Connections by James Burke 4⁄5 Burke’s Connections TV series is magnificent stuff. I love the way he manages to wrangle disparate topics across science and history to show how much of innovation and advancement is non-linear. The book sets out to do the same thing and does a pretty good job. At times I didn’t quite see how the dots connected, but I enjoyed the ride.| timkadlec.com
Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education by Ken Robinson 4⁄5 Ken, as you would expect if you’ve read his prior books or watched his fantastic TED talk, is excellent at discussing complex topics in a compelling and memorable way. The book doesn’t go particularly deep in any one area (something Ken makes clear early on), but he does include ample notes and references to books and research if you would like a more detailed look at any one specific point. ...| timkadlec.com
Time for my annual look back at what I read in the past year. Keeping in the same format as last year, each book has a rating (on a simple 5-star scale) as well as a very short review to give you (and me when I look back at this in a year or so) some idea of why I enjoyed each book.| timkadlec.com
I worked out all the time in high school, back when my teenage brain thought it was totally plausible that I could eventually become a professional basketball player (ahem).| timkadlec.com
I often come away from novella’s and short stories feeling a little underwhelmed. I suppose it’s just not my format. I struggle to get into the story and to connect with the characters.| timkadlec.com
I have never liked the term “expert”, and I’ve not been shy about it. So when a friend recommended The Business of Expertise I bristled a little. Still, the reviews were great and moving past the term, using my experience and the knowledge I’ve gained to help organizations is how I make a living so there was no denying the topic was relevant.| timkadlec.com
Inclusion has become a borderline buzzword that many companies like to throw around but few know how to actually prioritize. Mismatch attempts to fix that by helping to provide a framework for how to design and build more inclusive experiences. At less than 200 pages, Mismatch is a brisk read and it’s not going to cover everything you need to know. It does, however, do a very good job of tearing down the blinders we wear and helping to expose designers to the impact of what we create.| timkadlec.com
I absolutely loved The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower so as soon as The Winter of the Witch came out, it jumped immediately to the top of my list to read.| timkadlec.com
A deftly crafted murder mystery and robots: what more could you want?| timkadlec.com
It took me all of four paragraphs before I was hooked on Educated. Tara’s writing is vivid and beautiful, and from the earliest pages she sets the scene for the telling of an incredible| timkadlec.com
I had the best of intentions last year. I was going to make it the fourth year in a row of reading more than I did the prior year. More than that, I was going to write detailed reviews of everything I read.| timkadlec.com
The End of Absence by Michael Harris 4⁄5 I found myself nodding my head in agreement quite frequently while reading this meditation on the way technology is slowing but surely filling in anything that vaguely resembles a void in our “busyness”. There was one point early on in the book where I worried the author was about to get a little too over-the-top in his critique and concerns, but as it turns out, he comes to a pragmatic conclusion at the end arguing that while every technology ca...| timkadlec.com