It’s time once again for our annual book guide, where Backblaze authors give you the inside scoop on what they’ve been reading. So, whether the weather outside is frightful, or, like at our home office in San Mateo, weird and drizzly, we hope you enjoy!
Pat Patterson, Chief Technical Evangelist
Never Understood: The Jesus and Mary Chain, by William Reid and Jim Reid
I love a good book about music, and when I saw autographed copies of “Never Understood” on sale at the merchandise stand at the Jesus and Mary Chain’s San Francisco gig earlier this year, I could not walk away without buying one. The book is co-authored by William and Jim Reid, the Scottish brothers who have been the only consistent band members since they started making music in the early ‘80s, and alternates between their accounts from early life in a Glasgow tenement through growing up listening to the Velvet Underground, Iggy Pop, and Bowie in the nearby post-war new town of East Kilbride, to realizing that the band each of them wanted to form on their own was actually the same band, and the subsequent rollercoaster ride of recording, touring, breaking up, and getting back together.
There’s a lot of humor amongst the rock and roll excess—one of my favorite moments was the contrasting explanations of how they assigned roles as they were getting started. From William: “It wasn’t like it was Jim’s dream to be the singer—we basically had a big fight about who was gonna sing and he lost.” Jim writes: “We actually tossed a coin for it, but the outcome was the same: William won. I was the singer.” Comedy soon turns to tragedy, however, as Jim explains how he turned to heavy drinking to overcome his shyness of singing on stage, setting the scene for a lifelong battle with alcohol.
Lee Brackstone, the book’s editor, deserves credit for the excellent job he’s done stitching this all together. Even though the viewpoint bounces between the two brothers, it reads as a single narrative. William’s passages are set in a serif font, while Jim’s are sans, so you quickly develop a feel for who you’re reading. It’s a riveting tale, whether you love or hate the band’s music—I envy you listening to their debut album Psychocandy for the first time if you don’t fall into either of those camps—and the brothers’ love/hate relationship brings a poignant dimension to what is already a classic story of early success, record label indifference and shenanigans, figuring out how to play the music you hear in your head, and being shocked that other people actually want to hear it too.
Yev Pusin, Sr. Director, Marketing
Impact Winter, by Travis Beacham
A comet strikes the earth and blocks out the sun. Bad news for people, good news for vampires. If you like the concept of 30 Days of Night and enjoy great world building and story telling with a bloody twist, this is a fantastic addition to your schedule. Bonus: It’s an audio drama, so perfect for your commute.
Jeremy Milk, Sr. Director, Product Marketing
How Big Things Get Done, by Dan Gardner and Bent Flyvbjerg
I stumbled upon this book right around the time one big thing in my life was proceeding nicely and another was not. Why? This book didn’t give me all the answers—sorry, there are no silver bullets—yet it provided a digestible, pragmatic framework for successfully managing big projects and initiatives, with situational awareness for the psychology of the many stakeholders who will be key to the success. As an impatient person who also likes to plan, I took away new nuance from the authors’ Think Slow, Act Fast model. And, as a student of Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup model, I appreciate the authors of this book adding their own flavor of MVP with the Maximum Virtual Product concept when you simply cannot lean-test something as big as you envision and yet you can develop virtual proxies to test underlying assumptions and elements. Now I’m ready to tackle far more big things.
Nicole Gale, Marketing Operations Manager
The Women, by Kristin Hannah
I love historical fiction and The Women is the first book I’ve read about the Vietnam War. As a big Kristin Hannah fan, I love how she weaves different stories about the historical event into her own. We were immersed into the world of how women were treated in the Vietnam War and I’ll never forget their stories. This one is a must read!
David Johnson, Product Marketing Manager
The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century’s Greatest Dilemma, by Mustafa Suleyman
I’d suggest “The Coming Wave” by Mustafa Suleyman. It offers an insightful perspective on the evolving world of artificial intelligence and its impact on society. It’s about a year old now, but still great in my opinion.
Bala Krishna Gangisetty, Sr. Product Manager
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck
This book changed how I see things and perceive challenges or setbacks fundamentally. Growing up, I was wired to strive for perfection in everything I did, and this book shifted my focus from being perfect to continuous improvement. It helped me see opportunities for learning and growth when things don’t go as planned. The best part is that the ideas in this book work for all parts of life, not just work.
Teresa Dodson, Sr. Director, Partner Marketing and Alliances
Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts., by Brené Brown
From the official summary: Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. Check it out!
Stephanie Doyle, Writer and Content Operations Strategist
The Skyward Trilogy, by Brandon Sanderson
I suppose it’s cheating a bit to recommend a whole series, but the story arc in this series by fantasy heavyweight Brandon Sanderson is great! Full disclosure: I’m hit or miss on Brandon Sanderson’s wider works. (I hate Mistborn and love The Way of Kings. Feel free to get mad at me in the comments.) That said, this series starts with a plucky young heroine on a dystopian planet (don’t worry folks: no love triangle in this one—if you know, you know) and extends into a fascinating view of space travel, AI, and what it means to have a soul.
Happy Reading from Backblaze
We hope this list piques your interest—we may be a tech company, but nothing beats a good, old fashioned book (or audiobook) to help you unwind, disconnect, and lose yourself in someone else’s story for a while.
Any reading recommendations to give us? Let us know in the comments.
