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199. The 5 Second Rule: Transform Your Life, Work, and Confidence with Everyday Courage

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆

Recommended by:

Author:   Mel Robbins

Genre:  Non-Fiction, Self Improvement, Psychology

267 pages, published February 28, 2017

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

In The 5 Second Rule, author Mel Robbins recounts how she was trapped in a downward spiral so much so that she had trouble even getting out of bed in the morning.  Her entire world shifted when she discovered the 5 second rule.  The secret isn’t knowing what to do—it’s knowing how to make yourself do it.  Basically, when you first think about doing something you should (or shouldn’t), you count backwards from 5 (5-4-3-2-1) and then immediately take action.  For example, when you alarm goes off in the morning, you cant backwards from 5 and then immediately take action to get out of bed.  If you find yourself about to reach for a cookie, you count backwards from 5 and then stop yourself from taking it.

Robbins explains how the power of a “push moment” (i.e. counting backwards from 5) can help us do the things we want to do and stay away from the things we want to avoid.   By following the rule, Robbins believes that you will:  become more confident, break the habits of procrastination and self-doubt, beat fear and uncertainty, stop worrying and feel happier and share your ideas with courage.

 

Quotes 

“Hesitation is the kiss of death. You might hesitate for a just nanosecond, but that’s all it takes. That one small hesitation triggers a mental system that’s designed to stop you. And it happens in less than—you guessed it—five seconds.”

 

“The 5 Second Rule:  The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal you must 5-4-3-2-1 and physically move or your brain will stop you.”

 

“Anytime there’s something you know you should do, but you feel uncertain, afraid, or overwhelmed…just take control by counting backwards 5- 4- 3- 2- 1. That’ll quiet your mind. Then, move when you get to “1.”

 

“You change your life one five-second decision at a time.”

 

“We are all so afraid of uncertainty that we want a guarantee before we even try. We want evidence that if we take a risk we will “get the girl” Its a numbers game. To play any game, you have to start. To win, you need to keep going. If you want to make your dreams come true, get ready for the long game.

Life is not a one and done sort of deal. You’ve got to work for what you want.

Picasso created nearly 100 masterpieces in his lifetime. But what most people don’t know is that he created a total of more then 50,000 works of art. .. Thats two pieces of art a day. Success is a numbers game. You are not going to win if you keep telling yourself to wait. The more often that you choose courage, the more likely you’ll succeed.”

 

“Your feelings don’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you DO.”

 

“When it comes to goals, dreams, and changing your life, your inner wisdom is a genius. Your goal-related impulses, urges, and instincts are there to guide you. You need to learn to bet on them.”

“This is where the #5SecondRule comes into play—you don’t have to want to do it, you just have to push yourself to do it.”

 

“locus of control.” The more that you believe that you are in control of your life, your actions and your future, the happier and more successful you’ll be.”

 

“I owe my morning routine to Duke University professor Dan Ariely. According to Ariely, the first two to three hours of the day are the best hours for your brain, once you fully wake up. So, if you pop out of bed at 6 a.m., your peak thinking and productivity window is 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. And so on.”

 

“I was the problem and in five seconds, I could push myself and become the solution.”

 

“There’s one thing that is guaranteed to increase your feelings of control over your life: a bias toward action.”

 

“If you have one of those impulses that are pulling you, if you don’t marry it with an action within 5 seconds, you pull the emergency break and kill the idea.”

 

“That’s an instinct reminding you of the goal. That’s your inner wisdom, and it’s important to pay attention to it, no matter how small or silly that instinct may seem.”

 

“Life is gritty and hard and then suddenly it is brilliant and amazing.”

 

“pushing yourself to take simple actions creates a chain reaction in your confidence and your productivity.”

 

“You can’t control how you feel. But you can always choose how you act.”

 

“I have a hard time finding the balance between not beating myself up when it doesn’t happen as fast as I’d like it to, and not wasting time while I wait for it to happen.”

