Inside the Mind of Noble
922436
Should be a required first read. Helps one understand the character development.
3258367
Joshu is a wiseass. He's fun to read.

Pick it up for fun and study. Maybe you'll find the key to the Gateless Gate within ;).
1384386
Great guide for anyone thinking about sharing their life with this noble breed. Helped me to decide this dog is a breed I hope to live with soon.
2646106
Amadeus is a book that transcends leagues of mundane novels and introduces the reader to the most fundamental archetypes that remain unseen by western society. Ravi S. Kudesia skillfully weaves deep esoteric knowledge, thought-provoking ideas and sensory descriptions into the novel's protagonist, Connor, who's fate is uncertain throughout the story. Amadeus contains a lot of thorough introspection that inspires the reader to look at the most rudimentary of everyday occurrences carefully. If you're looking for a book that requires deep thinking, careful reading, and possibly a bit of future research. Amadeus will provide.
3386985
A clever, casually written walk through the mind of a deep thinker and successful entrepreneur. Lucas's approach is brilliant and honest. He's writing about his own experiences and has reversed engineered the pathway to success. This book summarizes it for us. I loved the concept of "negative knowledge" from Antifragile and Lucas applies it well in this work. Also, the personal stories that he shares are very touching, sincere, and memorable.
1922347
Dan Harris makes a huge contribution to the field of mindfulness meditation in 10% Happier. In a way that only a former war correspondent and Nightline news anchor could, Harris has created a lens to look at the phenomenon of mindfulness with a kind of sharpness that is unparalleled in popular or academic literature on this subject.

With wit and humility, Harris openly shares his struggles with anxiety in his life and career in front of a camera. Starting with his on-the-air panic attack in 2004, Harris recounts how his ambition-fueled, perfectionist, non-stop work ethic left him subject to emotional meltdowns that led him to use cocaine to self-medicate. Forced to examine his inner life, he recounts his highs and lows navigating the maze of self-help and professional help to find inner peace without sacrificing his competitive edge.

Along the way you are treated to gems of observation the likes of which you'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere in print, even in someones private email, but especially in a book so enthusiastic about mindfulness. Yet its Harris realism and, undoubtedly, his discipline at finding unique angles to report that makes this book so special.

For example, commenting about something many people have probably thought but no one has dared to speak, he says: Turns out, mindfulness isn't such a cute look. Everyone is in his or her own world, trying very hard to stay in the moment. The effort of concentration produces facial expressions that range from blank to defecatory.

Then theres this nugget, when he refers the practice of some of his fellow retreat participants to bow to a statue of the Buddha: Im still bowing to the Buddha, but mostly for the hamstring stretch.

As a psychotherapist and teacher of mindfulness-based counseling techniques, I am highly recommending 10% Happier to both my clients and student/colleagues. Heres why. Harris is a synthesizer, rendering the dense subjects of mindfulness culture, science, and meditation-user experience into a three-part harmony that immediately makes you want to hear more. His stories pull you in. Before you know it, you're in the story yourself, identifying with one of the zillions of facets that emerge in his writing.

Whether its his reporting of and friendship with Ted Haggard, the fallen-from-grace evangelical church leader, or his confessions of insecurity working among television giants like Peter Jennings and Diane Sawyer, Harris uses a running psychoanalysis of himself as the instrument which carries the reader deeper into contemplation of their own psyche.

Admittedly, this book isn't a how-to for meditation, nor is it a scientific discourse about neurobiology. (Bookstores are already filled with these.) But as I like to say about the healing work of psychotherapy, it moves the ball down the field. For experienced meditators, perhaps it challenges some of the sacred attachments (a nice way of saying ruts) you have in your current practice. For beginners, moving the ball down the field might look like the simple act of attending your first yoga session and having the confidence to know you don't need to learn Sanskrit or wear spandex (but hey, spandex is cool too).

After reading 10% Happier, I feel closer to the amazingly diverse and rich community of mindfulness practitioners that I might not have learned about if I kept my literary diet fixed on those from the same mindfulness tribe Ive trained and practiced with. Thanks to Dans investigative narrative and personal prose, his book is a powerful resource to help you wake up from life on automatic.

