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Year end book roundup for 2011!

January1

There is a great online challenge called the 100 book challenge with the goal being to read 100 or more books in a year. In 2011 I beat 2010’s record of 111 books with 131 books read. I think I read a lot more fun ones this year as when I got a pretty bad case of burn out I just read and ran a lot. Here is the big list of all the books I read and short little mini reviews!

And now for my big roundup, I try to feature the top 2 books in each category plus a runner up….

Best Business Books

1. First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently – This was the most valuable book I read this year and I hope to read this every year. It basically explains what great managers do to keep their team happy and backs it up with as much data and examples as possible. And above all it makes the point I’ve come to believe that people don’t change. At best they can pivot 10% to 20% from where they are now, and it is more valuable to focus on their talents, and find ways to neutralize their weaknesses.

2. Good to Great: Why some companies make the leap… and others don’t. – Fantastic book by Jim Collins, this is a followup to his previous. This covers a lot of companies and what enabled them to become great companies.

Honorable mentions to The Six-Month Fix: Adventures in Rescuing Failing Companies, Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, and Business Model Generation.

Best True Books

1. Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie Chang -This book is a must read for those interested in China and how rapid industrialization is creating huge social changes for women. The story of the girls working in these factories is just amazing, an entire generation of hustlers who could become entrepreneurs is emerging. I can’t wait to see what they do next as more opportunities become available to them and what values they instill in their children.

2. The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean. This was an awesome awesome book and one of the best so far this year. This is about how waves are generated, the guys that ride them, and even some quantum mechanics.

3. Born To Run – The book that started the barefoot running movement, and just makes me want to run more and more! Even for non runners its a great book about what humans are capable of and how we might have run down our game by outrunning them. All in a well written book about a hidden tribe of super runners and a race against them by some American ultra runners (very short summary).

Honorable mentions to Brazil on the Rise and Out of Mao’s Shadow.

Best Travel Books

French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew – An awesome book about traveling around and living in France and going to all these different food festivals! I highly recommend it, covered things like eating truffles, cheeses, snails, a wine marathon, etc!

I read a lot of nice normal travel books too, but nothing that stood out as just amazing besides this one.

Best Thrillers

This was an easy choice this year, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the two sequels were mind glowingly awesome! It was if someone combined the best of Law and Order SVU with hacking and a great mystery. Just fantastic writing, great plot lines, and the best thrillers I’ve read in a really long time. Go buy them!

Best Science Fiction / Fantasy Books

1. Hounded, Hexed, and Hammered. Fun books I highly recommend! Basically imagine all the religions and gods of the world do exist, on multiple planes, with earth being a place they can all jump into. This follow a very cool 1000+ year old Druid character living in Arizona and having gods mess with him.

Just an ok year for finding new scifi/fantasy.

Best Books About History…

1. At Home: A Short History Of Private Life by Bill Bryson. This was an interesting funny book about how the modern house and all it’s parts came to be. Plus all the segways and humor that only Bryson can bring to the table.

2. The Defining Moment: FDR’s Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope – What an amazing man with the luck of timing, this book was fantastic and I hope we get another FDR soon so we can rewrite the social contract a bit more.

Honorable mention to The Wall: Rome’s Greatest Frontier about Hadrian’s Wall which is a trip I want to do at some point.

Best Bibliographies

1. The Faraway Horses – The story of Buck Brannaman who is the “horse whisperer”, really amazing guy and great story about his life. Check out this documentary on him too, just an amazing person.

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Good Vacation In St. Maartin!

October30


I had a great vacation on St. Maartin, it was the first time in maybe 6 or 7 years I’ve gone a long period with no internet (10 days). It wasn’t hard at all which was surprising too.

I went snorkeling every day, swam for hours, and just read under a nice awning right on the most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen (mostly because I think the water is an amazing color). Plus enjoyed some rum, got a zillion new freckles, rented a jeep for a few days and drove all around the island to try other beaches, sampled a lot of french bakeries, ate a lot of fish, etc. And I read 21 books while on break, so I’ve hit my goal for this year with having read 124 books so far!

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I Still Love My Kindle!

May8

I still love love love my Kindle and I think it is the best product of this decade. In the past three years I’ve read barely any books on paper. Yesterday I started reading a paperback for the first time in 14 months and realized I was getting annoyed because I couldn’t read while eating since it required two hands part of the time in order to hold both flaps open (which is not a problem with the Kindle).