 

“Start before you’re ready.  Don’t prepare, begin.”       

 

“Passion is not a thing, it’s a state of mind.”

 

My Take

I was skeptical when I first started reading this book.  How could five seconds be such a life changer?  However, author Mel Robbins provides some convincing examples of the rule at work.   Basically, the rule is a spur to action.  How much of our lives are just lazed away?  After finishing the book, I tried out the rule and it does work.  The only problem for me is remembering to use it in the first place.  When I do, I see results.

 

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195. Moriarity

Rating:  ☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by:   Michael Koss

Author:   Anthony Horowitz

Genre:  Fiction, Crime, Suspense, Mystery

285 pages, published December 9, 2014

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

Moriarty is author Anthony Horowitz’s second entry into the Sherlock Holmes genre, following up on The House of Silk.   The books are not related and even have different characters.  Notably, there is no Sherlock Holmes in Moriarity other than as a remote figure.   The stand in for Holmes is Inspector Athelney Jones, a Scotland Yard detective and devoted student of Holmes’s methods, whom Conan Doyle introduced in The Sign of Four.

 

Quotes 

“Give him his due: this is a man who has always faced his fears square on, whether they be a deadly swamp adder, a hideous poison that might drive you to insanity or a hell-hound set loose on the moors. Holmes has done many things that are, frankly, baffling – but he has never run away.”

 

“Robert Pinkerton used to say that a lie was like a dead coyote. The longer you leave it, the more it smells.”

 

“It seemed that there was nothing you could find here that was not expensive and very little that was actually necessary.”

 

My Take

I would have given Moriarty three stars, but the big twist at the end deserved an extra half star.  I enjoyed this take on the Sherlock Holmes genre more than The House of Silk.  However, both pale in comparison to Magpie Murders which is the best mystery by Anthony Horowitz that I have read.  If you are a mystery devotee and a fan of Sherlock Holmes, then you will enjoy Moriarty.

 

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191. How to Kill a City: Gentrification, Inequality, and the Fight for the Neighborhood

Rating:  ☆☆1/2

Recommended by:   Summer Youngs

Author:   Peter Moskowitz

Genre:  Non-Fiction, History, Sociology, Public Policy

272 pages, published March 7, 2017

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

In How to Kill a City, author Peter Moskowitz examines the issue of gentrification through the lens of four cities:  New Orleans, Detroit, San Francisco, and New York.  Moskowitz posits that once the trendy shops, hipsters, and coffee shops arrive, rents and housing prices start to rise, pushing out many long-term residents.  He also chronicles the history of housing discrimination that has led to this situation.

 

Quotes 

“The hipster narrative about gentrification isn’t necessarily inaccurate—young people are indeed moving to cities and opening craft breweries and wearing tight clothing—but it is misleading in its myopia. Someone who learned about gentrification solely through newspaper articles might come away believing that gentrification is just the culmination of several hundred thousand people’s individual wills to open coffee shops and cute boutiques, grow mustaches and buy records. But those are the signs of gentrification, not its causes.”

 

My Take

I read How to Kill a City as part of my women’s book group and, when we met to discuss it, it sparked a contentious debate on several issues, including whether gentrification is a good or bad thing.  While I am in the camp that it is generally a good thing for blighted areas to be improved, I can understand the other side of the argument and the challenges facing the displaced populations.  However, I don’t think that there is much that can be done.  Unless you own your property, there is no inherent right to live in a specific location.  The attempt to create a property right for renters through rent control is a proven failure that leads to dilapidated housing and inequitable rents for newcomers to an area.  The lesson from this book is that if want to stay in a certain place, your best option is to be a property owner.

