Veronika decides to die - Paulo Coelho

We should have been a little madder.  I thought I was mad enough. But maybe in my search of madness, I’ve drawn walls so high, my madness has become an illusion of security.  What I really wanted was on the other side.  Not to have the strength of an independent rebel but the fragility of a child who wants to be part of others and for others to be part of.  Such madness I’ve built that I have been blinded and celebrated it as uniqueness, a feat that only a brave lone soul could victoriously enjoy.  Imprisoned by this concrete castle of madness, I’ve disabled judgment and criticism or even when they come, they should bounce off nonchalantly because they didn’t matter to me.  I am not the criticism of others and I have no ears for that.  I was drowning in my own mirage of perfection.  No wonder success evades me for I have not known how to turn love into blessing, the art of getting rid of bitterness.  Happiness is the absence of bitterness.  How could someone who has everything and owns anything the heart desires, surrounded with beautiful people, still fall into depression?  They call it low-level serotonin but in fact it was a poison more venomous than all venoms, more toxic than all toxins, so unassumingly named Bitterness.  A destroyer of passions, an anesthetic of feelings, a murderer of dreams.  Bitterness has caused my fear of failure deeply underestimated as I continue to spiral into a frenzy of indecisiveness and confusion.  I was so afraid of goodness and light, afraid they will deject me when I finally make friends with them.  I would not allow myself to a sliver of possibility that my old wound from years of abandonment could be cut open.  I’d rather bleed profusely and go to bed, unawake forever.  This fear which gripped me so greatly that when I let love in, I disarmed it in case it crumbles my wall and throws off my routine.  As such I began to understand that excessive fear is an imbalance, I’ve been hoodwinked into believing in my nonexistent equilibrium.  I’ve been against the law of natural change for the longest time and my soul is desperate to be set free.  My eyes opened, my hands agitated to deconstruct this illusive dark palace that I’ve named Dignity which such pride, in there I sought not comfort but solace for so many years.  I am tired now.  And I’m ready to leave and live.  Madness is not lost of control.  To control is madness.

Paulo Coelho is a genius, nothing short of artful brilliance.  Buy.

I Have a Strategy (No You Don't): The Illustrated Guide to Strategy - Howell J. Malham Jr.

One of those easy books to understand the definition of strategy as there are simple explanations and illustrations of different case studies from everyday situations to big political decisions.

What I got out of it: A clear definition of strategy and how to illustrate it in your work in a simple manner that should tie all loose ends and put everyone on the same page.

What I didn't get out of it: Some of the 'jokes' and how to design sound strategies.

This book provides an easy framework if you need a guideline to help simplify things at work but you know what they say: Garbage in, garbage out.  So at the end of the day, you still need to be able to think both strategically and creatively on your own to fulfil your intended purpose.  It does help though to have a format which you could easily translate the bits and pieces of your thoughts into one coherent argument that puts everyone on the same page.  Great especially if your strategy needs to be translated over and over again to different stakeholders.

It's definitely a good to know :)

The letter.

Dancing in the rain,
I taste these droplets so divine,
Knowing you are near,
Though I am so far behind,
I rushed home, I need to,
I desperately struggled for the next breath,
I shut the world away from me,
I met my silent death,
And suddenly, appallingly,
You pulled the strings,
The curtain of darkness fades away,
I utter in disbelief of the joy your world brings,
My hands trembled,
They shook,
Longing for another to comfort me,
Something in me ran wild,
I can't control it anymore so I let it be,
Just be.

Circa September 2001

Dreams.

I dreamt of seeing the world,
Crossing oceans and venturing the unventured,

Dreamt of power,
And empowering whom I love and had loved,

Dreamt of naked trees,
Waiting to bloom, slender branches stretched and curved,

Dreamt of you,
The beautiful you, affection undeserved,

Dreamt of me,
My curious soaring dreams,
Yet here I am,
Rooted to the earth,

Circa September 2001

As.

As tears fall silently,
My smile rushes through the capillaries from my heart,
I craft your silhouette,
Moments slowly part,
Paint your face with pallets of rainbow,
Your eyes piercing through mine,
I pray and hope your love will show,
Angelic rays shining aligned,
I have loved you,
Through words and words alone,
Hanging on, today I still do,
Feelings unspeakable, untouchable, unknown,
Cries, they fall into the depth of silent night,
Glimmer, a mix of sadness, joy and purity,
I rather have one moment and lose my sight,
Than forever breathing in this insanity.

circa September 2001

Promises.

