Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell spoke a couple of years ago at a conference I attended and I was hooked. He has an original way of looking at the world that makes you re-evaluate what you believe and have accepted as fact.

One of my favorite quotes is, "But what I have sensed is an enormous frustration with the unexpected costs of knowing too much, of being inundated with information. We have come to confuse information with understanding."

So maybe we can learn from Gladwell how to encourage practical problem solving without getting into the bind of always having to have more information.

Just What I Needed!

A friend who loves thrillers returned Brad Meltzer's Book of Fate to me a couple of weeks ago. I remember reading Meltzer's first book The Tenth Justice about ten years ago but just hadn't connected with any of his other titles over the years.

The Book of Fate is a great read and Meltzer has a Michigan connection since he graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in History. He also has a law degree from Columbia.

Wes Holloway remains loyal to the President even after being shot eight years earlier, but he suffers from survivor's guilt convinced his actions caused Ron Boyle's death. Then he glimpses Ron Boyle on a trip with the President. Masons, Thomas Jefferson, the Three, the Roman - how do these fit together to solve the puzzle of the Book of Fate.

Brad has 10, 368 'friends' on his MySpace. Click here if you want to be his friend too.

Why Women Read More Then Men

This story from National Public Radio is worth reading. There are also links on the page to books you might want to consider adding to your list.

In This Rain by SJ Rozan

I discovered SJ Rozan through the Sisters in Crime organization, which promotes the reviewing of American women who write in the mystery genre. Ms. Rozan was conducting a panel for SIC in New York during an American Library Association Convention.

China Trade was the first in a series that alternately feature Lydia Chin and Bill Smith, unlikely partners in solving crime. I highly recommend them. Each book presents some aspect that will fascinate. In China Trade it was porcelain.

Ms. Rozan has written several books now that move away from the Chin/Smith titles. Absent Friends received wonderful reviews in 2005. It used the September 11th aftermath to create a haunting story set in a world that has changed forever.

In This Rain takes New York City and combines politics, real estate, and the struggle for power with greed, evil, and betrayal. I couldn't put it down.

Ms. Rozan is an architect and her attention to detail is telling. Her stories are well plotted but you have to pay attention to characters and what is happening. She demands your attention.

Visit her website to learn more. Click here.

Body Surfing by Anita Shreve

I finally felt like picking up something to read and was sorting through the small stack of ARCs I still have left to consider. The first thing that had to go was the serial killer novel that I would have read in the past.

Recently a friend shared a novel he had written about serial killers and I was so aghast at the things he had written that I don't feel like reading anything that even borders on what I have decided to call porn violence anymore. I gave him back his manuscript. And I actually threw the serial killer book in the trash!

Anita Shreve's Body Surfing was the perfect antidote. This is the first book I have read by this author and she reminds me a bit of Elinor Lipman, who I adore.

Last night I came across a young women at the lake reading another title by this author called Where or When. As we were talking she shared that she had just read Body Surfing and that had been her first book by Shreve as well!

You can visit Anita Shreve's official website here if you can handle the Myst-like music.

Tony Dungy's Book is No. 1!

The Jackson, Michigan native's Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life, made the No. 1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list today. The book claimed the top spot for nonfiction hardcover, Tyndale House Publishers said in a statement.

Update: Super Bowl-winning player and coach and best-selling author Tony Dungy is bringing his national book signing tour to his hometown next month. Dungy, coach of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts will sign copies of his book from 1 - 3 p.m. (tentative) at Agape booksellers in the Jackson Crossing mall on September 8th.

What I've Read in 2007

Nine out of the seventeen books I have read since January 2007 were ARC copies not all of which were read in a timely fashion!

1. Second Glance (Jodi Picoult) Recommended by the author
2. The Thirteenth Tale (Diane Setterfield) ARC
3. The Case of the Missing Books (Ian Sanson) ARC
4. Devil's Corner (Lisa Scottoline) Book Expo America
5. Nerve Damage (Peter Abrahams) ARC
6. Ecstacy (Beth Saulier) ARC
7. Suite Francaise (Irene Nemirovsky) Multiple Reviews
8. City of Fire (Robert Ellis) ARC
9. Self Storage (Gayle Brandeis) ARC
10. Died in the Wool (Rett MacPherson) Guilty Pleasure
11. The Mistress' Daughter (A.M. Homes) ARC
12. In the Woods (Tana French) ARC
13. How to Hepburn (Karen Karbo) Entertainment Weekly
14. What You Have Left (Will Allison) ARC
15. The Locked Room (Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo) Canadian Bookstore
16. Vanishing Acts (Jodi Picoult) Recorded Books
17. Death in a Strange Country (Donna Leon) Canadian Bookstore