Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

DailyLit truly puts a new spin on reading by allowing users to subscribe to books via e-mail or RSS. Once the user/reader subscribes to a book DailyLit sends a chunk of the book to them each day until the book is finished. The feeds are even customizable which means each user can decide their own delivery frequency and even read ahead if they have some extra time on their hands.

How long does it take to get through a book this way you ask? Here is your answer straight from the DailyLit FAQs:

That depends on three factors. First, on how many installments are in the book (shown when you browse for books). Second, on how frequently you choose to receive emails. Third, on how often you read more than one installment (by using the “send me the next installment immediately” feature). So here is a typical example. I am currently reading Dracula, which has 187 installments and I am receiving installments on weekdays, i.e. 5 days/week. So at most it will take me 187/5 = 37 weeks. But when I am on the train or waiting, I often read more than one installment, so I usually wind up reading about 10 installments/week. This means I will finish Dracula in about 19 weeks or 5 months. If that seems long to you, try something shorter!

The initial thing that got me excited about DailyLit was that they delivered the book content via a feed since I realized how easy it would be to slide a small chunk of a book into my feed reading each day and, thus, read more books. The e-mail delivery is also great as it widens the possible audience to people that may not understand feeds (hard to believe I know but there are still RSS ignorant people out there…) or who may have feed readers blocked on their office computers.

It looks like DailyLit is currently providing older books presumably because they are part of the public domain so DailyLit doesn’t have to worry about copyright issues. Hopefully they will work out content deals in the future to get new(er) books as well since reading in this manner will likely help a lot of busy people be able to read even more. I know I would definitely pay for that service. How much I’m not sure but there is probably a market out there for this beyond me.

Kudos to Chris for the tip.

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

Typically I don’t find books I want to read by simply walking into a bookstore and browsing but that is exactly how I found Alan Weisman’s “The World Without Us.” I had just finished Positively False and was heading toward my gate at SFO to catch a flight back to Chicago when I spotted it. After reading the jacket I knew it was a book I’d love.

The basic premise of the book is what the title succinctly states. The book is an exploration of what the world would become if humans ceased to exist (albeit not through a disaster – it looks at the world if we simply disappeared one day).

That concept and the archaeological side of the book are what attracted me at first. I was incredibly curious what future beings would find from our modern day civilization 500, 1,000 and 10,000 years from now. However, when I really dove into the book on the flight back to Chicago I was treated to a well researched work that really got me thinking even more about what we, as humans, have done to our planet.

The information Weisman puts forth is far more compelling than Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in my mind because it looks at environmental issues from a completely different angle than Gore did.

Weisman looks at how long it will take everything we have done to the planet to reverse itself rather than what will happen if we continue on as we have been.

It is troubling to read page after page about how long it will take for the world to heal itself. The most interesting piece of the book in terms of how we’ve harmed the planet was the section on plastics. The plastics that we have produced over the past fifty years or so will be around for thousands of years to come even if we don’t produce any more as of right now.

We humans truly have been parasites on this planet in much the same way the aliens in the movie Independence Day were but there is a happy ending and it lies in our brains.

We humans are smart and we understand what we are doing to our planet and that it needs to stop. It remains to be seen if we have the wisdom needed to enact some things that will help nature fight back but I believe we can and will.

The other silver lining is that nature is ferociously resilient and will renew itself should we begin to lessen the strain we place on the planet.

In time I hope we learn to live in harmony with nature which we will be able to do as soon as we realize that we’re no different than any other species. We can also become extinct and maybe even take our whole planet down with us if we’re not careful.

The World Without Us is a must read for all human beings as it will get anyone who reads it to start seriously thinking about our impact on our home. Weisman should be commended for such a well written and researched book.

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

As most of you know I am a big cycling fan and cycling is especially top of mind for me during July since cycling’s largest event, the Tour de France, is in full effect.

During July I usually pick up a cycling book I have yet to read and this July is no exception. This time around I read the recently released book “Positively False” by Floyd Landis.

Positively False in a memoir of Floyd’s cycling life with a focus on his 2006 Tour de France win and subsequent doping scandal which still has yet to reach a conclusion.

I was as eager to pick up Positively False as most people are to get the latest Harry Potter novel because I really wanted to hear Floyd’s side of the story in his own words. I also wanted to learn about some of the arguments and facts Floyd and his team have built up to challenge the “positive” doping tests.

