5 Books to Read This Summer

Posted on 25 June 12 by Corey Mull

Summers a time to get re-energized for the rest of the year: thats what vacations, cookouts, and taking off early to go to baseball games are for, right? But its also a time to re-energize the mind; looking at the world through a different lens is an excellent way to get new ideas. Here are some of the books the MLC team thinks marketers of all levels should have in their piles this summer. Youll note that these mostly arent marketing or even business-specific; we figure youre probably already aware of those, so were focusing on those that maybe arent in the airport bookstore or on 800-CEO-READ. Instead, were focusing on the broader world of ideas. Let us know what youre reading in the comments section? George Dyson Turings Cathedral As we turn more and more to digital and online channels, its increasingly important that Marketing have great relationships with and understand the fundamental drive of our technologist partners, whether theyre in IT, software development, or web design. And what better way to do that than to read about the life of the ur-technologist, Alan Turing? A mathematician and one of the first computer scientists, Turing is famous for proving mathematically, by inventing a theoretical device now called a Turing machine that the computers we all have on our desks today could be made. The book does an excellent job capturing the essence of scientific discovery and the creation of something from nothing two fundamental pieces of what drives many technologists today. The book also makes the reader wonder what could have been; Turing, who was gay, was caught in a relationship with a man and convicted under now-antiquated UK laws banning homosexuality. Forced to undergo chemical castration and stripped of his security clearance among other things, Turing researched cryptography he committed suicide two years later, at the age of 41, in his scientific prime.

Daniel Kahneman Thinking, Fast and Slow Although its not a business book per se, this instant classic by the granddaddy of behavioral economics, Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman, is all the rage in progressive marketing circles. The book recaps 40 years of Kahnemans research into why people make the decisions they do, and comes just at the moment when that research has increasingly-relevant insights for both business and society. James Gleick The Information Lets be upfront about The Information it is, at times, a bit of a slog; at other times, its a wee bit too dense for a nonspecialist to truly understand. That being said, its an excellent look at how human beings began to conceive of the commodity we call information, how that commodity was once quite scarce, and how now the main problem is dealing with a surplus of information, rather than a drought. I see marketers at the most basic level as people involved in the trafficking and brokerage of information, so a primer on the history of the idea is useful. If nothing else, you will get two great cocktail party or meeting stories from this book. The first is the story of the West African talking drums, a pre-telegraph, pre-telephone technology designed by West African tribes to send messages over long distances. The second is an entertaining anecdote of the first dictionary; published in English, the author came up with the then-new and ingenious method of listing the entries in alphabetical order, and had a long description at the very front of the dictionary describing how to use it.

Peter Bregman 18 Minutes Ill admit it I have a super-weak spot for productivity books. Here at MLC, I have a pretty broad remit that involves running all of our web properties, and as such, focus can be awfully hard to come by. Any book that helps me get more done in a shorter time is more than welcome on my shelf. The system isnt particularly important, I dont think more important is feeling empowered to tackle bigger loads at work. With 18 Minutes, Bregman has adapted his popular weekly Harvard Business Review columns to book form. The advice is simple, and mirrors some of our recent research: to combat distractions, create positive, productive distractions of your own. Tyler Cowen An Economist Gets Lunch

Cowen a professor at George Mason University and a popular economics blogger a bit of a celebrity around DC; his Ethnic Dining Guide is a lifesaver if you want to find good cuisine in the area. Courtney says: This book will help marketers understand the economics behind consumers who value things other than the main product being sold (i.e., the restaurants food). For example, Cowen advises diners who only care about the food to stay away from restaurants with lots of young, beautiful women, as they draw in customers who are more concerned about being seen in a hip place and with beautiful women than they are with the quality of the food.