You promised we will sit all night in the park,
I went there but you never came.

You promised we will watch shooting stars,
I laid awake but you never came.

You promised all things nice and sweet,
I waited with patience abounding,
But you never came.

You promised we will be on top of the world,
I wanted so much too but you never came.

You promised you will handle me with care,
I was ready but you never came.

You promised a million words,
I listened with my heart,
You promised to bring me with you,
I packed my hopes,
You promised the world,
I was ready to embrace,
You promised to dry my tears,
I let it all fall,
You promised to be there,
I went searching,
You promised you won't break my heart,
I took the risk,
But it was all the same.

circa Sept 2001

Yasmin How You Know: An unfinished tribute to Yasmin Ahmad.

I've only had a brief encounter with Yasmin.  Okay, no, make that TWO brief encounters.  The more memorable one was when I was a junior planner and was so smitten by the Petronas ads she wrote, I couldn't resist but hunt her email down and wrote to her.  I did not bother with classy opening paragraphs.  I immediately jumped into my curiosity.  I told her how amazing I think her ads were and specifically: How do you write like that?

To which she replied (after a very polite Thank You): From the heart.  And perhaps that was one of the single most career-changing perspectives I've ever experienced.  The thing is, it's such a simple truth that in retrospect, it just seems stupid for anyone to NOT know.  Well, I was stupid then.  And complicated.  If you have experienced a tiny spark of brilliance in pulling something simple out of your innocent advertising mind but crossed it out because you feel someone would ridicule you or try to back-rationalize it till it sounds complicatedly intelligent, then my friend, you're like me.

And sometimes, honest truth, I still do that.  This is a vicious industry because it isn't like sales nor production where calculations are tangible and goals are in black and white.  This is an industry that needs to not just make money for ourselves but for the clients we are accountable to, using highly intangible emotional play.  Truth be told, no one in the boardroom will ever know the exact outcome till it's out, isn't it?

I've never met or heard or read or come to know a person quite like Yasmin.  Leafing through pages and pages of her tribute from her colleagues, friends and families; one thing for sure about this woman is her genuine consistency.  She has no second approach to anything.  Just one: Love.  With a dash of humour, just to lighten tense situations up.  And a LOT of logic.  I can't name and/or recall any figure in the industry as important and pivotal as her.  And it ain't just coming from me, as you may account in everything everyone says about her in this imperfectly perfectly bound pages.

So, fast forward a decade now.  I realised that that one email has impacted my life more than I thought it would.  Because since then, I've always written from the heart.  Maybe not for everything.  But for everything that has meaning to me.  Writing to friends, family, loved ones, writing my heart out, campaigns that matter, work that matters, projects with high resonance of personal passion.

And I will be an observer of humans, sensitive to emotions and keep writing.

Drive - Daniel H. Pink.

Sometimes you come across a really good book which you can't put it aside till you finish devouring every insight it has to offer.  Drive is completely that book.  The big question that no one even seemed to ask; does the current business operating system still work in today's time of immense change?  People's lifestyle, attitude and behaviour have greatly evolved due to the pervasiveness of information, communication and network technology, yet when they assume their job in whichever organisation they work for, they fall back into a medieval system that seems to be obsolete in this day and age.

Why?
Open this book and find out why :)

The Social Animal - David Brooks.

This is one of the most profound books I have ever digested.  EVER.  And I mean no exaggeration.  The Economist touted it as 'a fascinating study of the unconscious mind and its impact on our lives' and it has certainly lived up to the name and dare I say beyond it.

The Social Animal is a narration on the life story of two protagonists and everyone in between from their foetal conception right up to their grave.  I'm not exactly a fan of fiction, but what Brook did was ingenious.  He interspersed general fiction of these characters which are very possible lives of anyone in today's world with facts, data, sound researches, hypotheses to back almost every behavioural decision made by these said characters - in short, he proved that as we go through life from cradle to grave, we think we are the ones making the decisions but most often than not, it is our unconscious that's been steering the ship.  We processed millions of data and stimuli to make a decision even before we realized we've already decided, the conscious was just a matter of executing it.  And what Brooks did was not to let the course of his work turn airy fairy - just because there're still no definitive scientific researches today that can prove the workings of our brain, let alone our mind - instead he meticulously weaved in relevant scientific facts and insightful literary prose that would justify even our most shameless subconscious behaviour or actions that we might have taken and to be so dumbfounded as to why.

