Collette's Suggestions

Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell
320 pages

In this best-seller, a staff writer for The New Yorker weighs the factors that determine good decision-making. Drawing on recent cognitive research, Gladwell concludes that those who quickly filter out extraneous information generally make better decisions than those who discount their first impressions. The author of The Tipping Point (2000) cites the implications for such areas as emergency situations and marketing, plus some notable exceptions.




The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
by AJ Jacobs
416 pages

Put a fine writer to work on a great idea and you get a book that is timely, at times hilarious, moving, profound, irreverent, and respectful. This memoir of a secular individual's attempts to obey the Bible, literally, for an entire year -- from the Ten Commandments to somewhat less publicized rules, such as avoiding clothes made of mixed fibers, playing a ten-string harp, and stoning adulterers. The Year of Living Biblically demonstrates that relations between believers and skeptics can be friendly and constructive.