Wednesday Summaries

As mentioned before, I am a sucker for books. It’s actually quite scary to look at the list of books I went through since I last forced myself to review them. Alas.

Let’s do this thing.

There’s no particular order to these short reviews. I own most of these books either on paper or as audio book. As I do believe in book sharing: Drop me a line if you want one of them!

1. Medea:Stimmen (Wolf) ***
   Medea was a random pick-up at Pêle-Mêle, but boy, it’s intense. Greek tragedy is seriously screwed up: Don’t try to look for right or wrong, just embrace the dilemma! Also: Great material for my next Toastmasters project. Here’s the practice podcast.
2. The Creative Habit (Tharp) ***
   Recommended by the likes of Mr Mann and Ms Wainwright, this seems to be a classic for creative professionals. The dancer in me thoroughly enjoyed the stories from Tharp’s choreography practice. The take-away: Creativity is hard work. Build a practice. Keep at it. Challenge yourself. Rinse, repeat.
3. Netherland (O’Neill) ***
   I don’t know who told me that this was a favourite amongs Obamaites, but there you go: A post 9/11 novel about New York, Cricket and transatlantic relationships. A pleasant read in the style of Corrections, but in the end not too impressive.
4. The Science of Enlightenment (Young) ****
   Meditation for Mathmaticians? Well, there you go. An intensive listen with its 17 hours, from the benefits of meditation and an introduction to deeper questions of identity and Buddhism. I wasn’t ready yet to follow all exercises, but have to credit Young for giving me the foundation for my meditation practice.
5. The Age of Wonder (Holmes) *****
   Wow, definitely the read of the year! An intense account of a time where science and poetry evolved in deep conversation: Foreign cultures, the heavens, chemistry. Told along the lines of the British Royal Society and interspersed with poetry and literature. Awesome.
6. Magazine Editing (Morrish) **
   Meh. Bought this book to learn about how to build a new magazine for a membership organisation. Instead of the step-by-step approach I was hoping for, I got an in-depth account of the role of the editor for existing magazines, always assuming that there’s still a publisher to take the remaining decisions and a large team to do the bulk of the work. In the end, I’ll need to solve my riddles myself.
7. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrel (Clarke) **
   Long. Praised as a mix of Jane Austen’s sense for personalities and details and JK Rowling’s magical imagination, I was hoping for a narrative that would carry me through 1.000 pages of french. I managed to get to the end, but it took half a century. At least.
8. Don’t think of an elephant (Lakoff) ***
   An essential introduction to framing political issues, how to identify them and how to employ them. For me an excellent backgrounder to the framing research we commissioned on ecolabels this year.
9. Brain rules (Medina) ***
   I vaguely remember, there were 12 rules. One of them was exercise. But I fear that my brain hasn’t quite absorbed these rules yet, otherwise it would function better. Still, a strong reminder to take good care of your brain.
10. Wishcraft (Sher) *****
    If I hadn’t already awarded the title read of the year, then this would be it. This book kicks *ss. What to expect: A solid goal-setting process followed by an unconventional approach to getting there, including, yes, asking for help and making it fun. A great start into the second half of 2009. And the best: You can download the pdf of the book for free.
11. Made to Stick (Heath) ****
    Yep, messaging and storytelling. One of my favourite topics. I remember a number of aha moments when listening to the book (and should really buy the paper version to be able to look them up once more).
12. Ecological Intelligence (Goleman) **
    Yes, we need to solve the ecological crisis. Yes, we can do it. And yes, consumer behaviour, transparency and corporate social responsibility will play a big role. I appreciate that Goleman took up the topic; however, I’m not sure how much he contributed to the overall debate.
13. Difficult Conversations (Stone, Patton, Heen) ***
    Read in conjunction with a number of difficult conversations I had to have. The book introduces a number of “key conversations” and proposes strategies to deal with them. A really useful framework. Now, if I could only remember to use them when things get difficult…
14. In Defense of Food (Pollan) ***
    Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants. That’s the premise of the book, and Pollan then goes into detail: How eating became a pseudo-science and how thinking about nutrient content actually harms our eating habits. Good to read, but not essential.
15. Nonviolent Communication (Rosenberg) *****
    However, this one is. Again: A comparatively easy concept explained in detail, but it takes a moment to sink in. Summary: When you _____, I feel ______. I need to _____. Can you _____?
16. Strengthsfinder 2.0 (Rath) ***
    A personality test disguised as a book. I wrote about it earlier. It’s a game, it’s fun, you learn about yourself. What more could one ask for?
17. What I talk about when I talk about running (Murakami) ***
    Creativity, contemplation, exercise: Topics that have been with me this year. If my favourite author writes about the topic, I have to read it. However: I was disappointed by this account. It felt too much like a journal to overcome his own runner’s crisis.
18. Mensch ohne Hund (Nesser) ***
    Swedish thrillers. Must be read. On the train or on the sofa, but definitely in hours on end. The culprit is known too early in this one, though.
19. The necessary revolution (Senge) ***
    What is the role of collaborative creation in overcoming today’s sustainability challenges? After listening to the audiobook, I wanted to buy the paper version for reference. Also: A great description of one of my favourite projects, the Sustainable Food Lab.
20. A Theory of Everything (Wilber) *
    Don’t know what to think about this one. Didn’t like? Didn’t understand? That the book included too many obvious statements, too badly written? We’ll see.
21. Child 44 (Smith) ***
    Great book to read through the night. The story of a mass-murderer in post-Stalin Russia, when crime was supposed to be non-existent. Thrilling.
22. Don’t make me think! (Krug) ***
    An introduction to website usability. Originally written in 200X, and yes, the web has moved on since then. For good. Still: Plenty of good advice there, some of it common sense, other parts less so.
23. The Secret (Byrne) *
    Do I believe in the law of attraction? No. Do I have friends who do? Yes. I wanted to know what the hype was all about, and what the heck, I had spare audible credits. I do believe in the power of intention, however.
24. Whoever tells the best story wins (Simmons) ***
    This person is definitely not me. Storytelling? Uargh, difficult. Especially about myself. Nevertheless: Something I want to work on. Didn’t learn the greatest deal from the book, but then, you don’t learn storytelling by reading, do you?

Any books you can recommend?