Books to Read – October 2011

It’s been an unusually good month on the book front. I hope you enjoy October’s selections as much as I have.

This book, in my opinion, is a must-read for anyone in business today. I have talked in this blog about the Lean Startup methodology and my disposition toward approaching all problems looking through the lens of the practices put forth in this book and it’s predecessor, The Four Steps to the Epiphany. Reis does a masterful job in this book of laying out the case for applying the lean principles that made Toyota the standard for manufacturing to any line of business. The anecdotes from the companies Reis explores, as well as his own personal successes and failures are so compelling that you will wonder why you have not been following these practices all along. The lessons taught in the book about eliminating waste and guesswork from the startup of a company are invaluable and things that you can start right away, regardless of whether you are working for someone else or yourself. Get this book. You will get something from it.

The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille

Why do Americans buy the kinds of cars we do? Why are we so obsessed with weight while at the same time being the most obese society on earth? Clotaire Rapaille takes a really interesting look at the underlying reasons why we behave the way we do, and why it must be understood if you are going to market to Americans. I found out about this book while reading The Accidental Creative and have found some very insightful perspectives. Chief among them is that America is an adolescent country, and this manifests itself in our behaviors and habits. I have never been one to study the psychology behind movements or people, but I very much enjoyed this book and the stories in it.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

My brother recommended this book to me last month. I have avoided Donald Miller books up to this point because of other people telling me they didn’t like him at all. I have to say that for the first five or six chapters of this book, I hated it. The writing style is not one that I generally like. It’s a bit wandering and tedious. However, by about the seventh or eighth chapter, I started to get hooked. The premise of the book is that your life is telling a story. Do you want it to be a story about buying Volvos and going to the supermarket, or about doing something epic. While certainly cheesy at times, there were some stories in here that will make you think about how you are spending your most valuable commodity: time. I plan to re-read this in October. I do this a lot. I read through a book, then come back to it and take notes and sit with it a bit.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

The final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay picks up with the heroine Katniss Everdeen becoming the spokesperson for the rebellion against President Snow after being rescued from the Hunger Games. While I must say that this book has been my least favorite of the trilogy, it’s still a must-read to finish off the story. It’s a bit slow and repetitive at times. My wife told me I gave away a critical part of the story in last month’s post, so I won’t say much more about this book. It’s a good one.

The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli

Set in the Vietnam war, this is the story of two photo-journalists living in and around Saigon in the throws of the war. Sam Darrow is a Pulitzer Prize-winning veteran who has a love-hate relationship with covering wars. Helen Adams is a fresh new reporter who runs into Darrow early on in her career in Vietnam. Like Darrow with war, Helen can’t leave or stay with Sam Darrow. Helen’s personal journey is one of shock and revulsion to the war, followed by the inevitable jading as she falls in love with Vietnam. The story-telling and imagery in this book are amazing. I really enjoyed learning about the country of Vietnam and the culture. I am not sure how much research Soli did for this book, but it had to have been extensive. The attention to detail allows you to see everything as if you were there. I read the intro for the book and thought I would hate it, but ended up really enjoying it as a diversionary read.

So, there you have it. A great set of books this month, and something for everyone. Happy reading, and please let me know what you think of the books on the list.

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