Shoe Dog, Phil Knight, 2016

Rating: 5/5

Memoirs of successful entrepreneurs can be tricky for a reader. They could become boastful, making the memoir a tedious read, the entrepreneurs'  achievements notwithstanding. They could be airbrushed - for example, serendipity can be positioned as great strategy. They could be whitewashed - any business would have operated in grey areas at some point of time and a good memoir should faithfully record and explain it. Or they could simply be boring - a successful entrepreneur need not be a fascinating storyteller! Fortunately, Shoe Dog by Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, avoids many of these pitfalls.

Knight, unlike some entrepreneurs, had a reasonably comfortable life even from his early days. He belonged to a stable middle-class family and went to reputed colleges. An important turning point in his life was a paper that he produced for a business class at Stanford, Can Japanese Sports Shoes Do To German Sports Shoes What Japanese Cameras Did to German Cameras? He revisited this idea later in his life and the rest is, of course, history. Knight recounts this without exaggeration, taking credit where due and exhibiting modesty when he should.

A positive surprise for me was that this book was a page-turner - JR Moehringer (who collaborated with Andre Agassi too) helped with the book. That was an added bonus!

Nike has not been without its fair share of controversies, notably the one surrounding its use of "sweatshops" across the globe. Knight does discuss that, but just over a page and a half. And half of that is spent in giving a positive spin to the outcome. For a controversy that raged over several years, its treatment in the memoir was a bit disappointing.

This is not a "self-help" type of book with lessons for a budding entrepreneur. But ultimately, a good memoir should be inspiring and I think this book will be exactly that for any young reader. The story of Nike, from the initial unconventional idea of importing and reselling Japanese shoes to the early Blue Ribbon days to the eventual establishment of one of the world's best known brands and logos should all motivate any person to dream. That, to my mind, is the greatest success of this book.

Pros: Page-turning, insightful, inspirational

Cons: Could have addressed controversies in more detail

Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng, 2017

Rating: 3/5

There are three things that I seek from a good piece of fiction: (1) Great plot, (2) Good writing, and (3) Post-read mulling. In Little Fires Everywhere, I thought the plot was okay, the writing mediocre, and I can't wait to finish this review and move on to the next book!

The premise of the book is interesting and it starts with promise, highlighting the title of the book and making us want to understand its meaning. The book could have been an interesting study of class differences and racial tensions through its diverse array of characters. There is the seemingly perfect Richardson family -- husband Bill, supercilious but thwarted Elena, clueless Trip, superficial Lexie who then has a life-altering experience, strait-jacketed Moody and the rebellious Izzy (my favourite and I suspect that of most readers). We have the mother-daughter duo of Mia and Pearl with a secretive past who are completely unlike anyone the Richardsons know and who manage to upend their lives. Even some of the relatively minor characters such as Bebe Chow have promise. However, critical parts of the plot (Mia's dark secret, for example) are so improbable, that they make some of the characters look artificial and make it difficult to remain vested with them. The class-related and racial issues are also treated quite superficially.

The writing was disappointing for me as well. As I read, I usually highlight sentences whose construct I find particularly interesting or which I can quote at a later date. I ended up highlighting nothing in this book! Popular highlights on the Kindle include sentences such as: It was like training yourself to live on the smell of an apple alone, when what you really wanted was to devour it, to sink your teeth into it and consume it, seeds, core, and all.

The writing, and the plot to some extent, seem contrived at places. Nothing underlines this as much as the description of the artwork created by Mia for different members of the Richardson family towards the end of the book. That was the last straw for me!

Pros: An easy read, interesting premise

Cons: Trite writing, improbable plot developments

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turnton, 2018

Rating: 5/5

In hindsight, I was really lucky that I walked into this book blind, with no significant knowledge of the plot. And about 70 pages later, with the first major plot twist, my enjoyment of this book was greatly enhanced. I would strongly recommend everyone to do the same if possible.

At its heart, this book is a mind-bending murder mystery. But it is also about the myriad interesting characters populating this book. And eventually, it is about redemption. So that's what makes this book doubly delicious ‒ as the mystery unfolds page by page, we are treated to some fascinating characters through the course of the book, many of who are neither black nor white, as we are initially led to believe.

Like all books or movies of this genre, there are inherent flaws to the "circular logic" used. I cannot explain this further without revealing some spoilers, but this book overcomes most of the flaws. I re-read the book, noting down questions that needed answers as the book progressed, and it was immensely satisfying to see that practically all the questions had been answered by the end. That make this one of the cleverest books that I have read. And finally, I'm a sucker for interesting trivia. The fact that this book was published in the US as The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle to prevent a conflict with another title was, by itself, worth half a rating point!

His next book, The Devil and the Dark Water, is expected later this year. I can't wait for it to be published!

Pros: Gripping from start to finish, an extremely clever plot

Cons: An extremely convoluted plot too (which may not work for everyone)

PS: I'm reactivating this blog after over 10 years, and am also moving to a simpler 1-5 rating system. 3 would mean that the book is just about readable, 1 or 2 would mean that the book deserves to be binned, while 4 or 5 would imply different degrees of a very good book.