Title : A Lifetime of Secrets: A Postsecret Book
Author : Frank Warren
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Tell me a secret!
Until I read this book, I only knew PostSecret from Frank Warren's blog which is on my weekly must-read list. I had resisted buying the previous books in the series because so often what's intriguing a few at a time becomes cloying when presented in a book.
This was not the case with A LIFETIME OF SECRETS: A POSTSECRET BOOK. I couldn't put it down until I'd read it through, and it left me feeling introspective and deeply connected.
For those not familiar with PostSecret, it began as a community art project in which Frank Warren ("America's most trusted stranger") invited people to send in secrets on decorated postcards. Every week he posts twenty of these anonymous postcards on his blog, PostSecret.com; a collection has traveled internationally as an art exhibit; and this is the fourth book of collected secrets.
So many heart-rending postcards! People share their alienation, anger, fear, desire, and even pride. Why do they send their secrets to Frank? Would you? Have you? I haven't (and won't), but something about the secrets has huge sympathetic appeal. There's nothing new in human nature and we all carry the seeds of all these secrets. Some resonate in us more than others, but can you really say that any of the feelings expressed are completely alien?
A LIFETIME OF SECRETS is the fourth book in the series. It's arranged roughly by the age of the secret-sharer, and this theme is certainly effective; you can, however, open it to any page and count on feeling a sense of kinship with the writer. I hope to keep this book for a while and will probably turn its pages many times. It's inevitable that some day I'll hear a friend mention something and I'll say, there's this book I HAVE to share with you; and they'll share it with someone else and I'll never see it again. And that's as it should be. (My secret: I hardly ever return books people lend me!)
Title : Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Author : Robert Cialdini
Rating : 3 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Good, but not totally convincing or that useful
I bought this book for two reasons - one to make myself more alert to sales techniques, and two to see if there are any useful insights to glean that could be applied to other areas of life.
On both counts the book delivers. Having recently been pitched to at work by a media tracking agency and nearly taken the bait (didn't in the end) I immediately recognised the use of reciprocity and scarcity to try and harry me into signing up. That alone was worth buying the book for, and I will definitely use that insight in future.
In addition, the chapter on consistency is also very useful. I've been involved in trying (and failing) to get people behind certain campaigns in the past. As such the discussion about getting people to make small commitments to establish a self image which they then feel the need to act consistently with both rang true on a personal level, and seems like something worth trying out in future.
So why only three stars? For one I did not find elements of the book convincing. The section dealing with newspaper coverage of suicides is the bit that really troubles me. Some of the data seems both to be limited and have been interpreted quite loosely. I would need a lot more convincing that the stats are being interpreted reasonably, it looks far too rough and ready. Given that this book is really about behavioural biases surely it should be extra careful about interpretaion of data as this is something we humans tend to be very bad at, always looking for patterns that aren't there and so on. That then leads me to query the hypothesis built on top of the data and to be honest I find myself not buying it. That also makes me query whether other chapters suffer from similar flaws.
Secondly, the book isn't actually that useful once you get your head around the key techniques because, as a previous reviewer says, simply having the knowledge that you have biases doesn't make them go away. To be really useful the book should have spent as much time reinforcing ways to resist the influence of biases as it does explaining what they are.
That said it is very readable, and I got what I wanted from it, but it could have been better.
Title : Think and Grow Rich
Author : Napoleon Hill
Rating : 5 Stars out of 5.
Summary : One of the best self-improvement books ever
I was originally recommended this book by a colleague who I saw reading it. His copy was well-used and creased to bits - he mentioned that he always kept in in his briefcase for any journies etc when he could pick it up. After starting to read myself, I was amazed at the lessons in the book - it really starts you thinking about what you want in life, and more importantly, how you are actually going to make it happen. A lot of the book is also commonsense, but I guess that is why I found it so appealing and easy to read. I also particularly liked the case-studies, and I found the author very easy to read.
One slight downside for me was the ties towards the end of the book to the authors own religious beliefs. While I have an open mind on these things, the way it was put over wasn't really for me, and I lost a bit of interest in these parts.
In summary though, its a book I have gone back to time and time again when I need a bit of inspiration or focus. Its also great for getting your positive thinking together both inside and outside of work.
Title : The Life You Were Born to Live: Finding Your Life Purpose
Author : Dan Millman
Rating : 3 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Spooky!
I have to agree with most of the others - this is uncanny. As I was born by c-section I didn't think it would apply to me but it does. When I read the section on my numbers I couldn't believe it - it summed up exactly what I'm going through - a perfect description of my life to date. As yet the jury is still out on whether it will help me to live "the life I was born to live", I'll get back to you on that one.
Title : Screw It, Let's Do It: Lessons in Life (Quick Reads)
Author : Sir Richard Branson
Rating : 4 Stars out of 5.
Summary : Easy way to learn from the best
There's no debate about it- Sir Richard Branson is one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time and a role model for so many.
Im a big believer that if you want to be like the best, you need to learn from the best. This book helps you do just that.
Great business and life concepts are easily explained. And at a bargain price- what more do you want?
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