Book to come......books to get

Having written previously of the book Googlization of everything, I've pre-ordered my copy which is due out on monday 07.03.11. Its been reviewed and looks a pretty good read.
Another book out soon is James Gleick's The Information : A history, a theory, a flood is due out 31.03.11 and reviewed here. Information overload, don't you just love it?

Reading for pleasure......

In the last few months I've been reading way too many social media books. These include The Dumbest Generation, The Shallows: How the Internet is Changing the Way We Think, Read and Remember, Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age and Born Digital. All very, very interesting. But all a bit dry.
Therefore, i'm reading books on one other love. Cinema. Just finished Pretty in Pink, awaiting the arrival of You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation. I'm also reading Best of British: Cinema and Society from 1930 to the Present. Its actually quite nice to read something a bit different from the usual stuff. Expecially seeing I've started re-watching some old classic movies like The Sure Thing, Say Anything... and Whisky Galore. ohhhh, to reminesce.......

Interesting books

I've just quit smoking (or am trying to quit smoking). This has meant rather than going for a cigarette at breaks, I've started reading a lot more. I did read Groundswell. It focuses on how companies can take advantage of emerging social technologies. What a load of tosh. Felt like reading microwaved Clue Train manifesto but at 2 star Michelin restaurant price tag. If you've not read it, well done. I just felt Charlene Li was just trying to make money for Forrester's by underlining how good they are. The book was so bad I sold it on Amazon.
Then I read Cyburbia by James Harkin. He says of that Cyburbia, in his interpretation, is the place to which we go when we spend huge swathes of our time hooked up to other people via a continuous loop of electronic information, and online social networks are only its most visible manifestation. This was a more enjoyable read for me. Looking at the impact of the network society are affecting us and how we interact. Worth a look.
Then I just finished The Accidental Billionaires: Sex, Money, Betrayal and the Founding of Facebook. I really was not expecting much from this but its a good read, and feels more like a thriller. The author Ben Mezrich obviously seems to side with Eduardo Saverin than Mark Zuckerberg as the originators of facebook. This is not surprising as Eduardo gave him the most time in his researh for the novel. The author also does not have the greatest grasp of Facebook. At one stage he describes how open facebook is. Really? It doesn't even allow you to customise your page unlike Myspace. Its also open to data mining users profiles and is often seen as a walled garden.
Apart from that its a good read.

BBC discusses our love of paper and not e-readers

The BBC has a great article on its website entitled Page-turning passion. The article discusses how many people have been saying 2010 will be the year of the e-reader.
Lisa Jardine looks at how users of paper books use the object and makes a very interesting point when she says:-

Gabriel Harvey sums up productive reading, in a neat black hand and with his usual practical-minded concision, in the margins of a fashionable contemporary manual on family conduct:

This whole book, written & printed, of continual and perpetual use: and therefore continually, and perpetually to be meditated, practised, and incorporated into my body, and soul. Better any one chapter, perfectly and thoroughly digested, for present practice, as occasion shall require: than a whole volume, greedily devoured, and rawly concocted."

And don't forget that critical ingredient for "continually and perpetually meditating and practising" on a book - the sharing of it with friends. Passing your online-purchased books to others is something few e-reader manufacturers are even prepared to consider.

Pixar Book and there early films

I started reading The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company which is a real good read. Whilst reading I was interested to see some of the early short films. The first one was Andre & Wally B. The second was Luxo Jr. The third and final one was Red's Dream, Pixar's first Oscar. The films were really interesting in how far Pixar has gone and where they began. The books a good read to.

What to read for christmas......

I am presently trying to select some books to take on my trip to Germany at christmas. So here is my list for my books away:-
1. Winners and Losers: Creators and Casualties of the Age of the Internet
2. Groundswell
3. The Pixar Touch.
4. Crowdsourcing.

Nice books to read then.

Reading and mooching

I'm a member of the book swapping website Bookmooch and spoken many time about it before (1,2,3). Having virtually read all web 2.0 books, I needed something lighter to read. Therefore it was good news when my 200th book book from bookmooch was Salt. I'd read Cod, and was very impressed.Anyhow, work awaits.

Reading on the way to work

Having started my new job has given me time to catch up on plenty of reading (1,2,3) I have just started The Devil's Cup, which looks at the history of coffee. As a blogger, I was interested in the London Coffeehouse's, especially Richard Steele, who created Tatler in one. The book quotes the coffeehouses of the time, who could be writing of bloggers when they says:-
Coffeehouses had made civilised conversation into a popular sport.