Colm Tóibín

      3 min read      ·

[![](http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1416534652.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg) Click to buy from Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416534652/irishroseconsult) A couple of months ago we stopped in the town of Wexford on a Saturday when their book festival was being held. Author Colm Tóibín was doing a reading, but we were unable to stick around until he was up. I found a couple of his non-fiction books, Bad Blood and Sign of the Cross, purchased them and left them to be signed and mailed to us.


Good Books

      1 min read     

Management guru Tom Peters has a great list of his favorite books up on his blog. I’ve read a few of them, and am currently working on the wonderful The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I’ll have a write-up on that one when I finish it.


Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich

      2 min read     

Click to buy from Amazon Sub-titled “The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions,” this is a great, fast read. It chronicles the story of the so-called MIT Blackjack Team, a group of whiz kids who, with funding from anonymous backers, spent several years working as a card-counting team at casinos around the country. Blackjack, it turns out, is one casino game that is statistically beatable.


A Hidden Wholeness by Parker Palmer

      2 min read     

Click to buy from Amazon Parker Palmer is an educator, speaker and researcher who has spent most of his adult life thinking about community. His latest work begins with a discussion of the necessity of individuals living lives of integrity, of being true to your inner self. He contends (and I agree) that there is a price to be paid for living a divided life, a life without integrity of purpose.


Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi

      1 min read     

Click to buy from Amazon Keith Ferrazzi has been writing a column for Fast Company Magazine, sharing his networking secrets. A master networker who counts Bill Clinton, Jack Valenti and countless other powerful people as members of his network, has some good tidbits to share. I meet a lot of people in business who believe that networking is about finding people who can do things for you - finding sales targets.


At Hell's Gate: A Soldier's Journey by Claude Anshin Thomas

      4 min read     

Click to buy from Amazon Mr. Thomas recently came to Menomonie to speak at a presentation put on by the Red Cedar Peace Initiative. As a veteran of the Vietnam War who since converted to Buddhism, he offered a unique perspective. My next-door neighbors are organizers of the Menomonie peace group, and they hosted Mr. Thomas during his visit. I happened to be at the computer in my office, which overlooks the street, when Mr.


Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

      1 min read     

Click to buy from Amazon Malcolm Gladwell does it again. His first work, The Tipping Point, became a hot bestseller during the internet craze in the 1990s. His second book, Blink, discusses how people make rapid decisions, and the ramifications of those decisions. Contrary to what you might think, he makes the case that it’s sometimes possible to make better decisions by gathering and evaluating less data.