WWW Wednesday, 11-July-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community. 

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Currently reading: I’m still slowly making my way through The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. I have a feeling it’s about to take a dark twist so I’m excited and finding more and more time to devote to reading it. I’ll for sure finish it in Europe if not before!
I started up with Dreams of Joy by Lisa See again. Thankfully I haven’t forgotten anything and I’ve been able to dive back in with no problem. I have the audiobook for another two weeks so I hope I can finish it in time!
It’s embarrassing but I’m still reading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan. It’s hard to read a lot of a non-fiction book like this in one go. I’m doing pretty good, though, and making steady progress. I can’t wait to be done with it.
I’ve just started The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. It’s not as long as I thought it would be but I’ll still be a couple weeks working on this one. I’m just excited to be onto another audiobook, I felt like the Meltzer one went on for too long at the end.

Recently finished: I wrapped up The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer on Sunday morning. It’s the second in a series of three but I’m not sure if I’m going to continue with the series. If I do, I’ll be in no rush to get to it. I’m not even sure what the last book is called if I’m being honest. My review went up yesterday and I gave it Three out of Five Stars.
I also finished Critical Chain by Eliyahu Goldratt over the weekend. It was a good weekend of finishing books and hurriedly writing reviews of them. This one was just what I was expecting and I enjoyed Goldratt’s method of teaching business lessons through a novel. I gave this one Three out of Five Stars as well.

Reading Next: I’ll start Brainiac by Ken Jennings as soon as I can but I’m nervous about finishing it before I leave for Europe! I’ll have to return it to the library before I go. I’m hoping I can fly through it, even though it’s another non-fiction. I’m guessing it will be a lighter topic.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

Book Review: Critical Chain by Eliyahu Goldratt (3/5)

Y’all, I finished a book! I know, I’m shocked, too. I may have cooked some chicken a few minutes longer than needed to finish it up, but we don’t need to talk about that. I’m so glad to have something finished to share here and be able to move on to some other books.

Cover Image via Goodreads

Critical Chain by Eliyahu Goldratt

Summary from Goodreads:

“Critical Chain,” a gripping fast-paced business novel, does for Project Management what Eli Goldratt’s other novels have done for Production and Marketing. Dr. Goldratt’s books have transformed the thinking and actions of management throughout the world.

If you’re unfamiliar with Goldratt, you probably didn’t study business in higher education. His book, The Goal, is considered a must-read for anyone studying production or supply chain. I read it in my undergraduate and enjoyed it, despite it being for an operations course. I liked how Goldratt combined characters and a plot to tell his theory rather than writing a paper or textbook. I was glad to read another of his books, this time about project management.

Given that Goldratt’s characters are created to tell you about business theory, they’re fairly well developed. Rick Silver and his wife have a very believable marriage and the three employees at Genemodem each have their own personalities and strengths. I honestly didn’t expect much from the character development but was happily surprised.

Rick was a very likable character. I felt bad for him when it came to his relationship with his wife and I admired him for his teaching styles and abilities. I would have loved to take a class with him. I appreciated how he developed his theories and the work he put into his research. It was believable that he had to struggle to create the program he did. I liked that things weren’t just handed to him or easy for him.

I related to the three Genemodem characters. They saw a problem developing at work and they had no idea how to solve it. I think most employees feel that way pretty often! They were lucky enough to be given all the resources they needed and the means to solve their problem. No, it wasn’t easy, but they were able to do it. It helped that people were receptive to what they were saying because, you know, it’s a book about business.

Eliyahu Goldratt
Image via Historia y biografia

I liked the end when Rick was able to show his theories worked in practice and implemented them. I enjoy the way Goldratt introduced the theory and then had to fight through all the times that there are ‘exceptions’ and show how they’re not really exceptions at all. The one with the contracts was my favorite because there was no way being late could be a good thing for this theory. I thought the way it was explained was good.

There wasn’t a part of this book I particularly disliked. The pacing was good and I knew I was getting a lesson in project management and the theory of constraints even though it read like a novel. It was what I expected out of it and nothing more or less.

The audiobook was narrated by Alexander Cendese. I got some of the students mixed up from time to time because his voices for them were very similar but I think there were one too many students anyway. I also didn’t like his voice for the women, it seemed condescending which I was OK with for Janice but it bothered me for Ruth. Ruth was a smart and able woman and her voice made her seem like an oblivious airhead.

I think Goldratt got his theory across well. It would be good to have a more concise summary of the theory if one was trying to implement it so that you weren’t searching through this whole book for what to do when a shared resource is a bottleneck. The idea of the critical chain came up very late in the book. For it being the title, I was expecting it to be prevalent much earlier. It’s a really great idea and I hope it’s widely used now.

Writer’s Takeaway: I’m far from an academic but I can see how this is an odd format for someone writing about a theory they have. I think Goldratt has been so successful because it’s much more engaging. Jesus told stories in parables and Goldratt spews business theory hidden in novels. People learn and remember better when something is relatable and they can see the application. I think he’s onto something good with this style.

I enjoyed this book and learned a lot but I miss fiction a bit so my rating has been lowered. Three out of Five Stars.

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 4-July-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community. 

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Currently reading: I’m a quarter of the way through The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. I’m enjoying it still, just a matter of having lunchtimes to read it. Maybe I’ll try leaving the office for lunch a bit more this week since it’s a slow one.
I’ve got Dreams of Joy by Lisa See back but I’m hoping to finish Critical Chain first. I just want to finish a darn book! We’ll see how it times up.
I’m still working on The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan which I’m embarrassed to admit. I’m trying to make more time to devote to reading it but the subject is so dense that it’s hard to read a lot at once.
I am really close to finishing The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer which is encouraging. I was hoping to have this one finished this week, but it looks like I’m waiting one more week. Sigh.
I’m getting close to finishing Critical Chain by Eliyahu Goldratt as well. I think this one will be finished off within the week, hopefully, sooner so I can get back to my other audiobooks.

