Confessions of a Canadian Book Worm: September 2010
This blog post is a blatant rip off of a monthly column that Nick Hornby writes in The Believer, though the title is a more subtle "borrowing" of another famous British writer`s title, Thomas de Quincey`s Confessions of an English Opium Eater
. In my monthly confession, I`ll list all of the books that I bought last month and which ones I actually read. For me, book buying is as much an addiction as opium was to good ol' De Quincey. Book reading, on the other hand, is another matter...I hope that posting these lists will shame me into curbing my monthly habit. Coincidentally, De Quincey's book is one of many that I currently own, but have not read. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
BOOKS BOUGHT:
- Ariely, Dan. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
.
- Hayek, F.A. The Road to Serfdom
.
- Israel, Jonathan I. Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750
.
- Jacobs, Jane. Cities and the Wealth of Nations
.
- Schumpeter, Joseph A. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy
.
- Welch, Jack (with Suzy Welch). Winning
.
- Wozniak, Steve. iWoz - Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I invented the personal computer, co-founded Apple, and had fun doing it
.
- King, Stephen. The Stand. (The Complete and Uncut Edition)
. (half)
- Robinson, Ken (with Lou Aronica). The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything.
- Wozniak, Steve. iWoz - Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I invented the personal computer, co-founded Apple, and had fun doing it
But, in my next posts, I hope to write about HBO's critically acclaimed The Wire, the mayoral race in Toronto, and the different approaches to business that Wozniak and Welch present. I'll also post another entry on Stephen King's The Stand.
I've been working on this blog for less than a month now, and I'm still figuring out HTML, the inner workings of Blogger, and Google Analytics. Writing these entries has also been a challenge, since, before this blog, I never wrote anything except academic essays and corporate e-mails. I hope that what I've written so far hasn't seemed stodgy or academic; in fact, I actually want the few friends and family members who are reading these things actually like them.
In any case, please bear with me as I work out the kinks. I'll try to post more regularly, since my current pace has been less than Stephen King-like.
posted by Grimm at
07:23
2 Comments:
grimmy,
don't be too hard on yourself!
at least you are acknowledging the addiction,
right? one out of 7 isn't that bad. you will still get to the others in time.
thanks for including the links to these titles. brilliant. i was going to ask you about "winning." what attracted you to this title?
what did you think of the element? does finding your passion change everything, or at least something?
If I remember the lyrics correctly, Meatloaf once sang that two out of three ain't bad, but one out of seven is downright awful. But, thank you for being so understanding. Unlike Meatloaf, that big jerk.
Reading The Element helped me decide to write this blog, so I think it was a meaningful book. This blog doesn't have many readers, but I'm enjoying sitting down and writing for the sake of it.
I think I'll continue writing even if that little counter tells me that no one is reading, just because stringing words together into semi-coherent thoughts is fun. In part, I just want my writing to improve... Y'know, chase away the cliches that seem to dog every sentence.
As for "Winning", it's assigned reading that my boss gave me at work. My first reading assignment since university. Weird. I'm starting to read it right now, and hope to contrast the attitude towards business that Welch adopts with the one that Steve Wozniak takes in his autobiography.
Anyway, thank you for reading my blog. I hope that you like it, and that Jack Welch thinks it's a winner.
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