Monday, July 09, 2007

Back From Vacation


Today is the first day.

Yep, the day, I change the message back to normal on the phone. The day I try to catch up for being gone for ten days.

I have several ideas for posts, so I'll just start in to regale you over the next week or so!

Top of the list is a list of the books I read while gone.

I spent a week with my friends, Marcia and Gary Housel at their home on Tingley Lake near Scranton, PA. This lake has some pretty fond memories as the Housels and the Peters used to vacation there together every year with our kids, six in all. They have retired to that lake, having built a home just a couple lots away from where we used to stay in the Victorian "Itall Do." Long ago, Marcia and I read while the kids played 'sink the rowboat' and the men golfed. We haven't changed much. So here goes:

1. Freakonomics - I borrowed the copy and I'm glad I didn't spend my money on it. As far as I was concerned it was way too focused on unimportant issues.

2. Water For Elephants - By Sara Gruen. I loved it. The writing and the story were wonderful. I can see why it is a best seller.

3. The Language of Blood by Jane Jeong Trenka. Again I loved it. I would rank it right up there with Water for Elephants in both style and story. (I can't remember the title of this book, nor the author. I left it behind for Marcia to read. She will email me the title and then I'll update this post.)

4 and 5. Riding Lessons and Flying Changes by Sara Gruen. All I can say is that this author of #2 above has gotten a ton better. These books aren't bad, but sort of formulaic.

So there you have it. I love reading about other cultures and other times, so 2 and 3 really hit it on the nose. Now back to some business books.

What book did you think you wanted to read when you did, you found out it wasn't so great?

Oh by the way, just another month till the new Master of Sales is published by Entrepreneur Press. It's rumored to be best seller material.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Confession time. I had wanted to read Seth Godin's the dip. I did read it. But, I just thought it was OK. I really didn't think there was much to it. Nothing earth shattering. One good point: It was brief, so perhaps if I read it again I may change my mind.

Debby said...

As for The Dip, I found value in it, but I don't think I would have liked reading it on vacation. So maybe it was the venue.