Bookshelf
What the movers and shakers are reading
I read books about things that I find interesting, even if they are not work-related. I greatly enjoy learning about the latest scientific advances and theories, and about how we, as a society, have developed over the centuries. Staying abreast of the latest business and economic thinking is also very interesting. Of course, I also enjoy getting stuck into the occasional gripping novel by the likes of Michael Crichton, David Baldacci, John Grisham and Dan Brown.
The World According to Garp by John Irving is one of my all-time-favourite books because it is so captivating, quirky and entertaining. Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham is another classic I really enjoyed. It is a beautifully written and evocative semi-autobiographical novel about the life of Philip Carey, a club-footed orphan who struggles to find his way in a rigid society in Europe in the years preceding the first world war.
As a consultant and author, there are many books that would qualify as work-related. I tend to read popular business books, such as The Black Swan, The Tipping Point and Freakonomics, to stay in touch with boardroom thinking.
At the moment, I am reading The China Price by Alexandra Harney, a Mandarin-speaking ex-Financial Times journalist. Although many of us are aware of the sorts of things that go on in China for the sake of economic gain, this book is based on first-hand research and interviews with workers, factory owners and government officials.
I have also recently read Not the Slightest Chance by Tony Banham. The title refers to Winston Churchill's description of Hong Kong's prospects in the event of a Japanese assault. The author painstakingly chronicles every known piece of information at the time leading up to and during the Japanese assault in 1941. Although it is a little too detailed for me in parts, it is fascinating to learn what happened to the then-British territory during the war and the extent of the bombing and bloodshed.
Other than recommending my own two books, Wake Up! Survive & Prosper in the Coming Economic Turmoil and The Top 10 Investments for the Next 10 Years, I would certainly urge friends to read A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. It's a great book that lives up to its name - from the history of the universe to the discovery of DNA and Darwin's theory of evolution.
There is a lovely quote from this book that allows us to visualise how little time mankind has actually been around. 'If you imagine the 4.5 billion years of earth's history compressed into a normal earthly day, then life begins very early, about 4am ... Humans emerge one minute and 17 seconds before midnight.'
Guns, Germs & Steel by Jared Diamond is another highly informative book about why modern Europeans are so influential across the world. The book goes back 13,000 years and discusses the circumstances, such as geography, climate and the availability of water, crops and livestock, that led to some societies being literate, industrial ones with metal tools while others remained as hunter-gatherers with stone tools. It also explains the reasons behind the rise and fall of societies, from China to South America.