Base on my rough calculations from Amazon’s page I have bought 362 Kindle books or newspapers since I’ve had one. Plus you save money as most books are slightly cheaper!

I strongly recommend you go buy one! Here is my original Kindle review too! Batter life on the new ones is just amazing.

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Amazing Book: The Way Of Kings

January15

I finished reading The Way Of Kings a few days ago and it is hands down one of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read! It was written by Brandon Sanderson and is the first book in a 10 part series which will slowly be written over the next ten years. Brandon is also the writer who is finishing the Wheel Of Time series.

The book is 1,300 pages and a little slow to start, but only because it has to build stories around the main characters who are in different locations, by mid way you are sucked in and feel like you know the characters incredibly well and are just hoping the next chapter keeps going with their story. Brandon is a genius at developing systems of “magic” or power in all his books and this one is no different. I won’t ruin it but it works well and I like it even more then the one he created in the Mistborn series. In addition the political intrigue is fantastic.

I can’t recommend this book enough!

“Life before Death. Strength before Weakness. Journey before Destination. – The Way of Kings

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Best Books Of 2010 By Category

January1

I finished the challenge to read 100 books in 2010 and figured I would do a list of recommended books out of all of them. I’m going to do the challenge again this year, it was nice to write little mini reviews and have something remind me to read.

5 Best Fantasy Books + Historical Fiction
*I’m combining these as there are a few that blur the lines.

1. The Warded Man series by Peter Brett. The third book is due to be released soon and the story places you in a world much like our own (perhaps ours many years from now) where demons rise out of the ground and towns have to be protected by complex wards. This story follows a very driven individual who wants to discover how to use the wards to go on the offensive and reclaim the world from the demons that emerge at night. Well written and fascinating world.

2. The Blade Itself series by Joe Abercrombie (3 books). One of the most unique fantasy novels I’ve ever read, it starts off normal but very quickly you realize that this is a dark series with a very unique outlook and sense of humor. I highly recommend it!

3. The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. The books place you in a world of revolution where some individuals can burn metals they ingest to give themselves super powers. Highly recommend, fantastic writer, and a very balanced system of powers.

4. The Long Man and The Point Man by Steven Englehart. I can’t wait for more of these, imagine that James Bond loves rock music, was in Vietnam, and also that alchemy and magic are real (and well explained) and he can live forever and so on. The universe is amazing, and the writing is fantastic.

5. Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. I love historical fiction and this is one of the best novels I have read in that genre. Everything takes place in the 9th dynasty of China and reading it is like picking up pure crack, very hard to stop.

Runner UP: The Deed Of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon. A old school three book fantasy series which is a little slow to get started but sucks you into a fantastic story and world. Reminds me a lot of wheel of time. And also a mention to The Hunger Games series which is also fantastic.

3 Best Sci Fi Books

1. The Truth Machine. Imagine that there is a machine that can tell if anyone is lying, what affect would that have civilization. Great book!

2. Freedom by Daniel Suarez. This is the sequel to one of the most amazing books I’ve ever read Daemon. If you want to glimpse the future pick up these books.

3. The Lost Fleet series of 6 books by Jack Campbell. A classic old school space adventure, a quick fun read!

3 Best Business Books

1. Build To Last by Jim Collins. A lot of people have mentioned this book and I am happy to say it was a fantastic book. I have already digested through third parties and my own goals a lot of what he talks about, but this book is a must read for anyone trying to build a company or business. My copy has bookmarks every other page and I had to pause to write notes on my iPhone every few pages.

2. Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit: The Secrets of Building a Five-Star Customer Service Organization by two authors. Since I manage a customer service company this was a great read and it really generated a lot of ideas. Plus I think over the coming years with FaceBook and twitter customer service is going to become more and more important to any organization.

3. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh. A great book that gave me a lot of ideas on how to improve our customer service. Tony did a nice job on this book and it spawned pages of ideas.

3 Best Non Fiction Books

1. War by Sebastian Junger – This is a must read for everyone, Sebastian lived with a platoon of soldiers in one of the most violent areas of Afghanistan. If you want to know what soldiers go through in combat read this. I haven’t seen the documentary Restrepo which is based on this but I would imagine that would also be good to watch.

2. The Coming Population Crash by Fred Pearce. A fantastic book that examines the growth of the world’s population and what we have done in the past and the impact of future growth. Great book and it will be an interesting 20 years with some of the demographics changes. I agree with him that we are going to reach a max population point in the next 50 years and then things will stabilize.

