The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

This is a fast read—about 200 pages but a small size, large font, and vacuous phrasing. The simplicity is a good indication of the ideas contained within however; Lencioni’s approach to what makes an effective team is remarkably simple too. In order, a team needs trust, healthy debate, commitment, accountability, and rewarding results. You can’t skip any of these phases along the way; e.g., without trust it isn’t possible to have unfiltered discussions. Simple and obvious, like many of the popular business theories today. Unlike some popular theories though, these have the ring of truth.

This is a fable book, like The Goal or Virtual Leadership. The story in Five Dysfunctions was clumsy and contrived, but the points it tries to make come across well. It was hard to see how some of these techniques would work in the real world where people have multiple motivations and are more complex than cartoon characters, but the assessment template and discussions that close the book seem very useful. Despite the mixed review this is well worth your time, but make sure this isn’t the only book you take on an airplane!

First Sentence:

DecisionTech was located in Half Moon Bay, a foggy, coastal farming town just over the hills from San Francisco Bay.

The Emperors of Chocolate, by Joël Glenn Brenner

This examination of the world of “big chocolate” was fascinating. I was shocked to find out both how massive these corporations are, and how few of them exist. “M&M’s alone generate more revenue than Camel cigarettes or Maxwell House coffee. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, the nation’s No. 3 brand (owned by Hershey), outsells such well-known products as Advil and Ivory Soap. ... Mars is bigger than such corporate giants as RJR Nabisco, McDonald’s and Kellogg.” There are really only four major players in the mass-market candy industry: Mars, Hershey, Cadbury, and Nestlé. In America Mars and Hershey rule the candy aisle, with a staggering number of recognizable treats belonging to them. Mars owns M&M’s, Milky Way, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Dove Chocolate, Twix, Kudos, Skittles, Starburst, and the entire Wrigley Company (not to mention Banfield—The Pet Hospital, Whiskas, Pedigree, and Uncle Ben’s Rice). Hershey has all the various incarnations of the Hershey Bar and Kisses, as well as Symphony, Special Dark, Krackel, Mr. Goodbar, 5th Avenue, Almond Joy, Mounds, Heath, Kit Kat, Milk Duds, Reese’s, Whoppers, Jolly Rancher, PayDay, Bubble Yum, Breath Savers, and Twizzlers. These companies are surprisingly secretive as well; recipes and costs are obviously important trade secrets, but the Mars corporation wouldn’t even confirm the founder had ever worked for the company after his death!

The author does an effective job of describing the mysteries of chocolate; many people believe the taste is so complicated that it rivals scotch and wine to sophisticated palates. Odd words such as “mouthfeel” are commonly used, and the descriptions of how subtle differences in ingredients can have a huge impact on the resulting flavor were quite interesting. Learning about how the industry has grown from being simply large kitchens to modern factories in just the last 100 years was also captivating. For instance, in the Hershey factory before automation, “workers were known to pick up a Kiss, lick the bottom, dab it on the pile of tissues, then deposit that on the foil and twist. Not exactly sanitary, but fast.” This book is more than just a simple case study; it is an enthralling tale that I didn’t want to put down.

First Sentence:

Theo Leenders hadn’t moved from his desk all day.

Midnight Train to Memphis, by Derek B. Davis

I don’t remember where I came across this book, but it held my interest. The story and characters are interesting despite the Steven Seagal-ish plot: a proud veteran framed by a corrupt businessman gathers his military friends to fight back and clear his name. Gambling, smuggling, murder, and rape give this a clearly adult tone, but the simple writing and large print give this a distinct young adult feel. The unevenness can be forgiven, though, as it is Davis’ first outing as an author and the promise shown here is intriguing.

First Sentence:

A new model Chevrolet Silverado passed by, leaving behind a gust of wind to part Ryan’s hair.

Zoe’s Tale, by John Scalzi

The fourth tale in the Old Man’s War series, this one is a little different than the others. Instead of a new story in the same universe, in the fashion of Ender’s Shadow and Wicked this tells a familiar tale from a different viewpoint. Scalzi did a good job of making a story we already know (The Last Colony) interesting and compelling. Told from the point of view of Zoë, the daughter of the protagonists of the previous novel, we visit the same events again but with a fresh outlook. Much like teenagers everywhere, they know much more about what is happening than the adults believe, and they sneak out and get into trouble without their parents ever finding out. Some of the dangling threads of the earlier book are wrapped up (like why the werewolves vanished) which was nice, but some of the characterizations were weak; Zoë’s friend Gretchen has an identical personality and outlook, coming off as a simple copy rather than a separate person. This makes a nice companion to The Last Colony, but it is the weakest in the series.

