Nat Torkington Book Recommendations & Book Mentions

Nat Torkington

Tom Stoppard: A Life, by Hermione Lee. Meh. I wanted to enjoy this much more than I did. Absolutely the greatest living English playwright, and I will die on the hill that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is top five of 1950-2000 drama. His works delight, his life didn't.

Nat Torkington

@chetibby Bill Janeway's "Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy": government funds basic research at uni until it is commercialisable. VCs help entrepreneurs build companies, and acquirers/stock markets provide exits. VCs must endure down markets until there are exits again.

Nat Torkington

Your House Will Pay, by Steph Cha. The aftermath of a grocery store shooting in LA plays out in Black and Korean families. Really liked this one.

Nat Torkington

The Last Day, by Andrew Hunter Murray. The Earth stopped spinning and now one side cooks, another side freezes, and life is only possible in the margins. The political extrapolation felt most credible to me.

Nat Torkington

@merxplat My two most informative strategy books were the already-suggested Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, which spends most of its time dismantling crappy business strategies, and Lawrence Freedman's "Strategy: A History", which is comprehensively military-and-other. Here's the TOC. https://t.co/yYDh2d4kzF

Nat Torkington

@trunarla Everyone should have a recharging/energising part to their life but it doesn't have to come from their job. "Passion" led me to work past breaking point, resulting in burn out. Now work is only one part of my life. You might enjoy "What Should I Do With My Life" by Po Bronson.

Nat Torkington

@Knhannah Calibrations: have you read Hilary Mantel's "Wolf Hall"? Engaging non-fiction an option too? Or would you prefer escaping?

Nat Torkington

That's a lot of people saying Fuck John Birmingham. Have they not read The Cruel Stars? Everyone's a critic. /cc @JohnBirmingham https://t.co/96KObSHEOp

Nat Torkington

Fugitive Telemetry, by Martha Wells. The Murderbot novels with their competent-yet-neurotic protagonist go down easy.

Nat Torkington

Foundation, Foundation & Empire, Second Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. Classics, both better and worse than the TV series. I'd forgotten the palpable feel of destiny in the first novel, then the feeling of history going off the rails. But poor characterisation and women.