Recommended Nonfiction:Do Animals Have Souls, The Fascination of Horror, Why We “Click,” Oil, the Success of Zappos, and Inside a Federal Prison
by Larry Cox on Jul. 28, 2010, under UncategorizedThe Divine Life of Animals: One Man’s Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On by Ptolemy Tompkins (Crown, $22.99)
Ptolemy Tompkins, author of several critically acclaimed books and a frequent contributor to Guideposts and Angels on Earth, examines the possibility that animals have souls. He began his quest following the death of a pet. His sadness at the death of this one particular creature awakened him to the possibility that there should be a way of looking at life that allows one to see the existence of every single being as hugely significant. Tompkins does not find it surprising that many people are embarrassed to admit that they believe animals have souls. As he explains, we live in a time in which the enduring insights of the world’s spiritual traditions are too often being discarded simple because people mistakenly think science has rendered belief in a world beyond the physical impossible. He adds that if it’s challenging for a member of modern society to believe that he or she possesses an eternal soul, it’s obviously even harder for them to believe that their dog or cat might have one. This is a marvelous book that paints a glorious picture of the cosmos as a place made up of matter and spirit, in which animals are every bit as important, spiritually speaking, as the humans with whom they share the world. After reading this little gem, the animals in your life will take on a whole new meaning.
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh (Business Plus, 23.99)
In 1999, shortly after his 24th birthday, Tony Hsieh sold LinkExchange, a company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million. He then joined Zappos as an advisor and investor, eventually becoming its CEO. He helped Zappos grow from a small, regional company to one that racked up more than $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually. This incredible success was achieved by going against the grain of today’s cutthroat tactics. By creating a radically different corporate culture committed to making employees and customers happier, Hsieh created a model so attractive that he sealed an acquisition with Amazon in 2009, valued at $1.2 billion, making him one of the richest as well as most respected business leaders in America. Zappos is unique in that it actually pays new employes $2,000 to quit, recently fired its board of directors, and made customer service the responsibility of the entire company, not just a department. By following some of the guidelines in this highly readable book, business leaders can help redefine their companies and make them not just more profitable, but a more rewarding place to work.
Oil: Money, Politics, and Power in the 21st Century by Tom Bower (Grand Central Publishing, $26.99)
With the recent BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, the main topic of conversation this summer is oil. Tom Bower, an investigative historian, journalist, and bestselling author, has gathered firsthand information from hundreds of sources to serve up the untold history of oil. This is an engrossing, narrative look at the politics, economics, and technology behind the hunt for this vital natural resource. This is a story that is permeated with intrigue, greed, and risk. Since there isn’t one aspect of modern life that is not touch in some way, big or small, with oil, the complex machi9nations of the business and politics of oil on the global stage could not be more timely or important. Bower’s research is meticulous, his narrative accessible, and his graphic story of the modern petroleum industry groundbreaking and essential. To understand our modern world, we must first understand the frenetic $1 trillion dollar-a-year hunt for oil as staged against a backdrop of financial speculation, economic turmoil, and diplomatic brinkmanship.
Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman (Spiegel & Grau, $25)
Piper Kerman was a graduate of Smith College who seemed to have it all. She had a nice New York City apartment, a promising career, and an attentive boyfriend. It all came crashing down when she was arrested for a very careless dalliance in the world of drug trafficking. She was found guilty and sentenced to thirteen months in prison, eleven of them at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut. The surprising thing about her new book is how entertaining and readable that it is. Revealing, moving, and engaging, “Orange is the New Black” offers an insider’s view of day-to-day life in a women’s prison, a place with its own codes of behavior and arbitrary hierarchies, where the uneasy relationship between prisoner and jailer is constantly and unpredictably recalibrated. If you’ve ever wondered what life is like in the slammer, do yourself a favor and put this book at the top of your summer’s reading list.
Sudoku To Go! by the editors at Nikoli Publishing (Workman, $9.95)
Sudoku to Go! Is a collection of wildly successful puzzles which are divided into three parts, each containing 100 all-new challenges with different levels of difficulty to choose from. Unlike most Sudoku puzzles which are generated by computers, the ones in this collection are handcrafted by Sudoku masters, maintaining the vital ingredient that makes these unique puzzles so fun and enjoyable. With Sudoku to Go! there are 300 of the newest, toughest, roughest puzzles you will ever put your pencil to.
Click: The Magic of Instant Connections by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman (Broadway Books, $23)
Ori and Rom Brafman, authors of SWAY: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior, draw on cutting edge research across the fields of psychology behavior economics, neuroscience and sociology to show how we can accelerate more meaningful relationships in multiple areas of life, from romantic relationships to corporate work teams. Along the way, the reason why we click with some people and not others is studied. The key aspects of “clicking” include the surprising power of vulnerability or our willingness to open up to others so that the quality of relationships can flourish and deepen. Similarity also counts and quantity trumps quality. Put another way, the authors believe similarity can help create an ingroup dynamic that brings people together and the more things shared in common, the more likely it is to make a connection. This book is accessible and can help enrich our experiences in every aspect of our lives. Ori Brafman is an organizational business consultant. Rom Brafman is a psychologist with a private practice in Palo Alto, California.
The Philosophy of Horror edited by Thomas Fahy (University Press of Kentucky, $35)
Thomas Fahy, director of the American studies program at Long Island University and author of two horror novels, “Sleepless,” and “The Unspoken,” examines the reasons why audiences continue to revisit horror and why fear is the underpinnings of some of American culture’s most well known television and film productions and works of literature. In fourteen essays by such heavy-hitters as John Lutz, Ann C. Hall, Jessica O’Hara, and Philip Tallon, the different aspects of horror are explored. As the contributors reveal, a terrifying story or film not only excites the senses but also raises important questions about safety, justice, suffering, and other human concerns. As Philip Tallon points out, “As a genre, horror doesn’t like you. Horror doesn’t care if it causes you to lose sleep. Horror doesn’t mind if it frightens you so much it makes you swear off something you love, like camping or swimming in the ocean. In essence, horror is a jerk.” Indeed.
The German Genius: Europe’s Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution, and the Twentieth Century by Peter Watson (Harper, $35)
This 900-page plus book surveys the cultural history of German ideas in science, the arts, and the humanities from 1755, the end of the Baroque era, to 1933, the year that marked Hitler’s rise to power. This isn’t an easy subject nor is this an easy book to read. My best advice is to break it up into pieces and then proceed very carefully as if you are exploring an ancient German forest. Watson, a senior editor at the London Sunday Times, a columnist for The Observer, and author of several previous books including “Sotheby’s: The Insider Story,” and “The Death of Hitler,” reveals several surprises in his latest work. For example, by 1933, Germany boasted more Nobel Prize winners than any other country, more than Britain and the United States combined. The country could have reached even greater heights if a certain failed painter from Austria hadn’t entered the political stage and changed the course of world history. “The German Genius” is a remarkable book on many levels. The research is first-rate and it is surprisingly accessible. Among the topics featured are “A Third Renaissance, Between Doubt and Darwin;” “The Rise of the Educated Middle Class: The Engines and Engineers of Modern Prosperity;” “The Miseries and Miracles of Modernity;” and “Beyond Hitler: Continuity of the German Tradition Under Adverse Conditions.” The brilliance of German thought shaped our lives than many of us know or care to acknowledge but because of the stain of Nazism, less attention has been paid to German culture than those, say, of France, Italy, and Spain.
