Many of my clients and friends regularly ask what books I'm reading. When I respond, they usually want a run-down on the book, its main ideas, whether it's got some "good stuff," or "new stuff," or not relevant to them.
For example, "I'm currently recommending Jonah Lehrer's, Proust was a Neuroscientist. What Lehrer emphasizes is the relationship between science--specifically neuroscience--and the artists. Using the works of a diverse group that includes Proust, Stravinsky, Walt Whitman and Virginia Woolf, he demonstrates that when it comes to understanding the brain, the artists got there first. It's a fascinating idea that many great scientists freely admit, even though that''s rarely seen in print." That's how I usually recommend a book.
Early in my career, I had one bright engineer who used to hand me a book he was certain I would like, tell me to keep it, but let him read it after me. Why? Because he wanted to read all the notes, comments, exclamation points and parallels that I typically point to when I'm reading. On occasion, he'd ask me why I wrote such and such. And a discussion would ensue.
Part of the reason people want to know what I'm reading is that I stay up on a number of subjects--and they trust my selections.
That being the case, I'd like to share my way of choosing non-fiction books--including business, politics, cultural,behavioral and other works.
First, when I pick up a book at my local bookstore, I check out the endorsements on the back page. Of course, I have a long reading history, so it's a rare book in my field of interest which wouldn't have at least one endorsee that I recognize--for good or ill.
Then I take a few seconds to read the table of contents to see what that can tell me. If there are acknowledgments, I want to find out what resources were used. Sometimes that's helpful, sometimes not.
After that, I usually go to the preface. When none is available, I take a quick look at the first chapter. Usually by the time I've read the first three or four sentences, I'm beginning to make my decision because the best authors will set up the major ideas in the initial paragraph or two.
As an example, I've distilled the basic issues from Lehrer's first eight or ten sentences.
"I used to work in a neuroscience lab. We were trying to figure out how the mind remembers, how a collection of cells can encapsulate our past. . . . The work felt profound. Mysteries were distilled into minor questions. . . .The truth seemed to slowly accumulate like dust. At the same time, I began reading Proust. . . . All I expected. . . was the opposite of scientific fact. But once I got past the jarring contrast of forms. . . .I began to see a surprising convergence."
I was hooked.
Still, I usually want to check the book's conclusion, especially if I'm not certain about the book. Lehrer's conclusion begins: "In 1959, C. P. Snow famously declared that our two cultures--art and science--suffered from a "mutual incomprehension." He went to a most knowledgeable writer and drew telling conclusions.
That's how I've selected books for 35 years or more and my method hasn't failed me yet. Additionally, if it's business, politics, culture or society, I'm interested in the bibliography. Since I'm pretty skeptical about most people's opinions--including my own--I want to know what critical tools were used and whether or not there's related empirical research. Clients know that when they ask me an important question, I'm liable to respond with something like this: "This is what I think. . . or this is my guess, but I don't have any research supporting this notion." On other occasions, when I'm aware of related research, I will respond with: "There's plenty of research indicating that. . . ."
Are there secrets to selecting a book that I've been missing out on? Did I divulge any secrets you weren't aware of?