of air warfare, aircraft and their weapons, and air combat tactics@philvenables VTOL FTW. Reminds me of this book I loved as a kid: Modern Air Combat: The Aircraft, Tactics and Weapons Employed in Aerial Warfare Today https://t.co/PkHd83iG3V
Thinking in Systems
Donella H. Meadows
In the years following her role as the lead author of the international bestseller, Limits to Growth—the first book to show the consequences of unchecked growth on a finite planet— Donella Meadows remained a pioneer of environmental and social analysis until her untimely death in 2001. Meadows' newly released manuscript, Thinking in Systems, is a concise and crucial book offering insight for problem solving on scales ranging from the personal to the global. Edited by the Sustainability Institute's Diana Wright, this essential primer brings systems thinking out of the realm of computers and equations and into the tangible world, showing readers how to develop the systems-thinking skills that thought leaders across the globe consider critical for 21st-century life. Some of the biggest problems facing the world—war, hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation—are essentially system failures. They cannot be solved by fixing one piece in isolation from the others, because even seemingly minor details have enormous power to undermine the best efforts of too-narrow thinking. While readers will learn the conceptual tools and methods of systems thinking, the heart of the book is grander than methodology. Donella Meadows was known as much for nurturing positive outcomes as she was for delving into the science behind global dilemmas. She reminds readers to pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable, to stay humble, and to stay a learner. In a world growing ever more complicated, crowded, and interdependent, Thinking in Systems helps readers avoid confusion and helplessness, the first step toward finding proactive and effective solutions.@biglovisa @thejonanshow I came here to recommend this book, too! It's really great for understanding systems as they manifest across domains (tech, economies, ecologies, organizations, cities, etc). The chapter on System Traps is my favorite.
Fresh India
Meera Sodha
Following her bestselling Made in India, Meera Sodha reveals a whole new side of Indian food that is fresh, delicious, and quick to make at home. These vegetable-based recipes are feel-good food and full of flavor. Indian cuisine is one of the most vibrant vegetable cuisines in the entire world, and in Fresh India Meera leads home cooks on a culinary journey through its many flavorful dishes that will delight vegetarians and those simply looking to add to their recipe repertoire alike. Here are surprising recipes for every day made using easy-to-find ingredients: Mushroom and Walnut Samosas, Oven-Baked Onion Bhajis, and Beet and Paneer Kebabs. There are familiar and classic Indian recipes like dals, curries, and pickles, alongside less-familiar ones using fresh, seasonal ingredients. Enjoy showstoppers like Meera’s Sticky Mango Paneer Skewers, Roasted Cauliflower Korma, Daily Dosas with Coconut Potatoes, and luscious desserts like Salted Peanut and Jaggery Kulfi and Pistachio Cake Whether you are vegetarian, want to eat more vegetables, or just want to make great, modern Indian food, this is the book for you. Praise for Made In India: "The recipes are unpretentious and were immediately promoted by my family of critics into must-makes for the monthly dinner rotation, new staples for a season of chill and damp." —Sam Sifton, The New York Times "This book is full of real charm, personality, love, and garlic. Bring on the 100 clove curry! Not to mention fire-smoked eggplant, chicken livers in cumin butter masala, and beet and feta samosas. There's so much to be inspired by." —Yotam Ottolenghi "I want to cook everything in this book." —Nigella Lawson, Nigella.com@freeformz I like @meerasodha's chana saag recipe in her book Fresh India. I don't see that one online, but she has chana masala (titled worker's curry) and a kale version here: https://t.co/mudlyyPvn7
The Devil You Know
Charles M Blow
From journalist and New York Times bestselling author Charles Blow comes a powerful manifesto and call to action for Black Americans to amass political power and fight white supremacy. Race, as we have come to understand it, is a fiction; but, racism, as we have come to live it, is a fact. The point here is not to impose a new racial hierarchy, but to remove an existing one. After centuries of waiting for white majorities to overturn white supremacy, it seems to me that it has fallen to Black people to do it themselves. Acclaimed columnist and author Charles Blow never wanted to write a "race book." But as violence against Black people-both physical and psychological-seemed only to increase in recent years, culminating in the historical pandemic and protests of the summer of 2020, he felt compelled to write a new story for Black Americans. He envisioned a succinct, counterintuitive, and impassioned corrective to the myths that have for too long governed our thinking about race and geography in America. Drawing on both political observations and personal experience as a Black son of the South, Charles set out to offer a call to action by which Black people can finally achieve equality, on their own terms. So what will it take to make lasting change when small steps have so frequently failed It's going to take an unprecedented shift in power. The Devil You Know is a groundbreaking manifesto, proposing nothing short of the most audacious power play by Black people in the history of this country. This book is a grand exhortation to generations of a people, offering a road map to true and lasting freedom.This book is brutal. #TheDevilYouKnow by @CharlesMBlow https://t.co/0mHhF2maGb https://t.co/gI8j1Q6ISa
The Great Risk Shift
Jacob S. Hacker