As Leo Tolstoy once said: In the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you. Dan Harris will help you do this. 10% more.
3330937
This volume collects two prequels to the Deed of Paksenarrion, Elizabeth Moon's much cherished series that has been recently continued in another series of novels. The stories here tell the tale of Gird and his Luap, among other things, and prove to be engaging and powerful. I would not recommend them on their own, apart from the Deed, whereas I would recommend the Deed to any who enjoy fantasy novels.

Part I tells the story of Gird, and it is told from his perspective. The second part is told from a series of perspectives, including Gird's Luap, but also a few other interesting characters. There are more stories here to be told, as I am sure Moon would tell had she the time and the energy. Here stories are rich and deep, leaving the reader wanting more, which from this readers' perspective is a positive quality a novelist can instill in her work.

In short, if you enjoyed the Deed and are interested in more, which is an easy feeling to have after reading that work, then The Legacy of Gird is for you!
2010402
A thorough and intimate analysis of one of the greatest orators of his time.  We follow him to his hesitations to becoming a lawyer and the transformation of his choice to become one, that propels him to be one of the greatest and prominent senators and secretary of state of his time.  With so many to back him up financially to keep him in position, he remains an electric figure and so many have remembered his intense orations that contained deep feelings, emotions and passions to move and influence the crowd to his favor. His strategic battles to overcome cases in the Supreme Court has made him a figure of study for even many lawyers today. Bringing emotions and a convincing aura that appealed to many that listened in order to make a correct assessment and judgement of important cases. As many others in his time, he suffered from yearly ailments, that eventually met with his demise. You can say that he is a self made man and his struggles to reach the top was very essential to him.  Although, it got to his head later in his life he took with him an influence that not many other senators of his time could take when passing.  A well respected influencer of men in well published oratory that stays alive even though he is gone. This masterpiece of a book is a page turner for the historic enthusiast of great senators and prominent men of the 1800's.
4829831
This Kindle Single gives good insight into the thinking process that takes place at the highest levels of government. The DADA formula (data, analysis, decision, and action) is discussed very effectively. It's a bit alarming to know that the formula often starts with the decision then reverts to finding data to support that decision, but that's the way of the world it seems.
3791962
At first glance of the cover, you can pretty much surmise what you will find inside. Gone is the glamorous diva the world has come to know and love, instead, it shows a woman, dressed elegantly down (only she can pull that off) and focused. Ian Phillips has presented his fans, music scholars and collectors, a breakdown of what really should matter:  her music and films.  The only glorious thing you will find inside are the photos, lovingly submitted by fans (public disclossure:  including mine), rare and previously  published. To tell the story of the music, he includes the words of those artists and creators involved to give you an intimate backstage pass into how her music and film was made, chronologically. The book is filled with insight and steers away from gossip.  Ian Phillips, who previously wrote a book on Diana Ross) is obviously the right person to do this; hopefully he won't be the last.
3264140
Hello Suzanne, I have recently been reading (many) books on Vedanta filled with topics like brahmacharya and dispassion towards the sensory pleasures.  So it was tough, especially at the beginning, to get through this first volume of your autobiography.  Nonetheless, you break the rules and succeed anyway, writing about all the kinds of experiences we all have, but so often do not dare to share.  The phrase "pressing one's buttons" takes on a whole new meaning (to me) now.  I stick to my first thought, that one's personal story is their vein of gold.  Thank you for your Unmitigated Gaul -- which has transfixed, illumined, warned, and confided soul-to-soul.  Much enjoyed!!  --Steve
2602894
For Jack Noble fans, this is an excellent way to learn more of his background and, thus, how and why he ticks.  As a mystery writer, I was captivated by this book and would highly recommend it.
3811380
When the future arrives I am often taken by surprise. This is a book that gives me a few hundred easily digestible glimpses into what some evidently brilliant thinkers are thinking about the possible future. About a third of the entries are not super-interesting to me (though they are the ones that may be to others) but the majority are pretty wonderful. It's like being seated next to someone like Steven Pinker at a dinner party, and turning to him and asking what he's working on that really excites him. The chapters are what you'd most likely hear in reply without getting into numbing detail and jargon -- how great is that? What an idea John Brockman had in editing these books.
2526720
"Best Boy" takes us into the mind of Todd Aaron, an autistic man in his fifties who serves as the Village Elder of Payton LivingCenter.

