The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How. -- Daniel Coyle ------------ 3 Stars

The title (full one) and premise for the Talent Code is interesting to me. Basically, the book is about why people end up being talented. Specifically, talent at the absolute highest level - be it - music, sports, chess, etc. Unfortunately, as I continued through the book I realized it reminded me a lot of a book I read ten years ago, so not that much new covered.

Because I'm tired as I write this and Amazon explains it better than me, below are the three key elements that is included in the book that accounts for why people become talented:

• Deep Practice. Everyone knows that practice is a key to success. What everyone doesn’t know is that specific kinds of practice can increase skill up to ten times faster than conventional practice.
• Ignition. We all need a little motivation to get started. But what separates truly high achievers from the rest of the pack? A higher level of commitment - call it passion - born out of our deepest unconscious desires and triggered by certain primal cues. Understanding how these signals work can help you ignite passion and catalyze skill development.
• Master Coaching. What are the secrets of the world’s most effective teachers, trainers, and coaches? Discover the four virtues that enable these “talent whisperers” to fuel passion, inspire deep practice, and bring out the best in their students.

Reading the book and the summary of these elements explains a lot of why people become great at what they do. The book, of course, if chock full of anecdotes and stories that make the book a fairly enticing read that keeps the reader's attention. I especially was drawn to the author's tales of describing burgeoning talent and how it looks in those three different domains.

As I stated in the introduction, I realized mid-read that a previous book I read carried a lot of similarities with this book. Talent is Overrated (review here) covered much of the same information (for example, that book called it "deliberate practice" and this one "deep practice.") And, while I think either book is a worthwhile read, I would probably suggest The Talent Code as it includes more updated research and has better anecdotes. 

Our Country Friends - Gary Shteyngart ---------------- 3 Stars

I'm not sure how Our Country Friends made my reading list. It's certainly the most recent novel I've read in a long time, released in late 2021. And while I appreciated how topical it was, I couldn't ever say I really enjoyed reading much of it.

The book was set in a mid-pandemic retreat for a set of, mostly, friends who immigrated to the United States. Both their experiences as immigrants and living during the pandemic were major plot points of this novel. In addition, the novel also included multiple aspects that brought up the "woke" world we currently live in. As such, this was certainly the most topical novel I probably have ever read. The plot was fairly simple - a half dozen friends (some close and some more extended) landed at a largeish bungalow retreat to isolate in the early part of the COVID pandemic. While there, their relationships develop while also are further challenged. 

On a positive, the author does a great job detailing the main characters and their varying motivations. Two Russians, two Koreans, an Indian, and two Americans make up the major players throughout the story. Unfortunately, though purposefully, none are much likeable, save one or two in certain situations. The book includes a lot of excess - food, alcohol, sex, relationship questions, etc. And, while the first third to half of the story is fairly captivating, it struggles to keep up into the last half of the novel.

While the book has some funny parts and can be tongue-in-cheek, I found it struggled to gain momentum and the cutesiness of the beginning struggled to hold up over the final 100 pages. While I know the intent was to really look at the small details of the normal lives of the characters, I found it difficult to maintain attention to these, sometimes, annoying individuals. Again, not a ton of action was taking place, and while the writing was engaging to read, the plot really struggled to move forward. Sadly, the last 10% of the novel most struggled. As I was hoping for an exciting ending or something to move the novel forward, the author decided to offer multiple dream like sequences (which didn't really exist anywhere else in the novel) as he killed off the most likeable character.

So, not my favorite book but it wasn't so boring I couldn't put it down. Perhaps if I had known going in that it was be a less eventful book and more of a think piece, I would have enjoyed more fully. Perhaps I helped a future reader out....