Power Mad! by Karl Shaw

Power Mad! by Karl Shaw

A darkly humorous book about the worlds dictators, despots and leaders who were very sadistic, evil and weird. That includes the off-putting dietary habits of Idi Amin. There is an icon at the bottom of the introduction page for each leader. The number of boots signifies the level of sadism. After reading this book, it is much easier to spot a modern day leader who is power mad. They want to be president/ruler for life. They care more about Kleptocracy than Democracy. America was incredibly fortunate to have George Washington as our first President.

Power Mad!: A Book of Deranged Dictators is available from Amazon.com

Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond.

This exhaustive collection of information describes the rise and fall of civilizations from around 200,000 years ago to the present. The book attempts to answer questions like Why didn't the Chinese discover America instead of the Europeans? With at least a 10,000 year head start, why didn't Africa become the dominant culture of the world? Was climate change or hunting the cause of the extinction of the wooly mammoth? An excellent background for a multifactoral analysis of world history.

Guns Germs and Steel Part - 1

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies is available from Amazon.com.

Collapse by Jarad Diamond

Collapse by Jared Diamond

This book describes at least five contributing factors to the collapse or decline of several societies around the world. The description of the Easter Island colony collapse is included along with a description of the Norse colonizations starting around 900 AD. A difficult to read but in depth coverage of the Rwanda genocide and a comparison between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is also included. Sustainable growth, population control, good leadership, good relations with neighbors and favorable climate all contribute to a successful society.

I have referenced this book in another blog post with respect land use and societal evolution for the island containing the Dominican Republic and Haiti. 

Jared Diamond on why societies collapse

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed: Revised Edition is available from Amazon.com. 

The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley

The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley examines in great detail how people respond in a disaster. It covers the events of 911 and notes that people stayed in there offices to call family members and answer email prior to leaving. She provides a vivid account of a kidnapping event from the prospective of the kidnappers and the persons being held hostage. Her vivid description of a nightclub fire also offers information about why some people acted appropriately and others were helpless. An excellent book for those involved in disaster planning and emergency management.

PBS review of a sTV show about the book

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Interview with author

The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why is available from Amazon.com.

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers

The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Joost Elffers offers historical references for the 48 laws of power. It provides information about adherence to the laws and transgression of the laws. I found the historical references fascinating. The way Mata Hari promoted herself is similar to Lady Gaga's current manipulation of the media. It is important to always keep changing and keep an air of mystery and spectacle.

I found the book to be troubling because many of the power manipulations are morally questionable. It is a good book to use in analyzing the behavior of business and world leaders. This is a link to the list for the 48_Laws_of_Power
 

 

Animated 48 Laws of Power part 1 - 6 minutes

Animated 48 Laws of Power  part 2 - 8 min.

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron

The Artist's Way - A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron

I've read this book, in part and whole, at least four times. Each time I marvel at her notions of spirituality connecting us to creativity. I've used her card deck to try to boost myself creativity and I've used her journal. I find the book a bit too spiritual. I need something slightly more concrete. However, she does bring all the usual elements to the table: eliminating negativity, finding affirmations, identifying and removing barriers and surrounding oneself with faith, hope and courage. The fact that I still have the book and have once again picked it up for inspiration tells me there is good stuff here. Sometimes all creativity needs is something out of the norm. This book provides that for me- kind of like yoga!

Julia Cameron on self nuturing - writing, walking and taking an artist's date.

The Artist's Way Starter Kit is available from Amazon.com

How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael J. Gelb

How to Think Like Leonardo daVinci by Michael J. Gelb

The author describes daVinci's approach to life. He was a brilliant man who had a wide range of interests. He left much of what he worked on partially finished. He would invite people with unusual facial features to diner and tell them humorous stories so he could observe their facial expressions while laughing. He also knew how to live fully in the moment by through the full appreciation of eating a meal. It was an interesting study inside the mind of an inquisitive artist and inventor.

Michael J. Gelb on the eternity of beauty

How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day is available from Amazon.com.