To be honest, this book was almost like a mysterious answer that fell from the sky, right onto my lap.  But less dramatically, it just caught my eye on one of Border's shelves in the 'self-help' section.  Have you ever felt like there are two people living inside you and you don't know why?  And worse, when one of them misbehaves, the other deeply resents that, and you're stuck in the middle not knowing which one to side?  In The Social Animal, Brooks introduced many characters (that I'm assuming can be generalized into a representative segment of the general population) that I resonate with.  It feels like every character has a little bit of me at different parts of the narration.  And by him 'dissecting' actions, choices, decisions, thoughts and showing a path to how our everyday unconsciousness could be leading and making the decisions for our own best interest, I suddenly understood what it means to 'surrender'.  The word 'surrender' in a religious context - surrender to God - has always felt more like giving up and being defeated.  Put it in a non-religious context then it sounds a tad too new-age for me - surrender to what?  It felt to me we could easily replace it with an indifferent 'whatever' and it would still work.  But after this intense journey, I realized that 'surrendering' simply means letting my unconscious take over and trust it to make the best decisions for me based on its unexplainable unscientific unfounded way of processing simple and complex information.  I've got strong intuitions, and I've always allowed it to point me to some kind of direction - at work, in relationships, in sports, in travelling - but once the course is set, logic will simply take over and say, "Good job, but we don't need you anymore".  I suppose when it comes to highly objective matters (as in business) being less emotional and more logical would be appreciated.  But now I'm curious.  I'm curious if, when and should my 'unconscious' take over - would the decisions be the same?  If love was something that falls entirely in the 'unconscious' segment, would my unconsciousness be able to guard my heart and protect me like what I've been so consciously doing?  If I'd play badminton more intuitively, would I be a better player serving more strategic shots without actually needing to learn how to do that in theory?

This is truly tricky if you ask me.  As I mentioned, I've always been highly intuitive.  Not always but most of the time, I could foresee outcome A or B because of XYZ so that I now can decide to pick solution C or D accordingly, but never really thought about letting my intuition take the entire course.  Because it is scary to not know what you're doing.  Since I've learned that the unconscious will and is capable of making the best decision, I should hold back less, analyse less - all these presumingly points to better balance and inner peace.  It is truly liberating to know now that I didn't trust myself enough to make certain decisions and now I can actually change that ;)

The Social Animal is highly recommended for anyone who has an interest in psychology, social science, behavioural economics, sociology or simply an interest in their own mind and thoughts.  The last time I read an over-500-pages book in 3 days time was the last instalment of Harry Potter.  A good book is one I consider, after an intense back-to-back reading, you feel rejuvenated (or have some kind of closure - as in the case of Harry Potter 7) instead of feeling exhausted.  You know, the amazing thing is I feel like re-reading The Social Animal simply because it carries so much insights.  Some blatant on the lines, some hidden in between.  I feel like I want to take it slower this time and make sure I've really digested everything.  Awesome :)

And to think that I saw it on Mulberry Street - Dr. Seuss.

An astonishingly simple narration of what happens when an adult mind meddle with the imagination of a child!  Sometimes the adult is an adult outside of us but sometimes it's the adult living inside of us that puts a full stop to creativity and possibility.  So the next time you imagine something and almost like a video, Fear puts a stop to the reel - 'unpause' it and resume that wonderful imaginative journey.  There is no harm in imagination.  It's only when you intend to make it real, you will automatically self-trim to make it realistic with your environment.  Otherwise, why not? :)

BOO - The life of the world's cutest dog - J. H. Lee.

In Malaysia, we will start by exclaiming 'wah lao eh'.  What does it mean?  It's a phrase you use to display extremity of feelings towards something.  In this case, it is what else but cuteness overload.  Seriously, what. on. earth. is. this. thing. with. a. funny. haircut. and. such. chewable. fluffy. puffs. as. paws?

Boo, if you don't already know is the (yes, as titled) the world's cutest dog.  He rose to fame on social media because people just couldn't stand not telling someone else how cute this thing is and/or the fact that they are going through strong resistance to wanna bite something.  Just take a look at him and you will know what I mean.  Cause I seriously can't help but wanna just... squeeze something every time I look at him.

