Social Intelligence by Daniel Goleman

If you liked the concepts in Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, this book goes further: evidence that we interact and react to create different brain chemistries based on social norms. I listened to the audio version several times while doing chores or working out.

With the advent of new measurement devices for brain patterns and brain chemistry, Goleman tells interesting stories about people knowing just the right moves to influence others. He opens with a story of a young Captain in Iraq defusing a tense situation with the local populace as his men approaced a mosque on a routine patrol. By having the men drop their rifles from the typical ready position and smile, the crowd seemed to sense they were not there to attack the mosque and the atmosphere changed dramatically.

I found myself recalling good managers I had known who seemed to have a knack for doing things that Goleman says can now be measured as having positive impacts with people. Like Emotional Intelligence, this is a discussion book, not a how-to book. I liked it and would revisit it a few years down the road.

This post done later, in Jan of 2010, though I read book last spring. Trying to get caught up again.

S is For Silence by Sue Grafton

Latest in Kinsey Milhone alphabet series…. I haven't read her for almost 10 years I think. I actually just found an old startup book journal from 2001 with the last two alphas I read, stopping somewhere around J I think. In this one, she does the complex, interwoven past/present plot exposition. Trying to solve a disappearance / potential murder of a woman in a small town. Seems that almost everyone could be a suspect, or have knowledge of what really happened at the time of the crime 30 years earlier. She weaves the current day detective work of series start P I Kinsey Milhone with intermittent chapters through the time machine back to the few days prior to the disappearance. Each flashback is from the point of view of a different character who could potentially have a motive and the opportunity to either murder the victim, or run off with her. Like a couple Agatha Christie novels, so many people seem likely that you start to wonder if several of them had a hand in it. As it turns out, several folks were quiet because they were covering up other deep, dark problems. If you like this series, or the concept of a pretty good female detective story, the alpha books from Grafton are okay. This one is better than the average of her work. Ultimately, an escape for the weekend, or airplane read.

A Tan and Sandy Silence by John D. MacDonald

One of the less well crafted of the Travis McGee books. I am a fan of John D MacDonald, and have read and reread the Travis McGee series many times. I never tire of the character and just enjoy the craft of this author. The stories seem almost timeless. You have to work hard to find references that allow you to peg the time setting. This one, he clearly was playing with where to come into the story. "In media res" is partly true, but things keep moving back and forth as information is uncovered. Travis and Meyer are concerned about Mary Broll when her husband comes by and asks Travis to give her a message after she had disappeared for three months. Seems Harry, the Husband, thought she would run to Travis. No one "hires" Travis, he just gets the niggling feeling that she would have gotten in touch and heads to Granada, where she supposedly went, to confirm that she is okay. The true villain in this piece pops up fairly late in the game, then turns out to be one of the most chilling psychotics of the whole series. If written in the 90s we would have thought JDM was trying to be more "edgy". He uses some inconceivable coincidences to get Travis through the steps to a solution, almost like he had a deadline and had to finish up. Not his best, but the worst of the Travis McGee Series is better than almost any other author's best work.

Reflex by Dick Francis

Read/Heard weekend of Mar 21-22 09, on long drive.
I am a huge fan of Dick Francis. His mysteries have good pace, interesting twists and are always tied in some way to the world of Horse Racing. When I read him, I always enjoy his precision and succinct phrasing. He can create great characters, give them appropriate accents for their status and geography in the UK, and do it all without wasting words. This book is one of the very good ones as he weaves multiple threads of mystery together, while also building a romantic relationship for the protagonist in the process.
The main character has a peculiar upbringing and unusual combination of skills. He is a middling steeplechase jockey, who also learned photographic skills, which are key to unraveling one of the multiple mysteries.
One mystery involves finding a lost sister at the request of his estranged, wealthy grandmother. In the process, he must work back through his own unusual upbringing, and along the way, appreciate the peculiar chapters that made him the person he has become. Another mystery involves looking into the death of a racetrack photographer (using a 'Reflex' camera) and the ensuing burglaries and attacks on the dead photographer's wife and the destruction of their home. Ultimately, he weaves 4-5 complicated stories together, keeps them interesting, and in order.
I listened to the audio version which is always a treat as the British reader does an amazing job of shifting voices for the huge cast of characters. Kept me awake on a very long solitary drive, fortunately finishing the last tape a half hour from home.

Joker One by Donovan Campbell

Donovan Campbell joined the USMC after graduating with honors from Princeton. He wrote this book as a firsthand account of his second tour of duty in Iraq, his first as an Infantry Platoon Leader. His style is detailed, without overdoing the details. Much like Nathan Frick's book "One Bullet Away" from several years earlier, Donovan describes the process of pulling together a team (under some unusual time pressure) and then adapting to an unexpected level of insurgent violence when they were sent to Ramadi. Moreso than Frick's book, which is a tremendously compelling firsthand account of leading the "point of the spear" in the assault on Baghdad, Campbell's book explores the feelings and emotions of one of the toughest war situation our troops have faced. Without being unnecessarily graphic, Campbell describes the emotional tension of bringing peace and order to Ramadi, without support or the slightest recognition from the local populace. The emotional and spiritual details are as gripping as the details of the battle tactics. Not for the lighthearted, but the best insight into going to war in this era.

The Shack by William P. Young

Better than usual book about a "tangible" encounter with God in the Christian concept of Three Persons in the Trinity. Certainly thought provoking for me as a spiritual exploration of the Trinity, it has a tough mystery to solve that allows the principal character to be "processed" through conversations with these three unique characters. For conservative, tradition-based Christians, the license of having for example a large, ebullient African American woman as "God the Father" (a la a similar character in The Matrix) might be too much. But, the main character wrestles through personal pain in a process that would be familiar to most psychologists. Found it readable and less "pop religion" than other books of this type. If someone is wrestling with pain, it might give some inspiration. Unfortunately, some of the circumstances in the plot might not be worth exploring for some readers.

Sea Wolf by Jack London

Recommended by someone after hearing about my interest in the Vendee Globe, an around the world solo sailing race just completed by 11 sailors. A Jack London classic discussion of a wealthy, prim office type falling from a boat in San Francisco Bay, then ending up on a seal boat and being toughened by serving under the maniacal captain, Lars Wolf. In fact, there is not a lot of insight into sailing and the challenges of rigging and manning a sailboat until about 3/4 of the way through the book. But, the character growth and the philosophical debates between Lars and his shanghaied educated crew member are well worth the read. The romance that develops and the ultimate ending are tied to the time of the writing, but still a very good classic novel. This was a book that I had in print and on Audio tape (unedited) so I could listen during my workouts. I became addicted to the audio version and enjoyed finishing the book with the tapes.