BOOKS - What are ASF members reading?

[gav]

"Body By Science" by John Little and Doug McGuff

Body By Science aims to explain the optimal, most scientific way to exercise for health and fitness. Having been a gym junkie for the past 10 years (including entering a few bodybuilding comps) and a keen interest health/fitness/nutrition, I was really looking forward to this book. Many of the claims it makes challenges much the conventional wisdom that has been around for decades. The main premise of the book is to train very briefly at irregular intervals with high intensity.

I think the book is great for everyday folk who want to improve their overall health and fitness. I can understand why it is loved by the "paleo" community, as it much of what the book recommends happens to fall within the paleo guidelines. It's backed by science (as suggested by the title) and shows you how to get the most out of your training (especially if you don't have much free time). I particularly enjoyed the sections on weight training for the elderly (HUGE benefits), and the ability to alter the way our DNA is expressed through environmental factors.

My one small gripe is that it claims that the type of training recommended in the book is also the best for strength athletes and bodybuilders. While I agree that most strength athletes and bodybuilders train too frequently using too much volume and reps, the frequency of training these people require is still more than what is recommended in this book. Despite this, I'd recommend the book to anyone; ranging from people who want to lose weight, train for everyday health/fitness, the elderly, and experienced trainers.


I also just finished reading "Calculated Risks: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You" by Gerg Gigerenzer. I'll write up a review when I get the chance over the next few days.

 

[Julia]

Once again, gav, I think you're one of the few who actually provide a synopsis and opinion about a book.
So useful. Pretty pointless, imo, to just quote title and author without giving any review of content.

 

[Ves]

So useful. Pretty pointless, imo, to just quote title and author without giving any review of content.

I'll just say I disagree here - some of the best recommendations I have received (by this I mean indirectly through looking into books people say they've read) have been the ones where no description (or a short one) has been offered. If it sounds remotely interesting I plug it into Amazon and read the synopsis there.

 

[Julia]

How do you know it 'sounds remotely interesting' if you have just a title such as "The Black Book" by John Blogg?
It tells you absolutely nothing. Could be about anything. You must have lots of free time if you can check with Amazon et al on every title you ever see recommended.

Essentially, I'm just thanking gav for taking the time to provide an interesting and thoughtful synopsis.

 

[Ves]

How do you know it 'sounds remotely interesting' if you have just a title such as "The Black Book" by John Blogg?

To me 'The Black Book' generally would refer to the arcane arts, or dark mythology, or satanism etc. so hypothetically I may look into for that reason - if it turns out to be something completely different then I have wasted no more than a few minutes.

It tells you absolutely nothing. Could be about anything. You must have lots of free time if you can check with Amazon et al on every title you ever see recommended.

You are putting words in my mouth again.

Essentially, I'm just thanking gav for taking the time to provide an interesting and thoughtful synopsis.

Indeed - all I am really saying is for some of us there is still a benefit in just listing a title and an author. I'd rather people take the time to do that than post nothing at all. Once someone has posted one book that I have followed up on, there is good chance that they may be a repeat offender.

Having trawled through literally thousands of book, movie and music recommendations in my time I have found great pleasure in the search alone. It's an amazing feeling finding a diamond in the rough where you least expect it - the extra legwork isn't really an issue, in fact doing it yourself is part of the fun.

 

[burglar]

... I have found great pleasure in the search alone. ... doing it yourself is part of the fun.

Just a thought. Do peoples' hobbies resemble their trading?

 

[gav]

Once again, gav, I think you're one of the few who actually provide a synopsis and opinion about a book.
So useful. Pretty pointless, imo, to just quote title and author without giving any review of content.

Thanks Julia. I'm glad you find the posts useful. The reason I write them is because it helps me absorb and remember what I've read, plus hopefully it can help others decide if it's a book for them.

Ves, one of the ways I decide what book I want to read next is by reading reviews by people I respect, and that have recommended books in the past that I've enjoyed or learnt a lot from.

 

[Julia]

"The Tennis Partner" by Abraham Verghese. A very affecting true account of a young doctor fighting drug addiction and the role of his tennis partner (and workplace superior) who depicts his confusion between believing and wanting to trust the assertions of rehabilitation by his protegee, and the hideous reality that the addiction will always trump any personal relationship.
Beautifully written account of a wasted life and the emotional debris left behind.

 

[Miss Hale]

I'll just say I disagree here - some of the best recommendations I have received (by this I mean indirectly through looking into books people say they've read) have been the ones where no description (or a short one) has been offered. If it sounds remotely interesting I plug it into Amazon and read the synopsis there.

I agree. I don't particularly like to read reviews but if someone who is on the same wavelength as me recommends a book or I see that several people recommend a book I will usually check it out.

I wouldn't want to discourage people from posting what they are reading because they feel they need to write a review (of course if you want to write one I don't mean to discourage that either ).

 

[DocK]

I agree. I don't particularly like to read reviews but if someone who is on the same wavelength as me recommends a book or I see that several people recommend a book I will usually check it out.

I wouldn't want to discourage people from posting what they are reading because they feel they need to write a review (of course if you want to write one I don't mean to discourage that either ).

+1

Happy to read a review, but would rather get a recommendation without one, than no recommendation at all.

 

[gav]

"Calculated Risks: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You" by Gerd Gigerenzer

In 1903, H.G. Wells stated that the ability to think statistically will be as necessary as knowing how to read and write. According to Gigerenzer (a psychologist specialising in decision making), we are failing at this, and it has a huge negative impact on our lives. Unfortunately, experts fail just as much as everybody else. He uses interesting examples to show this, including two studies that show how terrible doctors are at understanding the accuracy of common medical screening tests. Fortunately, when the same data is shown in a different format - natural frequencies instead of probabilities - there is a dramatic improvement. Unfortunately, the vast majority of doctors are not taught how to use natural frequencies.

