The Book Club is an enjoyable and elevated gathering of the minds. I have relished the first two meetings, and am looking forward to the third.
The first book read by the group was Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink. We are currently reading David Sanger’s The Perfect Weapon.
Blink was a good read. Anecdotal perhaps, but interesting for certain. The group consensus was that the book left the reader wanting though. The premise was relatable, but it was at points contradictory. It was deemed not to be prescriptive in a way that allowed one to apply easily what was gained in the reading.
I have read a couple other books by Gladwell, and have listened to the entirety of his Revisionist History podcast, and I might offer that his material is gripping, however, as well written and interesting as it is, it is, perhaps, hard to translate into action. I did just finish The Tipping Point though and I was able to garner some usable applications from this book. Similar to exploring the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator tests to better understand how to interact with those around you, The Tipping Point provided me some utilizable concepts; more so than Blink.
The group had agreed to read inverted content so as to avoid confirmation bias or the creation of an echo chamber. The Perfect Weapon I personally don’t feel is topically in direct contrast to Blink, but certainly I think it will offer more prescriptive, or more actionable content than Blink did; in this way it may be considered contrarian and in line with our agreed approach. Since I am only just beginning to read the book, my verdict on this will have to wait.
The book club seems to have a committed participation, and in fact has grown; more in interest by others at this point than in actual participation to date, but the interest is there for certain. I suspect we will see quorum with each meeting, but there will be a transient component as it is quite difficult to coordinate so many busy calendars consistently. Time will tell.
And this concludes my update on the Book Club initiative. It is alive and well, and is proving an interesting and engaging exercise. You can find the first post here. To watch for in the future, I had shared my list of Top 100 influential, or impactful books with a small group of friends about a year or two ago. I have encouraged those friends to draft their own Top 100 list. Certainly a few have begun and have shared their progress. It isn’t an easy exercise though. For me, I certainly need to review mine and update it. I suspect I will share this in a future post.
One final point: I need to promote some upcoming events. I will be branching out from Anabia Cupcakery Cafe, but I do remain committed to Anabia’s. I am hosting a new Open Mic at Jamari Espresso House, which is adjacent to the Parkdale Market on Hamilton Street here in Ottawa. It’s a new one so I could use the support to make it a good night. Of course, any night with music and friends is a good night. Hope to see you there.
Find all my upcoming events on my Home Page.
Happy Sunday!