Anyway, the book is really a pictorial diary of Boo which you could finish in 5 minutes browsing, or 50 minutes if every page you stop to go 'eeek!'.  The photos are extremely well composed (well, Boo is well composed and seems to love the camera) but I wish the captions were more endearing.  Right now, it's a narration of Boo's voice but I thought he wasn't such a straightforward dog.  I feel that he's funnier and the captions should reflect that ;) then it would really have been perfect.

I have a Cat too.  And someday, I hope Cat has his book too.  I wish I was a more... gung-ho owner like Lee.  Sorry Cat :( I promise to be better next year!

Join Boo's Facebook fan page here.  2.6 million fans yo, beat that ;)

Mickey Mouse Flies the Christmas Mail - Annie North Bedford.

Originally printed in the 50s, this is a precious find from the recent Big Bad Wolf books sale.  I used to own a lot of these 'little golden book' series when I was young and have no idea where it all went to and I'm so happy to find one that's so vintage!

This book, needless to say takes only 2 minutes to finish.  It's not so much about the story for me, but it's really the illustrations by Walt Disney retro-style that really brings a warm fuzzy feeling to the heart.  Really brings me back to my childhood days :)

Love this.

Tate Artist Timeline - Sara Fanelli for Tate.

A very comprehensive yet simple pointer of what's what and who's who in which year starting from the 1900s in the art world.  Names of artists are strategically placed to give you an idea of how the periods are engaging and overlapping one another.  This is truly a great reference (and collectible) to those who have an appreciation of art.

Unfortunately, you can only purchase this at Tate's museum shop but I do have a copy here if you wanna borrow.  Just make sure you cross your heart to take extremely good care of it.  Always remember to enjoy the history behind every piece of art :)

The Economic Naturalist: In search of explanations for everyday enigmas - Robert H. Frank.

Robert is a lecturer every college grad wish he or she had. His thoughts are simple yet provoking and his style is engaging. Imagine not needing to plough through tonnes and tonnes of formal economic mathematics to try understand what exactly is economics.

This book is about questions that we ask or even those that escape us every day about why things happen the way they do. Next time, your children bug you with those 'why' questions, try answering in an economic point-of-view and that would stop it :) But to an adult mind, it is a fantastic tool to be able to see beyond the obvious and really probe the normalities of everyday life. It helps give you a peripheral sense of things and how everything makes perfect economic sense if you understand how the cost-benefit structure works. Even the most difficult question, why people marry some people and not others to a certain extent... difficult, but still hypothetically possible, be answered via economics. Wow. I've always thought matters of the heart are fuzzy, grey and unexplainable. Well, I suppose that magnetic buzz is more of a scientific answer but why we are attracted to certain people - that definitely is in the book.

Go out, get your mind out of the way and explore what the book can offer you. Which is pretty amazing and a lot of fun. Makes your mind topsy-turvy if you're not accustomed to this sort of thinking. Nevertheless, c'mon... let it go once in awhile will ya? Highly recommended :)

Matsushita Leadership - John P. Kotter.

The last book I read which really made me reflect upon my own management skills and life goals was 'The Honda Myth' by Masaaki Sato. See, there's something about Japanese management (or related) books that implore you to reflect. At least, working in a Japanese environment has taught me that it is not uncommon for the culture to do so especially when something goes awry.

I used to think that Soichiro Honda was one of the most revered person in Japan and it was not just because he built cars. The man built dreams. But Kotter has given me another perspective of what it means to be admirable. In words, actions and thoughts, Konosuke Matsushita is no stranger to this group of islands from Far East.

Born in a comfortable environment, Matsushita went through hell (literally) when his family fell apart before he even reached his teenage years. In a family of 10, he was the last surviving one in his tender years. He had nothing but a savings of a hundred yen. And he created what today we would call, a start up. No one could have guessed that a global electronics giant called Panasonic was once upon a time, an entrepreneurial dream of a boy who literally gained his riches from rags.

Soichiro Honda taught us the challenging spirit - to trudge on, no matter how difficult the task is. Konosuke Matsushita propagated the same. The difference is, Honda probably had equal parts of ups and downs but Matsushita was most of the time, nose-diving to the bottom. Of course, the phoenix always rises from the ash, he overcame most of the challenges as what we witness the state of Panasonic today. But what was immortal was his spirit. His relentless spirit in his belief of humanity and that everything he does, encapsulates that belief. He built a company to serve society, so that everyone could prosper. So that customers could afford electrical goods to have a more comfortable life, so that his employees when trained to produce efficiently could afford more time to enjoy their prosperity. Such noble cause. Such humble spirit.