First Sentence:

The flying saucer landed on our front lawn and a little green man got out of it.

The Fencing Master, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

In The Club Dumas, Pérez-Reverte crafted a mystery with book sellers and lost manuscripts; here, the adventure revolves around fencing and 19th-century Spanish politics. Don Jaime Astarloa is the fencing master of the title, an older man who is expert in a dying art. A mysterious woman appears and wants to be taught the killing thrust for which he is famous, and his life starts to spiral out of control after that. Mix in secret political documents, a throne in jeopardy, and a noble man living in the past and an exciting thriller begins to unfold.

The Fencing Master was both captivating and well-written, but I simply don’t know enough about fencing to be drawn in to the obviously well-researched sections. I could follow the duels and the intensity of the fights came through well, but I suspect that there was an artistry that would have been more poignant if I was better versed in swordsmanship. I still loved the book, however, and look forward to others by this author!

First Sentence:

Much later, when Jaime Astarloa wanted to piece together the scattered fragments of the tragedy and tried to remember how it all began, the first image that came to his mind was of the marquis and of the gallery in the palace overlooking the Retiro Gardens, with the first heat of summer streaming in through the windows, accompanied by such brilliant sunlight that they had to squint against the dazzle on the polished guards of their foils.

Schulz and Peanuts, by David Michaelis

Charles M. Schulz was both a complicated and simple man. The beloved creator of Peanuts poured a lot of himself into his characters, but Charlie Brown is by no means Charles Schulz. Multiple affairs and a deep sadness marked Schulz’s life, who continually was depicted as a socially-awkward, self-involved man—far from the lovable loser in the funny papers. On the other hand, Sparky (Schulz’s nickname) remained a straightforward and down-to-earth person for his entire life, despite his fame and fortune. I suppose this oxymoronic behavior is fitting for a man that wrote a comic strip about children that waxed philosophical.

For a book about a humorist, there is very little humor found here; I find it surprising that a comic that ran for so long and was so amusing was created by a man that doesn’t seem that funny. I didn’t expect him to be cracking jokes constantly, but there wasn’t really any indication that Schulz had any comedy at all in his personality. While Schulz’s history is interesting, once I realized how many of his experiences made their way into the strip I found myself wanting more details on the backstory of Peanuts and less of the creator sitting at a coffee shop. Regardless, an interesting story that brought out many fond memories of reading the funnies as a kid.

First Sentence:

The great troop train, a quarter-mile of olive green carriages, rolled out of the depot and into the storm.

Made to Stick, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Why are some ideas remembered and others forgotten? That is the central idea discussed in Made to Stick. With a fair amount of humor and a plethora of anecdotes, the Heath brothers do a thorough job of examining this issue. There are six main qualities that make an idea sticky: simplicity, unexpectedness, concreteness, credibility, emotion, and storytelling. Each of these are explored, and accompanied by credible examples such as the Don’t Mess With Texas campaign for emotion and Subway’s Jared campaign for storytelling. A sticky idea that has lasted for nearly 50 years was JFK’s call to “put a man on the moon and return him safely by the end of the decade.” Simple, concrete, credible, emotional, and a story to remember. In contrast, the author’s say “Had John F. Kennedy been a CEO, he would have said, "Our mission is to become the international leader in the space industry through maximum team-centered innovation and strategically targeted aerospace initiatives."” I’ve met several CEO’s that talk that way, none of them memorable.

As with many books, the humor is what I enjoyed the most. Buzzwords are depicted as the antithesis of concrete, abstract phrases that don’t really mean anything. A medical example: “idiopathic cardiomyopathy.” As described by the authors: “"Cardiomyopathty" means something is wrong with your heart, and "idiopathic" means "we have no idea why yours isn’t working."” Another funny bit a few pages later: “Remembering the capital of Kansas is an abstract exercise, unless you happen to live in Topeka. By contrast, when you think about "Hey Jude," you may hear Paul McCartney’s voice and piano playing. (If the phrase "Hey Jude" drew a blank, please exchange this book for a Beatles album. You’ll be happier.)” At the close, a long section on how to apply what was discussed to your own ideas boosts this book from interesting to truly useful. Clearly written and fun to read, this is a great book for examining how ideas are communicated. I enjoyed reading it.

