Special Edition Newsletter (4/3/2025)
A rundown of the 5 books I read in the 1st Quarter of 2025
I am focused on continuing to evolve who I am as a person, an employee, a leader, a family man, and as a friend. One of the ways I do that is by constantly learning and observing what is happening around me, including reading books across all spectrums to pick up new ideas, focus points, or simply to understand different points of view.
To that end, at the beginning of each year, I set aside some time to set a goal for a number of books to read during the rest of the year. While yes, life often gets busy, I still think it is important to find the time to continue my learning journey.
For example, in 2024, I set a goal to read 20 books. I ended up reading 24.
So, for 2025, I set a goal to read 24. Through the first quarter of the year, I have read 5. While I am one book behind my desired pace, the books I did read were overall pretty enjoyable. I thought I would list them here and provide a quick opinion/recap for each, along with a link to each in case you want to learn more. You can likely find cheap used copies of these books on Ebay, your local bookstore, or pick them up for free at your local library.
Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®
By far my favorite book of the 5, Bullshit Jobs challenges your thinking about what success looks like, what types of jobs actually contribute to society (beyond economic value-added measures that increase shareholder wealth), and most importantly, which jobs do NOT contribute to society. Born from a 2013 essay or rant as the author David Graeber called it, Bullshit Jobs posits that millions of people “spend their entire working lives performing tasks they secretly believe do not really need to be performed.”
The book made me laugh many times, get mad, shake my head in disbelief, nod along in agreement, and feel completely ridiculous, sometimes all in the same page. Graeber’s text is littered with hundreds of reference documents to indicate his points and back up his research, the basis of which was formed from when he had set up a email account to gather anecdotal insights from employees of all industries who, yes, confirm they have bullshit jobs. Or more poignantly, he managed to collect a myriad amalgam of stories which demonstrate the “proliferation of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence.”
Here he is in his own words describing the basis of the book - David Graeber on Bullshit Jobs – and quite enjoyably, describing the main types of bullshit jobs which form the thesis of his book: David Graeber - 5 Types of BS jobs.
It's definitely a different point of view, though it is hard to argue if you have ever worked in a corporate cubicle, going clickety clack on a keyboard for 8 hours a day, so much so that you find yourself questioning whether or not anyone is going to care what you are putting in your Excel spreadsheet. If that has been you, you may in fact have had a bullshit job. If so, or if you think that you are working in a bullshit job that’s not necessarily defined here, it is up to you to do something about it.
I Used to Like You Until...: (How Binary Thinking Divides Us) by Kat Timpf, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®
Quite frankly, this was an interesting and enjoyable read. While a book of mostly opinion from a Fox News contributor, Kat Timpf is an independent who speaks from the heart and to the center of the country, not the left or the right. Her thoughts were well organized, researched, and surprisingly vulnerable.
In short, Kat speaks to everyone, encouraging all of us to cut through the crap and the noise. She wants you to listen to what someone else has to say and, as the title suggests, points out that tribal knowledge and binary thinking does indeed divide us as Americans.
Be warned, she may say things you may not agree with. And that should be OK, and you could still be friends with someone like her. That’s literally her point and is a good lesson: keep an open mind and really, truly listen to what someone has to say. You may actually end up agreeing with them.
American Flannel: How a Band of Entrepreneurs Are Bringing the Art and Business of Making Clothes Back Home by Steven Kurutz, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®
This was a great book about the people who are acting as the driving force behind a focused resurgence of apparel manufacturing in the United States. It is a book about tenacity, grit, determination, fearless indignation, and the pursuit of the American dream, with founders who have dogmatically ignored the best business advice out there to win against the odds. Sounds cliché, I know, but it is true.
Stories about a sock manufacturing company, another company determined to bring back American-made flannel shirts, another company making blankets, and another making shoes are bounced around with data points from the last 40 years of outsourcing clothes manufacturing overseas, demonstrating why none of these companies should be successful now. As the book goes on, you cannot help but root for the people behind these companies, doing everything they can to make a living, provide jobs for people, and make sure “Made in the USA” means something again.
The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills by Daniel Coyle, Hardcover | Barnes & Noble®
This book is a quick and easy read. I think I’ve read it a handful of times over the years, but it had been quite a few since I last picked it up. I came across the author at a conference (don’t recall which one or when, really) and found it to be intriguing.
The 52 tips are straightforward, understandable, easily applicable and often times thought provoking. It’s actually pocket size (at least the back pockets in a pair of jeans) so it’s small enough to carry around and reference if you would like (if you like physical copies of books like I do).
While some of the tips are what you may call common sense, others are great reminders of basic leadership lessons or mantras, while yet other tips can just make you be a better person.
The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations by James Surowiecki, Paperback | Barnes & Noble®
This book was quite good, though at some points it can be a tougher read. I found myself re-reading some pages to make sure I was understanding what the author was putting out there. There are a number of case studies, research articles and other data points mentioned which show (and make the case) that crowds of people – or teams – simply may make better collective decisions than the individual.
The book itself, though not necessarily spelled out in this manner, calls forward the premise of why diverse teams perform better and make better decisions. The book also simply points out that even when a team of ‘experts’ may supposedly make a good decision on something, often times a simple majority may make a better decision.
The book honestly reminded me of what I call FYI Exits on Texas highways. I’m sure they exist in other states in the U.S., though I cannot say I’ve ever noticed them when traveling. FYI Exits are highway exits where Texans collectively inform the Department of Transportation where they should have put exits when building the highway, rather than where they did.
FYI Exits can easily be spotted in two ways: 1) a place where the grass in the median has been run down to the dirt, often with two perfectly appointed tire grooves offering to guide you between the highway and the feeder road, AND/OR 2) wait about 10 seconds when traffic comes to a stop on the highway, and you will see trucks immediately swerve over from the stopped traffic and drive through the grass to the feeder road so they can keep moving. The Wisdom of Crowds, summed up by Texas drivers!
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© April 2025, Brandon Caldwell. All rights reserved. Hyperlinks are used frequently for proper credit to source material on respective websites, news articles, social media or other sources. Images are used with and in credit to rights reserved to their respective owner(s). While it can be a useful tool, no ChatGPT or other generative AI was used in the production of this newsletter. Opinions are mine and do not reflect the opinion or policy of others including employers past or present.