Sanjoy's blog

Attention Management is a self-help book on productivity written by Maura Nevel Thomas. The core theme of the book is how to give more attention to the work you are doing in a world full of continuous chaos and distractions.  Attention Management is a relatively new term in the field of productivity. The idea of attention management is to stay fully focused on your work. Unlike time management, it is not about how long you are doing your task. Rather, it is about undivided attention while doing something no matter what amount of time. I first heard this term from a youtube video of a lecturer of BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology) . Book cover The book has five chapters (except Introduction and Conclusion) where Thomas tried to explain how to become good at attention management. Some of the tips were new and attractive to me. But there were some instructions (e.g. taking breaks after a certain time, turning off your digital device) that seemed like the class...

" Etai Science (এটাই সায়েন্স) " is a Bengali popular science book written by Hassan uz-Zaman Shamol. The book tells the stories of some of the brilliant achievements of Bangladeshi scientists in the public health sector. Cover of Etai Science (এটাই সায়েন্স) The book is mainly about the efforts of Bangladeshi scientists to solve some serious problems of our lives. Public health, as it is said, is the science and arts of preventing disease. The book is the outcome of the writer’s two and a half years stint as a researcher in ICDDR, B ( International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh ). While working in ICDDR, B , he came to know about some of the works of Bangladeshi scientists to solve the problems related to sanitation. Although the scientists do some really cool stuff to solve these problems, they don't get the exposer they deserve on Bangladeshi media. This book contains some stories of some of their successes.  The book begins with the discussion of w...

Mindf*ck: Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World  is a memoir written by Christopher Wylie, a Canadian whistleblower who formerly worked as a data consultant at Cambridge Analytica(CA) and its parent company Strategic Communication Laboratories(SCL). The book is pretty much about Cambridge Analytica's efforts to create psychological weapons and their effect on Brexit and Donald Trump's presidential campaign . Cover of Mindf*ck The book starts with Wylie's hearing at Capitol Hill, Washington DC about potential Russian involvement and data breach to influence the American voters. After this part, Wylie tells about his childhood in Canada, how his fondness for computers grew, how he joined the Liberal Party in Canada. Then he describes his career in England. Prior to joining SCL, he worked for the Liberal Democrats in London. After that starts the most interesting part, his involvement in SCL. SCL mainly worked for military and intelligence contracts. Wylie worke...

The Emperor's Handbook is a translation of the works of Marcus Aurelius, the famous Roman emperor. The contents of this book are the personal writings of Marcus Aurelius on how to lead his life according to stoic philosophy.  Written from 161 to 180 AD, The Emperor's Handbook (also named as Mediations in other translations) is a compilation of Aurelius's personal notes to himself and his views on stoic philosophy. These writings were like a manual to lead a good life and guideline for self-improvement to himself. There are 12 books in this set of writings. The books do not follow any chronological sequence. In fact, the contents of this book were never meant for publication. They were written by the emperor to remind himself about how to lead his life.  Cover of The Emperor's Handbook The original text was written in Greek. This translation of Marcus Aurelius's writings is easy to read. I tried to read a few other translations but failed to grasp the inner meanin...

"Mustaine: A heavy metal memoir" is the autobiographical account of Dave Mustaine. Mustaine is the co-founder, lead and rhythm guitarist, primary songwriter of American heavy metal band Megadeth. Before the formation of Megadeth, he was the lead guitarist of Metallica, one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time. Cover of " Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir " It seemed to me that the contents of the book can be categorised into three parts: the childhood of Dave Mustaine, his stint in Metallica during its formation period, and his life with Megadeth. At the very beginning of the book, Dave Mustaine tells how he accidentally injured the nerve of his left arm which threatened his career as a musician. I must say the beginning felt quite interesting to me. Then Mustaine recalls his childhood, how he grew up from moving one place to another, how being a Jehovah's Witness traumatised his childhood. He talks about his brief practice of witchcraft, how he started do...