 

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188. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by:   Darla Schueth

Author:   Dan Egan

Genre:  Non-Fiction, Science, History, Environment, Animals

321 pages, published March 7, 2017

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

In The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, author Dan Egan recounts the history of the Great Lakes which amazingly hold 20 percent of the world’s freshwater.  Like the American Bison which were hunted to near extinction, we learn how the formerly pristine, enormous bodies of water have been maltreated after the colonization of America.  The mistreatment of the lakes got so bad that they on the verge of becoming dead seas.  Multiple species of fish were wiped out when invasive predators were inadvertently introduced which caused huge, thick algae blooms to appear.  However, all is not lost.  Egan ends the book on a promising note, showing how the Great Lakes can be restored and preserved for future generations.

 

Quotes 

 

 

My Take

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed a book about the history of the Great Lakes.  The credit has to go to author Dan Egan who knows how to take a historical narrative and spin it into a tale of intrigue and suspense.  I was not surprised at all to learn that this book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.  After finishing The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, I want to take a trip to the Upper Midwest and Canada so I can check them out for myself.  Highly recommended.

 

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186. Getting to Yes: Negotiating an Agreement Without Giving In

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆

Recommended by:

Author:   Roger Fisher, William Ury, Bruce Patton

Genre:  Non-Fiction, Psychology, Business, Self-Improvement

200 pages, published December 1, 1991

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

Getting to Yes is all about negotiation and how to improve your negotiating skills.  The book is based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution.  Getting to Yes details a step-by-step approach for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict. The authors describe a method of negotiation that isolates problems, focuses on interests, creates new options, and uses objective criteria to help two parties reach an agreement.

Quotes 

“Any method of negotiation may be fairly judged by three criteria: It should produce a wise agreement if agreement is possible. It should be efficient. And it should improve or at least not damage the relationship between the parties.”

 

“THE METHOD 2. Separate the People from the Problem 3. Focus on Interests, Not Positions 4. Invent Options for Mutual Gain 5. Insist on Using Objective Criteria.”

“People listen better if they feel that you have understood them. They tend to think that those who understand them are intelligent and sympathetic people whose own opinions may be worth listening to. So if you want the other side to appreciate your interests, begin by demonstrating that you appreciate theirs.”

 

“The ability to see the situation as the other side sees it, as difficult as it may be, is one of the most important skills a negotiator can possess.”

 

“As useful as looking for objective reality can be, it is ultimately the reality as each side sees it that constitutes the problem in a negotiation and opens the way to a solution.”

 

“The more extreme the opening positions and the smaller the concessions, the more time and effort it will take to discover whether or not agreement is possible.”

 

“If you want someone to listen and understand your reasoning, give your interests and reasoning first and your conclusions or proposals later.”

 

“The most powerful interests are basic human needs. In searching for the basic interests behind a declared position, look particularly for those bedrock concerns that motivate all people. If you can take care of such basic needs, you increase the chance both of reaching agreement and, if an agreement is reached, of the other side’s keeping to it. Basic human needs include: security, economic well-being, a sense of belonging, recognition, control over one’s life.  As fundamental as they are, basic human needs are easy to overlook. In many negotiations, we tend to think that the only interest involved is money. Yet even in a negotiation over a monetary figure, such as the amount of alimony to be specified in a separation agreement, much more can be involved.”

 

My Take

Many years ago, when I was practicing law at a big Los Angeles law firm, I joined the other litigation attorneys from my firm for a one day seminar on negotiating at Pepperdine University.  The skills that I learned that day were not only useful in my legal practice, but they were also invaluable in my personal life.  We enter into negotiations all the time, whether it is buying a house or deciding where to have dinner or take a vacation.  Getting to Yes was a very nice complement to the Pepperdine negotiating seminar.  Not only do the authors show you how to negotiate, but they also explain why their proposed style is apt to work.  I learned some new methods for negotiating and also reinforced some of the skills I learned at the seminar.  A very useful book that I can unreservedly recommend.

