The clock is ticking, and there are about two weeks left until the end of the year—or in other words, two more book recommendations before the end of 2024. This week, I am bringing something completely new. It’s a new experience for me personally because, for the first time ever, I’ve read a book on a subject that I can’t say I was very interested in before. That’s not to say the topic isn’t interesting or that I don’t care about it, but I never saw myself going out of my way to purchase a book about it.

As we get closer to the end of the year, people usually start reflecting—or at least I do—on what they’ve accomplished over the past 12 months. I start remembering my sometimes long-forgotten New Year’s resolutions from January 1st and begin piecing together a retrospective of the year. Was it a productive year? Did I accomplish the things I set out to do? Did unexpected events take place? How close did I stick to the original plans?

Last week I recommended the book "Bewilderment" by Richard Powers, and if you saw it, you'll remember that I was actually halfway through it when I recommended it and that I had promised to come back and tell you a little more about the book. Well, it turns out that right after I posted that recommendation, I went on a 9-days vacation. I took some paid time off from work, and since we weren’t traveling anywhere, I took advantage of the downtime to get ready for Thanksgiving with my family—and to finish that book.

Hey everyone, this is Og Maciel with another book recommendation for Bellwether. Last week, I had the opportunity to give a presentation on career development for the team of an old teammate, who is now a software engineering manager himself. His team had just grown, and he happened to be doing what’s called a face-to-face meeting here in Raleigh. He asked me if I would come over to talk about career development.

Hey everyone, this is Og Maciel from Bellwether, and today I have a very different experience for you. I’m going to share a book that is peculiar because I’m still in the process of reading it. The book is called Hamilton: The Revolution and it contains all the lyrics and behind-the-scenes details of the play Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Even though I haven’t completed the book, I am very familiar with the content from watching the play multiple times on TV.

Hey everyone, this is Og Maciel with another book recommendation from Bellwether. Your weekly book recommendation is delivered every Tuesday—no miss, no fail! This week, I’m excited to recommend a book that falls into the self-help category, but don’t roll your eyes just yet! I know the term "self-help" can make people cringe, but trust me, this book is different. By the time you finish hearing what I have to say—and if you give it a chance—I think you’ll agree it’s worth your time.

Hey everyone, this is Og Maciel with another book recommendation. This week, I have something completely different from everything I've recommended so far. Let me start by telling a little story. Back in 2019, I published my very first book titled "Software Quality Engineering: Tales from the Trenches". At that time, I was still working as a Software Quality Engineer for my current employer. I wanted to write a book that captured my journey of how I transitioned from being a Software Engineer to becoming a Software Quality Engineer after spending so many years as a Developer.

When I was 12 years old, my parents bought me a TK90X, a Brazilian ZX Spectrum 8-bit home computer clone that came with a thick manual teaching the syntax for the BASIC language with sample programs. I remember that when they gave me the computer as a gift, we were in the process of traveling for a competition, my dad at the time being a professional supercross competitor. The day I got the computer, once I overcame the magical thrill of knowing that I had my own personal computer that I could just plug into the back of a TV and start playing with, I immediately proceeded to turn it on and was welcomed by a very anticlimactic black …