List Of Books

This is an incomplete list of the books that I have read. The verdict is binary: Either “Good!” or “Bad!”.

Contents hide
2023
Good: “Red Roulette”
Bad: “User Story Mapping”
Good: “Mother Tongue, The”
Good: “Story of the Human Body, The”
Good: “Trillion Dollar Coach”
Good: “How Google Works”
Good: “Measure What Matters”
Bad: “Made to Stick”
Good: “The Body”
Good: “The Invisible Gorilla”
Bad: “Four Thousand Weeks”
Good: “Left of Bang”
Bad: “Data Driven”
2022
Good: “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”
Bad: “Six Easy Pieces”
Good: “Das geheime Leben der Bäume”
Bad: “The Rational Optimist”
Good: “Über die Psychologie des Geldes”
Bad: “Gewaltfreie Kommunikation und Macht”
Bad: “Mastery”
Good: “Rethinking Agile”
Good: “Erfolgreich im Vorstellungsgespräch und Jobinterview”
Good: “Assessment-Center erfolgreich bestehen”
Good: “Topfit durchs Assessment-Center”
Good: “Führen – Leisten – Leben”
Bad: “Raus aus der Mental Load-Falle”
Good: “Das Geheimnis kluger Entscheidungen”
Bad: “Factfulness”
Bad: “The Joy of Less”
Good: “Algorithms to Live By”
Good: “Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership”
Good: “Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners”
Good: “Kill It With Fire”
Good: “Talk Like TED”
Good: “Make It Clear”
Good: “Predictably Irrational”
2021
Good: “Checklist Manifesto”
Good: “The Lean Startup”
Good: “Miteinander reden 1” [German]
Good: “LaTeX Beginner’s Guide”
Bad: “The Signal and the Noise”
Bad: “Mit Ignoranten sprechen” [German]
Good: “Making Work Visible”
Good: “Up the Organization”
Good: “Good Boss, Bad Boss”
Bad: “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing”
Good: “Schnelles Denken, langsames Denken” [English Title “Thinking, Fast and Slow”]
Good: “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”
Bad: “The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life”
Good: “What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20”
2020
Good: “Busy is the New Stupid”
Good: “The Elements of International English Style“
Good: “Silicon Valley: Was aus dem mächtigsten Tal der Welt auf uns zukommt” [German]
2019
Good: “The Elements of International English Style”
Good: “NASA Systems Engineering Handbook”
Good: “It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work”
Good: “Wolkenläufer: Geschichten vom Leben in China”
2017
Good: “How to Win Friends & Influence People”
Good: “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics”
2015
Good: “Mach sie fertig!: Wie Sie endlich Ihre Arbeit schaffen – anstatt Ihren Bürokram zu managen” [German]
2014 And Earlier
Good: “The Elements of Style” [Read in 2009]
Good: “Peter Principle”

2023

Good: “Red Roulette”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • The book was recommended to me by a friend.
    • I do not know how much of the book is actually true but it certainly reads like a thriller.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is not suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Ok-ish to understand as a non-native speaker – the author uses a sophisticated vocabulary.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Red Roulette: An Insider’s Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption and Vengeance in Today’s China”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Desmond Shum

Bad: “User Story Mapping”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • I can easily imagine being friendly with the author by the way the book is written.
    • My verdict is “Bad!” because I am maybe the wrong target audience for the book and also because I chose the audiobook format which does not work for me for this book.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is not suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Jeff Patton

Good: “Mother Tongue, The”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • A super-interesting book about the English language and also language in general.
    • I loved every minute of the audiobook.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook since many spoken examples are given.
    • Language: English
      • Not easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
      • The book is intended for native speakers as I understand it.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Mother Tongue”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Bill Bryson

Good: “Story of the Human Body, The”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • A super-interesting book about the human body and the evolution of it.
    • The book made me change some of my (bad) habits!
    • To me, the book has a high information density and I needed breaks after about 20-45 min of listening.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Not easy to understand as a non-native speaker. The book uses a rather sophisticated vocabulary.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health, and Disease”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Daniel Lieberman

