Finished reading The Great Cholesterol Myth: Why Lowering Your Cholesterol Won't Prevent Heart Disease — and the Statin-Free Plan that Will by Jonny Bowden, PH.D. and Stephen Sinatra, M.D. Here are my thoughts on what I think is a must-read book for everyone.

Why did I pick up this book?

My primary care physician was getting worried about my rising cholesterol numbers. She was worried enough that she wanted me to start taking statin medications to lower my cholesterol. I, on the other hand, was concerned about having to take said medications. And this was before I even knew of the scary side effects mentioned in the book. Also, I was getting frustrated at not being able to lower my cholesterol on my own, without having to take medications.

Part of my problem was that I didn't know if the food I ate lowered or increased my cholesterol. For instance, I went on a stretch of months where I tried to decrease the amount of meat I ate during the day. It didn't really lower my cholesterol that much. Even when I was already eating more veggies than I ever did in my entire life, it still kept creeping higher and higher. Obviously, I didn't know what I was doing with regards to my diet.

The other problem I had, was that I didn't really understand what cholesterol was and how our bodies used it. All I know is what I kept hearing from the news, or read in the magazines — that high cholesterol leads to heart disease. And wow was I surprised when I read what the book said about that idea.

Did you know that our brains are very much dependent on cholesterol? Or that the greatest concentration of CoQ10 can be found in the heart? Guess what decreases cholesterol and depletes our body's store of CoQ10? Statin drugs.

Anyway, to answer the question, I picked up this book mainly to learn more about cholesterol, so that I can manage it myself. The accompanying info on statin medications was just icing on the cake for me.

What did I like about this book?

There's a lot to like about this book. But the thing I liked the most, is how the authors were able to explain complicated medical and nutritional topics in layman's terms. You see I'm just a software developer. Definitely not someone from the medical field. But I was quickly able to understand the various topics discussed in the book, because of how good the explanations were.

And because they made it so easy to understand, I was able to learn a lot from reading this book. This is the second thing I like about the book. There's so much to learn. Like...

Did you know that fructose is the major cause for a condition known as fatty liver? Or that sugar is more damaging to the heart than either fat or cholesterol? Or that the quickest way to lower your triglycerides is with a low-carb diet? Or have you heard of the Triglycerides to HDL ratio as a risk indicator for insulin resistance and heart disease? I sure didn't. These are just some of the things you will learn from reading this book.

Anyway, like I said, there's so much to learn in this book. And that makes for a great read.

There's also the fact that the book is now on its second edition, which came out last year. If what the authors wrote were a bunch of baloney in the first place, then the chances of coming out with a second edition would be slim. But here it is, the second edition. And that leads me to another thing I liked about this book — it seems very well researched.

It's almost like they knew that people were going to come after them, regardless of how convincing their arguments were. And so they try to preempt this by presenting their sources. The end of the book is filled with references to the various studies that they referred to in the book. I know I need to do my own research and fact-check them. But they are making it easy by providing you the info to all the studies they've referenced.

Lastly, the book was a page-turner. This was probably the most surprising thing about the book. I didn't expect a book talking about cholesterol and statin drugs to be a page-turner. But it was and I very much enjoyed reading it.

What I didn't like about this book?

I'm not sure I found something I didn't like about the book. The only thing I can think of, is that I wished the authors would have dived deeper into the different diets that we have today. They do mention Keto, Paleo and Plant-based diets. But they didn't really cover it as much as I wanted them to. They mostly talked about the Mediterranean diet and Low-carb diet. And how those two diets could help improve your cardiovascular health.

Rating

I give this book a 5/5 rating. It was a great read. I've learned a lot from reading this single book. The authors present their case convincingly. They provide the references to the various studies they researched, so you can look them up yourself. Even if you don't buy into their argument, this is still a great book to read to broaden your view on cholesterol and statin medications.

Tags: #BookReview #PublicHealth

Finished reading the book An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington a few weeks ago, here are my thoughts on it.

Why did I pick up this book?

This is the second book in the Licanius Trilogy. The first book ended in such a crazy cliffhanger that I couldn't not pick up this second book.

What did I like about this book?

It continues the story of Caeden, Davian and the rest of the crew. A good part of the second book is Caeden uncovering his memories of the past. At first it starts out slow, but once it picked up, I couldn't wait to read more of his flashbacks.

More of the world's lore is revealed in the second book. It was very interesting to learn about what happened in the past. And how it all led to where the characters were at now.

I liked some of the plot-twists in this book.

