Finished reading: The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger 📚

I picked up this book based on my buddy Bill’s recommendation (pun intended), he calls it one of the rare business books he’d actually recommend. With such high praise I was naturally curious, and boy did I love this book!

Part memoir, part business wisdom, Bob Iger (CEO, Walt Disney company 2005–2020) shares his story of growing through the ranks at ABC Network to become an executive, and then joining Disney as COO when ABC was acquired by Disney in mid 1990s. Bob shares many interesting episodes like his bid to become the CEO and how he got the job; blockbuster acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilms (Star Wars franchise) and 21 Century Fox; and his friendship with Steve Jobs.

Written in an engaging narrative with business and leadership wisdom sprinkled throughout, the book doesn’t get too preachy and the story of how Bob transformed Disney keeps you hooked.

My rating: 5/5.

Recently read: Lifespan: Why We Age and Why We Don’t Have To by David Sinclair 📚

This book was a random pick from the local library. I challenged myself to read a book on a different domain, and it turned out to be great. The premise, that you can increase your lifespan to 150 even 200 years, was mind bending and the book lived up to it.

Lifespan talks about latest research from cellular biology about aging and how it can be slowed, heck, even reversed. Author, David Sinclair, is a researcher at Harvard, and the book is a distilled down version of research from his field.

The gist of slowing aging, according to the book, is: Intermittent fasting, cold showers, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) at least once a week and taking drugs like NMN to boost NAD (a lifespan enabler molecule that we keep losing as we age). This is a good book summary if you’re curious, or I recommend at least watching some of the author’s interviews.

My rating: 4/5.

Recently finished: In Order to Live, A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park 📚.

This memoir is honest, heart-breaking and hard-hitting.

It shows the things we take for granted, say, being able to eat eggs in morning (Park mentions, they’d eat eggs once or twice a year (!!) in N.Korea) to basic human rights and freedom, are far more valuable than we presume. Despite its heavy subject, the book reads like a thriller and oddly, is even funny in places.

My rating: 5/5.