A Directory of Spies and Espionage by Chester G. Hearn

A Directory of Spies and Espionage by Chester G. Hearn

This entertaining book offers a two to four page summary for each spy listed. Photos or pictures are provided and activities of each person is listed. Be forewarned that some of the activities described in this book are stomach churning. Others stories describe great heroism. Some of these people would make great Paul Harvey "Rest of the Story" subjects. Moe Berg the former catcher for the Minneapolis Millers and Yankees was one. He spied on the Japanese prior to WWII dressed in a Kimono and then parachuted into Europe to assist with OSS undercover allied operations in Europe.



KGB Agent Kim Philby

Spies and Espionage, a Directory is available from Amazon.com.

Nine Things You Must Do by Dr. Henry Cloud

Nine Things You Simply Must Do - Dr. Henry Cloud

This was an excellent book on how to make good decisions in life. Dr. Cloud describes his quest to become a deja vu person. He works to surround himself with people that lift him up rather than tear him down. He offers advice about upsetting the right people. You need to accept that people will be mad at you if you are not their doormat. You can not let their bad behavior control yours.

He also offers provocative advice on how to "hate well". This does not mean doing harm to other persons but clearly noting behaviors or actions that are not who you want to be or be associated with. The religious aspect of the book is not overt but is covered in the final section of the book. It is one of the most useful books I've read on making good decisions and actively choosing the life you want to lead. 

Henry Cloud talks how looking forward can help you make decisions in the moment. 16 min.

9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life: A Psychologist Learns from His Patients What Really Works and What Doesn't is available from Amazon. com.

America - Daily Show

The first production from the Daily Show, America A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction, offers an irreverent introduction to American History. I ended up getting both the audio and hard copy versions of the book. They did extensive research on American History and produced an excellent parody.  This book is for adults.  Some of the language is profane  Funny but profane.  There is also some nudity but a naked pull out of the Supreme Court Justices is more humorous than pornographic. 

I enjoyed the extensively embellished section on the shadow government that controls everything.  The book also helps define useful terms such as post Soviet Kleptocracy.

Brief section from the audio book on Immigration

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America (The Book) Teacher's Edition: A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction is availabe from Amazon. com.

When Life is Not Working by Bob Merritt

When Life's Not Working by Bob Merritt

Bob gives an unflinching look at his disciplined life. He describes the first practice sermon he gave and recalls sweating so much that his reviews came back describing him as "wet". He has come to the brink of failure at several points in his 53 years with his marriage and with the leadership of his church. He spread himself too thin doing too many good things and not being the best coworker, spouse or father. He learned to cut back and repair these relationships.

He offers some very simple advice. Life is either easy/hard or hard/easy. Anything worth having usually involves a struggle. This may be a fishing hole that requires a day of portage through, mud mosquitoes and flies or routine exercise to maintain health. This book is an excellent complement to Dr. Henry Cloud's book on the Nine Things You Must Do.

Speed up  version of audio book excerpt - 5 min. 

Bob Merrit's book When Life's Not Working: 7 Simple Choices for a Better Tomorrow is available from Amazon.com

A brief video dicussion on vimeo is available here

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath

This book is a very helpful guide for people in advertising, public health or training.  Examples are provided on how to make ideas and concepts easy for people to remember. 

They recommend using linking rich concrete examples with something new to increase the probablility that people will be able to understand the new concept.

When I teach a mycology course I have attempted to improve the stickiness of a new organism using word finds and crossword puzzles.  After reading this book,  I will be using stronger anchors to reinforce the memory.  As an example: I have a picture of the organism Mycotypha spp.   The word alone tells you very little about the organism.  If I told you that it looked like a very tiny cattail plant that may help.  Infact Typha is the name for a group of plants in the cattail family.  Mycotypha means fungus cattail.   The pictures provide even more information.



Myctotypha spp. photo N. Carlson 100x

Cattails (Typha) - From a marsh in Minnesota - photo N. Carlson 

Made to stick by Chip Heath

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die is available from Amazon.com.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard

Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard by Skip  and Dan Heath

A very useful book for planning change on both a personal level and for businesses. The brain and the organization is divided between the rider and the elephant. The rider is the pre-frontal cortex of the brain. It plans ahead and keeps things from getting out of control. It can also be a source of inertia as endless possibilities are considered. The elephant is the emotional side of the brain. It get things done. It can also act in ways that may be regretted at a later time.