While the book is Floyd’s and will tell the story he wants to tell the evidence that he and his team have put together is pretty convincing. Here are a couple of the most important and basic issues with the doping test Floyd supposedly failed:

1. Mislabeled Sample:

Floyd’s sample number is repeatedly incorrect in his documents and it isn’t event the same wrong number each time the number appears. This shows negligence and incompetence among the lab technicians at the very least.

2. The Specimen was Contaminated:

According to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) regulations Floyd’s specimen was clearly contaminated.

3. Unreliable Testing:

In multiple tests of the same sample the test results can’t vary by more than 20% for testosterone and 30% for epitestosterone. Floyd’s varied by 181% and 238% respectively meaning the tests should have been thrown out.

4. Positive Criteria was not met in Carbon Isotope Ratio Test (the more accurate test done after the prelim tests):

Four things are tested in this test and the Word Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says all four must be positive tests for the overall test to be positive. In Floyd’s case only one of the four were positive meaning his test should be been labeled negative.

There are also many other issues including one that will be particularly interesting to all of you. The software the lab was using to test the samples was obsolete (I believe it hadn’t been updated since the 80s) and they were not operating the testing machine correctly most likely because they didn’t have the user manual. In fact, they never had a user manual as long as they had the machine.

I am still on Floyd’s side on this. The evidence is pretty clear (the lab screwed up continuously while testing his sample) and he seems like a pretty straightforward stand up guy. For more on the evidence Floyd’s defense team has put together please check out Arnie Baker’s site (Arnie is Floyd’s medical analyst and retired M.D.).

I would also recommend checking out the book if you have a chance. It is a quick read and it will give you a chance to get into the pro peleton where you will learn what goes on during a push for a win and after as things fall apart.

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

I just finished David McCullough’s latest novel “1776″ yesterday and as I put the book down for the last time I found it very appropriate that I was finishing the book just before Independence Day. Being a history junkie (especially American History) this book was a no brainer for me but I would suggest that everyone pick it up if they have the chance. Yes, even those folks out there who don’t like history should read it. Why you ask? Because McClullough just has a way of bringing history alive.

McCullough’s “way” isn’t just sheer writing talent though although he is a good storyteller. A lot of the brilliance of 1776 came through McCullough’s meticulous research. He read journals of all involved in the campaign of 1776 and included many excerpts from those journals in order to put a more personal touch on the history itself.

For example, McCullough will include excerpts from Washington’s journal at certain points so the reader can get a good idea of what was going through Washington’s head.

The inclusion of the personal thoughts of Washington all the way down to the typical infantrymen and all the way back up through the British ranks makes 1776 special. The reader learns through these excerpts that there were many times when our founding fathers thought things weren’t going to work out. There were also times when Washington and his officers made big mistakes that could have cost them the war. On top of all that the reader learns how pivotal luck and mother nature were in the whole process. Some storms giving the British the edge and others, like those that bookended the battle of Trenton at the end of 1776, ultimately giving the American’s the upper hand and the victory.

To tie things into this blog, the whole revolutionary war (minus the guns and such) is very similar to a start-up and I don’t think I need to spell out exactly why I say that. The parallels should be easy to draw based on the paragraph above (here’s another post on America being the ultimate start-up that I put together just in case you want more).

If you get a chance please check out 1776. It will give you a renewed appreciation of the USA and what our founding fathers went through to make this country happen.

Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

This third book by Joe Kurmaskie (see my reviews of his other two books here and here) is by far his best written. If you were to read all three of his books in a row as I have done you will see how the writing gets better each and every time. I can’t wait for his forthcoming book which I believe he will be turning over to the editor soon (maybe I can get an advance copy – Joe?).

Momentum allows the reader to ride with Joe on another bike adventure and meet some very interesting people. As always Joe finds what is best in people and this book has a number of poignant stories that will remind you to take a step back sometimes and just breathe. What is even more interesting about the journey in Momentum is that Joe does it with his two sons literally in tow (their rig measured something like 14 feet in length and it added an extra 250 pounds to Joe’s riding weight).  Having all of this weight shows Joe that Momentum is, in fact, his friend.

The feat of crossing the country on a bike with that large of a load is one thing but having in his young sons in tow definitely gave the stories an interesting element that made them different from the first two books.

