Books I've read in March (2011)

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest - By Stieg Larsson




In the conclusion of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo / Millennium trilogy-  Lisbeth Salander is literally in the fight for her life after being mortally wounded with an assailants' bullet in her skull. When she awakes in the hospital she soon realizes her would be assailant, a family member, is in the same hospital only a few doors down. As she plots for a way to escape from the hospital and the authorities, a super secret section of the Sapo (Sweden's equivalent of FBI/CIA) is plotting as well...only they have a plot to put Salander's story to an end for good.


My opinion:

A great rebound and improvement from the 2nd book in the series. I'll be honest, at first it was a struggle to read this book. The first 100 pages seemed to me predictable and formulaic and I basically thought I could predict the remaining outcome of the book. HOWEVER around page 110 - 120 Mr. Larsson throws a curve-ball into the plot that peaks your interest and holds it until the books' conclusion. Mikael Blomkvist comes to the rescue as Mr. Larsson explores a corrupt government agency in their attempt to suppress a decades-old crime.


On a side note, I finally decided to read a little bit more about the author. I was surprised that he basically lived the role of Mikael Blomkvist in real life. He helped found a magazine called Expo in Sweden very similar to Blomkvist's Millennium - which is focused on exposing crimes of racists, fascists and the far-right. He passed away on November 9, 2004. Herr Larsson you will be missed.

SuperRich - By Russell Simmons




Don't let the title fool you. SuperRich is not a 5-step guide to becoming "rich" in the material sense. It's much more an effort by Russell to expose those who might be grasping for material wealth an unexpected guide to spiritual wealth. Mr. Simmons talks a little bit about helping start Def Jam records and also doing a lot of the heavy-lifting in making a once extremely niche music genre  "rap" - aka - "hip hop"...popular to the mainstream. But the vast majority of the book talks about yoga, meditation and one of India's holiest books the Bhagavad Gita.

My opinion:

I liked the book overall. However, it would have been nice if Mr. Russell gave a little more insight to his business success since that is likely what lured many to purchase the book. That being said, as someone who meditates daily myself, I found the book helpful in instruction on how to improve the quality of a mediation practice. The biggest takeaway I got was focus on the journey not the destination. His own personal 'translation' of parts of the Bhagavad Gita helped me understand that book a little bit better as I've read the book before but have been confused by some parts.



Escape from Cubicle Nation - By Pamela Slim





In this book, Ms. Slim a professional coach - goes over step-by-step on the instructions as to how to achieve freedom from the shackles of the corporate world and navigate through the exciting and sometimes scary, world of entrepreneurship. She explains how she started her blog of the same name  after being asked by several corporate employees "how did you do it" when they saw she was running her coaching business by herself. She also explains how to find opportunities, how to plan out your business and also how to convince friends and family that you aren't just blowing all your savings on an expensive hobby.

My opinion: 

By far the best book I've read so far this month for an entrepreneur. In the contention for best book so far this year but, that will be decided come December. Ms. Slim covers every aspect of moving from a stable 9-5 job to a unstable yet exciting job where you make your own hours and are your own boss. The book is chock-full of examples from fellow entrepreneurs and bloggers who also made the jump and had good and sometimes bad experiences doing so. If you are really serious about quitting the corporate world, buy this book.

Blink - By Malcolm Gladwell




Mr. Gladwell explores in detail the nuances of first impressions and the split-second decisions we make based on those first impressions. This his second book which was followed by Outliers - which focused on how those we consider excellent become excellent - this book focuses on how snap judgments can oftentimes be absolutely correct judgments. It also delves into how sometimes snap judgments can be horribly wrong and even at times deadly.


My opinion:


After reading Mr. Gladwell's third book Outliers and being extremely impressed, Blink only goes on to solidify Mr. Gladwell's reputation for excellent research woven into intriguing storytelling. If you ever wondered if your "hunch" about someone was right...Gladwell shows proof that often times it is in fact correct. I enjoyed this book for the most part but at times the truth that Gladwell exposes raises concern; especially to someone whom, like Gladwell, shares ancestors from the African continent and thus is exposed to many snap judgments that are not helpful to the one being judged simply because of the color of one's skin. That being said, the book gives the reader many reasons to "trust their gut" while also giving situations when it might be a better idea to second-guess said "gut".

Books I've read in January (2011)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - by Stieg Larsson  This is the world renowned, best-selling novel by Stieg Larsson about a bisexual, tough-as-nails, loner, private investigator and the investigative journalist who join forces to solve a decades old murder of Swedish teenager from a wealthy yet dysfunctional family.

My opinion - Great stuff, in this book Mr. Larsson keeps your attention the entire time from the initial premise of a long lost, murdered niece to the shocking conclusion. An excellent page-turner of novel.


The Peebles Principles - by R. Donahue Peebles Mr Peebles gives 12 of his principles for success for aspiring entrepreneurs. He also talks about how he started from nearly nothing about 3 decades ago and turned that into a Multi-Billion dollar real estate and building development business.

My opinion - One of the better entrepreneurship books I've read in the past year. I may be a little bit biased though...since the multi-millionaire took time out of his busy schedule recently to sit down for an interview with me where we talked about everything from the influence of his mother, grandfather and businessman who started at Washington hotel to how someone wrecked his Ferrari and his prediction for the 2011 NBA finals.


The Girl Who Played with Fire - by Stieg Larsson In this sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Mr Larsson again crafts a great tale of intrigue about what starts out as the sex trade and morphs into something even more sinister. Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist return to bust the sex trade in Sweden open but soon realize they may be in over their heads.

My opinion - Although this book keeps your attention for the most part throughout with many twists an turns, I start to feel towards the end of the book that Mr. Larsson at first tried to give a little too much depth to too many characters. It feels like later in the book realizes his mistake and tries to end the book abruptly but ends up settling for a "to be continued"-type ending. Don't get me wrong the book is still a page turner but, it could have still kept your interest and told the same story with about 100-200 less pages.


The Fifth Mountain - By Paulo Coelho   Have you heard of The Alchemist? Well this is the same author. This book focuses on the trials and tribulations of the biblical prophet Elijah and an apparently fictionalized journey in exile through the town of Akbar. Along the way he learns things about himself, his faith and his destiny he might never had learned had he remained out of exile.


My opinion - Just such a great novel about having faith - whether that be in yourself or a higher power - despite every indication you've been given to go in another direction. turn back or give up. The book is peppered lightly with Bible verses but it also has an abundance of wisdom throughout and he doesn't save all that wisdom for Elijah the protagonist. Antagonists and 2 dimensional characters teach lessons as well.

So those are the books I've read in full for January 2011. I usually try to go fiction, non-fiction, fiction and  back again but, I had to take care of a few things earlier this month. I'll try and err on the side of non-fiction this month.