On Becoming a Person

Written by one of America’s most distinguished psychologists, Carl R. Rogers uses this book to take us through his experiences as a therapist. He discusses personal growth and creativity throughout the book, as well as how they can be successfully developed into making us more flexible in relationships, and less open to suggestion and control.

I found this book incredibly tough to read in parts, it took nearly three months to complete since my background is not in psychology or psychotherapy. Nevertheless, I loved it, it’s a great book and it ties in nicely with Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink and Roger Martin’s The Opposable Mind and The Design of Business, which I have previously recommended.

I love learning and improving on my own qualities and if I don’t feel that I am progressing in either of these I become unhappy. So, it was a no-brainer for me to pick this book up.

The particular areas that stuck most with me were The Person Who Emerges and Second Stage of Process. These areas helped increase my understanding of certain types of behavior and helped to teach me new concepts that I had only just begun to grasp.

The Person Who Emerges

This section talked about openness to experience in which the person becomes open to a wider range of experiences that build towards helping them grow.

The most valuable piece I took away from this was that we as people need to learn that reality doesn’t accommodate for us, we need to work with it instead.

Second Stage of Process

This is actually the second of seven stages. It discusses the idea that many people perceive problems as being external to themselves, outside or their control and not their fault.

Nobody likes to admit they are wrong or that they may even be causing their own problems but I think in many cases this is exactly the problem. This also reminds me of the reality model that is discussed in The Opposable Mind.

Final Words

Although I found parts of this book difficult to read, I forced myself through it and I am still to this day happy that I did. Some sections of it were beyond my understanding but that’s OK, I feel that in a year or two I will be able to return to this book and read through it again, further building on the foundations of my understanding so far.

I highly recommend this book to everyone, since I believe from the two sections alone that I have mentioned, everyone could learn a great deal from them and the book as a whole is great in helping people work towards personal growth.

If you want to find out more about the book or purchase your own copy, you can head on over to Amazon.

Phil.

Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking

I read Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink several years ago and at the time I thought it was brilliant. I have since come to realise that his books barely scratch the surface of the complex topics but the style in which they are written is so easily digestible that it is almost effortless to read.

It focuses on the the idea of thinking without thinking, or split second decisions.

“An Art expert sees a ten-million-dollar sculpture and instantly spots it’s a fake.”

“A fire-fighter suddenly senses he has to get out of a blazing building.”

Blink: The power of Thinking without Thinking. - Malcolm Gladwell.

As I said at the start of this post, in most of Gladwell’s books he only manages to scrape the surface of these ideas, but he paints a very colourful picture and makes it easily readable for anyone, hence the glorifying testimonials on the back cover, which I feel maybe gives it more credit than it’s due.

The book introduces us to a number of different scenarios and takes us through each of them step by step, shedding light on particular details in an effort to explain why events unfolded the way they did, or how a person came to the decision they settled on.

The book focuses on scenarios where this rapid cognition has both worked and failed, but I felt that his explanations do help give the reader a wider understanding, or perspective at least, on the situations surrounding their own daily lives. I found this to be very insightful and it helped start my journey into the concepts of objectivity and perception.

The reason I’m recommending this book is because from reading it myself, it served as a springboard into these topics, which I began looking into in more detail. I started reading similar online articles and finding more books, of which The Opposable Mind and The Design of Business have been my personal favourites, since they’re written in a similar style but go into much more detail.

final Words

Malcolm Gladwell has a talent for taking complex issues and explaining them in a way that is enjoyable to read. I’ve read all of his books since and they follow the same style and are relatively easy to read through quickly.

If you’ve read the book then I’d love to hear your thoughts, or if you have any similar recommendations, please leave a comment below.

If you still want to find out more about this book or purchase your own copy, you can head on over to Amazon.

Phil.

The Servants

Michael Marshall Smith’s 2008 release The Servants seems almost like a return to his routes. Taking a break from writing under Michael Marshall, he invokes his original writing style with a story focusing on 11 year old Mark, who has just moved from London to a wintry Brighton with his ill mother and new stepfather, who he barely knows.

M. M. Smith creates a ghost like environment for our characters, with strange occurrences that go largely unexplained and are left mostly up to the readers own imagination and interpretation, which is something I love about Michael's books The Straw Men trilogy and Bad Things.

I’ve read a number of reviews of the book and I was saddened that quite a few people seem to have been left disappointed. Personally I enjoyed it, it’s a nice size, at 233 pages, making it possible to read fairly quickly.

There are a relatively small number of characters, which I think adds to the feeling of isolation and loneliness that Mark spends most of the book feeling. I really liked that about it, I felt that it kind of enabled you to experience mark’s worldview more intimately.