The philosophical discussions towards the end of the book about fate and our actions, about good and evil, were great. I didn't expect the book to cover those topics. But then again, I didn't expect the first book to talk about faith either. Either way, I enjoyed reading those philosophical discussions at the end.

What I didn't like about this book?

The build-up to the end was so good, but the ending felt deflating for me. So there's that.

And it's also a long read. Like 752 pages long. In comparison, the second book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy only had 322 pages. Because it's so long, it can be hard to remember characters, places, events, etc... Thankfully this second book has a Glossary at the end. But still, it is a long read.

Make sure not to read the Glossary until you finish the book to avoid possible spoilers.

Rating

I give this book a 3.5/5 rating. It was a good long read, but the ending just fell flat for me. Still, if you are fan of epic fantasy novels, you'll find a lot to like in this book (and the first book for that matter). Thankfully, the third book in the trilogy has already been published. I'm looking forward to reading the third book soon.

Tags: #BookReview #JamesIslington

Why did I pick up this book?

I cannot remember where I saw it. It could have been on the Good Books website, or a recommendation on Amazon. Either way, I found a link to the book and checked it out. The book seemed interesting as I've been trying to find ways to instill more discipline in myself. Specifically, discipline in my diet and exercise. I read a review that mentioned how Part 2 of the book focused on fitness and health. It also mentioned that the author gets up everyday at 4:30am to workout. And that he proves this by posting a photo on Instagram every morning. I checked out his Instagram account and it was true. So, I was like, I need to know how he does it every day. So, I bought the book.

What did I like about this book?

I liked a lot of what I read in this book. It started out slow. I felt like the first few pages were filled with common sense advice that I already knew. But the longer I read, the more interested I became in his thoughts and viewpoints.

There are so many quotable lines in this book. It is temping to quote the contents of the whole book. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But what I'm trying to say, is that the author's viewpoints on many topics is so refreshing. Every time he touches upon a topic that I don't think I need advice on, I'm proven wrong.

For instance, his thoughts on encountering setbacks. When he encounters them, he'll say “Good” every time. How can it be good? It seems counter intuitive, but he explains his reasoning in the book. For him, it is a chance to do something else, to work on something else, to improve something else. He never lets an opportunity to improve himself go past. All so that you'll be stronger, faster, smarter and healthier. That's one of his mantras in the book. This is all in the name of becoming a better version of yourself.

Some other favorite chapters of mine were the ones on Nature vs Nurture, Fear of Failure, Not Feeling It, Draw Fire, Me Versus Me and my favorite of all, Negative Talk From Negative People. That chapter had the line that struck me the most out of all that I've read in this book, and that is “Ignore and Outperform.” Are you in an environment where people are trying to put you down? Are people talking behind your back? Are they criticizing your every move? Are they trying to stop you from reaching your goals? Ignore and outperform them.

I also liked how detailed the chapters were regarding workouts. He even details what workout equipment to buy for a home gym. And provides a set of workouts ranging from beginner to advanced levels. He even mentions how he does his workouts when he is traveling. The number one piece of exercise equipment he recommends for a home gym is a pull-up bar.

He also talks about diet and justifies his reason for following a paleo or caveman diet. He also mentions what type of martial arts he thinks people should train in, and in what order. In case you're wondering, the martial art at the top of his list is Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

By the way, the chapters I mentioned above, well they are not really chapters. They are thoughts on a certain topic that span 1 or 2 pages. They feel more like a blog post to me. They are short and straight to the point. You'll either learn something right away or you're moving on to the next page to read about something else.

What I didn't like about this book?

Not much to complain about the book really. I didn't like the design with the black background and white text. The font is also kind of weird. It's like a monospaced military inspired font. Fits the theme of the book, but might look weird for other readers.

While it wasn't an issue for me, some might feel like the book has a drill sergeant vibe to it. Well, it was written by a former Navy Seal operator, so it is what it is.

That's it though. I have no other complaints about this book.

Rating

I give this book a 5/5 rating. If you're looking for some motivation to improve yourself, this is a great book to read. If you're looking for ideas on how to be more disciplined in various aspects of your life, this is a great book to read. If you're looking for a reason to justify waking up at 4:30am to workout and improve on yourself, this is the book to read.

I'll end this review with a photo of the text at the back of the book. As you can see, short and straight to the point. I love it.

Tags: #BookReview

Why did I pick up this book?

I did not pick up this book on my own since it was a Christmas gift. That said, it was on my “to-read” list, which is how my sister figured out what to give me for Christmas.