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185. Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by:

Author:   Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool

Genre:  Non-Fiction, Science, Psychology, Self-Improvement

336 pages, published April 4, 2016

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

Anders Ericsson, the author of Peak, has devoted his career to expertise.  He shares the results of years of research in which he concludes that the best in almost every field (from Tennis to Violin to Chess to Surgery, etc.) are made, not born.  What matters much more than the genetic material you are born with is how and how much you develop your skills.  The key is the concept of “deliberate practice” in which you use feedback on your performance to hone your skills.

 

Quotes 

“The reason that most people don’t possess these extraordinary physical capabilities isn’t because they don’t have the capacity for them, but rather because they’re satisfied to live in the comfortable rut of homeostasis and never do the work that is required to get out of it. They live in the world of “good enough.” The same thing is true for all the mental activities we engage in.”

 

“you have to keep upping the ante: run farther, run faster, run uphill. If you don’t keep pushing and pushing and pushing some more, the body will settle into homeostasis, albeit at a different level than before, and you will stop improving.”

 

“This is a fundamental truth about any sort of practice: If you never push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you will never improve.”

 

“So here we have purposeful practice in a nutshell: Get outside your comfort zone but do it in a focused way, with clear goals, a plan for reaching those goals, and a way to monitor your progress. Oh, and figure out a way to maintain your motivation.”

 

“Consider this: Most people live lives that are not particularly physically challenging. They sit at a desk, or if they move around, it’s not a lot. They aren’t running and jumping, they aren’t lifting heavy objects or throwing things long distances, and they aren’t performing maneuvers that require tremendous balance and coordination. Thus they settle into a low level of physical capabilities—enough for day-to-day activities and maybe even hiking or biking or playing golf or tennis on the weekends, but far from the level of physical capabilities that a highly trained athlete possesses.”

 

“Learning isn’t a way of reaching one’s potential but rather a way of developing it.”

 

“The best way to get past any barrier is to come at it from a different direction, which is one reason it is useful to work with a teacher or coach.”

 

“If you talk to these extraordinary people, you find that they all understand this at one level or another. They may be unfamiliar with the concept of cognitive adaptability, but they seldom buy into the idea that they have reached the peak of their fields because they were the lucky winners of some genetic lottery. They know what is required to develop the extraordinary skills that they possess because they have experienced it firsthand. One of my favorite testimonies on this topic came from Ray Allen, a ten-time All-Star in the National Basketball Association and the greatest three-point shooter in the history of that league. Some years back, ESPN columnist Jackie MacMullan wrote an article about Allen as he was approaching his record for most three-point shots made. In talking with Allen for that story, MacMullan mentioned that another basketball commentator had said that Allen was born with a shooting touch—in other words, an innate gift for three-pointers. Allen did not agree. “I’ve argued this with a lot of people in my life,” he told MacMullan. “When people say God blessed me with a beautiful jump shot, it really pisses me off. I tell those people, ‘Don’t undermine the work I’ve put in every day.’ Not some days. Every day. Ask anyone who has been on a team with me who shoots the most. Go back to Seattle and Milwaukee, and ask them. The answer is me.” And, indeed, as MacMullan noted, if you talk to Allen’s high school basketball coach you will find that Allen’s jump shot was not noticeably better than his teammates’ jump shots back then; in fact, it was poor. But Allen took control, and over time, with hard work and dedication, he transformed his jump shot into one so graceful and natural that people assumed he was born with it. He took advantage of his gift—his real gift.”

 

“Even the most motivated and intelligent student will advance more quickly under the tutelage of someone who knows the best order in which to learn things, who understands and can demonstrate the proper way to perform various skills, who can provide useful feedback, and who can devise practice activities designed to overcome particular weaknesses.”

 

“In a field you’re already familiar with—like your own job—think carefully about what characterizes good performance and try to come up with ways to measure that, even if there must be a certain amount of subjectivity in your measurement. Then look for those people who score highest in the areas you believe are key to superior performance. Remember that the ideal is to find objective, reproducible measures that consistently distinguish the best from the rest, and if that ideal is not possible, approximate it as well as you can.”

