tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99289442007-03-02T13:37:47.145-08:00Bob BaileyBlogger261tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-34378508309056919312007-03-02T12:12:00.000-08:002007-03-02T13:37:47.244-08:00

Fiasco by Thomas E Ricks Available in Audio Book This is a "must read" book for any voter in the USA. Ricks takes us through the run up to the war, the early occupation (or CPA), and the ongoing occupation. It is not a pretty picture and will scare the daylights out of anybody who thinks about what is going on. Paul Bremer and the Coalition Provisional Authority could rightly be labeled "

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1125345337581417162005-08-29T12:42:00.000-07:002005-08-29T13:17:48.373-07:00

<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Title" -->Isaac's StormKatrina Repost: What might have been.by Erik LarsonIn September 1900 a storm blew through Galveston TX that leveled the city. The dramatic photos in this book tell a story all their own. In the end, it wasn't wind or debris that caused the destruction but storm surge flooding. Unlike a tsunami, a storm surge doesn't arrive all at once but

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1123017299451255592005-08-02T14:07:00.000-07:002005-08-02T14:27:12.426-07:00

A Pretext For War by James Bamford Available on Audio Book Like Bamford's other books, Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets, Pretext for War is well written, well documented, and very readable. The other books did not scare me; this one did.Either the Bush administration chose to believe what they already believed in spite of the facts they learned after coming to office or, worse, they carried

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1121026868844698222005-07-10T13:13:00.000-07:002005-07-17T09:39:35.126-07:00

Blink : The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell Available on Audio Book The Tipping Point was one of the best books I've ever read. Blink is better.Gladwell explains in a readable and understandable way why that snap decision you made turned out to be correct. He also tells us why "less is more" in some decisions. For example,Quite the opposite: that all that extra information

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1121617144241337782005-07-17T09:15:00.000-07:002005-07-17T09:37:39.786-07:00

The Secret Man by Bob Woodward Available on Audio Book There is not a lot of new information here. Some personal stories about how Bob Woodward got started and how Mark Felt helped that process. There is some insight into Felt: the internal conflict about what he was doing, the angst about how his colleagues would view him, and how the public would perceive his actions.Felt as an old man is a

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1118091062516544792005-06-06T13:41:00.000-07:002005-07-14T12:40:41.913-07:00

Fatal Flaw by William Lashner I don't post a lot of fiction reviews because most of the fiction I read is intentionally "mindless." Sometimes I stumble on an exception. Lashner's use of language and his insights are exceptional.The book is essentially about irrational men irrationally in love with a woman who suckers them all. Lust will make a fool of any man, but it is only love that can truly

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1118089275332910222005-06-06T13:11:00.000-07:002005-06-06T13:31:49.820-07:00

I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe"Caricature in words" is what Tom Wolfe renders to the reader. The characters are always bigger than real life yet believable. They are always exaggerated yet they are real. They always tell us something about life.Anyone who has been to college as an adolescent and paid any attention to the social surroundings recognizes at least some of the people in these

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1115668126894802162005-05-09T12:38:00.000-07:002005-05-09T14:31:59.203-07:00

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Alexander Hamilton is one of our least-known and undervalued founding fathers. As I read this I was amazed by the sheer volume of institutions that Hamilton contributed to our country. Hamilton deserveds our gratitude for many things: banking, commerce, and trade among them. Not to mention his service in the American Revolution.Ron Chernow deserves our

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1111507914898249422005-03-22T08:11:00.000-08:002005-03-22T08:20:14.783-08:00

Imperial Hubris (short version) by Michael Scheuer (aka Anonymous) This is a significant book by a former CIA analyst. From the title I had expected something of a rant from someone who thought a bit like I do. I was pleasantly surprised. The book is pretty balanced and takes a lot of people to task for our intelligence failures. A flavor of Mr. Scheuer's conservative bona fides: " ...It was

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1111441384850985732005-03-21T13:00:00.000-08:002005-03-21T18:28:12.500-08:00

Imperial Hubris by Michael Scheuer (aka Anonymous) This is a significant book by a former CIA analyst. From the title I had expected something of a rant from someone who thought a bit like I do. I was pleasantly surprised. The book is pretty balanced and takes a lot of people to task for our intelligence failures. A flavor of Mr. Scheuer's conservative bona fides: " ...It was said 'Let Reagan

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1110844412565014652005-03-14T15:30:00.000-08:002005-03-15T05:04:50.346-08:00

The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean Available on Audio Book Available on MP3 A few weeks ago my wife bought an orchid plant. It promptly produced five spectacular flowers that are still around weeks later. Amazing. This stoked our interest in orchids and so I went out and found a number of how-to-grow-them. I also stumbled onto this non-fiction account of the Florida flower community; it

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1109550777379242592005-02-27T16:29:00.000-08:002005-03-07T12:12:25.380-08:00

Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss Available on Audio Book Available on MP3: Cutting a Dash This is a delightful book. Who woulda' thunk it? An entertaining book about punctuation! A fast read, most people will devour it in a weekend.It's entertaining--I know, punctuation--and Lynne Truss is a first rate authorThere are times, however, when the semicolon is indispensable in another

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1108682071749843312005-02-17T15:03:00.000-08:002005-03-05T11:55:54.610-08:00

