A blog about my goals, learnings, and interestshttps://charlesjli.com/https://charlesjli.com/2025/09/10/the-little-liar-by-mitch-albom/https://charlesjli.com/2025/09/10/the-little-liar-by-mitch-albom/My wife and I typically read very different types of books. She enjoys romance and contemporary novels, while I gravitate toward non-fiction and historical…Wed, 10 Sep 2025 03:49:08 GMTbook-reviewnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2024/11/06/the-38-letters-from-j-d-rockefeller-to-his-son-by-j-d-rockefeller/https://charlesjli.com/2024/11/06/the-38-letters-from-j-d-rockefeller-to-his-son-by-j-d-rockefeller/My parents often share informative videos with my brother and me. Truth be told, I tend to ignore most of them, not wanting to spend the time it takes to absorb…Wed, 06 Nov 2024 04:07:54 GMTbook-reviewleadershipnon-fictionself-helphttps://charlesjli.com/2023/12/31/genius-makers-by-cade-metz/https://charlesjli.com/2023/12/31/genius-makers-by-cade-metz/With the popularity of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence (AI) is getting more attention than ever. Even though I'm working as a data engineer, besides a…Sun, 31 Dec 2023 21:48:41 GMTbook-reviewnon-fictionhttps://charlesjli.com/2023/07/11/moby-dick-by-herman-melville/https://charlesjli.com/2023/07/11/moby-dick-by-herman-melville/Moby Dick is the only book we have at our place with both an English and Chinese edition. My wife is starting to have her own book collection and she loves…Tue, 11 Jul 2023 02:53:44 GMTbook-reviewnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2023/04/11/the-pursuit-of-power-europe-1815-1914-by-richard-j-evans/https://charlesjli.com/2023/04/11/the-pursuit-of-power-europe-1815-1914-by-richard-j-evans/The Pursuit of Power by Richard J. Evans is part of the acclaimed Penguin History of Europe series, covering the time between the fall of Napoleon and the…Tue, 11 Apr 2023 02:39:47 GMTbook-reviewnon-fictionhttps://charlesjli.com/2023/03/14/the-remains-of-the-day-by-kazuo-ishiguro/https://charlesjli.com/2023/03/14/the-remains-of-the-day-by-kazuo-ishiguro/The Remains of the Day is a novel that tells the first-person account of Stevens, a head butler at Darlington Hall. My wife recommended this book to me since…Tue, 14 Mar 2023 03:32:28 GMTbook-reviewnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2023/01/25/the-splendid-and-the-vile-by-erik-larson/https://charlesjli.com/2023/01/25/the-splendid-and-the-vile-by-erik-larson/With the new year I've been thinking about how to better document my learnings from the books I've read. Writing doesn't come easy to me, so each book review I…Wed, 25 Jan 2023 14:31:51 GMTbook-reviewmemoirhttps://charlesjli.com/2022/06/19/when-genius-failed-by-roger-lowenstein/https://charlesjli.com/2022/06/19/when-genius-failed-by-roger-lowenstein/When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management by Roger Lowestein details how a firm so widely regarded in the financial industry can…Sun, 19 Jun 2022 23:08:09 GMTbook-reviewnon-fictionhttps://charlesjli.com/2022/03/10/a-promised-land-by-barack-obama/https://charlesjli.com/2022/03/10/a-promised-land-by-barack-obama/The president of the United States is one of the most powerful positions held in the world. With so much power to influence both domestic and global policies…Thu, 10 Mar 2022 03:40:11 GMTbook-reviewmemoirhttps://charlesjli.com/2021/05/03/1984-by-george-orwell/https://charlesjli.com/2021/05/03/1984-by-george-orwell/Whenever a conversation at work mentioned 1984, it seemed like a novel was always brought up and an understanding was shared among the people who got the…Mon, 03 May 2021 01:25:13 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2021/02/28/the-bullet-journal-method-by-ryder-carroll/https://charlesjli.com/2021/02/28/the-bullet-journal-method-by-ryder-carroll/I had used the 5 Minutes Journal (5MJ) for nearly 3 years since I read Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris. 5MJ is great especially for people who want to try out…Sun, 28 Feb 2021 22:26:09 GMTbook-reviewself-helphttps://charlesjli.com/2020/12/26/how-i-prepared-for-the-amazon-interview/https://charlesjli.com/2020/12/26/how-i-prepared-for-the-amazon-interview/Since I started to work for Amazon as a data engineer, some friends have asked me how I prepared for the Amazon interview. I have organized the list of…Sat, 26 Dec 2020 19:28:39 GMTcareerhttps://charlesjli.com/2020/11/11/thank-you-index-exchange/https://charlesjli.com/2020/11/11/thank-you-index-exchange/After working at Index Exchange right out of school for nearly 4 years, I started to work for Amazon this month. I still remember attending the on-campus…Wed, 11 Nov 2020 16:56:25 