In my quest for ideas to help me with my business, I decided to continue down the Lean Startup path and picked up Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster by Alistair Croll and Ben Yoskovitz. The lean startup craze is in full bloom, and I’ve been trying to get my head around exactly what it means and how it is implemented. Lean Analytics looked as though it could help me along in the process.
One way that I’ve been building my reading list is through the Amazon recommendation engine, which I lovingly hate. Wired by Douglas E. Richards is a book which had been consistently showing up in the recommendation lists, so I figured it must be worth checking out. The description fit into my science fiction themes, and the reviews were generally positive. It finally popped to the top of my list, and I was eager and excited to dig into it.
While I’ve been enjoying my reading binge over the last two years, particularly the science fiction parts, I’ve made it a point to mix-in business, or educational, books every so often. The latest one to make it to the top of my reading list was Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience by Jeff Gothelf with Josh Seiden. I’m always interested in continuous improvement and Lean UX seemed like it could be very applicable, especially given how much time I spend on user experience and user interface design.
When I decided to get back into reading, one of the first books I picked up was the Daemon/Freedom book series by Daniel Suarez. I really liked it. Suarez did a great job of mixing near-term technology into an action-packed story that kept me on the edge of my seat. In fact, there were many evenings where I found myself staying up later than normal because I couldn’t put the book down. Because of how much I liked those books, I figured I should add Suarez’s next book, Kill Decision, onto my reading list for this year. I was pretty excited when it finally popped to the top of my list recently.
What if the promise of technology, to make our lives better, simpler, and more fulfilling, was a sham? What if the proliferation of technology destroyed the fabric of our society instead of improving it? In the book Who Owns the Future, Jaron Lanier examines the evolution of technology and how the current path of development is concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few select companies and individuals. His contrarian viewpoint is eye opening, and the solution he proposes to move us to an alternate, more equitable path for society, makes for an interesting read.
With a name like Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, I didn’t know what to expect when I added the book to my 2014 reading list. It ended up there because it was highly recommended by Brad Feld, and I’ve had good luck with his past recommendations – favorites Avogadro Corp. and Wool are two that immediately come to mind. The book finally popped to the top of my stack this month, and it was time to dive into author Robin Sloan’s first book.
When we think of the companies that we adore and are most loyal to, it’s those that treat us, the customer, with empathy, compassion, and respect. They strive to provide us with the best possible experience anytime we come in contact with them. Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine’s book, Outside In: The Power of Putting Customers at the Center of Your Business, examines leaders in customer experience across industries and points out the common traits that they exhibit both externally and internally. I felt it would be worth reading to see if I could pick up any insights and practices that I could implement in my small business.
As I continue on my quest to read 25 books this year, I received another recommendation that was a diversion from my list of twenty. My wife, Lisa, asked me if I wanted to read the book His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage by William F. Harley, Jr. When I refused, she responded with “I read it, and I’d really like you to read it.” Being the wise man that I am, I decided to pick it up.
Since part of my science fiction reading has involved post-apocalyptic scenarios, it should come as no surprise that I happened across One Second After by William R. Forstchen. The book chronicles the events in a rural North Carolina town after a high altitude nuclear detonation hits the United States with an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP). Without getting into technical details, the effects of an EMP have the potential to render nearly all electronic devices useless, including anything that relies on electronics. Mobile phones, computers, and even cars are paralyzed. More importantly, the public infrastructure that we depend upon that supplies water and electricity is also crippled.
I’ve been making progress on my 2014 reading list, already having completed the first five titles. I was hoping to stay disciplined and stick to the list, but a recommendation I got from William Hertling dashed those hopes. Hertling is the author of The Singularity Series, which is one of my favorite book series (see my reviews here and here). Needless to say, when one of your favorite writers recommends a book, it gets priority and jumps the queue. He suggested I read Our Final Invention: Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era by James Barrat.