 

My Take

Peak is a fascinating book that I couldn’t put down.  As most people do, I had always assumed that people, who were the best in their fields, for example chess grand masters, were born with a natural talent or ability.  In Peak, long-time expertise researcher Anders Ericsson puts the lie to that belief.  Ericsson convincingly demonstrates that our human potential is more a function of how and how much we do to develop it rather than resulting from a genetic lottery.  The subtext in Peak is also interesting, i.e. you can be an expert in any chosen field, but are you willing to put in the enormous sacrifice to do so?  For my part, the answer is absolutely not.   I would much rather be a generalist and good at a variety of different things than be the best in one limited area.  However, there are a lot of Olympic athletes who would disagree with me.

 

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182. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by:

Author:   Yuval Noah Harari

Genre:  Non-Fiction, History, Science, Philosophy, Anthropology

450 pages, published February 1, 2017

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

The follow up to Yuval Noah Harari’s very successful book Sapiens, Homo Deus takes a wide ranging look at humanity’s future and our the movement to bring immortality to humans.  Harari explains that after taming famine, plague and war, we are entering the next stage of evolution where we are continuously biologically upgrading ourselves, we overcome death and create artificial life and all the opportunities and problems that may come with this brave new world.

Quotes 

“In 2012 about 56 million people died throughout the world; 620,000 of them died due to human violence (war killed 120,000 people, and crime killed another 500,000). In contrast, 800,000 committed suicide, and 1.5 million died of diabetes.23 Sugar is now more dangerous than gunpowder.”

 

“This is the best reason to learn history: not in order to predict the future, but to free yourself of the past and imagine alternative destinies. Of course this is not total freedom – we cannot avoid being shaped by the past. But some freedom is better than none.”

 

“Centuries ago human knowledge increased slowly, so politics and economics changed at a leisurely pace too. Today our knowledge is increasing at breakneck speed, and theoretically we should understand the world better and better. But the very opposite is happening. Our new-found knowledge leads to faster economic, social and political changes; in an attempt to understand what is happening, we accelerate the accumulation of knowledge, which leads only to faster and greater upheavals. Consequently we are less and less able to make sense of the present or forecast the future. In 1016 it was relatively easy to predict how Europe would look in 1050. Sure, dynasties might fall, unknown raiders might invade, and natural disasters might strike; yet it was clear that in 1050 Europe would still be ruled by kings and priests, that it would be an agricultural society, that most of its inhabitants would be peasants, and that it would continue to suffer greatly from famines, plagues and wars. In contrast, in 2016 we have no idea how Europe will look in 2050. We cannot say what kind of political system it will have, how its job market will be structured, or even what kind of bodies its inhabitants will possess.”

 

“People are usually afraid of change because they fear the unknown. But the single greatest constant of history is that everything changes.”

 

“No clear line separates healing from upgrading. Medicine almost always begins by saving people from falling below the norm, but the same tools and know-how can then be used to surpass the norm.”

 

“Sapiens rule the world because only they can weave an intersubjective web of meaning: a web of laws, forces, entities and places that exist purely in their common imagination. This web allows humans alone to organise crusades, socialist revolutions and human rights movements.”

 

“Yet in truth the lives of most people have meaning only within the network of stories they tell one another.”

 

“History isn’t a single narrative, but thousands of alternative narratives. Whenever we choose to tell one, we are also choosing to silence others.”

 

“The glass ceiling of happiness is held in place by two stout pillars, one psychological, the other biological. On the psychological level, happiness depends on expectations rather than objective conditions. We don’t become satisfied by leading a peaceful and prosperous existence. Rather, we become satisfied when reality matches our expectations. The bad news is that as conditions improve, expectations balloon. Dramatic improvements in conditions, as humankind has experienced in recent decades, translate into greater expectations rather than greater contentment. If we don’t do something about this, our future achievements too might leave us as dissatisfied as ever.”