3. My Father, the Captain: My Life With Jacques Cousteau. I love Jacques Cousteau and found this a fascinating read about a really impressive character.

3 Best Travel / Learn About Other Countries Books

1. Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong: Why We Love France But Not The French. One of the most fascinating books I’ve read in the last few years. France has an amazing social and political system and this book explains it from a micro and macro level with writing that is easy to digest. Read my full review of this book here. I learned so much.

2. Peter Hessler clinches second this year with Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time In China and Country Driving: A Journey Through China From Farm to Factory

3. In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Bill is one of the funniest amazing writers I’ve ever come across. I’ve read a few of his books and plan to read them all but this one clinches the bronce this year. The book is hilarious while showing you Australia. Like did you know that Australia has 12 foot long earth worms? Probably not, Bill Bryson fixes that lack of knowledge. Also check out A Short History Of Nearly Everything, I wish I had that in college.

Runner Up: Julia Child’s My Life In France. Not only is she a fascinating person who I admire, but she also shows you what France was like after WW2 as well as American politics. What I saw was not something history has shown from such a personal level (especially some of the anti communist McCarthy era politics they went through).

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WOLFEN…

October17

I just reread a book my dad recommended to me as a kid, that book is Wolfen and it is hands down one of the scariest fracking books I have ever read. I strongly recommend reading it and then trying to walk around in the dead of night without wondering if you are being hunted, or sleep and try not to dream of the wolfen stalking you.

I also love this book, and any book, that takes a myth and turns it into our reality. In this book they take the myth of werewolves and try to explain them scientifically, why we haven’t discovered them, and a lot more. And it seems pretty believable.

Fun fact, I wrote was a short sequel to Wolfen for an english clash in 7th grade. It was what you call a “classy” short story involving a native american rambo type character, gatling guns, explosions, and Wolfen hunting pack tearing people apart. A real thinker.

Book Review: Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong…

October13

I don’t often post book recommendations on the blog, in fact I’ve only written two full blog posts on books this year, the rest just get a small blurb on the big list. So keep that in mind as the title of this book I’m about to recommend should scare you away, the title is Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French.

So the title sounds a bit weird but the book is absolutely amazing! I’ve visited France three or four times over the last couple years and I’ve been trying to learn more about french culture and history and this book is the answer, it is as if someone forced a book on french history, french politics, and french business outlook to have menage a trois and this book is the baby. The book is well written, well researched, and well laid out.

And a quick example, I’ve been involved with computers for a long time and I’ve never heard of the Minitel yet after a chapter of reading about it in this book I was stunned. This was basically a very successful precursor to the internet that launched in 1982, a mere year after I was born. This little networked device could do online dating, message boards, buy airline or train tickets, order stuff, porn, etc. Crazy that I’ve never heard of it.

So go buy this book if you want to learn how France works. It is great to learn more about another democracy that continually chooses a different path then the USA. And hopefully we can pull some ways to change our system out of the mistakes they have made, and the things they are doing very well.

And…

The other book I strongly recommended this year is War (Click Here to learn more about it). A documentary is also going to come out about the author and the soldiers he wrote about.

Must Read Book – “War”

June16

This is an amazing book and I highly recommend everyone read it, the book is called War by Sebastian Junger.

It is a must read because:

1. You come away with the clearest understanding possible of what it means to be a soldier in their own words. A bit of a cliche maybe, but you realize what soldiers go through for “us” in the worst possible place in Afghanistan. And you get to follow them home, off the front, and see what it’s like to adapt to normal society after being put at the fringes by that society.

2. It is one of the most brilliantly written accounts of war I’ve encountered. The author has amazing way to place you right in the middle of everything and he writes like a video camera.

3. And finally, you get to see from ground level what it is like in Afghanistan, which we have been fighting in for almost 10 years. And we will probably be there for a lot longer… So important to read and understand what modern warfare has turned into, why it costs so much, and what tactics it takes to win in a place Alexander the Great got stuck in.

