Books
Below are some thoughts on the books I've been reading since about the start of 2001, and a place for me to remember the books I'm planning to read.
Whirlwind, James Clavell December 2001
Airframe, Michael Crichton July 2001
Apaches, Lorenzo Carcaterra Dec 2000
The Apocalypse Watch, Robert Ludlum Feb 2001
Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer August 2001
As The Crow Flies, Jeffrey Archer November 2001
Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding June 2001
The Cashflow Quadrant, Robert Kiyosaki August 2001
Congo, Michael Chrichton November 2001
Contact, Carl Sagan Jan 2001
Cosmos, Carl Sagan Jan 2001
The Dogs of War, Frederick Forsyth September 2001
The E-Myth Revisited, Michael Gerber September 2001
Extreme Programming in Practice, James W Newkirk, Robert C Martin July 2001
Good Service Is Good Business: 7 Simple Strategies for Success, Catherine DeVyre Jan 2001
Harry Potter and the Sourcerer's Stone, J. K. Rowling Apr 2001
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, J. K. Rowling Apr 2001
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, J. K. Rowling May 2001
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J. K. Rowling May 2001
How to Become CEO, Jeffrey J Fox June 2001
How to Get New Business in 90 Days and Keep it Forever, Wendy Evans Jan 2001
How to Sell Stacks and Stacks of Anything, Doug Malouf June 2001
Jack and Jill, James Patterson May 2001
Kane and Abel, Jeffrey Archer August 2001
Lord of the Flies, William Golding Feb 2001
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur S Golden June 2001
The Nemesis File, Paul Bruce July 2001
No B.S. Sales Success, Dan Kennedy June 2001
The Odessa File, Frederick Forsyth Jan 2001
The Princess Bride, William Goldman Mar 2001
Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki August 2001
The Seventh Scroll, Wilbur Smith Apr 2001
Shall We Tell the President?, Jeffrey Archer August 2001
Shattered, Dick Francis November 2001
The Simple Truth, David Baldacci June 2001
Solo, Jack Higgins Apr 2001
The Testament, John Grisham Apr 2001
Timeline, Michael Crichton July 2001
Who Moved My Cheese?, Spencer Johnson Feb 2001
The X10 Memplex, Michael Hewitt-Gleeson Jan 2001
background
I've always enjoyed reading, but usually struggled to keep a flow on from book to book. Since about August 2000 though I've been reading quite regularly. I didn't realize quite how much I'd come to depend on it until a couple of weeks ago when I ran out of books and suddenly I was up until all hours of the night watching Letterman and various late night crap.
links
Amazon - the best place for book reviews and reading ideas
recent
Protect and Defend, Richard North Patterson December 2001
The first time I've even come close to questioning my pro-choice opinion on abortion. An
interesting and challenging read that I couldn't put down.
Particularly interesting reading about an Islamic revolution in the context of things currently unfolding
in Afganistan. Hearing about the chaos of change and the systems of goverment was interesting, the
insight into what ordinary people go through fascinating, and realizing why the US government might give
guns to Iran in a situation like that was helpful.
statistics
41 books in 2001 at a rate of 3.42 per month (12 months).
thoughts
Absolute Power, David Baldacci August 2001
Another great plot and story from this writer.
Captivating from the first page and lots to learn.
Sleepers was great but I had to wade through this disjointed, unlikable novel. I only finished it because I had nothing better to read.
I waded through the first 200 pages and then gave up. I don't like to give up on a book, but when it
reaches a point where I'd rather watch late night TV than read it is time to move on.
Brings fairies to life, but you might not like them...
Another great book from Archer that I devoured on Guatemalan "chicken buses".
Light with a few things that made me laugh out loud.
Among other things, it gave me great insight into the difference between being self-employed and owning a business.
Absorbing and fascinating.
Great science fiction, but I also loved the tie in with religious issues.
Fascinating, the one concept that truly blew my mind is the vastness of time on a cosmic scale.
I don't think I've ever read a book by Frederick Forsyth that I didn't love. The detail is incredible and fascinating.
I read this book soon after starting my business 3 years ago. I wish that I'd understood it then. Reading it again now I can see so many of our growth problems outlined perfectly. I can't recommend it highly enough.
They make some interesting observations but I am not sure that it warrants a full book.
Maybe I just wasn't ready to learn about customer service yet. Most of the ideas in this book seem
to be more relevant to larger corporations or consumer oriented companies. Using "case studies"
solicited and written by organizations themselves seems a bit lazy to me.
When I see kids who never read books engrossed in a huge novel I had to try it. Great characters and
fantastic ideas.
I love these books... 5 minutes after finishing this I went out to buy the 3rd one.
They just keep getting better...
Now I just have to wait for the 5th one along with everyone else.
As with all books like this you have to take it with a grain of salt. I believe that everyone
has their own work and leadership style. By presenting some rules / formulae this book might
help you to review your own style.
Lots of great marketing ideas. Made a tech guy like me feel that sales / marketing are not beyond
my comprehension.
I like the way this book spends some time talking about personal motivation. This is
definitely one of the big challenges for sales and marketing people IMO.
Good story, but a very weird writing style.
So good that I read this 500+ page book in less than 48 hours.
I'm glad I could skim it since I wasn't reading it as a school text.
Very interesting, believable and easy to read.
Horrible. You know it is true but don't want to believe it.
A good guide to sales as opposed to marketing. I keep referring back to this book
for ideas and approaches.
I had no idea that one of the key ideas behind the holocaust was to make it a profitable business. This book also helped me
to better understand the whole concept of collective guilt associated with this terrible part of human history.
I loved the movie and the book was just even more clever.
Like most books of this type, it has one key idea. Build wealth through investments that have positive cashflow. Great if you take the time to reflect on that key idea.
The characters are a little simple at times but I think I've found another author to explore.
Enjoyable from the first moment.
I own nearly all the Dick Francis books and love them. But this one was slow to start, felt awkward and really wasn't anywhere near as good as the others.
I love books like this, learn lots while enjoying the story.
Readable, but lucky it was short.
Great first chapter that carries you through an otherwise fairly ordinary book.
The modern day bits were interesting, the parts from the past were not. I felt there were holes in his plot this time.
Focus on the story and draw your own conclusions. The introduction and discussion seem
like a bit of a sales pitch for the book itself.
I'm not sure about the times everything by 10 philosophy spouted in this book. But I did pick up on another
key idea, viewing sales as a dialogue with potential customers rather than as doing everything possible to
"close the sale".