I was browsing Youtube one day watching a channel called “simple programmer”, the creator John Z. Sonmez was talking about something I can’t remember what but at one point he begins talking about the book he had written and as a casual watcher who enjoys his content I thought I would check it out on amazon. This book had a 4.7 out of 5 rating, I quickly read some of the reviews and hit purchase. For $44 bucks by the time it had shipped to Australia I thought that was pretty good considering we get the short end of the stick when it comes to books these days. I finished the book in a week and at 500 pages it was a great size, now 500 pages sounds like a lot but it's broken up into 70 or so chapters which he explains very well and I agree with, because it makes you feel like you're reading more than you are. Each chapter is short, to the point and only includes one thing. This form of writing, I know for me atleast is fantastic, it's short, it's sharp and you can blaze through the book. The book as it is named is a life manual, so it fits anyone from the graduate programmer to the seasoned one. Furthermore, the book covers topics that you wouldn’t normally see in a technical book like this, such as how the mind plays a huge role in your career and how important it is to stay fit and active. John also covers different ways to pursue a career in the field, from starting your own consulting business to working as an employee and even briefly creating your own product. All in all this book is extremely thorough, but it does lack some detail in many areas, as there are so many topics this book doesn’t aim to be an in depth guide to productivity as one of the topics is on how to be more productive, but more of a general guide to improving yourself. It is hardly fair to mark it down for its lack of depth as this isn’t what it was trying to achieve. There are no programming examples because that's not what it’s about, this book is about getting the most out of yourself and your career, how the many aspects of your life can affect your career and how to become a better version of yourself. I highly recommend this book to any programmer at any stage of their career as the author can give at least some advice to anyone. At $44 shipped to your door in Australia this is a great pick-up.

Buy the book from amazon

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with John Sonmez or Amazon, I will not receive a commision if you buy from this link.