Blink

by Malcolm Gladwell

I realized after I got this book for my birthday that I’d seen one of Gladwell’s other books, The Tipping Point. I only had a chance to read the back, but it sounded interesting. And if Blink is any indication, Gladwell is a capable author who communicates his ideas well.

Blink explains how our brains are designed to process information rapidly, behind the scenes, and this often results in an unconscious change in our actions before we notice or can explain the behavior. This is often termed intuition. Gladwell presents many arguments for the value of “rapid cognition,” although he does warn of the dangers of always listening to initial thoughts. Altogether Blink is worth reading, and I’d like to read some of Gladwell’s other works.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

by J.K. Rowling

I don’t want to give anything away, but I will say that this is a great ending to one of the best series I’ve ever read. Rowling does an amazing job of tying everything together, and I’m still impressed by how carefully she thought the whole thing out. Seriously, it’s fantastic.

Only, now what do we do? Harry Potter is over…

A Long Way Down

by Nick Hornby

I ought to have read something more than a brief summary before getting this book from the library. If I had known it was a thoroughly contemporary British novel, I probably wouldn’t have read it…too much editing was required. Dirty mouths!

But, aside from the language, it was a rather interesting story. A Long Way Down has four narrators – Martin, Maureen, Jess, and JJ – who, by coincidence, each go to the roof of a very tall building at midnight on New Year’s Eve with the intention of committing suicide by jumping off. The strange circumstances lead them to go back downstairs, and over the next three months they (somewhat unwillingly) help (and sometimes destroy) each other’s lives.

Rating: Unless this plot sounds desperately thrilling, like a book you couldn’t live without reading, skip it.