Good: “Trillion Dollar Coach”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • I read the book because it is mentioned in “How Google Works”, see below.
    • Interesting book for people (interested) in management.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Eric Schmidt
      • Mr. Jonathan Rosenberg
      • Mr. Alan Eagle

Good: “How Google Works”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “How Google Works”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Eric Schmidt
      • Mr. Jonathan Rosenberg

Good: “Measure What Matters”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • The book helped me to better understand the idea behind OKRs.
    • The book has a bit of an “if you have a hammer ...” problem :).
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. John Doerr

Bad: “Made to Stick”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • Way too much unnecessary explanation around the core idea.
    • There is so much additional information that the core idea gets too diluted and is hard to remember.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Chip Heath
      • Mr. Dan Heath

Good: “The Body”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • This is my first book of the apparently famous author Mr. Bill Bryson.
    • I am amazed by the amount of information and the level of detail!
    • I am disappointed about the way that references (Citations) are done: it is difficult to look references up.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Body: A Guide for Occupants”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Bill Bryson

Good: “The Invisible Gorilla”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • Very interesting information about the human brain and how we have the wrong intuition about ourselves, e.g. the Dunning–Kruger effect.
    • The content of the book is actionable for everyday situations.
    • There are some parts of the book, in which the authors are refreshingly aggressive toward other public figures (people).
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
      • I really like the voice of the speaker.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Invisible Gorilla: And Other Ways Our Intuition Deceives Us”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Christopher Chabris
      • Mr. Daniel Simons

Bad: “Four Thousand Weeks”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • Way too long for the topic.
    • I did not find actionable information in the audiobook and stopped after about two hours.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Four Thousand Weeks: Embrace your limits. Change your life. Make your four thousand weeks count.”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Oliver Burkeman

Good: “Left of Bang”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • Interstring information on how to prevent bad things to happen.
    • To a German listener, the book seems a bit too (US) patriotic.
    • Most of the recommendations are applicable to the daily lives of civilians like me.
    • I do not understand why the book also explains some details that are irrelevant to civilians and that can be used by terrorists against the US military.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
      • I really like the voice of the speaker. To me, this is how I imagine a military officer to sound like.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Patrick Van Horne
      • Mr. Jason A. Riley

Bad: “Data Driven”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • The book gives some interesting insights into the reality of commercial truck drivers and how legislative changes in digital surveillance affect their lives.
    • To me, the book was a weird mix of the authors’ personal opinions and statistical results from questioning commercial truck drivers.
    • I also feel that the book is way too long for the topic.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
      • The voice of the speaker sounds like a robot voice to me. I do not like the voice.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Karen Levy

2022

Good: “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • Insights into the personal life and character of Nobel Prize winner Richard (Dick) P. Feynman.
    • Especially the childhood stories are sometimes a bit too detailed (= boring).
    • I did not expect to hear so many details about Feynman’s sex life.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Richard P. Feynman

Bad: “Six Easy Pieces”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • The audiobook covers six supposedly easy-to-understand lectures of the famous Feynman lectures.
    • The content is sadly not very suitable for an audiobook because there are often references (e.g. a drawing on a blackboard) to things that are shown in the video of the lecture.
    • In addition, the audiobook was rather expensive given that there is almost no additional information: it is just the original audio.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is not great as an audiobook.
      • Although the first chapter has very poor audio quality.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Richard P. Feynman

Good: “Das geheime Leben der Bäume”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • Surprisingly interesting book about the biology of the forest and trees.
    • After about 50 % of the book, I stopped because I had the impression that I will not get more out of the book.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Das geheime Leben der Bäume: Was sie fühlen, wie sie kommunizieren – die Entdeckung einer verborgenen Welt”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Peter Wohlleben

Bad: “The Rational Optimist”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • The book is too long for its content.
    • I was often confused if a statement is the author’s opinion or an established fact.
    • In my opinion, watching the author’s TED Talk about the same topic is almost enough to get the core message.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Matt Ridley

