I wanted to include an older book that has been on my bookshelves for decades, and is a less obvious example of reading to lead. John Steinbeck took a road trip with his dog Charley for company across the length and breadth of the US, and recorded what he saw, who he met and what he learned.

With his inimitable charm, it opens your eyes to the small pleasures of life, and the great wonders of humanity in the little moments that matter. Less a direction on how to lead, you could see it as a subtle guide on how to live.

The book just a great job describing how communities through the world and history were able to be more innovative than others. It contains some big surprises too.

Michael Pollan masterfully guides us through the highs, lows, and highs again of psychedelic drugs. How to Change Your mind chronicles how it’s been a longer and stranger trip than most any of us knew.

Eines der 3 besten Bücher, die ich 2019 gelesen habe

Beim erneuten Lesen von Mihaly Csikszentmihalyis wunderbarem Buch „Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience“ stieß ich auf diese Passage über das Lösen von Kreuzworträtseln. Ich denke, er könnte genauso gut darüber sprechen, Blackout-Gedichte zu machen:

„Vieles spricht für diesen beliebten Zeitvertreib, der in seiner besten Form den antiken Rätselwettbewerben ähnelt. Er ist preiswert und portabel, seine Herausforderungen lassen sich fein abstufen, sodass sowohl Anfänger als auch Könner Spaß an ihm und seiner Lösung haben schafft ein angenehmes Ordnungsgefühl, das ein befriedigendes Erfolgserlebnis vermittelt und vielen Menschen, die in Flughafen-Lounges festsitzen, in Pendlerzügen reisen oder sich einfach sonntagmorgens vergnügen, die Möglichkeit bietet, einen milden Zustand des Flows zu erfahren. "

If one is to name the single most knowledgeable person about food on planet Earth, it would be Mimi Sheraton. She is also --by far-- the most experienced food critic in an area where experience matters the most, a field in which the expert is the expert.

She has an insatiable curiosity, does her homework, visits countries, argues with locals, tries all manner of restaurants, and is never fooled by hot air or pseudosophistication. I have seen it with my own eyes. Over the past 34 years i watched her in action, particularly when after my graduation, I would go order for her in restaurants so the food would get to the table before the waiters recognized her. She did not use her priviledge as a food critic to get the better quality food and service than the rest of the people --a testament of both ethics and curiosity.

As I said she is the real thing; this book is the real book.