I am sure a lot of the fatherly stuff in Momentum was lost on me as I am not yet a dad so I will have to re-read this one come fatherhood time. That said, I think this book will appeal to many more people than cyclists. Dads, in general, will love it and I am sure will find a lot of humor in Joe’s stories and his kids actions. I also think that people who are adventurous and enjoy the good in people will get a kick out of this book. There are some great characters again.

In the end of the day Joe’s writing always does two things to me:

1. Makes me want to just get on my bike and not stop for a few thousand miles.
2. Reminds me that people are generally good and kind hearted.

If you are up for a read that will inspire and provide hope this is it.

As with his other two books I highly recommend you check this one out. If you do decide to get the book please buy it directly from Joe since his publisher will give him a much larger portion of the proceeds to put to work in his new venture, Camp Creative, a camp designed to get kids outside and active along with allowing their creativity to flow free.

I know this review is a little thin but that’s only because I have said so many good things about Joe in my other two reviews and all that stuff is still true. Check out Momentum this summer. You won’t regret it.

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

Simply put, this book is great or at least the info in it is. As Rick put it the book could have probably been boiled down into ten or twenty pages from the 250 that it is but it did put forth a number of very useful tips on how to better manage workflow.

After reading the book and implementing some of the ideas in it I came away with three key takeaways that can change your life in five minutes:

1. Always ask “What is the Next Action?” when leaving a meeting or thinking about a project.

This is the next physical action you (or someone else) need to take to move something forward (i.e. “get tires for the car” does not work whereas “call the tire shop to make an appointment” does).

2. Write everything down either via a digital mechanism or on paper.

Either way you need to make sure the system you use to capture everything is trusted otherwise your mind will not let go of the item. The idea here is to clear your mind which will leave you with less anxiety and more creativity. (Since you may not have been doing this already the initial time it takes to get everything out of your head and “onto paper” could take more than five minutes – it could even take a whole day or two – but it is necessary to get the most benefit out of the system.)

3. Process items as they come at you (or in a batch at regular intervals).

If they will take less than two minutes do them right away (most of your tasks will fall into this category). If they will take more than two minutes you can then either figure out the next action, place them on a “someday/maybe” list or into a place for ideas that may warrant projects in the future (I call my ideas list the “incubator”), add them to your calendar to do on a certain date or delegate them to someone else (and notate that on a “waiting on” list).

I can attest to the fact that I have felt much more free and creative after implementing some of these workflow management practices. That said, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to hack their life a bit. There is something in it for everyone and I believe that even if you only use one of the things David Allen suggests it will change your life for the better. Just to get you started the next action that you should take after reading this post is: Buy/order Getting Things Done by David Allen.

Reading time: 2 – 4 minutes

As you may remember from the last book review I did (i.e. Riding Outside the Lines by Joe Kurmaskie) I decided to read Miles from Nowhere by Barbara Savage and keep the cycling book binge going (she was nominated for cycling sainthood by Joe after all which is one heck of a recommendation).

Miles from Nowhere is a chronicle of the around the world bicycling adventure Barbara, and her husband Larry, undertook in the late seventies. I have to say it was hard to put this one down. Barbara does an outstanding job of bringing the reader along with her. A few pages in and you’ll feel like you are the third rider in the group grinding up climbs with them in Alps, avoiding flying rocks and sticks in Egypt and spinning for mile after mile on the lonely roads of the Dakotas.

It took Barbara and Larry about two years to circle the globe and there were a lot of highs and a number of lows. One of the most amusing stories, and the one that Barbara starts the book out with, is one in which Barbara is using the bathroom (a bucket on the roof) at their “hotel” in an Indian town (if my memory serves me) and all of a sudden a gorilla is bounding at her across the other rooftops. She has no choice but to stop what she was doing and run inside. Stories like that fill this book and as a reader you’re never at a loss for a laugh and some true drama.

Barbara and Larry also run across some great people throughout their journey many of which helped them with food, housing and transportation. It’s always refreshing to see that there are still good people out there in the world and that, in fact, most people are good and decent folks. One of my favorite people is Geoff, a New Zealander who shares part of the journey with Barbara and Larry. He’s quite a character and a simply a great human being.

Make no mistake, this book is a great read but Barbara is by no means a fantastic writer. She gets a ton of points though since she really brings you there. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in bicycle touring and world travel. I think it will open your eyes to a lot of things even though the trip took place almost 30 years ago.