In order for things to change both parts of the brain have to work together. The author has suggestions. Promote bright lights where things are working. Ignore facts that are TBU - True but useless. Give clear simple instructions. Make the path to success clear. Move beyond SMART goals. Make success and failure black and white to avoid rationalization.

I found immediate applications to home, work and my volunteer work.

 

Video review of Switch - 8 min. 

Exhaustion for resisting to do something takes energy and you can run out of self control. Change burns self control.  - Dan Heath

The book Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard is available at Amazon.com

New Romance Novel - Embracing Love ( My Knight in Old Armor

Embracing Love by CA Krinke, 2012

After losing her best friend and business partner, Samantha was heartbroken. Samantha soon finds the terms of the will will cause her to make life changing decisions. Everything she had worked for would be risked for the greatest reward of all.

As a financial advisor, risk was Blake's middle name. But risking everything to satisfy the request of his best friend? Blake decides he's up for the challenge, but is he up for falling in love too?

A modern romance novel that explores the stress of a suddenly blended family complete with kids and two strangers charged with caring for them.  The novel has romance, mystery and quirky characters.  It is set in part in Minnesota and New England.

It is available in Kindle addition retitled My Knight in Old Armor from Amazon.com. 

The Next Decade by George Friedman

George Friedman offers a glimpse into the future challenges for American Presidents in the coming decade 2010 - 2020.   He points out that military research has been the governments way of rapidly developing new technology for use in the private sector including the internet, GPS and radar.  He misses the current military push for renewable energy technology that may speed development in this sector.   He focuses on US strategies for maintaining regional balances of power one of which involves a controversial overture to Iran.  His analysis of contrasting demographic problems for China and Japan was enlightening.  In particular Japan's acute dependence on the US for safe shipping lanes.    He argues that American naval dominance is one of the most important strategic assets for America.   He also lays out why the US/Mexican Drug war is a difficult problem to solve as the profit from the illegal trade is greater than the profit made from legal trade between the US and Mexico.

The next 100 years by George Friedman - 24 minutes

His book  The Next Decade: Empire and Republic in a Changing World is available from Amazon.com.

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

Mary Roach has written a highly entertaining and fact filled book covering preparations to travel into space. Get a behind the scenes look at a world of 99% preparation and 1% actual time in space.  She covers the origami test used on  Japanese space candidates.  She describes how the selection process differs for the psychological profile of someone spending two weeks in space versus someone who will spend more than a year in space.  She describes the zero gravity problems associated with keeping clean, using the toilet, and eating food.  She deals with the real problems of getting someone back in the capsule when they are caught euphoria of the space walk.

Packing for Mars Google talk - 40 minutes

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void Available through Amazon.com.

Buddha's Brain by Hanson and Mendius

Buddah's Brain by Rick Hanson, PhD and Richard Mendius, MD provides information about optimizing the performance of the brain.  Understanding nutrition and neurophysiology allows people to give there brain and body the best chance of doing well in this complex world.

They give suggestions on rapid stress relief and then explain the processing underlying the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.  They also provide practices that allow you to rapidly reset the nervous system in a time of stress.

We applied these principles in the video below:

Information about purchasing the book is available from Amazon by following the link below.
Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom

The authors have also developed an iphone App that is available from their website

http://www.rickhanson.net/media/buddhas-brain-iphone-app

Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps

Allan and Barbara Pease have written an entertaining and insightful book describing the differences in the way brains of men and women are structured and how it influences their ability to perceive reality.  They examine why men have a hard time finding things in the refrigerator and why it is not a good idea to have a deep discussion with a man while he is driving a vehicle. 

I admit to almost not buying this book because of the title. But it is well researched.  They have an extended discussion about the influence that testosterone and estrogen have in the development of the brain.  They point to research that shows that women are able to parallel park much better after receiving injections of testosterone. 

The reason men have a more difficult time finding things in the fridge is because they have more cones designed to see objects far away. Women have cones more widely distributed and this allows for better peripheral vision.

http://www.peaseinternational.com/

It is available for purchase through the link from Amazon.com below

Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps: How We're Different and What to Do About It

Allan Pease on the difference between male and female brains