Good: “Über die Psychologie des Geldes”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • The book gives good advice on how to develop a good mindset about financial decisions and life in general.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Über die Psychologie des Geldes: Zeitlose Lektionen über Reichtum, Gier und Glück”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Morgan Housel

Bad: “Gewaltfreie Kommunikation und Macht”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • I write this review a bit too late (listed to the audiobook some weeks ago): I just remember that I did not like it.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Gewaltfreie Kommunikation und Macht: In Institutionen, Gesellschaft und Familie”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Marshall B. Rosenberg

Bad: “Mastery”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • Repetitive book with a rather obvious core message.
    • In addition, the author shares a lot of his opinion about society as a whole which I did find annoying.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. George Leonard

Good: “Rethinking Agile”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • Interesting book about Agile principles on a corporate level.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker. Although, the author uses a lot of Agile-specific vocabulary that requires prior knowledge.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Rethinking Agile: Why Agile Teams Have Nothing to Do With Business Agility”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Klaus Leopold

Good: “Erfolgreich im Vorstellungsgespräch und Jobinterview”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Erfolgreich im Vorstellungsgespräch und Jobinterview: Das Standardwerk für Führungs- und Nachwuchskräfte”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Johannes Stärk

Good: “Assessment-Center erfolgreich bestehen”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Assessment-Center erfolgreich bestehen: Das Standardwerk für anspruchsvolle Führungs- und Fach-Assessments”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Johannes Stärk

Good: “Topfit durchs Assessment-Center”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Topfit durchs Assessment-Center: Das neue Standardwerk für Fach- und Führungsassessments”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Matthias Clesle
      • Mr. Martin Emrich

Good: “Führen – Leisten – Leben”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • A book about management that has good content that is rather easy to understand and apply to daily life.
    • I assume that the typical use of the book is the preparation of a management assessment center attendance.
    • To me, the author’s attitude (he is basically the greatest and so is the domain of management) was very annoying.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Führen Leisten Leben: Wirksames Management für eine neue Zeit”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Fredmund Malik

Bad: “Raus aus der Mental Load-Falle”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • To me, the book was boring and full of rather obvious statements.
    • Nevertheless, depending on your prior knowledge, you might find the book helpful.
    • To me, the book seems pretty women-centric and deals with stereotypical topics. Although the author addresses this issue, it still did bother me.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Raus aus der Mental Load-Falle: Wie gerechte Arbeitsteilung in der Familie gelingt”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Patricia Cammarata

Good: “Das Geheimnis kluger Entscheidungen”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • The book is basically a very short summary of the classic book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by author Daniel Kahneman.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Das Geheimnis kluger Entscheidungen: Von Bauchgefühl und Körpersignalen”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Maja Storch

Bad: “Factfulness”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • In theory, the book is great! The book even has its own Wikipedia page.
    • But the book is very repetitive and I do not want to spend 8 hours learning about the simple (but valuable) core message.
    • The core message is good and after listening to the book for about two hours you can stop in my opinion.
    • My verdict is biased because I have a background in statistics and therefore the statistical part of the core message was not new to me.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is good as an audiobook but often diagrams are mentioned that are part of the accompanying PDF. But I did not need to look at the PDFs in order to understand the message.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Hans Rosling
      • Ms. Anna Rosling Rönnlund
      • Mr. Ola Rosling
  • ISBN
    • ‎ 978-1250107817

Bad: “The Joy of Less”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remarks
    • The book feels like a book from a female author for a female audience.
    • I stopped listening to the audiobook after about one-third of the book because it got very predictable.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content is great as an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Easy to understand as a non-native speaker.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Francine Jay
  • ISBN
    • ‎ 978-1452155180

Good: “Algorithms to Live By”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • The first chapter was a bit difficult to follow as an audiobook but after that the book is great!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • Apart from the beginning, the content is great as an audiobook.
      • A minor criticism is that each chapter is quite long (e. g. 40 min) and each chapter is not further sub-divided. This means that there are only a few natural stopping points.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Brian Christian
      • Mr. Tom Griffiths
  • ISBN
    • 978-1627790369

