Non-Fiction | Book Crazy

Posts filed under ‘Non-Fiction’

Book Crazy Updates

I am so behind on my reading!

Olive Kitteridge is a fantastic read but I’ve been so busy (and sleepy) that I only get to read a few pages, maybe half a chapter every night. I’ll reserve most of my thoughts on Olive Kitteridge for my book review but this much I can say, this novel made me feel all of these emotions: sad, giddy, hopeful, nervous, inspired, and other feelings I can’t really describe. I’m down to my last 104 pages, and I’m excited to get immersed into the lives of the people around Olive Kitteridge.

I’m also reading The New Rules of Marketing and PR, which I borrowed from our office library. It’s the coolest thing! I get to borrow a book for a month (usually you can just take it home for three days); all I need to do is submit a short write-up on the book and what I thought about it.

These are the books that I plan to read next:

February 8, 2010 at 6:40 pm 4 comments

Book Review: Outliers

Why are some people astoundingly successful and why are some struggling? Does a high IQ guarantee success? Why are Asians good in math? These are just some of the questions that Outliers answer.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because I’m the type of person who loves finding out why things are the way they are. Malcolm Gladwell is a brilliant observer and the patterns that he observes or learns from other people’s studies are just so interesting. The things I picked up from this book are so interesting that I keep catching myself telling people about them. That’s how interesting they are.

In a nutshell and without giving away too much, the book tells us how intelligence and talent and even hard work are just a small factors in the equation of success. Many factors work together to bring success. It doesn’t mean intelligence, talent, or hard work are not important. Because they are essential, if you observe the profiles of the highly successful people. But factors you would not have thought were important actually come to play in a big way in the path to success of each of the featured individuals. Things like culture, birth year, your country’s history.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

“When we understand how much culture and history and the world outside the individual matter to professional success–then we don’t have to throw up our hands in despair at an airline where pilots crash planes into sides of mountains. We have a way to make successes out of the unsuccessful.” – Page 220

“Outliers are those who have been given opportunities–and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them” – Page 267

“We sometimes think of being good at mathematics as an innate ability. You either have “it” or you don’t. But to Schoenfeld, it’s not so much ability as attitude. You master mathematics if you are willing to try.” – Page 246

Rating: 5/5

January 12, 2010 at 11:27 pm 4 comments

A Book a Week for 2010

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to read more. The plan is to read a book a week, which means by the end of 2010, I should be able to have read 52 books.

I’m off to a good start, I think, as I have been able to finish two books already and it’s only January 11. Hoping I can keep it up until the end of the year.

Do suggest books for me to read by commenting on this post. 🙂

Here I will be keeping a log of my 52 books for 2010:

1. Twenties Girl – Sophie Kinsella
2. Outliers – Malcolm Gladwell
3. Olive Kitteridge – Elizabeth Strout
4.The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott
5. Watermelon by Marian Keyes
6. S.H.A.P.E. by Erik Rees
7. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
8. Swapping Lives by Jane Green
9. A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
11. The Hole in our Gospel by Richard Stearns
12. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell