Someone shared a link to an ebook called Archewallogy by Tarek Chemally. Being a book lover and someone who just can’t pass the idea of Free and Book together in the same sentence I downloaded it. And offffffffff offff offfff I loved it! It is a collection of photographs of walls all over Beirut. Alot of these images are of things that no longer exist. Chemaly then collaborated with Ashekman a group of graffiti artists/rappers and came up with both a video called “El hitan am tehkini” (The walls are talking to me) and the book. I loved the video clip too, it’s like an urban/retro mix that is interesting with even more interesting lyrics. This would make a really interesting coffee table book.
Malcolm Gladwell is the author of Blink and The Tipping Point, which I read a while back and enjoyed. I love how his style is simple, straightforward and well researched. The way he explains everything using stories from a human point of view instead of scientific statistics or case studies to drive a point is what makes me always go back for more. So back in November when I came across this Poptech video about what sepparates extraordinary people from ordinary people which was basically part of his book, I put Outliers on my “To Read” list. The problem is that my list is long and being a busy mom, finding quiet time is always a challenge. But I love reading and when I do find a good book, I wake up extra early or wait until my daughter has fallen asleep to enjoy it. My sleep deprivation was so worth it, the book does not dissapoint.
Outlier is a scientific term used when something happens totally out of the ordinary and appears to have no obvious explanation. It is when someone appears to have succeeded immensely without an obvious explanation where most people would have failed. Instead of looking at the person’s personality, character and hard work, the author suggest looking deeper and farther into that person’s history, life and circumstances that might have helped created the spark to succeed. Gladwell felt compelled to write the book to explain the phenomena of success
In the case of Outliers, the book grew out a frustration I found myself having with the way we explain the careers of really successful people. You know how you hear someone say of Bill Gates or some rock star or some other outlier—”they’re really smart,” or “they’re really ambitious?’ Well, I know lots of people who are really smart and really ambitious, and they aren’t worth 60 billion dollars. It struck me that our understanding of success was really crude—and there was an opportunity to dig down and come up with a better set of explanations.
The book is broken down into two parts; Part One: Opportunity and Part Two: Legacy. Each describing different causes and routes to success. The first part is about being in the right place at the right time and doing your part to succeed. If you want to achieve greatness, the book claims, you don’t only have to work hard, but other factors help to give you a boost too. Like for example because of cut off dates for hockey players in Canada, this gives players born in the earlier months of January a much better chance of playing because they will be larger and more physically mature than their counterparts born in December because in children, those months make a world of difference. This does not mean that the player doesn’t still have to train really hard to make it into the major leagues, but his birth month has already given him an edge he did not really earn by himself. As for hard work, Gladwell claims that 10,000 hours is the magic number, it is the number of hours that differentiate between mediocre and excellence. Musicians, athletes and even programmers who have trained, worked or performed more than 10,000 hours are usually amongst the greats because they have gone the extra mile in hard work. All this is not really new, we already know that with lots of hard work and with a little bit of luck you can become a rock star in your field. What was new to me was the fact that hard work could be measurable in hours and had a number attached to it too. It also meant that luck was not 100% random.
I found Part Two even more interesting because it was more about human traits that are inherited from one generation to the next. You know how we always say that certain cultures have specific behavioral tendencies or traits. Apparently this is something of a legacy that can be passed on from generation to generation. It explains why Asians have always outperformed themselves in math while the rest of the world is slightly behind. First, their number is system is different, the numbers are phonetically shorter, helping them have a longer number memory sequence. In other words, their numbers are monosyllabic words, making it easier for them to remember longer number sequences than we do. Fifty to them is five tens, which makes learning basic arithmetic much easier. Beyond their numbering system, they have a culture of hard work because of a history of cultivating rice. Rice? What does rice have to do with math? Unless you are counting rice it has nothing to do with rice. But not according to Gladwell, the way rice is cultivated is very work intensive and has taught the generations that hard work is the norm which is probably why to this day they work much harder than other cultures that were wheat growers for example. A couple of days ago I read something somewhere about Chinese hairdressers going from door to door in Cairo to offer their services. This is what I mean, they have a different work ethic than Egyptians for example, not necessarily because they are better people but because it has been ingrained in their very fiber of being to work really hard.
My favorite chapter was about high IQ in children and how it can be harnessed. This is a personal issue for me as a parent because well just like every other parent out there we believe we can help our children become great. What I did conclude from this chapter was that children who did succeed were the ones who came from families who’s parenting style was of concerted cultivation and helped children learn entitlement (positive not the negative type). Children who are engaged and taught early on how to deal with life and have their own interests and pursuits and engage in lots of different activities are the ones who go one step further in life.
The book itself is the size of a small paperback which made it easy to hold in one hand and read in bed, which in my world is an awesome thing.
In conclusion, this is definitely a book I would recommend. I would love to discuss this with anyone who has read it.
Yes, it is true. I got this book as an audio book and listened to it while running errands. If you saw a grown woman driving her toddler around and laughing like a loon then you saw me while I was listening to it. Written by Robert Fulghum, it is absolutely a wonderful read/listen to. It was just what I needed to hear. Funny, deep, profound and totally true; his ideas were like a breath of fresh air. All I need to know I learned in Kindergarten was first published in 1986, but its wisdom is timeless and Fulghum does a great job of telling it like it is in a way even children in Kindergarten would understand it and appreciate it. The book contains fifty short essays, ranging in length from approximately 200 to approximately 1,000 words, which are ruminations on topics ranging from surprises, holidays, childhood, death, and the lives of interesting people including Mother Teresa. In his introduction, Fulghum describes these as having been “written over many years and addressed to friends, family, a religious community, and myself, with no thought of publication in book form.” One of my favorite essays is the one about crayons. He talks about how a box of crayons (I love crayons) makes adults and children alike giddy with happiness.
Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air — explode softly — and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth — boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn’t go cheap either — not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peace and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination instead of death. A child who touched one wouldn’t have his hand blown off. [from the book]
I am definitely going to buy this book give them away as gifts to friends and loved ones. We all need innocent childlike curiosity and cheer in our lives.
I just started reading a book called ‘Who speaks for Islam’, by Dalia Mogahed and John Esposito…
It seems great, giving statistics and REAL views of what Muslims really think, who we actually are etc…
It brings out what we are deprived of showing to the world, being the ‘silenced’ majority
I can’t put the book down, it’s amazing!
So I went and got the book last week and read it and really do think it is very interesting, educating and enlightening. The book is highly recommended for policy makers and non Muslims who deal with Muslims because it gives an insight which is backed by numbers not conventional wisdom.
Who Speaks for Islam? is about this silenced majority. This book is the product of the Gallup World Poll’s massive, multi year research study. As part of this groundbreaking project, Gallup conducted tens of thousands of interviews with residents of more than 35 nations that are predominantly Muslim or have significant Muslim populations.
Even as a Muslim living in a Muslim country and a native of another Muslim country I found the book very interesting. Perhaps because I had never thought about the fact that Muslims come from very different countries and backgrounds. The analysis is simple, thorough and straightforward and impressive. The data is deep and can be viewed as a very credible source to an insight to Muslim thoughts.
With only five chapters tackling:
Who are Muslims?
Democracy or theocracy?
What makes a radical?
What do women want?
Clash or coexistence?
By begining by explaining who Muslims are, what they believe and how different they are, the book sets the pace for the rest of the book and introduces the non Muslim to reality. Data which was gathered by the polls clear many misconceptions even tho they might seem intuitive or sensible. The poll’s results prove that Muslims want democracies in their countries, political radicals make up only 7% of the population and women want to be treated fairly not necessarily equally. Interestingly there are also lots of common views shared by Western poll takers with the Muslims which is not surprising, at the end of the day we are all human and share common needs, dreams and wants.
From the book:
While admiring much about the West, the majority of Muslim women do not yearn to become more like their Western counterparts. While they favor gender parity, they likely want it on their terms and withing their own cultural context. [from What do women want]
To clarify the distinction between Sharia and “Islamic law” think of Sharia as a compass (God’s revelation, timeless principles that can not change) and Islamic law (fiqh) as a map. This map must conform to the compass, but it reflects different times, places and geography. The compass is fixed but the map is subject to change.[from What makes a radical?]
