Five Books We’re Reading

Here’s a couple books we’ve been enjoying, and some quick thoughts about them.

The Elements of Style

I adore this book, from the lovely red hardcover, to the full-color artwork to the text itself. It’s as good a read as it ever was, and much more enjoyable this time around. A great way to improve your online communication, no matter what your job is.

Naked Conversations

This is a good book but somewhat long-winded. I found myself skimming a lot. However, the authors have some great suggestions about blogs, and certainly know their topic. If you run a business, and you’re thinking about starting a blog, this would be a great book for you to read.

The Long Tail

This book was much-anticipated, written by the editor of Wired magazine, so I had to pick it up. It’s especially helpful if you’re not familiar with the concepts, because they’re important to understand in terms of business in the 21st Century. If you are familiar with the long tail idea already, it’s still pretty good to read, because he goes into a lot more detail, and explores a lot more ideas than I expected.

The Now Habit

Ironically, this has been on my shelf for a year and I haven’t gotten around to reading it. I’m glad I finally did. Unlike other books in a similar space, such as Getting Things Done, this book doesn’t lay out a very specific plan per se, but spends more time exploring the reasons that we procrastinate, and general ideas for conquering that procrastination.

Small is the New Big

Seth Godin is always an enjoyable author, but this reads like a bunch of blog entries. Which, basically, it is. That’s okay, though, because I’d much rather read this stuff in print than on a computer screen, and the quality is fairly consistent.

Raymond Brigleb

Creative Director, dreamer, partner, father, musician, photographer. Has been known to ride the rails. Pulls one heck of a shot.