GMTcareerhttps://charlesjli.com/2020/11/06/the-richest-man-in-babylon-by-george-s-clason/https://charlesjli.com/2020/11/06/the-richest-man-in-babylon-by-george-s-clason/The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason uses a collection of parables to give financial advice. The parables are revolved around a character named Arkad…Fri, 06 Nov 2020 14:31:02 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2020/10/30/shoe-dog-by-phil-knight/https://charlesjli.com/2020/10/30/shoe-dog-by-phil-knight/Whenever I go shopping, Nike is the one store that I always visit. I love Nike's simplistic logo along with its casual and sporty look. However, when it comes…Fri, 30 Oct 2020 01:48:27 GMTbook-reviewmemoirnon-fictionhttps://charlesjli.com/2020/10/17/the-best-we-could-do-by-thi-bui/https://charlesjli.com/2020/10/17/the-best-we-could-do-by-thi-bui/Our parent-child relationship is one that we seldom reflect upon. In the illustrated memoir, The Best We Could Do , Thi Bui examines her relationship with her…Sat, 17 Oct 2020 21:56:35 GMTbook-reviewmemoirnon-fictionnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2020/09/18/nine-pints-by-rose-george/https://charlesjli.com/2020/09/18/nine-pints-by-rose-george/This year hasn't gone well for me in terms of keeping up with my writing routine. I've been spending lots of time reading data-related topics and practicing…Fri, 18 Sep 2020 03:41:16 GMTbook-reviewnon-fictionhttps://charlesjli.com/2020/02/09/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people-by-dale-carnegie/https://charlesjli.com/2020/02/09/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people-by-dale-carnegie/It's been around 3 months since I published my previous blog post. I went back home to Taiwan for three weeks to attend my friend's wedding and also spent a…Sun, 09 Feb 2020 03:17:32 GMTbook-reviewleadershipself-helphttps://charlesjli.com/2019/11/09/bad-blood-by-john-carreyrou/https://charlesjli.com/2019/11/09/bad-blood-by-john-carreyrou/It depends on the genre and the occasion, but when people ask me for my book recommendations, Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss, and…Sat, 09 Nov 2019 02:43:18 GMTbook-reviewnon-fictionhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/10/25/a-gentleman-in-moscow-by-amor-towles/https://charlesjli.com/2019/10/25/a-gentleman-in-moscow-by-amor-towles/I'm drawn to historical fiction and since A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles is one of the few historical books on the discount bookshelf, I naturally picked…Fri, 25 Oct 2019 00:46:38 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/10/09/on-writing-by-stephen-king/https://charlesjli.com/2019/10/09/on-writing-by-stephen-king/My reading list was comprised of books recommended by friends, coworkers, and well-known CEOs online. I began to find that the books I read oftentimes end up…Wed, 09 Oct 2019 01:09:22 GMTbook-reviewmemoirhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/08/31/upheaval-by-jared-diamond/https://charlesjli.com/2019/08/31/upheaval-by-jared-diamond/Jared Diamond is best known for his book, Guns, Germs, and Steel , which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction in 1998. He is a polymath and is…Sat, 31 Aug 2019 04:09:35 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/07/29/the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-fck-by-mark-manson/https://charlesjli.com/2019/07/29/the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-fck-by-mark-manson/We are constantly reminded of people's opinions of us. It can be well-intentioned expectations from our family and friends or non-constructive criticisms from…Mon, 29 Jul 2019 00:49:30 GMTbook-reviewself-helphttps://charlesjli.com/2019/07/21/homo-deus-by-yuval-noah-harari/https://charlesjli.com/2019/07/21/homo-deus-by-yuval-noah-harari/I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading Harari's previous book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. Harari discussed the progression of humankind and posed…Sun, 21 Jul 2019 21:02:12 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/05/18/mindset-by-carol-s-dweck/https://charlesjli.com/2019/05/18/mindset-by-carol-s-dweck/When I first came across Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, it did not pique my interest. The book cover is dull and the title seems to…Sat, 18 May 2019 22:17:19 GMTbook-reviewleadershipself-helphttps://charlesjli.com/2019/05/06/elon-musk-by-ashlee-vance/https://charlesjli.com/2019/05/06/elon-musk-by-ashlee-vance/Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future is Ashlee Vance's biography of Elon Musk that was first published in 2015. At the age of 17, Elon…Mon, 06 May 2019 23:03:13 GMTbiographybook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/03/31/creativity-inc-by-ed-catmull-amy-wallace/https://charlesjli.com/2019/03/31/creativity-inc-by-ed-catmull-amy-wallace/At 