Books on Son of Sun Tzu blog

Some other things I've watched or read in 2026

Sun, 19 Jul 2026 19:25:01 +0100

Just another few months for this weeknote, the second one of 2026

Prologue

One Piece

As always, this is an intentionally browseable set of weeknotes regarding things I “beheld” over the previous “week”¹.

These “weeknotes” support two purposes - recommendations to the handful of people who read it, and also giving me somewhere to look if I’m trying to remember if I watched something or not.

My exploration of Hugo Themes² is still something I need to properly work through, so there should be a Table of Contents around here somewhere but there probably isn’t. If I fixed that you can use that to navigate to whatever catches your eye.

Book Review - Ctrl+Alt+Chaos

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:42:00 +0100

Book Review: Ctrl + Alt + Chaos - How Teenage Hackers Hijack The Internet

Ctrl+Alt+Chaos

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from the author when he posted a competition on BlueSky. The very short review of this book is that it’s well written, and an “easy” read that will hold your interest on a complex subject.

To go into slightly more detail, meant in the best possible way, I want to emphasise that it’s an easy read. I usually read at night, when I should probably be asleep - but this is well-written, clear, and grabs your attention, so it’s suitable for the beside table or noisy commute; which can’t be said of many non-fiction books.

What have I watched so far in 2026?

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 23:21:00 +0000

Just a few months this week

Prologue

Just a few weeks this week.

Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:31:00 +0000

Just a few weeks this week

Prologue

Image by uwe367 from Pixabay

This is an intentionally browseable set of weeknotes regarding things I “beheld” over the previous “week”¹.

These “weeknotes” support two purposes - recommendations to the handful of people who read it, and also giving me somewhere to look if I’m trying to remember if I watched something or not. Or, well, in the case of the last entry in this post, to give me somewhere to look to see if I wrote up what I watched.

A book you shouldn't read - yet.

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 16:50:00 +0000

Smart Choices, by Hammond, Keeney, and Raiffa

Context

I read this many months ago, I’m writing this based on dipping back into it, and some notes I made at the time.

Overall… it feels like a useful methodology, but - as is often the case with this kind of work - it feels like a pamphlet turned into a book, because this is the kind of size and format of book that customers, and publishers, want.

Time is a weird soup, what I watched or read this week

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 18:50:00 +0100

Time is a weird soup

Prologue

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

This is an intentionally browseable set of weeknotes regarding things I “beheld” over the previous “week”¹.

So, how to divide up this mass of half-written notes and turn it into something useful to both of us?

These “weeknotes” support two purposes - recommendations to the handful of people who read it, on whether they should consider spending their time on a piece of media. And also giving me somewhere to look if I’m trying to remember if I watched something or not. Oh, and to practice getting thoughts out of my own head into other people’s heads in a format that makes sense. So I’ll support that first purpose as best as I can, while resisting the urge to turn this into a long table, marking each piece of media as “yes”, “no”, or “maybe”. But I am going to do that in a slightly longer form.

"Leading the Rebellion": not what I was expecting.

Thu, 31 Aug 2023 11:25:00 +0100

A review of the book "Leading the Rebellion" by Jason Kingsley.

I skipped half of this book, but you should definitely buy a copy.

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 23:20:00 +0100

A review of the book "Billion Dollar Lessons" by Carroll and Mui.

Time travel, contrasts, insights, and all the sports documentaries.

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 17:15:00 +0100

A summary of a wide variety of things I read or watched this week, from March to August, from time-travel to sports documentaries.

Don't buy The Dip

Sat, 08 Jul 2023 20:56:00 +0100

( My reviews are aimed at helping you decide whether you should read something, rather than assuming your meaning of “good” or “bad” is anything like mine. )

The Internet, and more traditional bookshelves, are full of advice on when to start something, how to start something, and how to beat procrastination or self-limiting beliefs or imposter syndrome or whatever the author thinks is stopping you from reaching your full potential. But there’s much less content on when you should quit, on why you should consider not spending time on a project at the expense of other projects, and how to sensibly work through those decisions. With that opportunity cost being one of the few concepts I’ve kept from my O’level economics, I was particularly interested in Seth Godin’s The Dip - with its subtitle of “The extraordinary benefits of knowing when to quit ( and when to stick ).”

