Freakonomics - Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner (5 of 5 Misinformed Parents)

Freakonomics is definitely one of the most intriguing books I've read in the last few months.  The subtitle to the book is quite accurate: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything.  This book explores topics ranging from cheating teachers to the Ku Klux Klan to the accounting practices of crack cocaine dealers to parenting practices.

I've never taken an economics class, but almost everyone I've ever talked to that has says it was the worst class of their college experience.  I wonder what they would have said if Steve and Stephen had taught the class.  In the first chapter they lay out the basics of economics.  All action is motivated by incentives.  Sometimes incentives inspire the behavior you desire.  Far too often the incentives backfire.  For example, the government institutes standardized testing to document which schools are failing.  It hopes this will produce reforms and better public education.  What it gets instead is large numbers of teachers changing test answers to avoid getting fired.

If you were one of those people that hated your economics class, I'd highly recommend that you take a look at Freakonomics.  It's sure to purge all those bitter feelings you've been harboring.

Ruby Holler by Sharon Creech (C+)

I'm a fan of Sharon Creech. She writes young adult novels, and they're usually pretty fantastic. But I just did not get anything grand out of this one. Sad, but true.

The story revolves around a set of orphaned twins--Dallas and Florida--who are sent to spend some time with an older couple--Sairy and Tiller. Sairy and Tiller live in a carefree, backwoods place called Ruby Holler. The twins, who have grown up in a less-than-loving orphanage run by the less-than-kid-friendly Trepids, slowly learn to be kids again and to trust that the world could hold some kindhearted adults. And there's a little something about buried treasure.

The pieces are all there for a great, pull-at-your-heartstrings tale (I'm obviously into the dashes today....) but I just wasn't feeling it.

If you want to try an awesome Sharon Creech book, check out Walk Two Moons. Its a much better choice. But if you have nothing else on your book list and this one is available, its not going to kill you. Plus Florida says "putrid" a lot, and that's kind of fun.

C+

Falling in Love for All the Right Reasons - Neil Warren (4 of 5 Personality Profiles)

Last week, Felicity posted a review of Neil Warren’s book Finding the Love of Your Life.  She expressed her embarrassment about posting the review.  I was not surprised by this feeling.  For some reason we all shy away from reading books about relationships.  Perhaps we think that reading a book shows our inability to pick up the same information through real-world experience.  I don’t think this is true.  I believe that a healthy balance between study and action is best.

As I mentioned in the comment to Felicity’s post, if we want to know more about finances, we study books on finances.  We don’t just blindly dump our life savings into high risk investments.  Thankfully, doctors spend a great deal of time in the classroom studying the knowledge of experts before they start jabbing scalpels into their patients.  Why should relationships be any different?  Who you marry is one of the most important decisions you will make in your lifetime.  Dating is an extension of that decision.  Shouldn’t we therefore put more time into preparing ourselves?  If we were better informed about relationships, is it possible that the divorce rates would be more lower than they are now?

The core of Falling in Love addresses this topic.  After many years as working as a marriage counselor, Warren decided that the most successful relationships are those in which the partners have a broad foundation of common personality traits, interests, habits, etc. – exactly 29 to be precise.  After a rather lengthy introduction, Warren describes all 29 dimensions in depth.  He believes that a soul mate would be a man or woman of the opposite gender who matches your scores in all 29 dimensions.

Fine.  That’s well and dandy.  But how am I supposed to locate that person?  That’s where eharmony.com comes in.  Warren is the founder of this website.  I will admit that my initial reaction was negative, but with some explaining from Dr. Warren, I’m intrigued by the idea.  The method behind the website is that each person upon registering completes an extensive personality profile.  The software breaks down the responses into the 29 categories.  The site will then go out and look for someone that matches you.  I’ll admit I’m not a firm proponent of internet dating, but I find the principle interesting.  Why not utilize the power that technology has to offer?  What are the odds of me actually locating someone that matches all 29 dimensions, especially if they live in another city or state?  Why not let the computer do it?

Wikinomics - Dan Tapscott & Anthony Williams (4.5 of 5 Group Projects)

Wikinomics is a fascinating look at the world of mass collaboration.  With the move to Web 2.0, mass collaboration is easier than ever.  This new web has given users all over the world the opportunity to combine their resources to affect business, science, education, politics, and a host of other groups in novel and exciting ways.  There is no denying that globalization is here to stay.  Wikinomics is an instruction manual about how people everywhere and in every walk of life can benefit from these changes.

Tapscott and Williams give detailed case studies of recent examples of global collaboration: Wikipedia, Linux, Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM, Flickr, Second Life, and many others.  They describe strengths and weaknesses of each, and how those attributes can be applied to one's own business/life.

The four principles of Wikinomics are:

1. Openess - Transparency in business that allows many people opportunities to participate.
2. Sharing - Information is shared so that work is not being repeated unneccesarily.
3. Peering - Members of the community provide positive feedback on work completed.
4. Globalization - The goal is always to harness the abilities of as many people as possible.