Good: “Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • The information density is low, and I mean that as a good thing when listening to it as an audiobook.
    • Some of the statements in the book are a bit extreme and seem archaic or very old-school.
    • I would go so far and call the book partially entertaining.
    • The author of the book thinks very highly of himself which is a bit annoying sometimes. At least from a European point of view.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Steven B. Sample
  • ISBN
    • 978-0787955878

Good: “Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • In general, the book is a good resource for beginners in machine learning with a background in statistical mathematics and programming.
    • I’m not too fond of the lack of professionalism of the audio recording, e. g. that the recording includes apparent outtakes.
    • The audiobook is good if you can get ot for cheap, let’s say $10 or less.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners: A Plain English Introduction (Third Edition) (Python for Data Science, Band 3)”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Oliver Theobald
  • ISBN
    • 979-8558098426

Good: “Kill It With Fire”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • I found the book because the book received a positive review in the German IT magazine c’t 04/2022 (Page 180).
    • I do not have an actual interest in the topic (maintaining legacy IT systems) but the (audio)book is interesting to listen to. For example, the book covers some IT history which I find very interesting and entertaining.
    • The book does not contain a single line of code! Instead, the book is more about the right mindset.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Kill It With Fire: Manage Aging Computer Systems (and Future Proof Modern Ones)”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Marianne Bellotti
  • ISBN
    • 978-1718501188

Good: “Talk Like TED”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • I had a hard time to decide if the book is Good! or Bad!. Mostly because to me the author seems to be overly confident and full of himself. That does not resonate well at all with me. This starts with the clickbait book title.
    • The recommendations are rather simple. “Make It Clear”, see below, is much more substantial.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Carmine Gallo
  • ISBN
    • 978-1250041128

Good: “Make It Clear”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • Easy to listen to (audiobook).
    • The book has about 40 chapters which I like in this case. Each chapter is not too long and covers a specific topic.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
      • I did not like the voice of the audiobook: It sounded like a robot.
      • I would recommend to also buy the paper version and put it (= the paper version) on your desk at work.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Make It Clear: Speak and Write to Persuade and Inform”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Patrick Henry Winston
  • ISBN
    • 978-0262539388

Good: “Predictably Irrational”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remarks
    • Easy to listen to (audiobook).
    • The informatuon density is relatively low which I liked in this case. You can listen to the audiobook when you take as walk and it does notr matter when you are distracted for a couple of seconds.
    • The book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” is similar regarding teh covered topics but mich more dense and therefore requires much more concentration.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Dr. Dan Ariely
  • ISBN
    • 978-0061353246

2021

Good: “Checklist Manifesto”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • Very interesting and easy to listen to (audiobook).
    • First I thought that it is close to impossible to wtite a who;e book aboit checklist :).
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Atul Gawande
  • ISBN
    • 978-0312430009

Good: “The Lean Startup”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • Very interesting and easy to listen to (audiobook).
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers. But there are some specific terms that might be difficukt to understand if you are not familiar with the concepts at all, e. g. “to pivot”.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Eric Ries
  • ISBN
    • 978-0670921607

Good: “Miteinander reden 1” [German]

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • Very relevant topic for personal life and work life.
    • The author seems to like to use sophisticated German vocabulary, which makes it a bit boring and unnecessarily academic-sounding.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Miteinander reden 1: Störungen und Klärungen: Allgemeine Psychologie der Kommunikation”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Friedemann Schulz von Thun
    • ISBN
      • 978-3499174896

Good: “LaTeX Beginner’s Guide”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Ebook
    • Language: English
      • Good to understand for non-native speakers.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “LaTeX Beginner’s Guide: Create visually appealing texts, articles, and books for business and science using LaTeX, 2nd Edition”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Stefan Kottwitz
  • ISBN
    • 978-1801078658