I first saw this book while browsing at Barnes and Nobles. The word “Contentments” in the title caught my eye. I have been looking for books that can help me understand how to be happy with what I currently have, how to be content with the life I have. This book seemed to fit the bill, so I added it to my list. Plus, it is a beautiful book, what with its hardcover and full colored pages.

What did I like about this book?

I already mentioned above that it is a beautiful book. The full colored pages meant that the wonderful photos showcased in the book really stood out.

The chapter that focused on “finding beauty in imperfection” was great. It is in stark contrast to the world we live in now, where everything is filtered so that it looks perfect.

The book also talks about the Japanese art of Kintsugi, which was a fascinating read for me. Instead of buying a new replacement when something breaks, the Japanese prefer to repair the broken item, which then ends up becoming even more valuable to them. I love that idea. Again, it is in stark contrast to the world we live in, especially the western world where people are obsessed with always having the newest gadgets, newest cars, newest fashion accessory, etc... I find that this idea lends itself well to personal finance too. I don't need to replace my old car with a new one if it can still be repaired. That ends up saving me a lot of money.

If you're interested in Japanese food, then this book covers some of it too. I enjoyed reading about Japanese ramen and rice cakes. The author even includes recipes and instructions on how to cook/make them. The book also covers how to make use of bento boxes and the proper distribution of food that goes into those boxes.

Overall, if you are a fan of Japanese culture, you will more than likely enjoy reading this book.

What I didn't like about this book?

This question seems harder to answer than I originally thought it would be, but I'll give it a try. To be fair to the author, the book description states that it is a book on Japanese culture and their way of life. So, me, looking for lessons in the book to apply to my non-Japanese way of life, might be asking too much. Anyway, here goes.

There is no discussion on Japanese martial arts whatsoever, or at least none that I remember. Considering how Japanese martial arts is something like a way of life for most practitioners, I was hoping to see how I could use aspects of it to help find contentment in life.

Some of the topics covered in the book seemed too traditional that I could not see how I could apply them to my life. For example, there are sections of the book covering Japanese Tea Ceremony and Flower Arrangements. Those parts of the book came up short for me. I particularly remember skipping pages on those two because I just could not see myself doing a tea ceremony or arranging flowers at home. There is also a section on writing, that while interesting and informative, I just don't see myself learning how to write in Japanese, so that was pretty useless to me. This is not to say that the author doesn't try to extract lessons from those practices, but the book spends a lot more pages instructing you on how to host a tea ceremony, flower arrangements and how to write Kanji characters, that whatever lesson that's supposed to be there somewhat gets lost in the process.

Rating

I give this book a 3/5 rating. While it is a really beautiful book, apart from the 2-3 topics that were really interesting to me, there's not much I could take away from this book that can be applied to my daily life. In other words, I didn't come away more knowledgeable about how to be content with my life after reading this book. That's down to my reason for wanting to read this book in the first place. But, if like I said above, you are very much interested in Japanese culture, then from that aspect, this is an enjoyable read.

Tags: #BookReview

Why did I pick up this book? I don't exactly remember how I heard about JL Collins' book, but somehow I did and that lead me to reading the first few pages of his book. I liked what I read and decided to purchase the book. Before picking this up, I was looking for another book on personal finance that is mainly focused on getting out of debt. That wasn't exactly what this book focused on, but I liked it nonetheless.

What did I like about this book? Everything. I liked everything about this book.

• Reading this book is like getting financial advice from your dad or your trusted uncle. It is direct, straight to the point, no bullshit financial advice. It comes off that way because the book was actually inspired by JL Collins giving financial advice to his own daughter.
• The chapters are short, bite-sized chunks that you can read in less than 15 minutes or so. This means that if you have a very short time to read, you'll still end up finishing a chapter and learn something in a short amount of time. I found that this encouraged me to pick up the book again any chance I could get.
• While the chapters are short, which might make you think they are just generic information, they are not. Most of the information provided in the book seems well researched and most are coming from experience. What I mean to say is, they make sense to me.
• This book is mostly focused on how to use investing to build your wealth and be financially independent. I would say 90% of the book covers investments and the stock market, while only 10% is general advice on personal finance issues. This was a good surprise for me because it answered a lot of questions I had about the stock market and how it relates to 401Ks and retirement planning.
• If you wanted to learn how best to utilize your 401K or other tax-advantaged accounts with regards to building wealth or planning your retirement, this is a good book to read.
• If you wanted to learn the simplest way to invest in the stock market to build your wealth, this is a good book to read. He really does makes it simple. There are only two types of funds to invest in and both are index funds. His advice on portfolio allocation can't be any simpler.
  • He focuses on Vanguard and their index fund offerings, however he offers advice on which fund to invest in if you don't have access to funds from Vanguard.
• It answered a lot of my questions on how retirement works, like:
  • What are Required Minimum Distributions? When do they take effect?
  • How do they affect the tax bracket you are in when you retire?
  • How to make sure you don't burn through your retirement savings before you pass away?
  • How does Social Security factor in during your retirement? And more...