The sense of solitude seems to create this unique new world, that although set in Brighton, feels like an entirely different place altogether and I think that helped me get immersed even more so into the book, which is exactly what I look for in a novel.

I bought the burgundy coloured paperback which I think is perfectly designed to fit in with the imagery portrayed inside this book, from the gold decorated borders, right down to the choice of fonts, I’m a big type nerd. It might sound odd talking about the design of the book, but I just feel that it captures the overall imagery of the novel so well and deserves a mention.

Final Words

I find it difficult to properly describe how this book made me feel while reading it, but I really enjoyed it and I highly recommend it to anyone who is at all interested by what I’ve had to say about it.

As always I’m interested in others opinions and discussion so please, let me know what you think and if you can recommend anything similar, I’d be glad to hear it.

If you want to find out more about The Servants you can head on over to Amazon for reviews or to purchase your own copy.

Phil.

Only Forward

The debut novel from Michael Marshall Smith, Only forward is a masterpiece, plain and simple. It won the Philip K.Dick and August Derleth awards It is one of the most original sci-fi novels I have and will ever read.

Our main character Stark, an interesting and amusing man has been asked to find a missing person. The story takes place in a wonderfully imagined world where the entire country is covered in neighborhoods, from coast to coast. These neighborhoods come in all shapes and sizes that are geared towards the desires of its residents. A neighborhood dedicated to colour, one for people who constantly need to be doing something, a neighborhood solely for cats and one for deranged criminals.

I found this book incredibly funny in parts, it’s more light hearted than Spares, Michael’s second sci-fi novel that is of a similar style and qualities, but is much darker in my opinion.

I am in love with this world that Michael creates. Each neighborhood is so vastly different and the vivid detail leaves a clear image in your head that will forever stay with you.

I’ve read Only Forward twice, like most of Michael’s books, who also writes under the name Michael Marshall. I’ve blogged about his Straw Men trilogy which I absolutely love and highly recommend.

As with Spares, Michael has a knack for developing the story in a direction so unusual and original that I can only describe it as genius. When I first read it I was blown away by the storyline, it is amazing and provided me with a truly unique experience.

Final words

I try to be reasonable in understanding that not everyone likes the same thing. However, in the case case of this book, if you’re a sci-fi fan, you really need to read this book and if you don’t like it then I just can’t understand how that could be possible.

I’d love to hear what others think, regardless of whether you liked it or not and if you have similar recommendations, please let me know.

If you'd like to find out more about Only Forward or to purchase your own copy, you can head over to Amazon.

Phil.

Spares

Spares is a brilliant example of British sci-fi. I enjoyed it so much more during my second read and I will most definitely be revisiting it for a third time in the future. Michael Marshall Smith also writes under the name Michael Marshall, where he focuses on crime/thriller novels. I wrote about his Straw Men Trilogy recently.

Spares is the second novel from author Michael Marshall Smith, it focuses on Jack Randall, a burnt out, ex cop who has spent the last five years on a spares farm. Here he looks after spares, clones of the wealthy to be used as spare parts should any accidents happen, or transplants be required.

Michael creates an incredibly detailed and unique world, a common trait in his other sci-fi novels Only Forward and One of Us, which I plan on writing about later. He has a knack for taking his narrative in such unexpected and surprising directions that I can only describe it as genius and truly original.

Spares can be very funny in parts too, which I absolutely love. I later learnt that Michael used to be a comedy writer for the BBC and it really shows here, there were moments where I truly laughed. However, the book manages to go from humorous to sinister in the flick of a switch in parts, which really help in creating a strong contrast and drives home the seriousness of the current situation.

Final Words

I truly enjoy Michael's sci-fi novels. No other books have captured my imagination in the same way since and the imagery it created in my head still sticks with me to this day.

Thoughts and opinions on this book are more than welcome and if you can recommend any similar sci-fi novels on par with this then please do!

If you would like to find out more about Spares, or purchase your own copy, you can head on over to Amazon.

Phil.

The Straw Men Trilogy

Michael Marshall is one of my all time favourite authors. I discovered him purely by accident about six years ago, whilst looking for a book to read while my Xbox was getting repaired. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise and made me the bookworm I am today.

If you like dark, gritty thrillers as well as conspiracy theories and you haven’t read these, then you’re in luck.

The Books

The Straw Men Trilogy is comprised of three books… funnily enough, by UK author Michael Marshall. Book number one is The Straw Men (also known as The Upright Man), book number two is The Lonely Dead and book number three is Blood of Angels.

All three books are incredibly gripping novels, I’ve read them twice each, and I’m considering revisiting them again for a third time. They are seriously that good.