I'm not sure how much of that philosophy is translated into Panasonic's global working culture today. I certainly hope that that spirit itself has been immortalized even though Konosuke Matsushita is long gone. Here's a poem that the man himself took fancy and it kind of reminded me of some conversations between friends and associates. My peers were worried about hitting the big age 30. Why big age? I have no idea. 30 to me is where the fun starts because one is now in a position to put in use what one has learned for the past 8 working years and in the words of Matsushita, prosper. But they were worried because it's a sign of old age. If 30 was old, then what about 40? And what on earth would we do when we hit 60? Retire from life!? Then what happens to the rest of our lives? Why in our youth, we're so resigned and hurried to grow old? So to everyone who feels that way... here's Matsushita's favourite poem for you:

***

Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind, it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.

Youth means the temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.

Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust. Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing childlike appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living.

In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young. When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty. But as long as your aerials are up, to catch waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty.

***

Cheers to you. To a life of infinite learning.

p/s: Sorry you can't borrow this from Sparks because it belongs to Dentsu :)

The Budget: How The Government Is Spending Our Money - Teh Chi-Ching.

This is a must have book for ALL citizens of Malaysia. Other than your I.C and driving license, this is the third ‘official’ documentation that you should have at all times. Not so much for flashing it to law enforcers but more like a ‘financial bible’ to understand what you have been contributing your taxes (current and future) to.

I am appalled by our government’s indifference and incapability to be accountable for the management of our country’s budget. Running in high deficit for the past 5 years isn’t a laughing matter for any tax-paying citizen. We have done our due, yet we’re not seeing better systems in education, transportation, health and even internal security looking at the soaring crime rates. I recall participating in a friend’s relative’s survey in researching ‘tax payers’ sentiment’ when it comes to paying what they rightfully owe the country. I completed the survey with utmost honesty and mind you, I AM a tax-payer and I did comment on my displeasure on how we’re contributing like good citizens yet whatever the government has planned, does not seem to benefit me nor my family nor my future generation. And from this book which is superbly and most eloquently put together by Teh Chi-Chang (he’s now my local financial hero), I finally could see the light. Well, I saw the light long ago, but now I could finally put it into words based on black and white.

Imagine 10% of us is supporting the country’s 90%. No wonder some of us just got fed up and ran away. I was also appalled to read that 2 million Malaysians who consist of at least 90% bumiputra are living in poverty! The people need to wake up and open their eyes. These pro-bumi policies that have been put together, protected and sworn sovereign by these dudes in UMNO are only benefiting the ex-Menteri Besars and the endless list of Datuks and Datins who need cheaper electricity to light up their multi-million dollar bungalow in Bukit Tunku. What is oblivious to people is the fact that these pro-bumi policies should be benefiting the 2 million bumiputras who are living way below the poverty line. They should be given due opportunities to upskill and earn better wages with subsidies for schooling and basic home necessities such as food, water and electricity. Don’t even talk about non-bumis!

I beg of you, my dear reader. That if you carry a Malaysian ID, birth certificate and/or passport, then thou shalt know where your money is going to. Now that the can of worms is opened, I wish someone would do something to lead us out of this darkness. The careless handling of the country’s expenditure does not only affect you and I, but it will affect generations and generations of Malaysians thereafter. Therefore, I beg beg beg of you. If the government will not be accountable, you as a citizen can. And if there are a volume of us (regardless of ethnicity, religious and political views) that have had enough of this Monopoly child-play in this country, it will undoubtedly put enough pressure on them to at least, buck up and get smarter. Efficiency is one thing that we’re truly lacking and let’s not wait any longer.

Of course you can borrow the book from me. Or BETTER, buy it from here.

How To Rescue My Delirious Heart - b.wing.

I got this wonderful wonderful wonderful book for Christmas and the illustrations are nothing short of heartwarming and to a certain extent, they do steal your pity. The first ‘how do you do?’ that we exchanged was a slightly furry sensation. The book was wrapped with dark crimson velvet.

