Book Reviews
Books are expensive, not just
in terms of money, but also in the time it takes to read them. I try to find
out as much as I can about a book before spending money buying it and time
reading it. Amazon.com is my preferred online source for books for a lot of
reasons, not the least of which is their used book option. It's a heck
of a lot cheaper than buying new, even with the additional cost of shipping.
Here are a
few books I recommend to people who have a natural curiosity about the
world, especially as it applies to jobs, work, life and happiness. I'll add
more titles from time to time, and I'd welcome your thoughts, suggestions
and contributions.
|
Title |
Author |
Vics' Thoughts |
|
A Brief History of
Time
|
Hawking, Stephen |
A history of the
universe for people who aren't physicists, by the reigning master of
astrophysics. This book will make you think about things you never
thought you'd think about, and you'll have a good time thinking
them! |
|
A Bright Shining Lie
|
Sheehan, Neil |
A history of Vietnam
from the perspective of one of the first soldiers to fight there who
also happened to be one of the last to die there. Reads like a
novel that you just can't put down, thanks to the talents of Neil
Sheehan. Iraq is a repeat of Viet Nam in many ways. Read
this book to see how it happened 40 years ago and how it changed
America forever. |
|
A New Vision for
Human Resources
|
Fitz-enz, Jac |
Human Resources is on
the ropes these days for a lot of different reasons. If you're
looking for ideas about reforming your organizations HR department
this is a great place to start. Don't be surprised you read this
book and conclude that traditional HR departments are doomed and the
future is in outsourced HR firms. HR startups, anyone? |
|
A Users Guide to
the Brain
|
Ratey, John |
Essential reading for
anyone who wants to understand how and why they think the way they
do. Easy to read if you can get past the names of all the brain
parts. The schematics in Mapping the Mind were a godsend. Be sure
to check out Shadow Syndromes by the same author. |
|
America: What Went
Wrong?
|
Steele, James and Bartlett, Donald |
Anybody who lived
through the national economic restructuring of the 1980's needs to
read this book. It describes the human cost of the transition from
a manufacturing economy to a service economy. If you want to
know where we are it's a good idea to find out how we got here. The decline of the US
standard of living starts here. |
|