Recently finished: No comment.

Reading Next: I’ve been so tempted to start Brainiac by Ken Jennings every time I read four pages of Friedan and put it back down. I want a book to binge and enjoy and I’m hoping this can be it!
The audiobook is all set and ready for The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Just got to finish Meltzer and I’ll start it immediately.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 27-June-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community. 

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Currently reading: I think I made it through one chapter of The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. I’ve been studying during lunch when I can and finally got back to it some today. I’m really enjoying this book and its unusual format so I look forward to reading more when I can.
Still waiting on the hold of Dreams of Joy by Lisa See to come back. Sigh.
I didn’t finish The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan before the book club meeting and ended up skipping it in order to study a bit more. I felt bad, but I wasn’t sure how much I’d get out of the discussion if I was only a bit over half-way through it.
With all my driving to school, I’ve made great steps forward with The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer. These books are fun and exciting but I do sometimes get frustrated feeling I’m kept in the dark. Toward the end, I’m sure everything will start to come together so I’m just looking forward to that.
Critical Chain by Eliyahu Goldratt has been a good read for me so far. I don’t read many business books because I’m usually trying to escape from B-School by reading, but Goldratt makes it all seem more fun by giving his stories a plot.

Recently finished: Let’s not talk about it. Maybe next week?

Reading Next: I’m not going to start Brainiac by Ken Jennings until I finish Friedan. I have to keep telling myself that since the book is so tempting right on my bedside table…
I forgot to cancel my hold on another car audiobook so I have The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan ready to go when I finish Meltzer. I think another week or so and I’ll be able to start this one.

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 20-June-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community. 

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Currently reading: Almost no progress on The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver this week. School ends next week and it’s in high gear now so I did a lot of textbook reading during my lunches. I hope to return to it soon.
I am very disappointed to say that I lost my hold on Dreams of Joy by Lisa See! I put a hold on it to get it back but it might be a bit before I’m able to jump back into this one.
I am starting to think I won’t finish The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan before my book club meeting. I’m out of free time until my class ends so I’m reading about ten pages a night, not enough to help me finish. Seeing as the meeting is the day before my final exam, I might skip it entirely.
I’ve made great progress in The Fifth Assassin by Brad Meltzer. I think that’s solid proof of how seldom I’m home! I’m about halfway through the book now and I should easily finish before I leave for Europe. I don’t want a lingering audiobook while I’m gone.
I started another eaudiobook while I wait for Joy to come back. I started Critical Chain by Eliyahu Goldratt. I’m enjoying it so far and it’s very relevant to the business class I’m taking. It’s not too long so I should wrap it up in a week or two.

Recently finished: Nothing! I’m moving slowly now but I’m optimistic that it will pick up soon. It has to, right?

Reading Next: I’m very tempted to pick up Brainiac by Ken Jennings since Mystique is dragging so much for me. This one looks fun and full of trivia facts. That seems so far off now…

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!

WWW Wednesday, 23-May-2018

Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived here on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Note: For users of Blogspot blogs, I’m unable to comment on your posts as a WordPress blogger unless you’ve enabled Name/URL comments. This is a known WordPress/Blogspot issue. Please consider enabling this to participate more fully in the community. 

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Currently reading: I haven’t made much progress with The Post-Birthday World by Lionel Shriver. I’ve been getting my school reading done during lunch at work so I’m not falling behind in that, but I’m not getting ahead in reading. I expect this will be on this list for a while.
I sped through The Sellout by Paul Beatty but didn’t quite finish it in time for my book club meeting. I’m still going to finish it but it’s a little bittersweet knowing more about the ending than I otherwise would. Oh well.
I’ve had some good movement with audiobooks! I wasn’t able to get The Joy Luck Club as fast as I wanted to so I started A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson instead. This is making me excited for summer and thinking about getting the gear so I can be a backpacker soon! I’ve wanted to do some longer hikes for a while but I don’t have the gear… yet.
I also started another eaudiobook. I picked up Critical Chain by Eliyahu Goldratt. I read his critically acclaimed The Goal in college and I’m excited to see what else this business master has to share.

Recently finished: I wrapped up The World’s Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagarne last Wednesday right before bed. I really adored this book and I’m surprised how few reviews of it I found after posting. It seems it wasn’t widely distributed even though it was well received. My review will be up tomorrow.
I plowed through Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson on my errands and drive to school. This was a great, albeit short book and it’s making me curious about what else Woodson has written. Does anyone have recommendations for more by her?

I posted my review of Mister Monkey by Francine Prose on Thursday last week and my book club reflection of it went up yesterday. The book was good but it didn’t blow me away. I gave it Three out of Five Stars.

Reading Next: I’m set on audiobooks for a while so it looks like I’ll get to pick a physical book next. I keep knocking down my towering TBR from the top and next up is Brainiac by Ken Jennings. My mom raised me on Jeopardy! so I watched Jennings in his legendary run on the show. I’m interested to see what he has to say about the world of competitive trivia and learn a little more about a person who can pack so many facts into his head!

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Leave a comment with your link and a comment (if you’re so inclined). Take a look at the other participant links in the comments and look at what others are reading.

Have any opinions on these choices?

Until next time, write on.

You can follow me on Goodreads, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. I’m available via email at SamAStevensWriter@gmail.com. And as always, feel free to leave a comment!