Examples are given where numbers are skewed in the court room, such as the OJ Simpson case. Throughout the book the reader is given simple tools to help us solve these problems, like changing risk representations from conditional probabilities to natural frequencies, different visual representations, repeated play, etc.

Towards the end he explains some of the reasons for our innumeracy, such as evolutionary ones. I believe these can be overcome using the simple rules laid out in the book. However other reasons, such as incentives (financial, legal, reputation) pose a much greater challenge and are far more difficult to overcome.

If you are interested, check out this article which goes into the topic (and the above book) in more detail:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/chances-are/

 

[overit]

Just finished reading Shadow Warrior by David Everett and what a good read it was.

David Everett – renegade soldier, outlaw, fugitive and, at one time, Australia’s most wanted man – always liked a bit of action. Here, for the first time, is his remarkable story.

A far-from-strapping lad from Tasmania, Dave proved everybody wrong by passing the gruelling selection course to join the SAS. Unsatisfied by the Regiment, he left to take up the cause of the oppressed Karen people of Burma, becoming a seasoned jungle-fighter in the process.

On his return to Australia, Dave became every government’s nightmare: a highly skilled special-forces soldier on a crime spree. On a mission to raise funds for the Karen, he kidnapped people from their homes, robbed movie theatres and plotted some of the most audacious crimes ever conceived in Australia. At the height of his infamy every police officer in the country was on the lookout for him, while the tabloid press fuelled the public’s fear of a trained killer gone crazy.

Dave was blown-up, shot at, starved, bashed, interrogated, tortured and locked in solitary confinement, but nothing diminished his wild streak. While serving his jail sentence, he had time to reflect. In Shadow Warrior, he tells his story with unflinching honesty and larrikin wit.

 

[Some Dude]

Body By Science aims to explain the optimal, most scientific way to exercise for health and fitness. Having been a gym junkie for the past 10 years (including entering a few bodybuilding comps) and a keen interest health/fitness/nutrition, I was really looking forward to this book. Many of the claims it makes challenges much the conventional wisdom that has been around for decades. The main premise of the book is to train very briefly at irregular intervals with high intensity.

There was an interesting show on SBS recently called The Truth about Exercise which explored brief high intensity exercise tht was really interesting.

 

[gav]

There was an interesting show on SBS recently called The Truth about Exercise which explored brief high intensity exercise tht was really interesting.

Thanks, I watched that doco a few months ago. It was quite interesting. There are some differences between it and Body By Science (eg. VO2 max), but also many similarities.

 

[AlterEgo]

"Calculated Risks: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You" by Gerd Gigerenzer

Looks interesting. I'll have to check out that book sometime.

 

[AlterEgo]

There was an interesting show on SBS recently called The Truth about Exercise which explored brief high intensity exercise tht was really interesting.

I missed that one. I've found all of Michael Mosley's documentaries to be very interesting. Hopefully they'll re-run it sometime.

 

[gav]

Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Taleb

To define "antifragile", you need to think of the opposite of fragile. Fragile is something that needs a constant environment, and is harmed by stressors or randomness (like a coffee cup. Each time it is knocked over, it will become weaker, until it eventually breaks). Most people think the opposite to fragile would be "resilient", "robust", "durable", "resistant", etc. But these terms only describe something that is survives randomness/disorder. The true opposite of fragile is something that actually gains from disorder and stressors, and this is what Taleb calls "antifragile".

This book is the natural conclusion to Taleb's earlier works, "Fooled By Randomness" and "The Black Swan". It takes what is learned in the previous books and shows how we can use antrifragility to gain from randomness and black swans. Taleb shows how it can be applied to all aspects of our lives: as individuals, to business, health, financial systems and nations.

Some of the examples used are why the city-state is better than the nation state, why relying on things like predictions and debt are fragilising, the benefit of heuristics, some interesting perspectives on health, and some serious criticism of medicine and formal education. I found Antifragile to be a much easier (and enjoyful) read than The Black Swan. Although this book could be read without reading Taleb's earlier work, I think you will enjoy Antifragile more if you do. I read 26 books in 2012, and Antifragile was by far the best.

 

[So_Cynical]

Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Taleb

I downloaded this last week, looking forward to listening to it.

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At the moment im listening to

Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

Im liking it even though the press has condemned it.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

Presently reading The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman.

It refutes all self help books and methodology.

Best read for over a year.

I would highly recommend it.

http://www.oliverburkeman.com/books

gg

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Presently reading The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman.

It refutes all self help books and methodology.

Best read for over a year.

I would highly recommend it.

http://www.oliverburkeman.com/books

gg

I agree with Burkeman that positive thinking is potentially harmful, but I don't think he's done too much study on Buddhism, Hinduism or Tantra for him to make the claim that religions are all about positive thinking. That's gross ignorance on his part. Accepting every part of life (including the negatives) isn't something Burkeman invented - it's the heart of most Eastern religions. By adhering to the 'good', one can never know the 'bad', so the 'whole' (Truth) remains out of reach.

There's the ancient "left hand path", for example, where "aspirants [are] assigned rituals which to others might seem hedonistic, sinful, disgusting or perverted*. But Aghora is not indulgence, it is the transformation of darkness into light. An Aghori goes so deeply into darkness, into all things undreamable to ordinary mortals, that he comes into the light".

*like sleeping amongst rotting corpses, for example.