What I didn't like about this book? Not really a dislike but more like a surprise. When I got this book I thought I was getting a book about how to get out of debt and build your wealth, but as I've said above, the majority of this book focuses on investing into the stock market to build your wealth and less about how to get out of debt. Again this is not a bad thing, just not what I was expecting.

For international readers, note that this book is mainly catered to US readers. Most of the discussion on 401K accounts and the tax system might not be applicable to international readers. The concepts and ideas he shares will carry over, but not the specifics that the book discusses.

Rating I give this book a 5/5 rating. The author really did share a simple path to wealth in this book. Not saying this is the best path to building wealth, but a path that should be considered because it really is simple.

Tags: #JLCollins #BookReview #PersonalFinance

Why did I pick up this book? I was browsing for books at Target and saw this one with a big 30% off sticker on it. I was mainly looking for books about contentment. A book that can teach me how to be content and appreciate what I already have. When I saw this one I thought it might be an interesting read. I honestly did not think much of the book, but was pleasantly surprised once I started reading.

What did I like about this book? The lessons and principles that the author shares in this book are awesome. They all sound like common sense advice once you read it, however if it was that easy, everyone would be living their best life. It is not that easy and this book reminds you why and what you can do about it.

His approach of giving counter-intuitive advice to life's problems seem backward. But, the more you read the more it actually makes sense.

The chapters on toxic relationships, on entitlement, on taking responsibility for your actions, they are all really good reads.

The last chapter on death, is eye opening. You can never really appreciate the beauty of life unless you come to terms with death. I've never even heard of the concept of “immortality projects” until I read this chapter. One question I had for myself was, why am I so intent on having a website and sharing journal entries online? I believe this chapter answers that question for everyone.

For a book written by a blogger, as far as I know the author is not a medically trained psychiatrist or a university professor, it seems very well researched. The author draws lessons from Buddhism, Psychology, Philosophy and his own life experiences. This is a guy who spent a good number of years living the good life, traveling from one city to another, only to come to the conclusion that, committing to one city, one career, one person is what true freedom is all about.

What I didn't like about this book? The occasional use of curse words can sometimes distract from the reading experience. However it also gives this book a more personal touch.

The early chapters were hard to grasp. But if you can push through then the rest of the book has some really good things to teach you.

Not exactly a problem with the book, but I feel like there's no way to internalize everything you read about this book in one read. I feel like this is a book that you have to read over and over again to reap the benefits.

Rating I give this book a 4.5/5 rating. I thought it was a really good read. One that I plan on reading again next year just so I don't forget the lessons from this book.

Tags: #MarkManson #BookReview

Why did I pick up this book? Months ago, I was at the bookstore looking for An Echo of Things to Come and King of Thorns, but I couldn't find either of those two books. So I started looking for another one to buy. I've read Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October and really liked it, so I thought I'd get another one of his books. I'm also a fan of military themed novels so this was right up my alley.

What did I like about this book? Tom Clancy can describe scenes so well with his writing. The firefight at the start of the story for instance, was very descriptive. I could picture Jack Ryan going through the motions, as if I was watching a TV show or movie.

The investigative work of law enforcement personnel was also an interesting read. Years before I saw ballistics being used in CSI, Tom Clancy has already described the process in his book that was published in 1987.

The little bits of info about the CIA and FBI, whether factual or not, were an interesting read for me.

His use of real world locations were fun too. I would occasionally pause my reading to bring up Google Maps, to see for myself what he was describing in the book. (I've done the same thing when reading Dan Brown's books.) I actually now want to visit the Naval Academy at Annapolis, just because I read about it in this book.

This was an old book and I knew that when I purchased it. One of my concerns was that it would feel outdated in today's age, but that wasn't the case. I actually enjoyed reading about Jack Ryan's manual transmission VW Rabbit, the old computers they had back then, the F-14 Tomcats which were popular back in the 80s, the flight in a Concorde supersonic plane, etc...

What I didn't like about this book? Not much to really complain about other than the pacing. I thought the story started up on a high note, but then slowed down to almost a crawl for a good number of chapters. Once the action resumed though it was a very engaging read all the way to the end.

Rating I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars. If you like military themed novels or movies, you will enjoy this one.

Tags: #TomClancy #BookReview