Brandon Smith
- 16
- reviews
- 20
- helpful votes
- 38
- ratings
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Power Ball
- Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game
- By: Rob Neyer
- Narrated by: Rob Neyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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The former ESPN columnist and analytics pioneer dramatically recreates an action-packed 2017 game between the Oakland A’s and eventual World Series champion Houston Astros to reveal the myriad ways in which Major League Baseball has changed over the last few decades.
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Solid overview of Baseball in 2018
- By Tyler Burch on 11-21-18
- Power Ball
- Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game
- By: Rob Neyer
- Narrated by: Rob Neyer
Baseball Forever
Reviewed: 01-28-20
Great book about the current state of baseball and how metrics have changed the game. I like how the book interleaves the calling of a single game with modern baseball topics. It makes for a great story and a brain tickling book for any baseball fan.
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Smart Baseball
- The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball
- By: Keith Law
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Predictably Irrational meets Moneyball in ESPN veteran writer and statistical analyst Keith Law's iconoclastic look at the numbers game of baseball, proving why some of the most trusted stats are surprisingly wrong, explaining what numbers actually work, and exploring what the rise of Big Data means for the future of the sport.
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If you sorta like baseball--save your money
- By david ortega on 05-11-17
- Smart Baseball
- The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball
- By: Keith Law
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
Data-driven Baseball
Reviewed: 04-05-18
This book is a must read for any baseball fan, especially if you're a stat geek. It covers the useless and mis-leading traditional stats and the newer stats that do a better job at measuring player and team success. I particularly liked the sections on which players deserved to get into the Hall of Fame and on the future of statistics.
The narrator of the audiobook is clear and engaging. The audiobook lacks the diagrams and charts, but I was still easily able to follow all by listening, which made me believe that the visuals are only supplemental to the writing. Overall, I highly recommend it that book.
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Saving Capitalism
- For the Many, Not the Few
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Robert B. Reich
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In Saving Capitalism, Robert Reich reveals the entrenched cycles of power and influence that have damaged American capitalism, perpetuating a new oligarchy in which the 1 percent get ever richer and the rest - middle and working class alike - lose ever more economic agency, making for the greatest income inequality and wealth disparity since World War II.
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A riveting economics book! Mind. Blown.
- By Nothing really matters on 04-18-16
- Saving Capitalism
- For the Many, Not the Few
- By: Robert B. Reich
- Narrated by: Robert B. Reich
American Capitalism Today
Reviewed: 01-22-18
This book was partially like an Econ textbook and partially like a critique of what's wrong with American Capitalism. It was informative and interesting to learn about the basics and 5 pillars of Capitalism. There will be parts of today's current state of Capitalism that will certainly anger the reader. The author finishes with suggestions for how we can repair the world today, but they all seemed a bit unlikely to actually come to fruition.
The author's narration is excellent and entertaining.
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Scaling Up
- How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't, Rockefeller Habits 2.0
- By: Verne Harnish
- Narrated by: Spencer Cannon
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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It's been over a decade since Verne Harnish's best-selling book Mastering the Rockefeller Habits was first released. Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't is the first major revision of this business classic. In Scaling Up, Harnish and his team share practical tools and techniques for building an industry-dominating business.
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Literally Useless | No Way 5 Star Reviews are real
- By Michael on 01-23-15
- Scaling Up
- How a Few Companies Make It...and Why the Rest Don't, Rockefeller Habits 2.0
- By: Verne Harnish
- Narrated by: Spencer Cannon
Business is Boomin'
Reviewed: 12-29-17
This book covers all the key Rockefeller Habits and concepts of business growth. It's mainly targeted at executives and small business owners, but there are topics that are relevant to businesses of any size and even individual contributors. I found the sections on company culture, business strategy, managing teams, and productivity the most interesting.
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Black Edge
- Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street
- By: Sheelah Kolhatkar
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
- Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Steven A. Cohen changed Wall Street. He and his fellow pioneers of the hedge fund industry didn’t lay railroads, build factories, or invent new technologies. Rather, they made their billions through financial speculation, by placing bets in the market that turned out to be right more often than not.
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Amazing book about trading that feels like an adventure novel
- By Tim S on 05-24-18
- Black Edge
- Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street
- By: Sheelah Kolhatkar
- Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith
The Real Billions
Reviewed: 12-26-17
If you watch the TV show Billions, you'll enjoy this real-live story of Steven Cohen. The book really portrays how sketchy hedge fund managers can be.
