BookJive

Traditionally, a book club is a group of readers who convene together to discuss a particular book of common interest. These groups personally meet once or twice a month in libraries, private home, bookstores, cafes or park or any agreed convenient venue to exchange views about a book and get involve in a lively discussion.

A book club is also a way of selling and publishing books where a member may be required to purchase a certain number of books in a year to fulfill his obligation as a member; others operate in agreement with the members to receive books by mail and pay for them COD (cash-on-delivery).

The rise of the internet paved the way to online book clubs where members get notified electronically via email, participate in online discussion forums and even receive books in electronic format (the e-books) — simply put, everything is done virtually. I’m not saying that gone are the traditional book clubs because they still do exist and most book reviewers are still in to traditional book clubs. However, web 2.0 made book clubs available anytime, anywhere to anyone who loves reading making it more convenient to everyone. It eliminates the obligation to attend a scheduled discussion meeting or forum. Everyone can meet and discuss in virtual libraries, online discussion forums, email exchanges or even through blogs any time they want; all they need is a computer and an internet access and they’re ready to go.

But then,  book clubs in the virtual world deprive their members of the opportunity to experience the personal touch of discussing face-to-face with other readers.  Let’s face it, any opinion or views are laid down with more conviction when done personally through verbal communication thus making the discussion livelier. On the other hand, discussion forums held virtually gives everyone the opportunity to express their own opinion in the most conservative or liberal way they want.

1. Blogs let others give their opinions.
2. Bloggers learn objectiveness in general.
3. Blogging “legalizes” on-going group discussion.

One AP article (2007, August 22  Colorado Springs Gazette, p. A5) got my attention. The title reads: “1 in 4 haven’t read a book in a year.”  It says, “One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction were top choices.”

This really is an alarming article! Imagine when only a few takes time to read, what will happen to the society? to the world? People nowadays are so caught-up with technology that we forget the value of reading. Reading enhances our knowledge and a good reading habit or capability is equal to the amount of opportunity open to one individual.

According the Mary Leonhardt, an English high school teacher, enthusiastic readers develop sharper skill of concentrating on spoken language; they accomplish their work with less expended time and energy, and have a more mature perspective of life in general with a better humor. Now, who wouldn’t want to read?

Readers become book lovers initially because they love what they read. It doesn’t really matter what – fictions, business books, religious books… start with the topic you love most, and then let me welcome you to the world of books!

Happy reading!

I recently listened to a commentator on Public Radio who briefly explained why the worldwide financial market was so strongly feeling the reverberations of America’s failing housing market.  Considering that I have the business acumen of a 6-year-old running a lemonade stand, his explanation was refreshingly simplistic but comprehensive enough in its concept for me to understand.

It reminded me of the character Venus Flytrap, late night DJ for the 1970’s TV show, WKRP in Cincinnati, who correlated the construct of an atom to how street gangs divided territory (a concept so simple that it got my daughter through her first weeks of chemistry!).  My father became an 8th grade social studies teacher for 25 years after a 26-year career as an officer in the Air Force and brought refreshing innovation to the teaching methods of the 1970’s.  He taught concepts.  He could have cared less if you knew the dates when Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” was published.  He wanted you to understand how the publication affected the War of Independence, how it affected the people, how it affected the Continental Congress, and how it affected the development of a Federalist Government.  As his daughter, I have always learned by concept rather than rote, so beyond the biggies, don’t ask me for dates.

Getting back to my Public Radio lesson, the expert explained banking.  Bank A provides many mortgages to consumers, many at very low interest rates (Sub Prime).  When Bank A requires quick funds, it borrows from Bank B using those mortgages as collateral.  Bank B, looking at the overall market that shows falling prices and slowing sales, begins to wonder if Bank A’s collateral is actually worth what Bank A says it is.  Bank B backs off from lending to Bank A.  Bank A finds itself with less cash than they had projected and therefore cannot lend out that cash.  Bank A loses money from its loss of ‘sales’; Bank B loses money from the loss of interest it would have gotten from Bank A.  Like a rolling snowball, it just gets bigger.  Evidently, this simplistic equation relates also to countries, some of which are poor investments but continued to receive substantial loans at Sub Prime rates.  The concept remains the same.  When a large enough group of small credit holders fails to maintain their credit, it disrupts not only the banks that hold that credit, but the bank’s credit as well.