Bad: “The Signal and the Noise”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remark(s)
    • It was hard for me to devide whether I would recommend the book or not.
    • I have the feeling that the time you need to spend to read (or listen, approx. 16 hours) to the complete book is too much compared to the benefit (offered insights).
    • When I wrote this sentence, I was halfway through, and the book focussed a lot on sports (baseball) and earthquakes. I am a German citizen and have almost no understanding or interest in neither of both topics.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • The book is partially very domain-specific, e. g. baseball. This makes it hard to understand sometimes.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail–but Some Don’t”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Nate Silver
  • ISBN
    • 978-0143125082

Bad: “Mit Ignoranten sprechen” [German]

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remark(s)
    • Too many repetitions of the same concepts.
    • Personally, I found the book too polemic.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Mit Ignoranten sprechen: Wer nur argumentiert, verliert”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Peter Modler
    • ISBN
      • 978-3593510804

Good: “Making Work Visible”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • The book focussed on software-related work.
    • This was my first book about Kanban and related concepts such as Agile and it gave me a good intuitive understanding of the core concepts.
    • I do not think that the book is enough for me to apply the ideas myslef but it woudl now be easier to work in an organizatuion that uses Kanban-related methods.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is suitable for an audiobook but in order to have all essential benefits from the book you need to have accesss to the pictures in the book (example Kanban boards).
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Making Work Visible: Exposing Time Theft to Optimize Work & Flow”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Dominica Degrandis
    • ISBN
      • 978-1942788157

Good: “Up the Organization”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • I assume that the target audience is upper management in big companies.
    • The book is quite old and therefore some of the language and examples are unintentionally weird/funny.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Up the Organization: How to Stop the Corporation from Stifling People and Strangling Profits”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Robert C. Townsend
      • Mr. Warren Bennis
    • ISBN
      • 978-0787987756

Good: “Good Boss, Bad Boss”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • The book contains interesting thoughts that make you think.
    • For my taste, the statements/opinions are too often presented as facts.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best… and Learn from the Worst”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Robert I. Sutton PhD 
    • ISBN
      • 978-0446556071

Bad: “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Remark(s)
    • Two many pages (minutes) for too little information.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Daniel H. Pink 
    • ISBN
      • 978-0735210622

Good: “Schnelles Denken, langsames Denken” [English Title “Thinking, Fast and Slow”]

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • This is a very interesting book! But be aware that the duration is about 20 hours (audiobook)!
    • As I said, the content is interesting but it is difficult to follow the thoughts. I wish there would be a shorter “best of” version of the content that I could re-visit after having listen to the complete book :).
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is good enough for an audiobook. Sometimes there are little exercises that are not suitable for the audio format.
    • Language: German
      • For a German-speaking person, the book is good to understand. Personally (as a German), I do not think that I could listen to the audiobook in English — the content is too complex for that. This may be different when reading the paper version of the book.
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Schnelles Denken, langsames Denken” [English Title “Thinking, Fast and Slow”]
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Daniel Kahneman  
    • ISBN
      • 978-3886808861 [English Version 978-0141033570]

Good: “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • The book over-simplifies the world on purpose in order to make a point. In the last chapter, this problem is addressed.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Carol S. Dweck 
    • ISBN
      • 978-0345472328

Bad: “The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life”

  • Verdict
    • Bad!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Twyla Tharp
    • ISBN
      • 978-0743235273

Good: “What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Audiobook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an audiobook.
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 – 10th Anniversary Edition: A Crash Course on Making Your Place in the World”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Tina Seelig
    • ISBN
      • 978-0062942586

2020

Good: “Busy is the New Stupid”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Ebook
      • The content of the book is very suitable for an ebook.
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Busy is the new stupid: Die effizientesten Techniken und modernsten Strategien für mehr Fokus, höhere Produktivität und ein besseres Zeitmanagement (konzentriert … erfolgreich handeln)”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Tim Reichel
    • ISBN
      • 978-3959723060

Good: “The Elements of International English Style“

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • A must-read for professionals who communicate in English (written or spoken). This includes native speakers that communicate with non-native speakers!
    • It would be nice if there would be a kind of checklist that summarizes the book. It’s difficult for me to remember all the tips otherwise.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Paper
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Elements of International English Style”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Edmond H. Weiss 
    • ISBN
      • 978-0765615725