First Sentence:

Every move an Army soldier makes is preceded by a staggering amount of planning, which can be traced to an original order from the president of the United States.

The Last Colony, by John Scalzi

Third in the Old Man’s War series, this installment tells the story of an experimental colony used as bait in a war. John Perry from the original novel takes center stage again, accompanied by Jane Sagan and Zoë from the sequel. Witty and imaginative, this volume is more about interstellar politics than the military action of the others. There was a bit of a deux ex machina near the conclusion and a few plot lines are left unsatisfied but overall Scalzi delivers another enjoyable romp.

First Sentence:

Let me tell you of the worlds I’ve left behind.

Longitude, by Dava Sobel

In this day and age we take knowing where we are on the planet for granted. I was surprised to discover how difficult a problem this was for sailors before the nineteenth century. Latitude could be discovered by watching the stars, but longitude didn’t have a reliable way of being measured. This caused an amazing amount of tragedy on the high seas, such as when Admiral Sir Clowdisley misjudged his longitude in the fog and sailed his armada into the rocks in 1707 losing almost two thousand men. This was such a large problem that most major governments offered a king’s ransom for the person that could create a device that solved the problem. The man that eventually claimed the prize wasn’t a scientist, engineer, or an astronomer, but a clockmaker. With so much money at stake, politics and professional jealousy worked against John Harrison, but he persevered and changed the face of navigation. I picked this up on a whim, but was glad I did—this was much more entertaining and interesting than I’d expected.

First Sentence:

Once on a Wednesday excursion when I was a little girl, my father bought me a beaded wire ball that I loved.

100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories, edited by Dziemianowicz, Weinberg, and Greenberg

I’ve always liked ghost stories, but this collection was largely pedestrian and disappointing. Coming Home by Nina Kiriki Hoffman was one of the only truly unnerving stories, dealing with the ghosts of guilt instead of the more traditional apparitions. O Come Little Children... by Chet Williamson was my other favorite; the twist at the end of this one truly snuck up on me, and with most of the other stories being so predictable this was doubly surprising. While one or two tales are worthy of being told around the campfire, the vast majority are easily forgettable.

First Sentence (from the introduction):

The ghost story is the oldest type of supernatural tale, and thus the one closest to the European oral storytelling tradition.

Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D. H. Lawrence

Set in post WWI England, this is a story that examines the twin roles of sensuality and intellectualism in relationships. Lady Chatterley has a husband that is crippled from the waist down and unable to to sexually perform. Because they have a strong cerebral relationship at first the lack of physical intimacy isn’t an issue, but over time Lady Chatterley becomes less and less satisfied, eventually starting an affair. There are more than a few fairly explicit erotic sections which explains why this novel was banned in many countries for many years. More interesting though, is the message that Lawrence conveys: as important as an emotional and intellectual connection is in a relationship, a physical, sexual component is required for true happiness.

Written in the early part of the twentieth century, the style is stodgy but readable except when a speaker drops into the local, uneducated dialect. “Tha mun come one naight ter th’ cottage, afore tha goos; sholl ter?” And this isn’t the most obtuse passage! Lawrence has a sly sense of humor I liked, too. “Sex and a cocktail: they both lasted about as long, had the same effect, and amounted to about the same thing.” Overall I can’t say I loved the book, but I’m not sorry I read it either.

First Sentence:

Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically.

The Ghost Brigades, by John Scalzi

The sequel to Old Man’s War, this episode is told from the point of view of a member of Special Forces, a group of soldiers created from the DNA of the dead. I didn’t find this as inventive as Old Man’s War, but the plot was more interesting. One of the newly created Special Forces members has a memory overlay attempted but seems to fail. However, over time more and more of the other personality begins to break through; considering this other set of memories belong to a traitor, the table is set for an interesting action jaunt with some light examination of what it means to be an individual.

As with most of Scalzi’s writing, the sense of humor here is undeniable. In a scene where newly hatched soldiers are exploring pre-Colonial speculative fiction to learn about humanity, Scalzi gets to throw in his snide opinions on Starship Troopers, The Forever War, and the Star Wars series. “Everyone wanted a lightsaber and was irritated the technology for them didn’t really exist. Everyone also agreed the Ewoks should all die.” There is no mention of the chronologically first three Star Wars movies, so my assumption is they didn’t stand the test of time—as it should be!

First Sentence:

No one noticed the rock.