The Straw Men

The first book introduces us to multiple story lines that eventually interconnect. I love how Michael seamlessly hops from one to another throughout the chapters and brilliantly brings them together.

One of these story lines introduces us to 14 year old Sarah Becker, who has been abducted from downtown L.A. The circumstances of her disappearance match that of former detective John Zandt’s daughter, who was one of the victims in a strikingly similar crime two years ago.

Another Story line introduces us to Ward Hopkins, who’s parents have just been killed in a car accident, but he soon discovers a strange letter that tells him otherwise.

Ward soon learns that much of the past he thought to be true is a lie, and his search to discover the truth soon leads him to the Straw Men, a sinister organisation with horrifying plans.

you can find out more about The Straw Men on Amazon.

The Lonely Dead

The second book in the series has one of my favourite prologues ever, Yakima. This is my favourite book out of the three, it has lot of sentimental value too, since it was largely influential in sparking my passion for reading.

The book continues to develop the characters we came to know through the first book and follows the same great writing style.

We are introduced to Tom, a man heading into the mountain forests of Washington State, he doesn’t plan on coming back. However, he finds something in the forest that sparks a chain of events that quickly spiral out of control.

Back in Los Angeles, a woman’s body is discovered in a motel. The killer has left his mark and it soon becomes clear that he will kill again if not stopped.

Meanwhile, Ward Hopkins is continuing to track down the men who destroyed everything he once held dear, the Straw Men.

You can find out more about The Lonely Dead on Amazon.

Blood of Angels

The final book in the series sees notorious serial killer The Upright Man escape from a super-max prison, no one understands how it happened, but Ward suspects the Straw Men are responsible and that they’re planning something big.

What follows is a chaotic and frantic series of events that result in a spectacular act of carnage.

Admittedly, Blood of Angels is my least favourite by far, but it is still well worth a read and much better than many other novels I’ve read, it’s just that it has a lot to live up to from the previous two books.

You can find out more about Blood of Angels on Amazon.

Final words

I unwittingly read the second book first, since I saw no indication that it was part of a series, which was unfortunate but didn’t necessarily spoil my experience

What I love so much about these books is the incredibly engaging writing style that Michael employs. His novels have a dark “realism” to them, for lack of a better description and I absolutely love the rich, unique descriptions and dialogues throughout the books. I said at the start that they are incredibly gripping novels, so much so that I’ve actually struggled to find a book as good as these.

If you’ve read the books then let me know what you think and if you know of any similar recommendations then please, please! let me know.

Phil.

The Design of business

Following on from the Opposable Mind, I checked out another book by Roger Martin called The Design of business.

I loved this book. It’s a great addition to the Opposable Mind and it felt to me like an extension of it too. The knowledge funnel particularly stuck with me and it was probably the most valuable thing I took away from the book. I apply it to everything I do now, so that I can try to get a better understanding of where I sit within the bigger picture.

The Knowledge Funnel

Roger Martin argues that when it comes to understanding something, it can be broken into three sections (with the exception of a few areas).

Mystery - Heuristic - Algorithm

Mystery - Why do leave and apples fall at different rates?

Heuristic - Gravity!

Algorithm - Newtons law of universal gravity.

The book mentions that the likes of McDonalds have everything down to an algorithm, from how to interview people through to how long you should cook a burger for. However, the likes of law firms dealing with complex cases cannot simply apply an algorithm to every case. They may use a heuristic to loosely deal with the given situation, but they will need to address each case as a highly unique and individual scenario.

The book does focus on a lot of business, but I don't think anyone should let that put them off. I feel that you can easily apply the concepts in this book to everyday life. Saying that however, there is an amazing section on reliability Vs Validity.

Reliability Vs Validity

“Reliability aims to produce consistent, predictable outcomes, Validity aims to produce outcomes that meet a desired objective.”

Roger Martin - The Design of Business.

The book discusses that in order for a company to remain successful and innovative they need to find a balance between the two, but it also says that the two are inherently incompatible.

Validity is uncertain, you can't give it a budget because no one knows how long it will take to develop something from a mystery into a heuristic, or from a heuristic into an algorithm. The negative side of this is that if a company sticks only to what is reliable, there is a good chance that they will stagnate and a competitor will release a more innovative product, making their own obsolete.

Final Words

This book is excellent and I advise everyone to read it. However, I strongly suggest reading The Opposable Mind first and then going on to The Design of Business.

Let me know what you think and if you know of any similar books, please comment below and tell me about them.

If you like what you've read so far, or would like more details on the book, you can head over to Amazon for a closer look.

Phil.