February 12, 2010 Excerpt

How-to recipes are pandering to your fear

Frank Chimero on recipes for success:

“Why do we look for recipes? Because we’re risk averse. If we fail, it’s because someone else gave us the wrong recipe. We get to skip on the blame, but can claim the success.”

I have always been vaguely disgusted by the multitude of how-to articles that roam around the blogging plains like empty-eyed, money-sniffing sheep. They are everywhere you look, yet they’re rarely worth the time it takes to read them. They revisit time and again the same tired topics. In a thousand words they will tell you nothing you don’t already know. One thing is sure, though: the sheep draw hungry stares.

“But, there’s money in recipes. If there’s a recipe, that means there’s a secret. And you can sell a silver bullet. The thing is, most people that are giving you a recipe are pandering to your fear. “What if things go wrong?” “

Fear sells, and reading more of those how-to articles won’t help you overcome it. Here’s a recipe that might be worth a penny: read Chimero’s no-nonsense truth, then put your head down and get your hands dirty.

February 11, 2010 Books

January Reading Catalog

I read a lot, so I thought I would share with you the books I read in the month of January. I may have mentioned some of these before, but this list is complete with Amazon links, as well as an indication to the genre and series, where I included more than one. I removed from the list the couple books I read and did not like. The rest are all worth reading and, though it is a tough choice, I marked my top two favorite, from different genres, with asterisks (*), to save you the trouble of asking.

* The Deer Park by Norman Mailer (fiction/lit)
Barbary Shore by Norman Mailer (fiction/lit)
The Elements of Style by Strunk & White (reference)
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (fantasy) Heir Chronicles #1
The Wizard Heir by Cinda Williams Chima (fantasy) Heir Chronicles #2
The Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings (fantasy) The Belgariad #1
The Queen of Sorcery by David Eddings (fantasy) The Belgariad #2
Magician’s Gambit by David Eddings (fantasy) The Belgariad #3
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (fantasy/mystery) The Dresden Files #1
Fool Moon by Jim Butcher (fantasy/mystery) The Dresden Files #2
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher (fantasy/mystery) The Dresden Files #3
Summer Knight by Jim Butcher (fantasy/mystery) The Dresden Files #4
* The Book of Joby by Mark H. Ferrari (fantasy)
Hamilton’s Curse by Thomas J. DiLorenzo (history)