Here is the official description:

Junger spent 14 months in 2007–2008 intermittently embedded with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley, one of the bloodiest corners of the conflict. The soldiers are a scruffy, warped lot, with unkempt uniforms—they sometimes do battle in shorts and flip-flops—and a ritual of administering friendly beatings to new arrivals, but Junger finds them to be superlative soldiers. Junger experiences everything they do—nerve-racking patrols, terrifying roadside bombings and ambushes, stultifying weeks in camp when they long for a firefight to relieve the tedium. Despite the stress and the grief when buddies die, the author finds war to be something of an exalted state: soldiers experience an almost sexual thrill in the excitement of a firefight—a response Junger struggles to understand—and a profound sense of commitment to subordinating their self-interests to the good of the unit. Junger mixes visceral combat scenes—raptly aware of his own fear and exhaustion—with quieter reportage and insightful discussions of the physiology, social psychology, and even genetics of soldiering. The result is an unforgettable portrait of men under fire.

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Updated My Book List

March13

I’m now up to 26 books on my 100 books in 2010 challenge! Short reviews next to them, not sure how helpful but it should be pretty easy to see which are good and which are bad. I hope more books by Bill Bryson make it to the kindle, that guy is hilarious. I also think the book “a short history of everything” should be required reading in school, I would have had a much deeper appreciation of science class I think. I wish I had read it a few years ago when Tony told me about it. I also strongly recommend Stones To Schools the sequel to 3 Cups Of Tea and it is a very moving book about Greg and his charity’s work to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

So up to 27 books, so just need to read about 8 books per month including March and I’ll be over!

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Japan Rocks!

February24

Very cool place and having a great time so far. All the time on trains seeing the country has given me a lot of time to read, I’ve read 9 books in the last 3 to 4 days, reviews here! Just fun reads which is nice, almost like I’m at the beach.

My favorite Japanesism yet:

Ben: Do you have sandwich package x? (to train trolly girl)
Train Girl: (in broken english) Sorry we are out, do you want rice with crab flakes on it?
Ben: YES!!! (and i was thinking why did she even ask!!! I love rice with crab flakes on it!!!!)

They were delicious.

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Staying In Denver Another Year.

January16

I’ve decided to stay in Denver for another year, so I’ll be here through June 2011 it sounds like. We are going to find a new place to live in April/May, hopefully closer to a neighborhood we like a little better. Next week I’m heading to Vegas for a big ultimate frisbee tournament plus it is going to be Dmarsh, BBustin, and my brother’s birthday. Should be fun. And then when I get back from that Rose and Steve will be here and going to spend a lot of that week skiing with them! And hopefully I’ll be going skiing during the week a few times after that, and working on cross country skiing as I would like to be good at that.

Work is going well, and just got really busy as we took on some additional business which is quite fun!

Travel wise the year is looking awesome. In a few months I’m taking a few weeks vacation to explore Japan! Then in April I’m going to Italy for a short weekend trip as Iris got a bid to Paganello (massive ultimate beach tournament), and I’m going to play with her mixed team. Extra fun as it should be a lot of Arkansas people and hopefully Daniel and Joel go. And then me and a friend scored tickets to the World Cup in South Africa which I will be going too in early July. South Africa is being nuts on airfare pricing but its a once in a life time opportunity, so worth it.

Oh, and I’m trying to complete the 100 Book Challenge for 2010, which means I’m trying to read 100 books in 2010. So roughly 9 books a month, so far I’m almost done with my 4th and almost on track. I’m posting mini reviews as I go too.

Also, here is an interview we did a few months ago for Work, I’m pretty proud of it as we don’t sound like idiots. Although I did repeat a lot of words over and over and over, oh well, she was really nice and it was fun!

One Reason Why I love The Internet…

November20

I love the internet because a book on Amazon entitled “WHAT ARE THESE STRAWBERRIES DOING ON MY NIPPLES?: I NEED THEM FOR THE FRUIT SALAD!” is receiving hilarious reviews about the book. Which btw is listed as an import and not for sale.

Just read the 11 reviews left so far and you get such awesome lines such as:

“First of all, a warning. This book is packed with such useful and POWERFUL information, it should be approached with caution. Amazon has not provided a synopsis, and rightly so. I attempted to download a summary to my computer and my monitor EXPLODED. Normally, I would complain to the author and demand a refund, but the mere opportunity to witness this miracle of written word is payment for my loss ten times over. ”

“This book changed my life. Period. Colon: I have long had strawberries on my nipples. I also have had blueberries in my eye sockets and celery in my urethra. The celery remains, but I await the next book with eager expectations.”

