cafes, communication, and more
I’ve read a lot of books about prayer, but this one takes a different approach. Instead of talking about techniques or tips, recommending formulas or systems, it talks about how a relationship with God is much more of a relationship than we usually aim for. Author Paul E. Miller uses stories from us own life …
Continue reading “kindle book: a praying life – connecting to God in a distracting world”
The Godfather is one of the novels on the BBC Book Meme list – having watched the movie but not read the book it was something of a backward experience. There’s some extra violence and other (ahem) adult behaviour in the book that’s not in the movie, and it’s fascinating to think that people like this might exist, …
Religion for Atheists: A Non-believer’s Guide to the Uses of Religion I picked this one up in the bible college library, having read some of Alain de Botton’s work in the past. Many books written from an atheist perspective (notably Dawkins’ The God Delusion) takes the stance that religion is entirely a bad thing for …
Don’t Think Of An Elephant!/ How Democrats And Progressives Can Win: Know Your Values And Frame The Debate: The Essential Guide For Progressives A friend recommended this book, and I managed to find a library copy and work my way through. It’s an easy enough read, with some profound things to say about the way …
Designing for emotion Aaron Walter – lead user experience designer for MailChimp – is a short book (less than 100 pages). It covers the notion of emotional design – thinking about how you can make interface and copy decisions that will help shape the emotions of website users. Loaded with case studies and background research, …
Book: The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future I’ve been reading author Chris Guillebeau’s “art of non-conformity” email newsletter for a couple of years, as he documents his ambition to travel to every country in the world (he’s most of the way through …
Book: What Makes Us Tick This one was a Christmas present: a lecturer at college mentioned it as something worth reading, so I put it into the mix, and I’ve been reading it in small doses this year. Author Hugh Mackay has been a social commentator in Australia for decades, and so his take on human nature is …
Book: Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Wicked Bestiary Having read David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day a couple of years ago, and seen the author at two separate live readings over the years, I was looking forward to reading this book. Be warned – despite the illustrations throughout, this is by no means a children’s book. The …
Book: Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences I grabbed this to help me prepare to give a presentation. I’m always interested in improving my presentation skills, and this is a really practical book. Analysing a range of different “great” speeches, it shows an underlying pattern that fits them all. Show what is, show what …
Recommended by a colleague, I borrowed this from the library yesterday and finished it this morning. It’s a straightforward book, but has a lot of insight into the way that marketing works in big companies, and what might explain the wrong steps that have been taken. Showing its age in some ways (it’s from 1994) …