Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 10.16.23
This week, I finished three books, and we got some great ones on the list. One of the books walks us through the history of conspiracy theories in the U.S. from the Freemasons to QAnon. Then, we have my fav book for autodidacts. But first up, we have an absolutely insane book that made my jaw drop. Enjoy!
Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).
Two Weeks Notice: Find the Courage to Quit Your Job, Make More Money, Work Where You Want, and Change the World by Amy Porterfield
This book is pure, unadulterated insanity. For the first half of the book, my jaw was on the floor with the advice this woman was giving. I’m glad I got this book from the library because good God.
So, Amy Porterfield is a former Tony Robbins employee gone full-time entrepreneur helping people start their own little journeys. The second I heard the Tony Robbins thing, I was skeptical, but I was still giving it a chance. But then, in the first half of the book, she’s just convincing the reader to quit their job and go solo.
I’m all for people quitting their jobs to pursue entrepreneurship, but it comes with the caveat of having some sort of plan. Porterfield legitimately suggests that you give your two weeks notice even if you don’t have a plan and just to figure it out along the way. And I’m not exaggerating when I say that she drills this into the reader.
Later, she gives half-decent advice about promoting your business and finding leads. But at the end of the day, Amy Porterfield is just a hustle culture guru who makes money off of telling people to start their own businesses. This is a scary niche that I fell into years ago until realizing how there are so many variables you can never account for.
Read this book if you want a good laugh, but I wouldn’t take it seriously at all.
Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career by Scott Young
I read this book a couple of years ago and was fortunate enough to have Scott on my podcast as well. I don’t know if I’m going through a mid-life crisis or what, but I decided I wanted to learn some new skills. Currently, I’m learning video game development as well as learning to draw, so I’m taking some courses. I was thinking, “What’s the best way to learn and really grasp these skills?”, and then I remembered Scott’s book.
This book holds up years later and gives you a great roadmap for learning something new. It helped me lay out a plan, which accelerated my learning. I think the best tip from this book is metalearning, which is learning what you need to learn first. From there, you can map out a strategy for yourself.
Under the Eye of Power: How Fear of Secret Societies Shapes American Democracy by Colin Dickey
I always say that I dislike history books, but I’m learning that I just need to be insanely interested in the topic for it to hold my attention. Colin Dickey is an excellent writer, and the subject matter managed to keep me engaged throughout the book. I was unfamiliar with Dickey’s work but the book looked interesting because I’m always fascinated by people who believe in conspiracy theories.
This book takes you through the entire history of conspiracy theories and shady groups throughout history. If nothing else, books like this are insanely depressing. Colin covers conspiracy theories around the Freemasons and Illuminati and then goes through history to current times with the Satanic Panic in the late 20th century and QAnon. What’s a bummer is seeing how history just repeats, and this is an issue we’ve been dealing with for years, so I don’t think it’s going anywhere.
Colin does an excellent job discussing the racist, antisemitic and xenophobic roots of many conspiracy theories and showcases how people stir up moral panics. He also writes about how many of the conspiracy theorists end up planning their own real conspiracies. It’s an overall excellent book, and I definitely recommend it.
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