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March 21, 2007
Books I Read In My Spare Time
New Total: 117
Travels with a Tangerine
by Tim Mackintosh-Smith
Publishers Weekly: The author, a British Arabist who has lived in Yemen for the past 17 years, traces the footsteps of an extraordinary, but relatively unknown, medieval explorer. Ibn Battutah (1304-1368) grew up in Tangier within an educated family. At the age of 21, he embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca and spent the next 30 years traveling throughout the Middle and Far East. When Mackintosh-Smith happened on a translated version of Battutah's travels, he was hooked and decided to make the same journey. This volume covers only the first part of Battutah's path, from Tangier to Constantinople, but has enough excitement, exotic details and information to satisfy the most exacting armchair traveler.
My Review: This book took me more than 2 months to read--not because it wasn't "good" but rather because it had no plot. The author has an engaging way of telling a story, but ultimately I just didn't see why I should care about this strange man from Tangier. And I was irritiated that it took me 50 pages to figure out that there would be no fruit involved.
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The Book of Hard Choices: How to Make the Right Decisions at Work and Keep Your Self-Respect
by James A. Autry and Peter Roy
Book Description: “There are a thousand acts of duplicity and dishonesty every day, some large and some small, some of which undoubtedly take place in your workplace. The question for all of us is, ‘Are we going to resist or just play along the path of least resistance?’ The first hard choice a person of integrity must make is to choose to live, both personally and professionally, in a way that embodies integrity. The power of this book comes from the real-life, in-the-workplace experiences that these executives have been so generously willing to share. None had easy choices, but that’s the point: Integrity is not about easy choices, it’s about the courage to make the right choices.”
My Review: I read this book in a single sitting, and thought it captured exactly the types of decisions that we're forced to make everyday--from the junior employee all the way to CEO. It made me think a lot about my past workplace Alamos, when I decided to throw it all on the line for what I thought was "right". And it made me realize just how few people I have worked for that really took the hard choice when it came right down to it.
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Creating the Accountable Organization: A Practical Guide to Improve Performace Execution
by Mark Samuel
An Amazon Review: Samuel's thesis is that an accountable organization is one in which "people at all levels of [it] can be counted on to keep their commitments and agreements." That is to say, an accountable organization is a human community in which each member demonstrates a high level of personal accountability. Samuel wrote this book for leaders and change agents at any level within any organization "who are ready to move to the next level of excellence and success."
My Review:Eh, this book seemed like it would be more suited to an inspirational speaker's schtick tthan a full length book. I walked away feeling like the ideas were good in theory, but what we really need is to fire the bottom 1/3 of every organization and encourage them to move out of our communities since they are draining us of productivity.
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Idea Mapping: How to Access Your Hidden Brain Power, Learn Faster, Remember More, and Achieve Success in Business
by Jamie Nast
From the Book Jacket: "This is a book that everyone should read. It's an interactive, thought-provoking book about the brain and learning that will expand your mind. Nast, an accomplished and well-respected instructor, has guided me into a new realm of learning experiences and possibilities. I'm sure you will feel the same upon reading her insightful work."
My Review: This book was written in the most annoying conversational tone I have ever encountered. Approximately half of the sentences ended in exclamation points! Because the material was so revolutionary!! So exciting!!! Can't you just tell how amazing this tool will be?!?! Eh--I'm a linear thinker, and always will be.
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The Historian
by Elizabeth Kostova
Booklist: Readers who think the legend of Dracula has become a trite staple of schlock fiction will find this atmospheric page-turner by first-time author Kostova a bloodthirsty delight. A teenage American girl, living in1972 Amsterdam, comes across an ancient book in the library of her widower father, a former historian and now a diplomat. The book, blank save for an illustration of a dragon and the word Drakulya, contains a cache of faded letters all addressed to "My dear and unfortunate reader." Thus begins a search for the truth behind the myth of Dracula, a search that crosses continents as well as generations. Told through narratives, flashbacks, and letters, the plot unfolds at a rapid pace but never gives away too many clues at once. The cast of colorful characters even includes a creepy librarian who takes on the Renfield role of crazed vampire groupie. Both literary and scary, this one is guaranteed to keep one reading into the wee hours--preferably sitting in a brightly lit room and wearing a garlic necklace. Highly recommended for all collections and just in time to enthrall the summer-vacation crowd.
My Review: This was a book club selection, and I adored every scary minute of it. I read most of it after midnights when the Big Idea was done, and it hit just the right amount of creepy and "not-too-creepy" to allow me to sleep soundly and wake enthusiastic for more.
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Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov
An Amazon Review: If Satan took up literature, he'd write like Nabokov...As I grow old and older, I ask myself all too often why I bother? Haven't I eaten enough toast? Haven't I bent over to tie enough shoes? Then I come across an author like Vladimir Nabokov and a book like *Lolita,* an author and a book that, although Ive read thousands and thousands of books in my time, I somehow never read before. Maybe it was his name, or fame, or the fact that a movie was made of his most famous novel. There are books that you feel you've already read, even though you havent, just because they are so famous, or infamous. This is one of those books. But if you havent read it and think you know what its all about, youre wrong, utterly and 100% wrong, and youre missing one of the great joys of a reader's life: the prose of Vladimir Nabokov.
My Review: This Amazon reviewer hits the nail on the head. Our book club realized that we all knew the story of Lolita, but none of us had read it. The story turned my stomach even as I was delighted by the way Nabokov puts together thoughts. I thought the most telling part was the afterward where he notes that the book is a love story of the English language. On the other hand, I'm happy to never have to read it again...pedophelia is even more gross coming from a 1st person perspective.