More whimsy, more drama

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 14:05:00 +0000

Prologue

This is an intentionally browseable set of weeknotes regarding things I “beheld” over the previous “week”¹.

I hope you find something in here that sparks your interest in a piece of media, or encourages you to avoid something when your time could be better spent elsewhere. I write weeknotes mainly to practice a style of writing that isn’t work deliverables or quick emails - but if this helps you please let me know on whatever medium I mentioned this on.

Some books that mean a lot to me

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 16:31:00 +0000

Inspired by this toot¹ from John Willshire I thought I’d also jump on this idea he references, that has its roots back in 2005. I like the questions, I think I’ve finally got back into reading so I have answers worth sharing, and also I support John’s push for people to start blogging rather than posting on more interactive platforms.

The questions from the original post are:

How many books do you own?
What is the last book you bought?
What is the last book you read?
What are 5 books that mean a lot to you?

My answers are below:

What I beheld since my last weeknotes

Wed, 21 Dec 2022 22:01:01 +0000

An intentionally browseable set of weeknotes for my previous “week”¹.

I beheld

I’ve decided that “beheld” is the best word for “things I read such as a book, or watched such as a movie, but didn’t play like a game, or didn’t engage with for work”. Suggestions for better terms are expected, but I’ll probably ignore them, “beheld” feels worth writing about.

Stewart Lee.

I read March of the Lemmings by Stewart Lee ages ago, but only found my notes on it recently. This is definitely for you if you like Lee’s relentless demeanor, political stance, and whipsmart phrasing. I’m reminded of TV series such as Community, or Ted Lasso, when sometimes you have to hit Pause and let a phrase sink in. It could be a bit much all in one go, so a good bedtime read when you just want a fun chapter or two to put the day behind you.

Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland

Mon, 02 May 2022 11:10:00 +0100

( My reviews are strictly aimed at helping you decide whether you should read something, rather than assuming your meaning of “good” or “bad” is anything like mine. )

As per my last 'weeknotes' I finished reading Rory Sutherland’s “Alchemy” recently. The overall point of the work, for me, is that economics and marketing ( in general, so with exceptions ) have failed to understand human nature and desire, and therefore their models are incorrect. These points are well made, well illustrated, well supported; I do like Sutherland’s use of “psycho-logical” to describe the approach he advocates for. The only place where it gets a bit wobbly in places is where he argues that free markets are good for most effectively indicating what people want - which is fair - but those neo-liberal capitalists have ruined it by being more profitable. But extrapolating the benefits of certain strategies within a market regardless of their overall effect is a conversation for another time.

Magic Houses, Magic Swords, and Santa Claus - Crimbo Limbo 2021

Wed, 05 Jan 2022 23:10:00 +0000

Edited highlights from my previous week

I finished Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie, a surprise “Jolabokaflod” present. I wrote up my thoughts here, it was a weird and entertaining ride of a book.
Appropriately for the time of year, I finally watched some more MST3K by viewing their interpretation of The Christmas That Almost Wasn't. As Twelfth Night has only just passed I think, do take a look if you want a seasonal introduction to the, er, oeuvre/method of MST3K and RiffTrax…. “It’s like watching a movie with your funniest friends!”.

Agatha Christie, as compelling as Fortnite...

Wed, 29 Dec 2021 15:35:00 +0000

On finishing Agatha Christie’s “Passenger to Frankfurt”, some thoughts…

I have a huge TBR ( To Be Read ) pile of books, to the extent that really it’s at least one set of bookshelves, rather than a mere pile. But also I have a relatively poor memory, and relatively poor focus, so unless a book is especially engaging it can be a struggle to read rather than a joy. Or if it’s a more serious work then I end up with a list of semi-intelligible notes, sometimes they’re converted into a more useful format, sometimes they’re the start of a new pile.