We are witnessing a massive transfer of economic risk from broad structures of insurance onto the fragile balance sheets of American families. This text explains the causes and consequences of 'The Great Risk Shift' and what can be done to reverse it.@EnergySRE I'm reminded of The Great Risk Shift, which is about the movement of volatility and risk from government and business down to individuals and families: https://t.co/M6kEMhl5eW
How to Measure Anything in Cybersecurity Risk
Douglas W. Hubbard
@FiloSottile @Freakonomics Even more relevant: https://t.co/qsA5TgSLn6
Inglorious Empire
Shashi Tharoor
In the eighteenth century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, it had decreased six-fold. In Inglorious Empire, Shashi Tharoor tells the real story of the British in India, from the arrival of the East India Company in 1757 to the end of the Raj, and reveals how Britain's rise was built upon its depredations in India. India was Britain's biggest cash cow, and Indians literally paid for their own oppression. Britain's Industrial Revolution was founded on India's deindustrialisation, and the destruction of its textile industry. Under the British, millions died from starvation--including 4 million in 1943 alone, after national hero Churchill diverted Bengal's food stocks to the war effort. Beyond conquest and deception, the Empire blew rebels from cannons, massacred unarmed protesters and entrenched institutionalised racism. British imperialism justified itself as enlightened despotism for the benefit of the governed. Tharoor takes on and demolishes the arguments for the Empire, demonstrating how every supposed imperial 'gift', from the railways to the rule of law, was designed in Britain's interests alone. This incisive reassessment of colonialism exposes to devastating effect the inglorious reality of Britain's stained Indian legacy.If you want learn more about the history leading up to Partition, especially the British Empire's role in deepening the division between Hindus and Muslims in India, check out @ShashiTharoor's book "Inglorious Empire". It pulls no punches. https://t.co/jpuHXD7agd
The Adventures of Johnny Bunko
Daniel H. Pink
An innovative career handbook in manga form demonstrates the six core principles of finding, keeping, and achieving success in satisfying work through the fable of Johnny Bunko, a young college graduate who lands his first job in the parachute company Boggs Corp. Original.@skamille Also: The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need https://t.co/FdoBfNFZIu
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Manga Edition
Patrick M. Lencioni
Presents a workplace fable about dysfunctional teamwork, citing the fictional example of CEO Kathryn Petersen, who identifies five "corruptions" that get in the way of her company's teamwork and how she implements action steps to overcome them, in a new manga version of the best-selling business handbook. Original.@skamille The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Manga Edition: An Illustrated Leadership Fable https://t.co/IWd3gpnDbB
The Broken Earth Trilogy
N. K. Jemisin
This special boxed set includes the New York Times bestselling author N. K. Jemisin's complete, two-time Hugo award-winning Broken Earth Trilogy. This is the way the world ends. For the last time. A season of endings has begun. It starts with the great red rift across the heart of the world's sole continent, spewing ash that blots out the sun. It starts with death, with a murdered son and a missing daughter. It starts with betrayal, and long dormant wounds rising up to fester. This is the Stillness, a land long familiar with catastrophe, where the power of the earth is wielded as a weapon. And where there is no mercy. The Broken Earth trilogyThe Fifth SeasonThe Obelisk GateThe Stone Sky@skamille NK Jemesin's Broken Earth trilogy; Octavia Butler's Earthseed duology; Rivers Solomon' Unkindness of Ghosts
Parable of the Sower & Parable of the Talents Boxed Set
Octavia Butler
A beautiful boxed set brings together the great sci-fi writer's two award-winning Parable books The perfect gift for fans of Octavia Butler, this boxed set pairs the bestselling Nebula-prize nominee, Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, which together tell the near-future odyssey of Lauren Olamina, a "hyperempathic" black woman who is twice as feeling in a world that has become doubly dehumanized. In Sower, the place is California, where small walled communities protect from hordes of desperate scavengers and roaming bands of people addicts. Lauren sets off on foot along the dangerous coastal highways, moving north into the unknown. The book has an introduction by feminist, journalist, activist, and author Gloria Steinem. Parable of the Talents celebrates the classic Butlerian themes of alienation and transcendence, violence and spirituality, slavery and freedom, separation and community, to astonishing effect, in the shockingly familiar, broken world of 2032. It is told in the voice of Lauren Olamina's daughter--from whom she has been separated for most of the girl's life--with sections in the form of Lauren's journal. Against a background of a war-torn continent, and with a far-right religious crusader in the office of the U.S. presidency, this is a book about a society whose very fabric has been torn asunder, and where the basic physical and emotional needs of people seem almost impossible to meet. Talents is introduced by singer, musician, composer, producer, and curator Toshi Reagon, who created an opera based on the Parable books.@skamille NK Jemesin's Broken Earth trilogy; Octavia Butler's Earthseed duology; Rivers Solomon' Unkindness of Ghosts
An Unkindness of Ghosts
Rivers Solomon
A breathtaking science fiction debut from a worthy successor to Octavia Butler.@skamille NK Jemesin's Broken Earth trilogy; Octavia Butler's Earthseed duology; Rivers Solomon' Unkindness of Ghosts
Storm Front
Jim Butcher
