- Powerful lessons from leaders who endured setbacks and recaptured success on their terms – Authors: Andrea Redmond, Patricia Crisafullu Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… ten business leaders who have endured career setbacks … then reassessed and moved ahead with new purpose. …’ Comments: This book is a nice change from quite a few of the [...]

- A leadership Fable – Author: Patrick Lencioni Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… Refreshingly original and utterly compelling, Andrew’s story (written to be read in one sitting) will be enjoyed, remembered, and reread …’ Comments: A quick and informative book worth reading. One of the few times I will search for more books by [...]

- The Role of the COO – Authors: Nathan Bennett and Stephen A. Miles Rating: 3 /5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… provides a new understanding of the person who is in the office next door to the corner office. …’ Comments: ‘… The book is informative, but contains too many interviews. Since the interviews are planned [...]

- The Hidden Pattern Behind Everything We Do – Author: Albert-László Barabási Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… We work and fight and play in short flourishes of activity followed by next to nothing. …’ Comments: This book reads like three good mini-books combined, but maybe a bit light on the main ‘Bursts’ topic detail. [...]

how today’s internet is killing or culture Author: Andrew Keen Rating: 3/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘…our professional newspapers, magazines, music, and movies – are being overtaken by an avalanche or amateur, user-generated free content. …’ Comments: The book contains a number of good points about amateur online contributors driving down the quality of content online… [...]

- 20 Humorous Tales that get to the heart of Great Customer Service – Author: Richard S. Gallagher Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… Gallagher’s tales deliver humor and business savy in perfect balance …’ Comments: It took me a couple chapters to get used to the animal run businesses, but after that the book [...]

- Our Population Myopia – Author: Garrett Hardin Rating: 3/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… one of our leading thinkers on problems ov human overpopulation, here assails the recklessness and basic ecological ignorance of economists and others who champion the idea of unbounded growth. …’ Comments: It is nice to read some sort of book on [...]

The way we will be 50 years from today – 60 of the world’s greatest minds share their vision of the next half century – Edited by: Mike Wallace Rating: 3/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… collected answers from sixty of the most brilliant thinkers in all fields of human endeavor, including technology, medicine, the physical [...]

- Toward a general theory of the paranormal – Author: Lawrence LeShan Rating: 3/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘…the world views of mediums, mystics, and modern physicists were almost identical. …’ Comments:The book’s style follows a professor’s lecture tone from the 1960′s. So it definitely takes patience through a few chapters to get used to being [...]

- Discovering the Real Meaning of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born – Author: Robert Schwartz Rating: 5/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… Could it be that you chose your life’s circumstances, relationships, and events? …’ Comments: Well presented material throughout. I will definitely search for more books by Robert Schwartz. In some ways [...]

- a new perspective – Author: J. H. Brennan Rating: 3/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… Is time travel really possible? Temporal anomalies are scattered throughout the world-things that could not possibly belong to the time period in which they were found. Are these anomalies the litter left by time travelers from our future? …’ Comments: [...]

- envisioning the next fifty years – Author: Bruce Sterling Rating: 3/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… describes the world our children might be living in over the next fifty years and what to expect next in culture, geopolitics, and business. …’ Comments: This book was published in 2002, so to read a book predicting the [...]

- our next billion years – Author: Michael Hanlon Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… The world of 10,000 years hence, let alone 100,000,000 years hence, will be strange and almost unrecognizable. But it will still be our world. …’ Comments: Eternity is a great futurist book. It is hard to find any good futurist books. [...]

- Espionage in Corporate America – Author: Adam L. Penenberg and Marc Barry Rating: 3/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘…dramatically brings to life one of America’s fastest growing industries: corporate intelligence. …’ Comments: This book is about ten years old now, so it might be interesting to read updates on how things are going today. The [...]

- The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age – Author: Viktor Mayer-Schronberger Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… describes the dangers of everlasting digital memory … an eye-opening book that will help us remember how to forget in the digital age. …’ Comments: Good book, relevant topic, and bonus points for using an unusual, [...]

Author: Michael J. A. Howe Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… suggests that genius is not a mysterious and mystical gift but the product of a combination of environment, personality, and sheer hard work. …’ Comments: Even though the author brushes off counter arguments or options too easily, his own comments  and explanations for genius [...]

- A fable about inspiring creativity and bringing new ideas to life – Author: Jonathon A. Flaum Illustrations: Raina Bays Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… presents this beautiful and unique fable as a spring board to unlocking creativity and innovation in the workplace. …’ Comments: A well presented, concise, intelligent book in business management. [...]

