Rethink Everything

Title: Rework
Author: Jason Fried
Category: Small Business
Summary:
Rework is a collection of business thoughts from Jason Fried of 37 signals, loosely organized by some general themes. Each individual topic takes up about one page, with a full length picture related to that topic on the following page. Rework covers all aspects of small business development, from the inception of your idea for the business, to getting it off the ground, to growing and managing your thriving company. 


The overarching theme is that the old business models are dead. Small is the new king. Passion and efficiency are the keys to success, along with the most important goal: Make a Great Product.


Review:
Rework is a phenomenal, paradigm shifting, mind blowing book. It is a fast read that is written in simple, every day language. No big business terms. No complex formulas or costly strategies. Just a refreshing call for people to act on their passion, stay small, work smarter not harder, and above all to be yourself.  


No matter your profession, Rework is a must read. Period. 

Going Nowhere Fast

Title: The Walk - Clear Direction and Spiritual Power for Your Life 
Author: Shaun Alexander
Category: Christian Living
Summary:
Ex-NFL Great Shaun Alexander gives his personal theological stance in his book The Walk. He uses the extended metaphor that life as a Christian is... well... a walk alongside God. He describes the spiritual life of the Christian in five phases, before closing with the importance of not just talking the talk but... well... walking the walk.
Review:
While I admire Shaun Alexander's efforts on the field, in the pew, and in putting his thoughts on paper, I have no admiration for this book. This book suffers from many issues. The first issue is basic paragraph and topic structure. It is difficult to physically read as it comes across as an incomplete series of thoughts. A paragraph will start with "Topic A." In three sentences there is a switch to "Topic T," with "Topic G" making its grand appearance at the start of the next paragraph. Alexander does not take the time to flesh out his ideas in a logical pattern, which makes the book difficult to digest.

The second issue is that it tries to say everything about Christianity. Everything. In 229 pages. Alexander's discussion of the Christian walk addresses in a way everything a Christian faces in their walk, thus creating, in effect, a miniature systematic theology. It is full of fragmented advice for everyone from non-believers to the ardent, experienced Christian on just about any issues that can be named. While this was not Alexander's intent, it was the unfortunate result. When you try to do everything, you end up doing nothing.

The third issue: beginning of chapter quotes. It is great to have quotes under a chapter/section title. Really, it is. However, I find this personally distasteful to quote yourself. Alexander manages this feat three times. With almost 2000 years of Christian literature, with another 1500 years of Jewish liturgy, I find it hard to believe that there were no spiritual giants for Alexander to use in place of his own words.

In closing, I found The Walk to be a disappointment. It read like it was a collection of "all the cool things I ever wished to tell people about Christianity," and was about as coherent as a babbling stream of thought. While not addressed in this review, this book takes strong stances on issues that align with certain denominations, but may not be accepted by the general Christian population.

Special Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for the free copy of this book.