Book: The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles
Rating: Detailed
T. J. Stiles did some serious homework on this massive 600+ page book. Vanderbilt was quite a man and did some amazing things for his age fathering what we consider the modern corporation, but goodness this book explored every minutia of his life. If you want the cliff notes read the Wikipedia entry.
Book: What the Dog Saw and other adventures by Malcom Gladwell
Rating: Great
Lesson Learned: How to think differently
This is a collection of Gladwell’s articles from the New Yorker. Therefore, you get to read great nuggets of truth without having to read the entire snarly magazine. This is way worth the money and is a great book to read over a couple of weeks since it is broken up into easily digestible articles. This is a must read for people who live in New York and go to those parties with the expensive wine.
Book: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer
Rating: Lesson Learned
Lesson Learned: Need brings Creativity
Someone younger than you brought electricity to his poverty stricken famined land and changed agriculture for their community…. It is an amazing story of ingenuity bread out of scarcity. It will move you to action.
Book: Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Trevino Hart
Rating: Worth Reading
Lesson Learned: struggles of a migrant
Elva goes to work in the fields very young. Eventually, she is able to get out and make it big. After her success she visits her dying father. He asks how much she is making. She tells him $20 an hour because he wouldn’t be able to comprehend the amount of money she earns. This story sticks out at me. It illustrates our inability to comprehend things foreign to us- whether too lofty or too unjust. The book is very descriptive about the lives children of migrant workers live. In all the books on immigration I have read I still haven’t gotten hold of one that would make me agree with a fence.
Book: Winston Churchill CEO: 25 Lessons for Bold Business Leaders by Alan Axelrod
Rating: Meh
Lesson Learned: ?
This is a biography of Churchill told through business lessons. For example, the fourth chapter is, “Fail and Learn”. The chapter explains the failure at Gallipoli, which was attributed to Churchill even though he had little authority to change course, and how he was able to learn. This was a book with a killer cover and an intriguing idea, but I had to fight to finish it. If you have read nothing of Churchill it would be an easy way to get his biography and retain the information since it associates it with larger life lessons.
Book: The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
Rating: FUN
Lesson Learned: reality vs. obsession
This was fun and worth reading. It is an examination of Fawcett’s adventures into the Amazon. It explores a time back when men were explorers and how a modern day journalist set out to search for where he disappeared. Be warned that the book makes you want to go get a machete and chop into the forest.
Book: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Rating: Wonderful
Lesson Learned: Redemption
Examines the interesting line between right, wrong and the choices people are forced to make at such young ages. If I had a fifth grader we would read this together at night to help develop his sense of global awareness.
Book: Winston Churchill: Statesman of the Century by Robin H. Neillands
Rating: B
Lesson Learned: Fake it until you make it
I have always been curious to learn more about Churchill and his impact on England and the world. When I went to the bookstore to find a biography they were all 1,000 pages long and wouldn’t fit into my carry on so I opted for the smallest one; all I was looking for was the highlights. The book was a good explanation of who Churchill was and where he came from. It did what any starter bio would do and provoked an even larger interest in the man’s life. I love how Churchill failed over and over again, but never let the failure deter him from his ambition.