I have been editing several business book summaries on this site and while the editing was primarily for grammar and structure, the reader in me actually absorbed at least some of the material.  Initially, I was somewhat stupidly floored by the sheer volume of business books being published.  After all, the concepts of business are pretty clear—find a good idea, find people who want to buy it, keep working on getting those people to buy.  As I have delved further into the world of business books, while I find that the basic concept is always a foundation, I’ve learned that business is a constantly evolving organism.

Henry Ford’s concept of the assembly line is still the foundation of manufacturing although it has exponentially evolved through innovation and technology.  Marketing, which is a creative art, has not only moved with the times, but influenced the times.  It is still, however, founded in the concept of ‘sell the product’.  Leadership qualities, explained, expounded, described, and taught in many books, are still based on the basic, profound concepts of whom and what a leader is.

What brings this all together?  The foundations of business are constant—make a profit.  Why write a book about how to make a profit?—because the conditions of the marketplace are continually changing and while the foundation is firm, the methods, the circumstances, the examples, the situations are constantly in flux.  Reading My Forty Years with Ford written by Charles E. Sorensen and published in 1956 will not help the American automotive industry survive in the 21st century.  It will be the teachings of the present innovators who have built upon his foundation that will carry the industry into the future.  It is the teachings of these people that will bring the world into the future.

5 days after the release of the Harry Potter Book 7 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I was able to post a summary in Bookjive.com. It’s a real spoiler to everyone who are not yet done reading the book but it sure does will give one a good read.

Now, various book reviews are all over the net. I’ve found an insightful review and exchange of views in Bub and Pie which any avid reader of Harry Potter books will find interesting.

One thing, as Harry Potter Series takes its final vow through Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it gave all explanations to all the ambiguities in each series including Snape’s loyalty. It left the mark of the battle between good and evil where during the battle, unconditional love is the most powerful weapon one can carry in his heart to be able to emerge victorious. It’s an etheric representation of life’s battle with undying lessons we can hand over to our children.

Writing summaries and book reviews require reading carefully with a critical mind. You must ponder deeper into the book and then reflect on it. Writing about a book that is completely alien to you is a different thing. Your ability to gather information plays a very vital and critical part. Playing with those keywords in Google to get these pieces of information combined with your ability to bring those pieces together  will  give you a masterpiece from nowhere.

In creating book summaries, part of my research process is to reach out to the originators of my subject — the book authors! It was really surprising how these high-profile authors are so willing and enthusiastic to share their information to everyone else without monetary expectations. Tim Sanders (Love is the Killer App), Marshall Goldsmith ( The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching), Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne (Blue Ocean Strategy), Guy Kawasaki… and the list goes on (most of them are business book authors because that’s what I’ve been going around for in the library for quite some time). I even got a personal email from my all-time favorite Danielle Steel! I can say they are all so nice, accommodating and warm and so full of spirit in talking about their books. These authors don’t just write books for the sake of writing. On any note, they write for the purpose of inspiring their readers.

Reading books may inspire a reader. Writing about these books may inspire another. And one can inspire more by publishing those writings through book community sites, blog sites, joining book clubs and discussion forums. We have the worldwide web to carry us around and you can start sharing yours here.

I was “forced” to read The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne during my school days. I like the story and the way it was presented though the topic was beyond my years that time - adultery. It touches, however, one topic that never ceases to capture anyone’s attention – love! Hester, the main character, endures to wear the red letter A in her clothing to remind everyone of her sin. But is it really a sin to fall in love? Some would say it depends on the person whom you fall in love with. Others would argue that it is alright to fall in love even with the “wrong person” and be hurt than not to experience how to love and be loved at all. My two cents on the matter? Only the society dictates what’s right and what’s wrong. The society, however, has no heart so it doesn’t know how to love and how to be hurt. It’s a happy thing to love and be loved no matter how long or short a time you spent together; needless to say no matter who you choose to love.

BookJive has started a new business book summary program where new business books will be summarized in full to be sent out in a monthly newsletter (sign up here). Each summary will be emailed as a pdf attachment and will include the author bio and a free .mp3 audio file download link containing a reading of the summary. Also, there will be a discussion board and a few other features to encourage conversation and the sharing of ideas. Summaries will be of the highest quality and I hope they will be a valuable resource to be shared and distributed freely.