I still have a lot of books in my notebook that I finished reading in 2011 but didn't post about. Here are a few more of them.
Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by Steve Dublanica
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A back-of-the-scenes expose of restaurant management. Well written and amusing at times and I did learn quite a bit about how a professional kitchen is run.
2011 No 178
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
From the blurb: "An influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are, in fact, psychopaths teaches Ronson how to spot these high-flying individuals by looking out for little telltale verbal and nonverbal clues. And so Ronson, armed with his new psychopath-spotting abilities, enters the corridors of power. He spends time with a death-squad leader institutionalized for mortgage fraud in Coxsackie, New York; a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press; and a patient in an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he's sane and certainly not a psychopath."
2011 No 179
Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength is an unusually sensible book about the importance of self-discipline and what physiologically contributes to success. For example, eating fat and sugar makes it easier to resist temptation of all kinds, but what does this mean if you are trying to lose weight? Fascinating book. Not self-help.
2011 No 180
1493: Uncovering The New World Columbus Created by Charles C. Mann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Charles Mann's follow-on to 1491 is primarily about the post-Columbian exchange, the flora and fauna, including bacteria and viruses, that passed from the old world to the new and vice versa. Where would we all be without tomatoes, potatoes, and chocolate? He spends a bit of time explaining how evolution created such different worlds.
2011 No 181
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