Title: Think for a Change

by Rupe | Dec 19, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: John C. Maxwell
Date: 19-Dec-03

At the heart of John C. Maxwell’s brilliant and inspiring program is a simple premise: To do well in life, we must first think well. But can we actually learn new mental habits? Thinking for a Change answers that with a resounding “yes” – and shows that your thinking can indeed change your life.
Drawing on the words and deeds of many of the world’s greatest leaders, this empowering audiobook helps you access your thinking style, guides you to new ones, and step by step teaches you the secrets of:

– Big Picture Thinking – seeing the world beyond your own needs and how that leads to great ideas
– Focused Thinking – removing mental clutter and distractions to realize your full potential
– Creative Thinking – stepping out of the “box” and making breakthroughs
– Shared Thinking – working with others to compound results
– Reflective Thinking – looking at the past to gain a better understanding of the future
and much more…

My Thoughts:

Title: Speak Up With Confiden …

by Rupe | Dec 12, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Jack Valenti
Date: 12-Dec-03

Public speaking is one of the most intimidating and important aspects of many jobs. As a one-time speechwriter for President Johnson, and current president of the Motion Picture Association of America, Jack Valenti has written and delivered speeches in all kinds of settings. Originally published in 1982, Speaking Up with Confidence is an indispensable resource for anyone who wants to write and deliver a speech that people will listen to and remember.

My Thoughts:

Title: Intelligence in War

by Rupe | Nov 22, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: John Keegan
Date: 22-Nov-03

In fiction, the spy is a glamorous figure whose secrets make or break peace, but, historically, has intelligence really been a vital step to military victories? In this breakthrough study, the preeminent war historian John Keegan goes to the heart of a series of important conflicts to develop a powerful argument about military intelligence. In his characteristically wry and perceptive prose, Keegan offers us nothing short of a new history of war through the prism of intelligence.
Keegan brings to life the split-second decisions that went into waging war before the benefit of aerial surveillance and electronic communications. The English admiral Horatio Nelson was hot on the heels of Napoleon’s fleet in the Mediterranean and never knew it, while Stonewall Jackson was able to compensate for the Confederacy’s disadvantage in firearms and manpower with detailed maps of the Appalachians. In the past century, espionage and decryption have changed the face of battle. Timely information, however, is only the beginning of the surprising and disturbing aspects of decisions that are made in war, where brute force is often more critical.

Intelligence in War is a thought-provoking work that ranks among John Keegan’s finest achievements.

My thoughts: Great read of intelligence professionals.

Title: Sleeping with the Devil

by Rupe | Nov 22, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

In an effort to understand the underpinings of the current wave of anti-American/Westernism currently unleashed around the world by so called forces of terrorism, I set out on a study of the history of such muslim faiths as Wahabism, Sufism, etc…

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Author: Robert Baer
Date: 22-Nov-2003

In his powerful new book, Robert Baer, author of See No Evil, turns his attention to Saudi Arabia, revealing how our government’s cynical relationship with our Middle Eastern ally and America’s dependence on Saudi oil make us increasingly vulnerable to economic disaster and put us at risk for further acts of terrorism.
For decades, the United States and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a “harmony of interests.” America counted on the Saudis for cheap oil, political stability in the Middle East, and lucrative business relationships for the United States, while providing a voracious market for the kingdom’s vast oil reserves. With money and oil flowing freely between Washington and Riyadh, the United States has felt secure in its relationship with the Saudis and the ruling Al Sa’ud family. But the rot at the core of our “friendship” with the Saudis was dramatically revealed when it became apparent that fifteen of the nineteen September 11 hijackers proved to be Saudi citizens.

In Sleeping with the Devil, Baer documents with chilling clarity how our addiction to cheap oil and Saudi petrodollars caused us to turn a blind eye to the Al Sa’ud’s culture of bribery, its abysmal human rights record, and its financial support of fundamentalist Islamic groups that have been directly linked to international acts of terror, including those against the United States. Drawing on his experience as a field operative who was on the ground in the Middle East for much of his twenty years with the agency, as well as the large network of sources he has cultivated in the region and in the U.S. intelligence community, Baer vividly portrays our decades-old relationship with the increasingly dysfunctional and corrupt Al Sa’ud family, the fierce anti-Western sentiment that is sweeping the kingdom, and the desperate link between the two.