I took off a half a point because the book is highly repetitive.  I found myself thinking a few times, "Ok.  I get it.  Move on."  However, the repetition was positive at the same time.  Once I was familiar with the principles of the book, I could follow loosely while simultaneously considering how I could apply the principles to my life.  

For example, my enthusiam for this website increased...  Second, I decided to create an LDS Housing website - www.saltlakecityldshousing.com - which could become a valuable resource in time with additional users.  The housing board at the U institute could be much more efficient and effective in internet form.  Third, I was inspired to start a wiki at work for the policy manual that I was asked to write.  This should make the material more comprehensive with additional input from the other people in my group.

I would highly recommend that everyone read this book.  Since finishing the book, I have discovered that it received several awards from entities such as Goldman Sachs, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and others.  If you don't think you have enough time to read the book, at least check out the website - www.wikinomics.com.

Finding the Love of Your Life: Ten Principles for Choosing the Right Marriage Partner by Neil Clark Warren, Ph.D.

I was wary of posting a review of this book—people might get the wrong idea. Then I remembered not to care what people think. So let me highly recommend this book! An old college roommate suggested this title to me almost a year ago and its taken me almost a year to procure a copy, and then find motivation to read it. What? Its not just the READER’S of this Blog who might judge me. I’m my own judge, thank you very much.

Dr. Neil Clark Warren is a therapist who seemingly specializes in marriage relationships. His tongue-in-cheek writing style is fantastic and very accessible to the lay reader. His Ten Principles for Choosing the Right Marriage Partner are straight-forward, and his explanations are sprinkled with real-world examples from his office. All of this together makes for a very interesting—and highly practical “guide.” As I read I found myself thinking about things I had honestly never considered when it comes to looking for The Right One.

Even for one not currently in a relationship—this book rocks. For someone in a relationship, I might even label this a Must-Read. Good stuff all around.

A

Much Ado About Nothing - William Shakespeare (4 of 5 Matchmakers)

I'll give Shakespeare props for accurately titling this play. There's a whole lot of adoin' going on, all of which is of little importance. And yet, I don't care. I chuckled all the way through it. I think Shakespeare accomplished exactly what he set out to do. Keep it simple. Keep it light. Keep them laughing. He hit the mark on this one. ....Do you know of any works in which he uh...failed?

The story is short enough that there isn't much time to fully develop characters. Everyone seems somewhat flat and contrived. You've got your two star-crossed lovers. You've got the two sarcastic wits that initially hate each other and then fall in love. And of course you've got the evil antagonist that makes everything happen. If you're looking for depth, go read Hamlet. You're not going to find it here.

What you are going to find however, is a lot of one-line zingers that will make you laugh out loud. Prepare yourself for some curious looks from passersby.

The language is sometimes a small hurdle, but you're not going to be lost if you miss one of Shakespeare's obscure references here and there. The plot isn't that complicated. In fact, I consider the language to be a plus. Once in while, the distinct voice of the 17th century is a refreshing respite from modern literature.

Two Short Talks - Sheri Dew and Floyd Weston (4.5 of 5

God Wants a Powerful People - Sheri Dew

Sheri Dew teaches that God wants a powerful people through scripture, story and pure testimony. There is power in the word, spirit, and atonement. God's people is thoroughly immersed in the written and spoken word of prophets both ancient and modern. They have become fluent in the language of the spirit, and they understand the full power of the atonement to heal the broken heart. I quite enjoyed this talk by Sheri Dew. I particularly liked her straightforward and organized approach to these important gospel principles.

The Seventeen Evidences of the True Church - Floyd Weston

Shortly before World War II, five young men began a quest to find the church which most resembled the church depicted in the New Testament. The leader of the group decided to go through the New Testament page by page, noting the doctrines that were taught directly by God and Christ. What he came up with were what he called the 17 Evidences of the True Church of Christ. He observed that among other things that they true church must teach about a Trinity composed of three distinct beings, divine authority, baptism by immersion, and leadership by twelve apostles.

When this journey began the five each belonged to a different church. Each believed that they were going to covert the group to their faith. They decided that every Wednesday night and Sunday they would visit a new church. By the time that that they had to go off to war they had visited over thirty different churches. None of the churches taught more than half of the 17 evidences.

During the war, Floyd became acquainted with a small group of respectable young men. He noticed that they often talked about religion. One day he pulled the list of the 17 evidences from his bag and handed it to them. To his astonishment, they were able to confirm that their church taught all of them. Soon after he was baptized. When the war was over, the five young friends returned to the diner where their journey had begun. As they compared notes, they discovered that each of them had found the same church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had been baptized. You can find their complete list at http://www.redmondfamily.com/Cancy%20and%20Craig/Church/17%20Points%20of%20the%20True%20Church.

The highlight of the talk for me was when the leader of the group took his friend to speak with his Catholic priest. During the conversation, it became evident to the boy that his church was not true. The priest pleaded with him, "There are over 500 million of us. If we're wrong, at least you won't be alone. God will have to forgive you for that." The valiant young man looked his priest in eye and declared, "I'm not looking for strength in numbers. I'm looking for the true church of God."