Good: “Silicon Valley: Was aus dem mächtigsten Tal der Welt auf uns zukommt” [German]

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Format and Language
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Silicon Valley: Was aus dem mächtigsten Tal der Welt auf uns zukommt”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Christoph Keese
    • ISBN
      • 978-3328100331

2019

Good: “The Elements of International English Style”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • Helpful handbook for professionals communicating in English with people from all over the world (English as a second language audience).
    • What is missing are some summaries or tables that you can place next to your office desk to revisit the key points of the book.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Ebook
    • Language: English
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Elements of International English Style: A Guide to Writing Correspondence, Reports, Technical Documents, and Internet Pages for a Global Audience”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Edmond H Weiss
    • ISBN
      • ‎ 978-0765615725

Good: “NASA Systems Engineering Handbook”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • Difficult to read but still worth it!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Ebook (converted from PDF using Amazon’s “convert” feature for “Kindle” devices)
      • The content of the book is not suitable to be read on an ebook reader – better use a tablet (e. g. “Kindle” app). The main reason for that is that the document contains diagrams and tables that are hard to read on an ebook reader such as the “Kindle Paperwhite”.
    • Language: English
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “NASA Systems Engineering Handbook” (Rev 2 from 2007, see here)
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • NASA
    • NASA Document Number
      • NASA SP-2016-6105 Rev2

Good: “It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Ebook
    • Language: English
      • The language in the book is easy to understand for non-native English speakers
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Jason Fried
      • Mr. David Heinemeier Hansson
    • ISBN
      • 978-0062874788

Good: “Wolkenläufer: Geschichten vom Leben in China”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Ebook
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Wolkenläufer: Geschichten vom Leben in China”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Angela Köckritz

2017

Good: “How to Win Friends & Influence People”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • I got aware of the book because it was part of the TV show “Young Sheldon” (S01E02).
    • The book has some interstings recommendations and i funny to read becauise it was written a very long toime ago (1963). Thefore, some of teh examples in the book are outdated (in a fun way).
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Paper
    • Language: English
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “How to Win Friends & Influence People”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Dale Carnegie
    • ISBN
      • 978-1439199190

Good: “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • The book is indpenednet of the software that is used to create diagrams (which is positive).
    • Clean and minimalistic design.
    • The target audience is not at all specific to data scientists: Everybody that creates or consumes diagrams benefits from the book.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Traditional paper book (paperback).
    • Language: English
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics: The Dos and Don’ts of Presenting Data, Facts, and Figures”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Ms. Dona M. Wong
  • ISBN
    • 978-0393347289

2015

Good: “Mach sie fertig!: Wie Sie endlich Ihre Arbeit schaffen – anstatt Ihren Bürokram zu managen” [German]

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • Relatively short book about being efficient at work.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Traditional paper book
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “Mach sie fertig!: Wie Sie endlich Ihre Arbeit schaffen – anstatt Ihren Bürokram zu managen [German]”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Peter Haupt
  • ISBN
    • 978-3709305652

2014 And Earlier

Good: “The Elements of Style” [Read in 2009]

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • A famous and classical (originates back to 1918) book about written communication.
    • The focus is on the English language, but most recommendations are universal.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Paperbook
    • Language: English
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Elements of Style”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. William Strunk Jr.
      • Mr. E. B. White
    • ISBN
      • 978-0205309023
    • Wikipedia Links

Good: “Peter Principle”

  • Verdict
    • Good!
  • Remark(s)
    • The book has a really simple core message and helps to reflect on your own career.
  • Format and Language
    • Format: Paperbook
    • Language: German
  • Bibliographic Data
    • Full Title
      • “The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong”
      • German: “Das Peter-Prinzip: oder Die Hierarchie der Unfähigen”
    • Author(s) / Editor(s)
      • Mr. Laurence J. Peter 
      • Mr. Raymond Hull
    • Wikipedia Links