Over the past few months, my reading has comprised two non-fiction books, huge chunks of Microsoft Excel 2010 for Dummies, and many many (many) business case studies. Thankfully, with a holiday in Spain in April, I was able to throw one novel in the mix.
Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
According to Gladwell, people attain success through being at the right place at the right time. Immense intellect, creativity, talent and working hard is often required, but just these alone will not result in success. Each chapter is yet another case study to prove his argument. I felt like I 'got it' within a few chapters, and the relentless pursuit of proving his point bored me, so I didn't actually finish it. The basic gist is interesting, so I would recommend flipping through it, but don't expect mind blowing commentary. If you've read it and thought the ending had punch, let me know and I'll give it another shot.
Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink, by Jonathan L. S. Byrnes
Subtitled Why 40% of your Business is Unprofitable and How to Fix it, this was required reading for work. Essentially, although you can have a profitable business as a whole, it's likely because there are a few very profitable components that are disguising the dismal performance of others. This book explains many important business points in plain English, provides real life examples, and presents a way of tackling profitability as a management team. Byrnes offers an activity based costing model aimed at (quickly) identifying these poor performers (~70% accurately) so (quick) decisions/plans can be made.
The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown
I enjoyed this book the first time I read it as a teenager. The Kindle version was being offered for free as I was packing for my trip, so I figured it could be worth a re-read. It was light, made me want to see Paris again, and a fun holiday read. It was easy to get in and out of and didn't distract from the Spanish hillside. However, I didn't think this one was worthy of it's own review page though, thus I've lumped it with the non-fictions of the past few months.
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