Author: Sylvia Browne Rating: 3/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… Sylvia augments current scientific research to provide us with detailed explanations about seemingly inexplicable concepts. …’ Comments: I usually enjoy Sylvia Browne books, but this one is just too short and choppy. It reads like tiny blog postings covering random interesting topics. Maybe she could have [...]

- and other Zen Koans to bring you joy – Author: John Tarrants Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… This book deftly retells fourteen traditional koans, which are partly paradoxical questions dangerous to your beliefs and partly treasure boxes of ancient wisdom. …’ Comments: Great book. Koans, commentaries, and side stories are all presented very [...]

- Leading your Smartest, Most Creative People – Rating: 3/5 Author: Robert Goffee Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… highly talented, extraordinary thinkers who need their organizations’ commercial and financial resources to fulfill their potential …’ Comments: The book has a few good paragraphs and ideas scattered throughout, but it’s not consistently good. To lead Clevers you should [...]

- 101 language choices that will get you clobbered by the grammar snobs – even if you’re right – Author: June Casagrande Rating: 4/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… observations and anecdotes to demonstrate that the grammar snobs are nothing to fear …’ Comments: I have skimmed a few grammar books, but this is the first [...]

- human purpose and the field of the future – Author: Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworski, Betty Sue Flowers Rating: 3/5 Description Summary: ‘… leading-edge thinking, first-hand knowledge, and ancient wisdom to explore the living fields that connect us to one another, to life more broadly, and, potentially, to what is seeking to [...]

- The Cosmic Conception – Author: H. Spencer Lewis, Ph.D., F.R.C. Rating: 3/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘…Here is the classic book that explains all about the soul and its cycles of reincarnation, …’ Comments: My rating for this book started with a pro-biased 5/5 because the author covers a cool topic, but slowly dropped points [...]

- Igniting the Creative Fire That Lives Within Us All – Created By: Lyn Heward Written By: John U. Bacon Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘…invites readers inside the world and ideas of Cirque du Soleil through the story of an ordinary man searching for meaning in his work and life. …’ Comments: Great book. [...]

Author: Bart Kosko Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… undertakes an equally groundbreaking and provocative exploration of noise in all its forms… ‘ Comments: An interesting book to read, but not an easy read. Quite a few pages explained sound noise graphs in detail with various Gaussian bell shapes, and I probably will never require [...]

Author: Michael Fullan Rating: 4/5 Back cover review: ‘Offers valuable insights into the dynamics of change… full of illustrative case examples, exercises, and resources. ‘ Comments: This book contains great examples on change in education institutions, but loses a rating point by constantly over-stretching this material to the corporate workplace. The book was edited to [...]

- Digital Media and Society Series – Author: Alexander Halavais Rating: 4/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… address crucial questions such as: How have search engines changed the way we organize our thoughts about the world, and how we work? To what extent does political control of search engines affect how they are used, misused, and [...]

- and what you can learn from their mistakes – Author: Sydney Finkelstein Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… conducted hundreds of interviews with insiders at top companies that have risen and fallen … to expose the root of these failures and to gain insight into the people behind them. …’ Comments: The book has [...]

- An Alchemist Novel – The Elixir of Eternal Life – Rating: 5/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… The Elixir of Life is the secret of immortality, a magic serum that grants eternal life and supernatural abilities… ‘ Comments: Great book. I am usually reading two or three books at any given time, but this one [...]

Author: Damian Hughes – Inspirational lessons from the world’s great leaders- Rating: 5/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… captures the principles of success used by modern-day legends… ‘ Comments: Now most documents on the web have templates available to help writers. This book completes all the requirements to be a great leadership book; concise, accurate, nice [...]

Authors: Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval – Why Little Things Make All the Difference – Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… Our smallest actions and gestures often have an outsized impact on our biggest goals …’ Comments: A small, light, very read-able book, with more than a few nice anecdotes thrown in. Probably not [...]

- Simple Techniques for Creating Interactive Dreams – Author: Mark McElroy Rating: 4/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… transform your dreams into fabulous adventures … ‘ Comments: The book title is perfect for what this book covers and introduces. It quickly and briefly mentions all the basics of sleep, dreams, and lucid dreams along with exercises. [...]

Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: Comments: ‘… So Ramtha is not here to gain converts but to teach to what he calls the forgotten Gods – which we all are – about our forgotten heritage. …’ Specific sections or ideas in the book might not be quite what a person is looking for… but it [...]

Author: Ted Andrews Rating: 4/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘…teaches you simple and effective techniques for establishing rapport with your angels and guides. …’ Comments: The book is short, direct, and easy to read. I always have cooler dreams when I read a book of this type, but I haven’t done the exercises for the recommended [...]

