Non-Fiction

Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller –  The premise of Attached is that there are three ways people engage around intimacy – Secure (50% of us), Anxious (20%), and Avoidant (25%).  And the trick is what happens when these styles interact with each other. This is book is interesting but is short on utility; felt like a long magazine article that got turned into a book. Could.

Great At Work by Morten Hansen – Through a 5000 person study asking bosses, peers and the the individuals themselves, Hansen believes he has found a set of strategies and tactics to improve your performance in the workplace. Here are four lessons that caught my attention:

1. 1. We are always balancing focus and effort. The best performers focus on a smaller number of priorities and then obsess, scoring 28% higher than the next closest group that does more and stresses about the added commitments. Ways to apply – focus on an industry, cull the number of projects, learn to say no.
   2. High achievers find a way to bring individual passion to their work and purpose that serves the broader community. The study found passionate people in all jobs and industries. It also found purpose in highly creative to the most low paying positions (hospital janitors score among most purposeful). The best result came from individual who had BOTH.
   3. When leading groups, maximize debate among team members, reach selected action and foster team unity toward end goal. Make it safe to speak up, ensure everyone is heard and get everyone behind the final decision.
   4. Collaboration is not magically better. It only makes sense when it is effective and creates value towards an end goal. Top performers find that balance and fully commit or they say no.

I give Great At Work a Must.

The Million-Dollar One-Person Business by Elaine Pofeldt – Pretty standard book for starting a business.  Pofeldt is a journalist and she is reporting on the current scene. Could.

Fiction

Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews – I have been reading business fables and parables ahead of a new project I am working on. The book came out in 2002. I wasn’t familiar with it until recently. The main character, David Ponder, hits a rough patch in his life and has a George Bailey moment of crisis. In this version, Ponder is sent through time to visit famous figures at pivotal moments in history to receive words of advice. The opening scenes are rushed but the rest of the book works. Could.

Graphic Novels

She-Hulk: Deconstructed by MarikoTamaki and Nico Leon with Dalibor Talajić – Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk attempts to return to a normal life as a lawyer after the events of Civil War II. Their treatment of someone struggling with PTSD is matched so well with the green monster. It’s all there – anger, fear, lack of control, remorse, consequence, exhaustion.This is one of the best story arcs I have ever read in a graphic novel. Must.

Other

Launch Podcast by John August – August is the author of a new middle-age novel called Arlo Finch and the Valley of Fire. He is also the co-host of the Scripnotes podcast and the screenwriter of many movies you know – Go, Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels. Launch tracks the journey of the book being published from finding an agent to copyediting to visiting the printing plant in Virgina. The podcast is a fun overview of the whole process. I think even publishing people will enjoy hearing the story told through the eyes of an enthusiastic first time author. Should.

Black Panther – MUST for all the reasons.

Meru – Amazing documentary on Netflix about three men’s attempt to be the first to ascend a peak in the Indian Himalayas. My wife and I sat on the couch amazed when it was over. Must.