 

“The most common reaction of the human mind to achievement is not satisfaction, but craving for more.”

 

“Each and every one of us has been born into a given historical reality, ruled by particular norms and values, and managed by a unique economic and political system. We take this reality for granted, thinking it is natural, inevitable and immutable. We forget that our world was created by an accidental chain of events, and that history shaped not only our technology, politics and society, but also our thoughts, fears and dreams. The cold hand of the past emerges from the grave of our ancestors, grips us by the neck and directs our gaze towards a single future. We have felt that grip from the moment we were born, so we assume that it is a natural and inescapable part of who we are. Therefore we seldom try to shake ourselves free, and envision alternative futures.”

 

“In essence, terrorism is a show. Terrorists stage a terrifying spectacle of violence that captures our imagination and makes us feel as if we are sliding back into medieval chaos. Consequently states often feel obliged to react to the theatre of terrorism with a show of security, orchestrating immense displays of force, such as the persecution of entire populations or the invasion of foreign countries. In most cases, this overreaction to terrorism poses a far greater threat to our security than the terrorists themselves.”

 

“Whereas in 2010 obesity and related illnesses killed about 3 million people, terrorists killed a total of 7,697 people across the globe.”

 

“For the first time in history, more people die today from eating too much than from eating too little; more people die from old age than from infectious diseases; and more people commit suicide than are killed by soldiers, terrorists and criminals combined. In the early twenty-first century, the average human is far more likely to die from bingeing at McDonald’s than from drought, Ebola or an al-Qaeda attack.”

 

“Religion is a deal, whereas spirituality is a journey.”

 

“You want to know how super-intelligent cyborgs might treat ordinary flesh-and-blood humans? Better start by investigating how humans treat their less intelligent animal cousins. It’s not a perfect analogy, of course, but it is the best archetype we can actually observe rather than just imagine.”

 

“Fiction isn’t bad. It is vital. Without commonly accepted stories about things like money, states or corporations, no complex human society can function. We can’t play football unless everyone believes in the same made-up rules, and we can’t enjoy the benefits of markets and courts without similar make-believe stories. But stories are just tools. They shouldn’t become our goals or our yardsticks. When we forget that they are mere fiction, we lose touch with reality. Then we begin entire wars `to make a lot of money for the cooperation’ or ‘to protect the national interest’. Corporations, money and nations exist only in our imagination. We invented them to serve us; why do we find ourselves sacrificing our life in their service.”

“In fact, as time goes by, it becomes easier and easier to replace humans with computer algorithms, not merely because the algorithms are getting smarter, but also because humans are professionalising. Ancient hunter-gatherers mastered a very wide variety of skills in order to survive, which is why it would be immensely difficult to design a robotic hunter-gatherer. Such a robot would have to know how to prepare spear points from flint stones, how to find edible mushrooms in a forest, how to use medicinal herbs to bandage a wound, how to track down a mammoth and how to coordinate a charge with a dozen other hunters. However, over the last few thousand years we humans have been specialising. A taxi driver or a cardiologist specialises in a much narrower niche than a hunter-gatherer, which makes it easier to replace them with AI.”

 

“Algorithm’ is arguably the single most important concept in our world. If we want to understand our life and our future, we should make every effort to understand what an algorithm is, and how algorithms are connected with emotions. An algorithm is a methodical set of steps that can be used to make calculations, resolve problems and reach decisions. An algorithm isn’t a particular calculation, but the method followed when making the calculation. For example, if you want to calculate the average between two numbers, you can use a simple algorithm. The algorithm says: ‘First step: add the two numbers together. Second step: divide the sum by two.’ When you enter the numbers 4 and 8, you get 6. When you enter 117 and 231, you get 174.”