27 years old, I still go through periods where I have my Disney playlist on repeat on Spotify. I grew up and enjoyed numerous Pixar classics such as Toy…Sun, 31 Mar 2019 20:06:44 GMTbook-reviewleadershipmanagementhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/03/22/educated-by-tara-westover/https://charlesjli.com/2019/03/22/educated-by-tara-westover/Tara Westover was raised in a Mormon survivalist home in rural Idaho. Her dad Gene doesn't believe in government institutions and prepares the family to brace…Fri, 22 Mar 2019 01:00:42 GMTbook-reviewmemoirhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/02/18/the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-by-heather-morris/https://charlesjli.com/2019/02/18/the-tattooist-of-auschwitz-by-heather-morris/The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris is based on the story of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, during World War II. In April 1942, Lale was forcibly…Mon, 18 Feb 2019 21:07:47 GMTbook-reviewnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/02/15/start-with-why-by-simon-sinek/https://charlesjli.com/2019/02/15/start-with-why-by-simon-sinek/Why did we start doing what we are doing in the first place? Often times when a company becomes successful, its leaders start to focus on what they are doing as…Fri, 15 Feb 2019 02:45:01 GMTbook-reviewleadershiphttps://charlesjli.com/2019/02/02/the-book-of-negroes-by-lawrence-hill/https://charlesjli.com/2019/02/02/the-book-of-negroes-by-lawrence-hill/The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill is a novel that narrates the life of Aminata Diallo, who was abducted from her village, Bayo, at the age of 11. Aminata was…Sat, 02 Feb 2019 20:09:24 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2019/01/27/2019-resolutions/https://charlesjli.com/2019/01/27/2019-resolutions/2018 was the first year I set resolutions. I was able to build up some great habits and also learned how important it is to set S.M.A.R.T. goals. This year I…Sun, 27 Jan 2019 22:00:17 GMTgoalshttps://charlesjli.com/2019/01/08/book-review-the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/https://charlesjli.com/2019/01/08/book-review-the-7-habits-of-highly-effective-people/I have seen mixed reviews on The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. Some reviews said it's life-changing and others said you just need to…Tue, 08 Jan 2019 01:23:46 GMTbook-reviewleadershipmanagementhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/12/12/book-review-high-output-management-by-andrew-s-grove/https://charlesjli.com/2018/12/12/book-review-high-output-management-by-andrew-s-grove/Andrew S. Grove is the former chairman and CEO (and employee number three) of Intel. Having led Intel into the world's largest manufacturer of semiconductors…Wed, 12 Dec 2018 03:45:30 GMTbook-reviewleadershipmanagementhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/12/02/book-review-crazy-rich-asians-by-kevin-kwan/https://charlesjli.com/2018/12/02/book-review-crazy-rich-asians-by-kevin-kwan/Before heading back to Taiwan to visit my family during my vacation, I decided to change up the pace and pick up some books that aren't learning focused like…Sun, 02 Dec 2018 22:04:38 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/11/25/resena-aleph-de-paulo-coelho/https://charlesjli.com/2018/11/25/resena-aleph-de-paulo-coelho/La autobiografía de Paulo Coelho, Aleph, narra su viaje recorriendo Europa y Asia en el tren Transiberiano. Aunque Paulo fue un autor de renombre, sentí…Sun, 25 Nov 2018 23:03:59 GMTbook-reviewespanolnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/10/08/resena-la-espia-de-paulo-coelho/https://charlesjli.com/2018/10/08/resena-la-espia-de-paulo-coelho/Paulo Coelho narra una historia sobre Mata Hari quién terminó siendo ejecutada como espía en la Primera Guerra Mundial. Mata Hari, cuyo nombre real es…Mon, 08 Oct 2018 17:48:44 GMTbook-reviewespanolnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/09/29/book-review-sapiens-by-yuval-noah-harari/https://charlesjli.com/2018/09/29/book-review-sapiens-by-yuval-noah-harari/Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari is an international bestseller on the history of humankind. Sapiens is categorized into four parts: The Cognitive Revolution, The…Sat, 29 Sep 2018 20:55:24 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/09/09/book-review-rework-by-jason-fried/https://charlesjli.com/2018/09/09/book-review-rework-by-jason-fried/Rework by Jason Fried is one of the books which Mark Cuban credits his success to. Due to that (along with the great looking book cover) I was very excited to…Sun, 09 Sep 2018 19:14:36 