He's lived the same routine type of life for several decades. This is good, because Todd reacts "suboptimally to changes in the environment", as Mr. B would tell us.

However, Todd has a few changes which threaten to give his brain a bad case of the volts: he gets a new roommate named Tommy Doon, a brain-injury (BI) patient who teases and taunts him every chance he gets. Then there's Mike the Apron, a new staff member who doesn't have the best interests of the clients in mind...and lastly, Martine Calhoun, a new village inhabitant with a few bad ideas to put into Todd's ears.

Todd has a few ways to calm himself down - crushing hugs, listening to his music, airplane rides, and in extreme cases, biting himself. He also has people who care about him, such as his brother and Annie Applin and Raykene...but his recent environment changes takes him beyond his tolerance, and Todd doesn't know what to do to feel happy again.

I loved this book. It was told in such a way that the reader could see the whole picture, but since it was being told from Todd's point of view, he would occasionally miss some key elements. Todd's memory was sharp as a razor - he remembered the house he grew up in even though he hadn't been there in decades, conversations were repeated without missing any details, and on those rare occasions where he didn't have the answer he needed, he'd enlist the help of Mr. B and Mr. C.

At a lean 246 pages, this book can be finished in one sitting of a few hours - I didn't want to put the book down because I was eager to see what was going to happen next. I felt the ending stumbled a bit but overall, I felt this was a very well written novel.

It didn't focus on math like&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Curious-Incident-of-the-Dog-in-the-Night-Time/dp/1400032717/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time</a>, but since this is being told from the mindset of an institutionalized man who didn't reveal how much he liked reading, it worked for the story.
I found this book reminded me strongly of&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Confessions-of-a-Crap-Artist/dp/0547572492/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Confessions of a Crap Artist</a>&nbsp;because of the emotional connection/disconnection of the main characters.

Bottom line, if you like stories with autistic characters, this one will be a quick read but an enjoyable one.

Enjoy!
143632
Great read - noble guy who left a ton of money behind (granted he already made a ton) b/c he no longer believed in what he was doing.  The early part of the book reminded me of my early days on Wall Street.
1915415
In Death of a Nation, David Noble examines America's frequently-shifting foundational myths.  This book offers an analysis of the ways in which artists, writers, and historians participated in building and changing American Exceptionalism, from the early national landscape themes, through what Noble repeatedly refers to as "bourgeois nationalism" to the present "international marketplace."
Noble tracks the rises, falls, and mid-life ideological conversions of prominent American historians, literary scholars, and artists.  Many of his subjects are people he has personally known during his long career at the University of Minnesota, so the conversion stories are frequently quite vivid.  Along the way, Noble's anecdotes about his colleagues highlight trends in thinking that contributed to America's changing foreign policy and domestic policy, as well as shifts in pop culture.
Death of a Nation is certainly a must-read for students of American Studies/American Civilization programs, or anyone who is curious about why America has become what it is today.  Great insights.
2818805
It has been a real pleasure to read Paul Allen's "Idea Man" - a pleasure both intellectual and humane. In his life, Allen has indeed enjoyed a rare combination of circumstances that made possible an early journey in the world of PC software and personal computing. But his illness path has confronted him with the sense and the values of a superior human existence, no matter the opportunities in place.
The way he describes the glorious days pre-Microsoft (as well as the early years at new-founded company) is quite vivid: anyone can feel and imagine how he and Gates have lived those times.
On the other hand, I was touched by his effort to provide a fair and objective description of his old pal Bill, who has given him a good deal of friendship, camaraderie and complicity but also made him suffer a lot with his competitive attitude, his selfishness and his confrontational way regarding everyone else.
Thus Paul Allen gives us a rich set of glimpses about his splendid life without hiding his most felt sufferings, letting us share in a way those heroic times of his.