My thoughts: Very interesting read. The historic context in which the book places the “House of Sa’ud” is quite frightful and very troubling. I would recommend a read of this book as a starting point for anyone interested in the subject.

Title: 7 Steps to Fearless Sp …

by Rupe | Oct 23, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Lilyan Wilder
Date: 23-Oct-03

Lilyan Wilder is a communications expert who has worked with the world’s most notable public figures, broadcast correspondents at ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN, and many Fortune 500 companies. Her clients have included media icons Oprah Winfrey and Charlie Rose, former President George Bush, John Scully, and Katherine Graham. 7 Steps to Fearless Speaking will teach you how to cope with panic, avoidance, and the trauma of speaking as you give the gift of your convictions and experience your voice for the first time.

My Thoughts:

Title: Getting Things Done

by Rupe | Oct 23, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: David Allen
Date: 23-Oct-03

In today’s world of exponentially increased communication and responsibility, yesterday’s methods for staying on top just don’t work. Veteran management consultant and trainer David Allen recognizes that “time management” is useless the minute your schedule is interrupted; “setting priorities” isn’t relevant when your email is down; “procrastination solutions” won’t help if your goals aren’t clear.
Allen’s premise is simple: our ability to be productive is directly proportional to our ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear and our thoughts are organized can we achieve stress-free productivity and unleash our creative potential. He teaches us how to:

– Apply the “do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it” rule to get your in-box empty.
– Reassess goals and stay focused in changing situations.
– Overcome feelings of confusion, anxiety, and being overwhelmed.
– Feel fine about what you’re not doing.

From core principles to proven tricks, Getting Things Done has the potential to transform the way you work – and the way you experience work. At any level of implementation, David Allen’s entertaining and thought-provoking advice shows you how to pick up the pace without wearing yourself down.

My Thoughts: Not a bad read, but found to be in the same vein as 17 Lies…. Will have to revist at some point and re-evaluate.

Title: Hatred's Kingdom

by Rupe | Sep 21, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Dore Gold
Date: 21-Sep-03

From New York City to Bali, Indonesia, ideologically motivated terrorist groups have chillingly demonstrated their global reach. And terrorism is now far more lethal than before.
But what is causing it? Only as new reports have emerged about Saudi Arabia’s links to terror has the United States begun to look closely at the Saudi kingdom, America’s purported ally. Now, in Hatred’s Kingdom, Middle East expert Dore Gold provides the startling evidence of how Saudi Arabia not only is linked to terror, but in fact has spawned the current wave of global terrorism.

Using previously unpublished documents, Gold, the former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, exposes how the deeply ingrained hatred that has provoked the new terrorism has its roots in Saudi Arabia’s dominant religious creed, a radical Islamic offshoot known as Wahhabism.

My Thoughts: Really good read. Pretty similar to sleeping with the devil and Crisis in Islam. This focus on the House of Saud is pretty illuminating to say the least.

Title: 17 Lies that Are Holdi …

by Rupe | Sep 13, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Steve Chandler
Date: 13-Sep-03

“It’s who you know.” “I don’t have time.” “I’m too old.” “That’s just the way I am.” These crippling statements deny our power to change our lives. In this program, the celebrated author of 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself teaches you how to stop telling yourself these lies that prevent you from being your best. When you free yourself from these lies, you will break your pattern of self-deception, and begin on the road to a new, more profitable, more fulfilling life.

My Thoughts: Jury is still out on this. Will probably have to read it a couple more times to really get it. Will resubmit thoughts then.

