The Secret Life of the Grownup Brain: The Surprising
Talents of the Middle- Aged Mind
Barbara Strauch
Viking
Well, it's good to know that despite forgetting where I left my
wallet and iPhone this morning, my middleaged brain is not really
turning to mush. And, if you believe Strauch, the middle-aged brain
is actually capable of growing and improving. A review in
Scientific American Mind notes: "In accessible and entertaining
prose, journalist Barbara Strauch explains how and why our brain's
performance - as opposed to that of the rest of our body - actually
improves as we move through middle age. Sure, we may get a little
more forgetful, say when it comes to remembering names or where we
left our keys, but the middle-aged brain is unsurpassed in handling
the important stuff, Strauch says." The author points out that as a
result of technology such as brain scans, we now know that the
middle-aged brain is not only more capable, it is also a lot more
adaptable than popular beliefs (and television sitcom writers)
would have us think. Think of this book as sort of a how-to guide
to optimize your own brain.
Employees First, Customers Second: Turning Conventional
Management Upside Down
Vineet Nayar
Harvard Business Press
Employees first, customers second has become something of a popular
notion among a number of businesses the past few years, and it was
only a matter of time before someone wrote a book about it. The
book has not been released as of this writing, so all we have to go
on is a pile of recommendations from other authors and experts, but
some of them carry a lot of clout. Change guru Tom Peters went so
far as to write, "Rumor is that Vineet Nayar has invented a whole
new way of configuring and managing an enterprise. I think there's
more than a grain of truth to that. I'm on the verge of declaring
that Mr. Nayar could be the next Peter Drucker." The publisher
promises: "In this candid and personal account, Vineet Nayar - (IT
company) HCLT's celebrated CEO - recounts how he defied the
conventional wisdom that companies must put customers first, then
turned the hierarchical pyramid upside down by making management
accountable to the employees, and not the other way around."
On the Grid: A Plot of Land, An Average Neighborhood, and
the Systems that Make Our World Work
Scott Huler
Rodale Books
What lies beneath our homes and neighborhoods would probably amaze
most of us - in both a good and bad way. The electricity and water
that enter our homes and the waste that is removed is all part of a
complex grid that requires thousands of people and miles of pipes
and lines to keep working. Huler takes us on a journey that,
chapter-by-chapter, follows one part of that infrastructure back to
its origin. The author talks to the people along all of those
routes to create a compelling - and sometimes funny - tale of our
roads, storm water pipes, roads, and other systems that make our
modern life possible and comfortable. What we may not find so
amusing, however, is just how out-of-date many of those systems
really are. Nor do we really want to contemplate the trillions of
dollars that will be required to replace and maintain those systems
in the decade ahead.
The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work
Alain de Botton
Vintage
"If you've ever wondered what people do all day (and why), how you
ended up in a job you never dreamed you'd be doing, or what the
meaning of all this work is, then this may just be the book for
you," suggests a review from the Evanston (Illinois) Public
Library. "An extraordinarily insightful writer, de Botton (How
Proust Can Change Your Life, The Architecture of Happiness)
examines a widely varied assortment of occupations in an attempt to
discover just what it is that makes work alternately rewarding and
soul-crushing. And if you're thinking, 'I work all day long, the
last thing I want to do in my free time is read about work,' don't
be discouraged. De Botton is a hilarious, witty writer who can make
the seemingly driest of subjects compelling and relatable. You have
to work all day anyway, so why not understand what it all means?"