 

“In the twenty-first century our personal data is probably the most valuable resource most humans still have to offer, and we are giving it to the tech giants in exchange for email services and funny cat videos.”

 

“If Kindle is upgraded with face recognition and biometric sensors, it can know what made you laugh, what made you sad and what made you angry. Soon, books will read you while you are reading them.”

 

“The Theory of Relativity makes nobody angry because it doesn’t contradict any of our cherished beliefs. Most people don’t care an iota whether space and time are absolute or relative. If you think it is possible to bend space and time, well be my guest. …In contrast, Darwin has deprived us of our souls. If you really understand the Theory of Evolution, you understand that there is no soul. This is a terrifying thought, not only to devote Christians and Muslims, but also to many secular people who don’t hold any clear religious dogma, but nevertheless, want to believe that each human possess an eternal, individual essence that remains unchanged throughout life and can survive even death intact.”

 

My Take

The best word to describe Homo Deus is fascinating.  Just read through the quotes that I pulled out from this book and you will see what I mean.  Author Yuval Harari explores many and varied topics (evolution, our relationship with animals, religion, whether we have a soul, privacy, biomedical upgrades, what will provide meaning, etc.) that concern the future of humankind and he has some very intriguing concepts to share.  I found particularly interesting his discussion of how almost everything in our lives is a story and that our ability to agree with others on the stories we tell is what has allowed us to make such amazing progress as a species.  For example, money is an agreed upon story.  If we stopped believing that pieces of papers (or other representations) had value, then our society would quickly collapse.  At some point, I will have to reread this book. There are simply too many ideas in it for my brain to fully absorb them during one reading.  Highly recommended.

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181. God. Gifts. You. Your Unique Calling and Design

Rating:  ☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by:   First Presbyterian Church in Boulder

Author:   Shirley Davis

Genre:  Non- Fiction, Christian, Theology, Self-Improvement

170 pages, published August 29, 2017

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

God. Gifts. You.  is a bible study and assessment of spiritual gifts written by Shirley Davis, a staff member at First Presbyterian Church in Boulder (my home church) who focuses on community building.  In addition to verses from scripture relating to spiritual gifts and calling, the study includes a detailed self-assessment to help you discover your gifts.  Shirley also helps you understand God’s plan for you and how to use your gifts for His glory.

 

 

My Take

I read God. Gifts. You.  as part of a Bible Study at First Presbyterian Church in Boulder.  The self-assessment confirmed some things that I already knew (I have the gifts of hospitality and administration) and surprised me in other ways (I have the gift of encouragement).  More importantly, it started me thinking about how I am using my spiritual gifts in my one and only life and how could I use them in the future.  This is a great resource if you want to know yourself better and/or you are not sure what God is calling you to do.

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178. Magpie Murders

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆1/2

Recommended by:   Michael Koss

Author:   Anthony Horowitz

Genre:  Fiction, Mystery, Crime, Thriller, Suspense

496 pages, published June 6, 2017

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

When editor Susan Ryeland is given the manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest mystery novel, she has no reason to think it will be much different from any of his others.  After working with the bestselling crime writer for years, she’s intimately familiar with his detective, Atticus Pünd, who solves mysteries that occur in quaint English villages.  In the vein of Agatha Christie, Alan’s traditional formula has proved hugely successful.  When the new book (which is included for us to read) abruptly ends before the dénouement, things start to get very interesting as we are thrust into a completely different, yet inherently related, murder mystery.

 

Quotes 

“But I’m not sure it actually matters what we read. Our lives continue along the straight lines that have been set out for us. Fiction merely allows us a glimpse of the alternative. Maybe that’s one of the reasons we enjoy it.”

 

“You must know that feeling when it’s raining outside and the heating’s on and you lose yourself, utterly, in a book. You read and you read and you feel the pages slipping through your fingers until suddenly there are fewer in your right hand than there are in your left and you want to slow down but you still hurtle on towards a conclusion you can hardly bear to discover.”