Meet Harry Dresden, Chicago's first (and only) Wizard P.I. Turns out the 'everyday' world is full of strange and magical things - and most of them don't play well with humans. That's where Harry comes in. Harry is the best at what he does - and not just because he's the only one who does it. So when the Chicago P.D. has a case that transcends mortal capabilities, they look to him for answers. There's just one problem. Business, to put it mildly, stinks. So when the police bring him in to consult on a grisly double murder committed with black magic, Harry's seeing dollar signs. But where there's black magic, there's a black mage behind it. And now that mage knows Harry's name. And that's when things start to get . . . interesting. Magic - it can get a guy killed.@venikunche The Dresden Files series is my go-to for light fiction: https://t.co/iFt7opVfop
Parable of the Sower
Octavia E. Butler
This first Earthseed novel by ground-breaking writer Octavia E. Butler feel like a prophetic nod to our current world. If you were glued to The Handmaid's Tale, you'll love this beautiful new edition of a seminal American classic. 'If there is one thing scarier than a dystopian novel about the future, it's one written in the past that has already begun to come true. This is what makes Parable of the Sower even more impressive than it was when first published' Gloria Steinem We are coming apart. We're a rope, breaking, a single strand at a time. America is a place of chaos, where violence rules and only the rich and powerful are safe. Lauren Olamina, a young woman with the extraordinary power to feel the pain of others as her own, records everything she sees of this broken world in her journal. Then, one terrible night, everything alters beyond recognition, and Lauren must make her voice heard for the sake of those she loves. Soon, her vision becomes reality and her dreams of a better way to live gain the power to change humanity forever. All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. What readers are saying about Octavia Butler: 'Kindred was written in 1979 but could have been written last year. Incredible. I couldn't put it down' 'Emotionally and viscerally alive and challenging. I don't know how I missed it before now' 'A masterpiece by a matchless artist. Butler is simply sublime' 'Reading these books will change your life' 'A finely crafted work, rife with emotional power, horrifying in its believability, with a message that cannot be ignored'@cyborgyndroid I'm betting you've read them already, but Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents are incredible and relevant. Lovecraft Country is also very good, more creepy.
@skamille Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World by @AnandWrites https://t.co/PWhVLIfwmZ
Refactoring
Martin Fowler
"Whenever you read [Refactoring], it's time to read it again. And if you haven't read it yet, please do before writing another line of code." -David Heinemeier Hansson, Creator of Ruby on Rails, Founder & CTO at Basecamp Fully Revised and Updated--Includes New Refactorings and Code Examples "Any fool can write code that a computer can understand. Good programmers write code that humans can understand." -M. Fowler (1999) For more than twenty years, experienced programmers worldwide have relied on Martin Fowler's Refactoring to improve the design of existing code and to enhance software maintainability, as well as to make existing code easier to understand. This eagerly awaited new edition has been fully updated to reflect crucial changes in the programming landscape. Refactoring, Second Edition, features an updated catalog of refactorings and includes JavaScript code examples, as well as new functional examples that demonstrate refactoring without classes. Like the original, this edition explains what refactoring is; why you should refactor; how to recognize code that needs refactoring; and how to actually do it successfully, no matter what language you use. Understand the process and general principles of refactoring Quickly apply useful refactorings to make a program easier to comprehend and change Recognize "bad smells" in code that signal opportunities to refactor Explore the refactorings, each with explanations, motivation, mechanics, and simple examples Build solid tests for your refactorings Recognize tradeoffs and obstacles to refactoring Includes free access to the canonical web edition, with even more refactoring resources. (See inside the book for details about how to access the web edition.)@dan_abramov In his book Refactoring, Martin Fowler suggested that extracting a block of code into a well-named function can be better than putting a comment on that block, even if that function is only used once. IMO, sometimes this works really well; other times it obscures the code flow.
- "Shashi Tharoor reveals with acuity, impeccable research, and trademark wit, just how disastrous British rule was for India. Besides examining the many ways in which the colonizers exploited India, ranging from the drain of national resources to Britain, the destruction of the Indian textile, steel-making and shipping industries, and the negative transformation of agriculture, he demolishes the arguments of Western and Indian apologists for Empire on the supposed benefits of British rule, including democracy and political freedom, the rule of law, and the railways. The few unarguable benefits--the English language, tea, and cricket--were never actually intended for the benefit of the colonized but introduced to serve the interests of the colonizers. Brilliantly narrated and passionately argued, An Era of Darkness will serve to correct many misconceptions about one of the most contested periods of Indian history."--Publisher description.
@ScribblingOn Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India by @ShashiTharoor A detailed accounting of the economic, social, and political impact of the British Raj on India, along with busting the various myths around why people think 200 years of extractive colonialism was a good thing.