‘How to rescue my delirious heart’ by b.wing is another child narration of very serious heart-related matters faced by grown-ups. Although it’s difficult for me to compare this to the likes of Oliver Jeffers and legendary Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, but I must applaud the creator for at least bringing it close to home. The main character has a childlike demeanor that must be the representative of our inner being, metaphorically speaking. The child’s perspective sometimes bear strong nuances of how unbearable and cold our world can be but sometimes I feel that the linkage is so subtle that it’s hard to continue substantiating that emotional connection. During these ‘pauses’ in the narration, the words and their meaning somehow lose momentum, and I’m afraid this is the very reason why it is unable to thoroughly capture the audience’s heart as it would have been expected to. But having said that, the job of engagement is relentlessly carried through by pages and pages of visual expression brought to life by crayons, a highly imaginative mind and a delirious heart.

I haven’t got the answer to the rescue but I’ve certainly grown soft towards this gentle being and wanting to protect ‘her heart’ from whatever that may be threatening it. Perhaps you will. And when you do, won’t you rescue mine too?

The Invisible Gorilla - Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons.

The Invisible Gorilla checks and rechecks many myths that have been governing our minds. I won’t be as far fetch as to say that they’ve successfully debunked these myths, since the cases which are brought up in this kind of psychological thesis are isolated cases. Which means, you argue one way, it goes one way. You argue the other way, and you find that it could be a possibility too. But the interesting thought here is that their argument is pretty substantial when it comes to how our misconceptions of various truths about ourselves led us to perhaps make less than accurate decisions. It may not seem like very much of a big deal when it’s menial day-to-day business but take instances from the courtroom, sometimes it may cost a lot more than saying, “Oops, I guess I thought wrong”.

Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons both received the Ig Nobel Prize for Psychology in September 2004 “for demonstrating that when people pay close attention to something, it’s all too easy to overlook anything else”. Sometimes we’re too quick to jump the gun, too eager to close the case that we forget about other perspectives and possibilities, and start drawing conclusions based on our own intuition, our own experience, confidence and even memory. But if you realize, take memory as an instance, it is written by ourselves with absolutely no details of how the outcome might be to someone else. When a situation happens, the track involves multiple ‘actors’ and almost always, we’re just one of them. When we record the situation through lenses which are tinted by our own expectations and previous experience, we cannot remain neutral in saving that piece of memory. Which really means that even if the same incident happened to both you and I, there could be a discrepancy between your story and mine simply because we processed the information in different ways which are entirely biased. If there was a shootout on the street, we would have captured totally different images that are sometimes drawn from our own biasness. You see a black guy shooting. I recall clearly it was a white guy. So who’s right and who’s wrong? Memories, like history is written by the winner and in our story, who else but us take the leading actor role? And this is just one of the many ‘illusions’ that we base our everyday decisions and judgments on.

In their words: The Invisible Gorilla is a book about six everyday illusions that profoundly influence our lives: the illusions of attention, memory, confidence, knowledge, cause and potential. These are distorted beliefs we hold about our minds that are not just wrong, but wrong in dangerous ways.

Pick this book up. It’s a must read if you, like me, like them, enjoy Malcolm Gladwell.

Here's a sneak peek on what to expect:

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.

This book is the author's recollection of her childhood - how she received unconventional education from her school, Tomoe Gakuen. How she was taught priceless life values through experience instead of conventional learning by memorizing and spitting out facts. A blessing in disguise since she was expelled from her school due to her 'weird' manner. Very endearing.

I can't remember how I got this book. One of those many boring waiting times in Narita must have prompted me to get this book. Never got to read it until of late, where I found myself reading this to sleep every night. In a good way.

The Long Tail, Longer - Chris Anderson.

Chris Anderson is one of my modern day superheroes in business science and economics and this book is a proof of that. Nevermind that he's already the head of Wired ;)

The Long Tail, Longer is essentially an updated version of 'The Long Tail' but a longer version, duh. His acute observation on the dynamics of the internet and how it interferes with consumer behavior is backed by hard data, surely is convincing enough to tell us that human do not behave in a linear way when it comes to consuming data, information and products online. The days of sole pre-selection consumption is over. Don't get me wrong. Pre-selection will always be there because we cannot live online without a physical world but it does bend certain rules of traditional economics and marketing, making it possible to change the game entirely.

This is a must read book for those who love Malcolm Gladwell, those who love Barry Schwartz of 'The Paradox of Choice'. Too many choices in the physical world may not be a good idea as it overwhelms the audience. But online? There is no such thing as 'too many' or 'too much'.