Title: The Dream of Reason

by Rupe | Aug 17, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Anthony Gottlieb
Date: 17-Aug-2003

In this landmark new study of Western thought, Anthony Gottlieb looks afresh at the writings of the great thinkers, questions much of conventional wisdom, and explains his findings with unbridled brilliance and clarity. From the pre-Socratic philosophers through the celebrated days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, up to Renaissance visionaries like Erasmus and Bacon, philosophy emerges here as a phenomenon unconfined by any one discipline. Indeed, as Gottlieb explains, its most revolutionary breakthroughs in the natural and social sciences have repeatedly been co-opted by other branches of knowledge, leading to the illusion that philosophers never make any progress.
From the physics of angels to Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, Gottlieb builds through example and anecdote a vivid portrait of the human drive for understanding. After finishing The Dream of Reason, listeners will be graced with a fresh appreciation of the philosophical quest, its entertaining and bizarre byways, and its influence on every aspect of life.

Title: The History of the Midd …

by Rupe | Aug 17, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Peter Mansfield
Date: 17-Aug-2003

In this masterly work of synthesis, Peter Mansfield, drawing on his experience as a journalist and a historian, explores two centuries of history in the Middle East. He forms a picture of the historical, political, and social history of the meeting point of Occident and Orient, from Bonaparte’s marauding invasion of Egypt to the start of the Gulf War. For more than four thousand years, the Middle East has provided a setting for titanic struggles between great civilizations and religions. In this century it became the focus of rivalry between the European powers as the last major Islamic empire of the Ottoman Turks crumbled and collapsed. The discovery of the world’s greatest oil reserves gave the region global economic importance as well as a unique strategic value. The foundation of a national state by immigrant Zionist Jews created one of the most insoluble political problems of our era, which is compounded by the reassertion of Islamic consciousness among the great majority of the region’s inhabitants. In two penetrating final chapters, Peter Mansfield discusses Saddam Hussein and the prospects for the future.

My Thoughts: A little dated, but pretty good read. Very interesting and definitely a book that must be read by any one who wants to understand the forces that have shaped the current Middle East and still are.

Title: The Short History of E …

by Rupe | Jul 17, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Bill Bryson
Date: 17-Jul-03

Bill Bryson has been an enormously popular author both for his travel books and for his books on the English language. Now, this beloved comic genius turns his attention to science. Although he doesn’t know anything about the subject (at first), he is eager to learn, and takes information that he gets from the world’s leading experts and explains it to us in a way that makes it exciting and relevant. Even the most pointy-headed, obscure scientist succumbs to the affable Bryson’s good nature, and reveals how he or she figures things out. Showing us how scientists get from observations to ideas and theories is Bryson’s aim, and he succeeds brilliantly. It is an adventure of the mind, as exciting as any of Bryson’s terrestrial journeys.

My Thoughts: One of the best books I have read. Very interesting read. It really reminded me a lot about a series that used to come on TV called – “Connections”. In Connections, the narrator ties a number of desperates pieces of historical facts together in a great story.

Title: The Art of War

by Rupe | Jul 17, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Sun Tzu
Date: 17-Jul-03

For more than two thousand years, The Art of War has stood as a cornerstone of Chinese culture, a lucid epigrammatic text that reveals as much about human psychology, politics, and economics as it does about battlefield strategy. The influence of Sun-Tzu’s text has grown tremendously in the West in recent years, with military leaders, politicians, and corporate executives alike finding valuable insight in these ancient words.
In this crisp, accessible new translation, eminent scholar John Minford brings this seminal work to life, presenting the core text in two formats, first the unadorned 13 chapters of the original work by Sun-Tzu followed by the same text with extensive running commentary by classical Chinese scholars as well as Minford himself. The result is an opportunity for Western readers to experience Sun-Tzu’s work in all its intensity as it applies to many aspects of our lives.

My Thoughs: One of the boringest books I have ever read. Not sure if I could recommend. I think I will go for the Cliff Notes on this one. The truth be told though, it does have many merits to itl

Title: THe Executive Voice Tra …

by Rupe | Jul 17, 2003 | Not So Recent Reads

Author: Jeffrey Jacobi
Date: 17-July-03

This remarkable audio will give you the extra edge to advance your career. Its unique vocal workout appraoch builds on the natural qualities of your voice – as a physical exercise program does with your body. Add variety to your delivery and come across as a dynamic, confident speaker. Lose an accent and overcome common speaking problems such as hoarseness, throatiness, or a shrill or nervous sound. Project your voice with strength and power.

My Thoughts: Okay audio. A bit boring though.