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/08/26/resena-el-alquimista-de-paulo-coelho/https://charlesjli.com/2018/08/26/resena-el-alquimista-de-paulo-coelho/Hola a todos! Antes de leer este libro, he escuchado cosas buenas sobre eso. El Alquimista - Una Fábula Para Seguir Tus Suenos ha sido aclamado como una de las…Sun, 26 Aug 2018 22:11:58 GMTbook-reviewespanolnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/08/13/harry-potter-y-el-prisionero-de-azkaban/https://charlesjli.com/2018/08/13/harry-potter-y-el-prisionero-de-azkaban/Para mejora mi español, he leido algunos libros en espanol. Y esta vez terminé leer Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban. Leí todos los libros en la serie de…Mon, 13 Aug 2018 02:33:35 GMTbook-reviewespanolnovelhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/08/01/book-review-the-lean-startup-by-eric-ries/https://charlesjli.com/2018/08/01/book-review-the-lean-startup-by-eric-ries/Around 5 years ago while I was working as a marketing intern at a startup called The Social Art Movement (TSAM), I was exposed to the Lean Startup's…Wed, 01 Aug 2018 01:09:43 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/07/23/book-review-the-intelligent-investor-by-benjamin-graham/https://charlesjli.com/2018/07/23/book-review-the-intelligent-investor-by-benjamin-graham/I have been working full time for over a year and a half since I graduated and my income so far has mainly been stashed away in my savings account. It's not…Mon, 23 Jul 2018 00:47:31 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/06/30/book-review-the-outsiders-by-william-n-thorndike-jr/https://charlesjli.com/2018/06/30/book-review-the-outsiders-by-william-n-thorndike-jr/The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William N. Thorndike, Jr. details the commonalities among the 8…Sat, 30 Jun 2018 20:42:49 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/06/18/2018-mid-year-reflection/https://charlesjli.com/2018/06/18/2018-mid-year-reflection/This is the first year in which I have set resolutions . Due to my coworkers switching departments, I was thrust into more responsibilities. I have learned a…Mon, 18 Jun 2018 00:17:41 GMTgoalshttps://charlesjli.com/2018/06/01/what-i-learned-from-steve-ballmers-keynote-on-leadership/https://charlesjli.com/2018/06/01/what-i-learned-from-steve-ballmers-keynote-on-leadership/A few weeks ago Index Exchange, where I'm working at as a solutions engineer, held an annual executive summit in Santa Monica. Steve Ballmer was the guest…Fri, 01 Jun 2018 01:52:17 GMTleadershiphttps://charlesjli.com/2018/05/21/book-review-zero-to-one-by-peter-thiel/https://charlesjli.com/2018/05/21/book-review-zero-to-one-by-peter-thiel/Zero to One is based on a startup course Peter Thiel gave at the Stanford University in 2012. Peter is a co-founder of PayPal and Palantir and an investor in…Mon, 21 May 2018 18:27:19 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/05/07/book-review-tools-of-titans-by-tim-ferriss/https://charlesjli.com/2018/05/07/book-review-tools-of-titans-by-tim-ferriss/It's been three weeks since I last published a post. I've been reading Tools of Titans by Tim Ferris since then. It's a 600+ pages book which took me longer to…Mon, 07 May 2018 03:10:14 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/04/15/book-review-getting-everything-you-can-out-of-all-youve-got-by-jay-abraham/https://charlesjli.com/2018/04/15/book-review-getting-everything-you-can-out-of-all-youve-got-by-jay-abraham/Jay Abraham is the Founder and CEO of Abraham Group, Inc, a marketing consulting firm that provides strategies to businesses. He has helped many businesses…Sun, 15 Apr 2018 21:24:52 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/04/01/book-review-the-100-startup-by-chris-guillebeau/https://charlesjli.com/2018/04/01/book-review-the-100-startup-by-chris-guillebeau/The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau is a compilation of insights from studying and interviewing people who have built successful microbusinesses. Chris is an…Sun, 01 Apr 2018 19:28:31 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/03/19/book-review-crush-it-by-gary-vaynerchuk/https://charlesjli.com/2018/03/19/book-review-crush-it-by-gary-vaynerchuk/This is the first of many book reviews that I'll do. For each of the 20 books I aim to read this year, I plan to write a corresponding book review to document…Mon, 19 Mar 2018 03:18:09 GMTbook-reviewhttps://charlesjli.com/2018/03/03/my-2018-new-years-resolution/https://charlesjli.com/2018/03/03/my-2018-new-years-resolution/Yes… I know… you are probably thinking that nobody makes their New Year's resolutions nearly 3 months into the year. In my defense, most of my resolutions were…Sat, 03 Mar 2018 03:38:41 GMTgoals