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The Productivity Project
- Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
- By: Chris Bailey
- Narrated by: Chris Bailey
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Chris Bailey turned down lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream - to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the pursuit of productivity, a subject he had been enamored with since he was a teenager. After obtaining his business degree, he created a blog to chronicle a year-long series of productivity experiments he conducted on himself, where he also continued his research and interviews with some of the world's foremost experts, from Charles Duhigg to David Allen.
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Excellent Book on Personal Productivity
- By Bob Wallner on 02-26-16
- The Productivity Project
- Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
- By: Chris Bailey
- Narrated by: Chris Bailey
Productivity Improvements
Reviewed: 12-26-17
Excellent book about managing your time, attention, and energy -- the three factors in your control when it comes to productivity. I love how each chapter has a challenge for you to try that's aimed at helping you experiment and be more productive. The author said it best, "Productivity isn’t about doing more things, it’s about doing the right things." Highly recommended!
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The Productivity Project
- Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
- By: Chris Bailey
- Narrated by: Chris Bailey
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Chris Bailey turned down lucrative job offers to pursue a lifelong dream—to spend a year performing a deep dive experiment into the pursuit of productivity, a subject he had been enamored with since he was a teenager. After obtaining his business degree, he created a blog to chronicle a year-long series of productivity experiments he conducted on himself, where he also continued his research and interviews with some of the world’s foremost experts, from Charles Duhigg to David Allen.
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Excellent Book on Personal Productivity
- By Bob Wallner on 02-26-16
- The Productivity Project
- Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy
- By: Chris Bailey
- Narrated by: Chris Bailey
Productivity Improvements
Reviewed: 12-26-17
Excellent book about managing your time, attention, and energy -- the three factors in your control when it comes to productivity. I love how each chapter has a challenge for you to try that's aimed at helping you experiment and be more productive. The author said it best, "Productivity isn’t about doing more things, it’s about doing the right things." Highly recommended!
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The Four Tendencies
- The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too)
- By: Gretchen Rubin
- Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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During her multi-book investigation into understanding human nature, Gretchen Rubin realized that by asking the seemingly dry question “How do I respond to expectations?” we gain explosive self-knowledge. She discovered that based on their answer, people fit into Four Tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Our Tendency shapes every aspect of our behavior, so using this framework allows us to make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress, and engage more effectively.
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Terrible, Repetitive, and Filled with Bad Advice
- By T. Hadnot on 03-08-18
- The Four Tendencies
- The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too)
- By: Gretchen Rubin
- Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
Interesting Personality Framework
Reviewed: 12-26-17
This book is a well-organized version of the Four Tendencies that the author talks about on her blog. It was interesting to read about these four default personality tendencies and how to use that to improve your relationships at home, at work, and with friends. Overall, a quick and interesting read.
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Goodbye, Things
- The New Japanese Minimalism
- By: Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita - translator
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Fumio Sasaki is not an enlightened minimalism expert or organizing guru like Marie Kondo - he's just a regular guy who was stressed out and constantly comparing himself to others, until one day he decided to change his life by saying goodbye to everything he didn't absolutely need. The effects were remarkable: Sasaki gained true freedom, new focus, and a real sense of gratitude for everything around him.
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A Grounding Perspective
- By Mackenzie on 10-22-17
- Goodbye, Things
- The New Japanese Minimalism
- By: Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita - translator
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
Minimal Thinking
Reviewed: 12-26-17
Great introduction to minimalism. I like how the author gave examples from his life to share how minimalism has helped him simplify and be happier.
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@War
- The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex
- By: Shane Harris
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States military currently views cyberspace as the "fifth domain" of warfare - alongside land, sea, air, and space - and the Department of Defense, National Security Agency, and CIA all field teams of hackers who can - and do - launch computer virus strikes against enemy targets. In fact, as @War shows, US hackers were crucial to our victory in Iraq.
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The short history of the US and Cyber War
- By Greg on 02-06-15
- @War
- The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex
- By: Shane Harris
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
Interesting History of Cyber Warfare
Reviewed: 12-07-17
The author tells the story of the major events, people, government agencies, and companies that have played a part in the history of Cyber Warfare. The book seems to be targeted at the general public: I think that even if you don't have a background in computing or security, you should understand everything. The narration is great and brings the story out of the history. I was left wanting a better wrap up in the final chapter, but overall this is an interesting listen.
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