Oh boy I buy a lot of books on Kindle. Here’s 2017’s method of mass consumption in order of purchase…
Pre-suasion
Robert Cialdini’s long-awaited follow up to the seminal book Influence, in which he looks at the ways in which we can seed people and situations to make influence more likely.
City of Fortune
I saw a programme on TV about how Venice basically invented the production line. Roger Crowley’s book gave me a deeper insight into the sea-faring City state.
The Neo-generalist
Richard Martin and Kenneth Mikkelsen’s exploration of the comb-shaped professional.
Wonderland – how play made the modern world.
When I first heard about Steven Johnson’s book my first thought was “Bugger. Someone’s written the book I was writing.” It turned out not to be the case – Johnson explores how seemingly trivial things (spices, musical instruments) have shaped important facets of modern life (international trade, computers).
Building a better business using the Lego Serious Play Method
Not the snappiest title, but you get the idea of what Per Kristiansen and Robert Rasmussen are talking about in their tome.
Dark Money
Jane Mayer’s book has your head screaming “conspiracy theory” whilst your gut thinks it’s probably not. How a web of neo-liberal money shaped academia and politics to their way.
Creativity Inc
Ed Catmull’s reverse engineering of the Pixar way. Which is fine until you watch Cars 2.
Sensemaking
Christian Madsbjerg gives as close a strong vision for how qualitative data should be used alongside quantitative as I have yet read.
The Heretics
This is a fascinating read. Will Storr meets and talks with people who hold views that fly against accepted scientific wisdom.
Fully Connected
Julia Hobsbawn’s exploration of social, networking and digital overload. And I get cited. Woo!
Nudge
I hadn’t read Thaler’s seminal (and Nobel prize-winning) work. I have now. Useful reference, but I’m still convinced that behavioural economics is a way of using psychology to explain away the systemic flaws in classical economics.
Doughnut Economics
Kate Raworth’s book was recommended to me by John Wilshire. Have so far only skimmed…
Impro
Improvisation was a theme that cropped up a lot in early research for my book. Keith Johnstone’s book is the bible on the topic.
Radical Technologies
Adam Greenfield takes a healthily sceptical view of many of our current fads.
The Box
The history of the shipping container. Much more interesting than that at first sounds.
Brick by Brick
The story of how the Lego company reinvented itself in the 1990s and became one of the world’s biggest toy brands (again).
Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy
The book of Tim Harford’s World Service radio series.
Saving Bletchley Park
Part history of the codebreakers, part history of how Sue Black and others used social channels to save the historic site.
Born Liars
Ian Leslie explores the concept of lying. Something that we all do to get by in life.
The Design of Everyday Things
Don Norman’s seminal book on user-centred design.
Tales from the Vicarage Vol 1
A series of authors reflect on years gone by at Watford Football Club.
Going on the Turn
Volume 3 of Danny Baker’s cracking autobiography. This might be subtitled “The Cancer Years” and is a grim read in parts, but fair play to Danny for really bringing home the sheer hell of cancer treatment.
WTF?
Tim O’Reilly’s take on what’s happening in the (tech) economy and society.
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
Recommended by Chris Weston as a way to get my head around Quantum Physics. Partly worked.
Who can you trust?
Yet to start this; in our fake news world, who should we trust?
Fall Out
Times journalist Tim Shipman explores the politics and personalities since the EU Referendum.
mmitII 