Another weekend... I don't know about you but over the Christmas and New Year holidays I manage to get to read and it's fantastic. This break, I read a few books to unwind and a few to help me refocus and face another year in Leeds. I re-read 'Carpe Jugulum' by Terry Pratchett which is a really funny read... Carpe Diem with a bite! I love the Discworld novels and I am desperately waiting for the next one which is late as Terry usually writes one every year and I get it for Christmas, I did read 'Wintersmith' one of his children's books featuring Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men which was published last year but it isn't the same. I also read the new John Le Carre novel 'The Mission Song' which was good. It's a Le Carre with a difference... which I struggled with initially... the unusual emphasis on the spiiritual and the passionate is a new slant and reflects I suppose the new world we live in. I am grateful to some colleagues because have recently discovered Ian Rankin and I managed to read Ian's new book 'The Naming of the Dead'. It was a really compelling read which I found hard to put down until I got to the end, I suppose the great thing with coming to Ian Rankin's books late it certainly gives you plenty to read. I also can't remember who suggested I should read 'Blink' but thank you. It's a book by Malcolm Gladwell who also wrote 'The Tipping Point' which is another fascinating book for those of us in the change business. Blink explores that strange thing where you 'know' something but you don't really know why... gut instinct, the feeling in the pit of your stomach, snap judgement... call it what you will he argues that we must refine these skills and use them to ensure that the way we think will never be the same again. I also started and I am re-reading the best work book I read last year... 'a whole new mind: How to thrive in the new conceptual age' by Daniel H. Pink. It is an essential read for anyone who is concerned about the future... it is a truly mindchanging guide to living, working, thriving and surviving in a world where 'abundance, asia and automation' are changing our lives for ever. It highlights the six essential skills we need to develop in each other, in our colleagues and in our children... design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. It provides an original and compelling analysis of how we can re-imagine our workplaces, our schools and ourselves in this topsy-turvy crazy chaotic world. I'll lend you my copy if you want and I know that once you've read it you'll want to buy it and give it to your friends, your colleagues and those you love and care about.
Let me know what you have been reading. Which books did you really enjoy over Christmas and the New Year? What is simply a great read? Let's start a bookclub and share the very best books we have read. If anyone wants to borrow any of the books mentioned here let me know. We must all continue to read, to research, to learn and to share and communicate.
Chris