“Not as good as the sequel “What are those bananas doing in my vagina I need them for my fruit salad” or the prequel “Popped Cherry Pie – where have all the fresh cherries gone”. But this serves its purpose of telling you where the strawberries go when they are missing from your fruit salad. With the color and shape of strawberries it is easy to see that you can misplace them on your nipples. Vanessa Feltz is truly the girl next door. She is just a woman trying to have a dinner party with strawberries on her nipples. Once she actually gets them off of her nipples she makes a great fruit salad and all the guest love her nipple salad “oops a nip slip”, I mean fruit salad.”

“There are two kinds of people in the world: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t” – Robert Benchley (American Humorist). This book, while laced with divine comedic interludes, divides the world into two difinitive subsections of society. This divide tears at my frail emotions when realizing that I myself am in a group of people who have been repressed and belittled; those of us with megaareolasis, also known as BNS, or Big Nipple Syndrome. I am disquieted to finally come to the stark realization that there is a class system in this country. Those with nipples that can at least be fully covered by a mulberry or rainier cherry are considered acceptable, those enveloped by a blueberry are hailed, and those the size of a mere red currant are revered as Gods. And to the title of this book, there are those that nessecitate the coverage of a fully developed conventionally grown strawberry from Costco, who are shunned as lepers. They are routinely humiliated and asked to hold objects, such as coins, leaves, and wide mouth bottle caps up to their bare bossoms to display the montrosity of their genetic freakdom. What little comfort if any I draw from this piece of literature is knowing that there are others like me out there who share the pain of suffering from the cruelty of our large nipple defaming culture. It has inspired me to write a new book – “What is this pomegranate doing on my nipple, I need it for my Hors D’Ouevres” that will urge congress to add nipple size as a new protected class under Title VII of the civil rights act.”

Just hilarious!

My Daily Reads…

September11

So when I’m not working I have become addicted to the following sites and check them very often:

TextsFromLastNight.com – Hilarious, hilarious, hilarious.

Altas Obscura – Just some very weird stuff, I love it. Here is a good example.

Curious Expeditions – Another good one with weird places to visit.

Dark Roasted Blend – This is a new one and I’m still not sure if I love it.

And then I have like 250 sites I watch via RSS but most of those are tech and not cool stuff like this.

Read This Book: Daemon By Daniel Suarez

July12

You have to read this book, brings in a lot of technology we are going to start seeing over the next twenty years and a very different view of where the world and nation state is going. Very accurate picture of technology, writing is good, solid story.

I think everyone should read this one! Here is a link to Amazon.

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Fools Fest This Weekend! And Book Reviews

March26

Heading to Fool’s Fest this weekend to play some ultimate frissbee (Lawrence Kansas). Should be cold and wet which will suck but going to be fun to play with everyone and first time to get to play with Dmarsh in a long time :). Plus I’m hoping the Mongolian BBQ we used to go to all the time is still open as its delicious.

Been reading some good books lately, a lot of books I would have had to buy in paper format are actually being published to the Kindle at the same time which is just awesome to see! I’ve already saved enough to buy two kindles I estimate just off the savings. I read In Gallant Company last night which is volume 3 in a series of books about a boy in the British Navy as he slowly becomes a captain and all the adventures. The author is Alexander Kent and they are quick to read and very entertaining. I think there are like 20 volumes so should keep me busy for a while. I also just finished Manhunt by James Swanson a few days ago. It tracks the assassination of Lincoln by Booth day by day and was really interesting. I’m not sure in history class they fully explained that Booth and his conspirators had planned on killing the secretary of state, vice president, and president in the same night. What blows my mind even more is that the Vice President was staying with no security in a normal hotel, and they found a knife and revolver in a room nearby and the guy had just not gone through it. Very different from today and weird to think that any person could walk up to the White House and make an appointment to see the president.

Been working like crazy which isn’t a surprise, things are going very well and we are hoping over the next few months for clean up to really finish so we can push forward with growth and finishing a lot of much needed projects. I’m looking forward to around three months from now when we finish a lot of clean up on the backend and maybe I can take a short week off to travel somewhere nearby.

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This is bwb’s personal blog, so he can share his thoughts with the world, however scary or silly they might be. Plus family and friends can track what I am up to, and where I am in the world.

I am pretty simple. I love Mangos. I love the ocean (although mostly at sunset, as I’m a ginger). I love to travel, eat exotic food, do long bike rides, read, and use my imagination. At some point, I decided it was better to be a pirate captain than an admiral. I am a globalist and see the entire world as my responsibility and playground. And I am married to an amazing woman who makes life even more fun :)! And we are now the proud parents of Calico Jack :).


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