Books I'm Reading

Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. I'm biased here, but Malcom Gladwell is my favorite author. He could write poetry on toilet paper and I would buy it. His previous two books The Tipping Point and Blink were homeruns. I might like this one best of all. The premise is on what makes people successful. He takes the age old arguement of nature vs. nurture and turns it on its head. It's not just the obvious...that both make exceptional people...but how exceptionally successful people got some amazing breaks, and how societies can learn from what breaks can be orchestrated. I like books that make me think, and this one did that.

Me, Myself, and Bob by Phil Vischer. First, he's my age (plus or minus a few months) so his entire upbringing brings tremendous nostalgia. Second, he's a creative type, raised in Christian circles who became an exceptional success in his field...if you've read previous posts, you can see this has been an angst issue for me lately. Probably the neatest thing is that he gives credit to MTV for inpiring him. He watched it a lot. And as a churchy-youthgroup-kid he felt moral tension watching Madonna gyrate to "Like a Virgin" in the 80's. Rather than spray paint her garage door with "repent" (his words), he said I need to do something...so he made Veggie Tail videos. That's just cool...and he was 15 when he got the calling. Oh, and the financial lessons of this book are priceless.

Czar by Ted Bell. I'm a sucker for Bourne-like male-oriented entertainment...and that's what Ted Bell gives you. A mindless, action packed, respite from reality...for me, it filled the void over the holidays until 24 started up again. And, it was a great read.

That's it.