It's My Party Too by Christine Todd Whitman Gov. Whitman looks at ways that the conservatives have made the Republican Party less effective. For example, There is no doubt in my mind that the rise of the social fundamentalist wing of the GOP is a serious threat to the longterm competitiveness of the Republican Party. It is also making it almost impossible for the party to develop a program for

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1106604495328388622005-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:002005-02-24T13:13:13.710-08:00

My Losing Season by Pat Conroy Available on Audio Book I am not a sports fan. This is a sports book that is not about sports. I loved it. Athletics provide some of the richest fields of both metaphor and cliche to measure our lives against the intrusions and aggressions of other people. The game kept me from facing the ruined boy who played basketball instead of killing his father. It was also

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1106271567212752622005-01-21T17:37:00.000-08:002005-02-24T13:02:59.540-08:00

<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="BookCover" --> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Title" --> The Tipping Point<!-- InstanceEndEditable --> by <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Author" -->Malcolm Gladwell Available on Audio Book <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> "The best way to understand the dramatic transformation of unknown books into bestsellers, or the rise of teenage

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1109265442510829732005-02-24T09:08:00.000-08:002005-02-24T12:45:01.866-08:00

don't think of an elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate-- The Essential Guide for Progressivesby George Lakoff Lakoff has emerged as a leading language guru for the liberals and progressives. He explains how "framing" affects everything, how the "conservatives" (that's a frame) have defined liberals and beat the pants off progressives at the polls. More that that, Lakoff shows how to

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1108400462697746142005-02-14T08:52:00.000-08:002005-02-17T15:17:42.466-08:00

A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush by Ronald Kessler I picked up this book because I was looking for another view of George Bush. I was aware of Ron Kessler as a respected historian and expected balance. I certainly got another view but it was a bit syrupy. I should have had a clue with the polemic prologue on Clinton. Nobody is as wonderful as Mr. Kessler portrays

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1106615733936734642005-01-31T17:02:00.000-08:002005-01-29T14:59:33.633-08:00

Inside the Tornado : Marketing Strategies from Silicon Valley's Cutting Edge by Geoffrey A. Moore Geoffrey Moore has high-tech marketing nailed. He understands how to position, package, and price the product.He talks about Niche Marketing... simplifies the whole product challenge inherently profitable represent capturable territories can be leveraged into adjacent segmentsThe tornado......

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1106617777972206602005-01-27T17:43:00.000-08:002005-01-27T13:36:48.646-08:00

The Craft of Sail: A Primer of Sailing by Jan Adkins If you want to teach your spouse or child or grandchild how to sail this is the place to start. Adkins' book is beautifully illustrated and shows the mechanics of how it all works.Can be read in a day. The joy will last a lifetime.

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1106695468304627922005-01-25T15:05:00.000-08:002005-01-25T16:17:33.563-08:00

An Autumn of War by Victor Davis HansonI normally do not post on books that I haven't read completely and enjoyed just a little bit. I'm conflicted about this book, though, because it's well written and historically accurate yet it comes across as a diatribe or polemic designed to support George Bush and his war policies. Here are some excerpts from page 12. I leave you, the reader, to decide

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1106272258943096252005-01-20T17:44:00.000-08:002005-01-24T13:00:29.423-08:00

<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="BookCover" --> <!-- InstanceEndEditable --> <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Title" --> Smart Questions by <!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Author" -->Dorothy Leeds<!-- InstanceEndEditable --> This is one of my favorite business and communication books, maybe my all-time favorite. Smart Questions tells you how to listen by asking questions. She gives you

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1106007509833776832005-01-17T16:14:00.000-08:002005-01-17T16:18:29.833-08:00

The Culting of Brands by Douglas Atkin The term "Cult" conjures up images of Jim Jones and mass suicide or Charles Manson and murder but the term has been abused. Apple, Saturn, and other companies have cult followings. For that matter, when I was a teenager Ford and Chevy had cult-like followings.It turns out that once you get past the C-word connotation this is a very useful concept and

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1105049057739518222005-01-06T13:59:00.000-08:002005-01-10T11:55:51.266-08:00

The Greatest Generation by Tom BrokawTom Brokaw writes artfully about ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things and expected no more in return than to simply live ordinary lives. This was my parents generation and I watched many of my uncles come back from war and build successful lives. Many of these careers were driven by college educations supported by the GI bill.I frequently

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1105055080326382022005-01-06T15:39:00.000-08:002005-01-10T11:54:12.206-08:00

<!-- InstanceBeginEditable name="Title" -->Isaac's Stormby Erik Larson Isaac's Storm is relevant to the tsunami of 2004 which may explain why this 1999 book is back on the Bestseller lists. True account "blends science and history to tell the story of Galveston, its people and the hurricane that devastated them. Larson follows individuals through the fateful day and the storm's aftermath."

Bob Baileytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9928944.post-1105058829477177562005-01-10T16:42:00.000-08:002005-01-10T11:51:50.280-08:00

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.<!-- InstanceEndEditable --> by Ron Chernow This is a fascinating history of the early Rockefellers. John D's ascendency was based on the supply and distribution of oil. The family fortune came from the monopoly of that distribution. Was it right or wrong? That's for the reader to decide. What we can learn from this book is how modern day

Bob Bailey