- Toward Machines with Imagination – Author: Igor Aleksander Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… how the latest work with artificial neural systems suggests that an artificial form of consciousness is possible but also that its design would clarify many of the puzzles surrounding the murky concept consciousness itself. …’ Comments: I really enjoyed the [...]

Authors: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner – A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything – Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… a much heralded scholar who studies the stuff and riddles of everyday life…’ Comments: This book is a very good book, but it might be over-hyped,  so I was expecting [...]

- How to Find Balance in Your Financial Life – Author: David Cork Rating: 3/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘…How will Canadians build and sustain wealth as retirement approaches? What investment strategies actually work?…’ Comments: Maybe some useful tips are hidden in this book, but I didn’t like the overall method of presenting financial advice. It [...]

- A Guide to the Japanese Honorific Language – Author: Agnes M. Niyekawa Rating: 5/5 Summary Snippet: ‘… There has long been a need for a book to put together the bits and pieces of  ”polite expressions” to provide a picture of the whole. …’ Comments: The book is for students with at least three [...]

Author: Billy Strean Ph.D.,P.H.D. (Professional Humour Dude) – Lighten Up and Love Life Laughing – Rating: 3/5 Summary: ‘… The HoHo Dojo then becomes a place where people practice the humor and laughter ideas that are being taught. …’ Comments: The book is written with a very loose style. Throughout the chapters there are too [...]

- A study in Consciousness – Rating: 5/5 Inside jacket Snippet: ‘… Consciousness matters. The purpose of this book is to build toward an explanation of just what the matter is. …” Comments: A well presented, well written, easy to read book describing a reasonable consciousness explanation. Since I am not publishing anything in scientific [...]

- How to exploit the crisis points that challenge every company and career – Rating: 5/5 Inside Jack Snippet: ‘… Managed right, a company can turn a Strategic Inflection Point into a positive force to win in the marketplace and emerge stronger than ever. …’ Comments: This book is getting a bit older now, but [...]

- Autobiography of a Blue-Eyed Yogi – Rating: 5/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… this is an unprecedented telling of one man’s sacred initiation and training and a must-read for any serious seeker. …’ Comments: The book is a quick and entertaining read, plus it feels very authentic throughout. I don’t have any negatives about the [...]

- aka DJ Spooky that subliminal kid. – Rating: 4/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… the creation of art from the flow of patterns in culture. …’ Comments: If you read a decent number of books a year, maybe more than fifteen, then this one is worth including. The book is edited to look and feel [...]

edited and with an introductory essay by Sherry Turkle Rating: 4/5 Inside jacket Snippet:’… brings together three traditions of listening — that of the memoirist, the clinician, and the ethnographer. Each informs the others to compose an inner history of devices. …’ Comments: Pros: All of the essays are very well written and presented. The [...]

- the journey beyond yourself – Author: Michael A. Singer Rating: 5/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… this book will transform your relationship with yourself and the world around you. …’ Comments:  This book did not have anything 100% new for me, but it does cover many key areas and presents them very very well. If [...]

- A Father’s Journey With His Son – Rating: 4/5 Inside jacket Snippet: ‘… a remarkable portrait of a culture – whether Japan or adolescence – the looks eerily familiar but remains tantalizingly closed to outsider. …’ Comments: I’m not totally sure what the point of this book is. If you place it in an [...]

Author: Jason Holt Rating: 4/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… this book is the first extended treatment of the phenomenon of blindsight from a philosophical perspective. …’ Comments: The book is material from the author’s Doctoral thesis… and if definitely reads like a thesis paper. The first half of the book uses convoluted words to explain [...]

- How to use fringe ideas to create mass markets – Authors: Watts Wacker and Ryan Mathews Rating: 3/5 Back Cover Snippet: ‘… Don’t be afraid of deviants. They just may save your business. …’ Comments: The authors write like fanboys of cool fringe deviants, but maybe aren’t fringe enough themselves. Sort of like a [...]

Authors: Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles – Turn on the People in Any Organization – Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… technique to boost enthusiasm and performance and usher in astonishing results… The three principles of Gung Ho! are: The Spirit of the Squirrel, The Way of the Beaver, The Gift of the Goose. …’ [...]

Author: Mike Morrison – Dean, University of Toyota – Where Your Authentic Leadership Story Begins – Rating: 4/5 Inside Jacket Snippet: ‘… The six progressive steps on the ‘Me/We’ path will give you the power to find your purpose in life and in your organization. …’ Comments: At times I might rate this book a [...]