 

“Rumours and malicious gossip are like bindweed. They cannot be cut back, even with the sword of truth. I can, however, offer you this comfort. Given time, they will wither and die of their own volition.”

 

“It’s strange when you think about it. There are hundreds and hundreds of murders in books and television. It would be hard for narrative fiction to survive without them. And yet there are almost none in real life, unless you happen to live in the wrong area. Why is it that we have such a need for murder mystery? And what is it that attracts us? The crime, or the solution? Do we have some primal need of bloodshed because our own lives are so safe, so comfortable?”

 

“As far as I’m concerned, you can’t beat a good whodunnit: the twists and turns, the clues and the red herrings and then, finally, the satisfaction of having everything explained to you in a way that makes you kick yourself because you hadn’t seen it from the start.”

 

“he had expressed the belief that everything in life had a pattern and that a coincidence was simply the moment when that pattern became briefly visible.”

 

“I had chosen to play the detective—and if there is one thing that unites all the detectives I’ve ever read about, it’s their inherent loneliness. The suspects know each other. They may well be family or friends. But the detective is always the outsider. He asks the necessary questions but he doesn’t actually form a relationship with anyone. He doesn’t trust them, and they in turn are afraid of him. It’s a relationship based entirely on deception and it’s one that, ultimately, goes nowhere. Once the killer has been identified, the detective leaves and is never seen again. In fact, everyone is glad to see the back of him.”

 

“One can think of the truth as eine vertiefung – a sort of deep valley which may not be visible from a distance but which will come upon you quite suddenly. There are many ways to arrive there.”

 

“I held out the packet and suddenly we were friends. That’s one of the only good things about being a smoker these days. You’re part of a persecuted minority. You bond easily.”

 

My Take

I thoroughly enjoyed the fiendishly clever and enigmatic Magpie Murders.  In fact, for four straight hours I couldn’t put it down until I finished it.  Having previously created the Alex Rider books, the television series Foyle’s War and having written for Midsomer Murders and Poirot, Author Anthony Horowitz, OBE, is as prolific as he is talented.  If you like murder mysteries, then you must check out Magpie Murders.  Highly recommended.

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175. Polio: An American Story

Rating:  ☆☆☆☆

Recommended by:  Sue Deans and Darla Schueth

Author:   David M. Oshinsky

Genre:  Non-Fiction, History, Science, Medicine, Public Policy

342 pages, published September 1, 2006

Reading Format:  Book

 

Summary

In Polio:  An American Story, Historian David Oshinsky tells the gripping story of a world terrorized by polio and the intense effort to find a cure, from the March of Dimes to the discovery of the Salk and Sabin vaccines.  Drawing on newly available papers of Jonas Salk, Albert Sabin and other key players, Oshinsky paints a suspenseful portrait of the race for the cure, weaving a dramatic tale centered on the furious rivalry between Salk and Sabin. We also get an inside look at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis which was founded in the 1930s by FDR and Basil O’Connor and which revolutionized fundraising and the perception of disease in America.

 

 

My Take

For the past five years, I have been a member of the Boulder Rotary Club.  From my first meeting, I became aware that eradicating polio from the face of the earth has been a long time mission of all Rotarians throughout the world and indeed, Rotarians have contributed mightily to making that happen.  Our Rotary Club just launched a book group for our club (how could I not join) and given Rotary’s history, it was no surprise that our first selection was Polio:  An American Story.  What was surprising was how much I enjoyed this book.  A well-deserved Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History (2006) and the Herbert Hoover Book Award (2005),   Oshinsky takes a potentially dry subject and breaths fascinating life into it.  Through the lens of polio, we see how the scientific, cultural, sociological and historical shifts in our nation as we progressed through the twentieth century.  Both a gripping scientific suspense story and a provocative social and cultural history, Polio:  An American Story provides fresh insight into post World War II era America.

 

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