Use the practical mind to compare facts. Use your heart to make choices.Jonathan Mead the author of Illuminated Mind was looking for bloggers to review his new book Reclaim Your Dreams I jumped at the chance for two reasons. First, I really love the blog and thought the book would be valuable and second I would be doing what I really love reading and reviewing a book.
I wasn’t dissapointed. I am at a phase in life where I am searching for a new purpose, a new dream and trying to figure it all out. I was never really a cubicle prisoner. I had a job which I loved and enjoyed greatly, then I got married, moved to another country, had a baby and suddenly found everything that I had always known, changed.
In my case, I am not just looking out to reclaiming my dreams, I am trying to redefine them. The book was a great help. I’ve read many ebooks but mostly they were not originally meant to be eBooks and the layout is not usually interesting. This book is beautifully designed and layed out. It might seem unimportant, but trust me when something is nice to look at, it’s inviting to read. Books used to have a smell, a texture and a feel to them that invited readers to keep going. Ebooks don’t have that so they need to compensate in other areas.
The buildup is logical and straight forward. You have to read the ebook like a workbook. With paper and pencils, take notes and draw maps so you can draw your dreams and then make them come to life with the tips and resources, which are plentiful in the book.
Each chapter ends with an exercise which you have to do and “points to meditate on”. You find yourself stopping, thinking and really meditating on these ideas.
The book really is common sense in an uncommon context. I would definitely recommend it. It would be a perfect gift to anyone you know who needs a push into the right direction for realizing their dreams.
I read Omar Taher’s new book Gar Na3em. Omar is an Egyptian journalist, author, poet and screenwriter. I had previously read Shaklaha Keda Bazet and loved his sarcastic, realistic yet very funny style. This book was totally different though, it was like he was writing notes, short stories, poems and a little bit of everything for his own private enjoyment. It is a fun journey into someone else’s world.
The book cover was simple but very creative. Pixel art, Amal and Omar from Egyptian school textbooks, the author’s picture and a cat illustrated by Salah Jahin. If you think about it, the cover is a lot like the book, a little bit of everything all converging to the central character, the author himself.
One of my favorite stories was how he describes how different he was afraid of his father and mother in two very different ways. It is a very touching and personal story which was very touching.
Finally the book closes with a chapter filled with 100 possible facebook status updates in Arabic. Some of them are translated well known statements and proverbs but others which he wrote are interesting and thought provoking.
I went on a book shopping spree in Egypt, one of the books that caught my eye was “7abbet Hawa” by the artist Walid Taher, an interesting little book with lots of drawings and handwritten notes.
I immediately fell in love with it. It’s full of unconventional wisdome and quotes.
I love leaving these kinds of books on my coffee table so guests can page through them while I make tea or coffee.
It really is lovely and I would love to have some of these pages made into colored prints and hung on the walls.
Choose your own adventure were one of my favorite book series when I was much younger. There were so many of them at the public library and I read them all many times over. The greatest thing about them was you could end up with so many different endings. You could choose what to do next, you were the protagonist, the hero or the heroine of the story and you could do whatever you wanted.
Another book which deserves a thumbs up, five stars or whatever you think is a good ratings system. The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less by Barry Schwartz explains why less choice is better for our lives. I had watched this TED clip a while back, in which he explains the concept in 20 minutes but reading the book was still just as educating.
The book tells us that because of the immense number of choices and decisions we have to make in modern day life we are loosing out on more happiness. It explains how and why this happens.
Excerpts from the book:
Many years ago, the distinguished political philosopher Isaiah Berlin made an important distinction between “negative liberty” and “positive liberty.” Negative liberty is “freedom from”—freedom from constraint, freedom from being told what to do by others. Positive liberty is “freedom to”—the availability of opportunities to be the author of your life and to make it meaningful and significant. Often, these two kinds of liberty will go together. If the constraints people want “freedom from” are rigid enough, they won’t be able to attain “freedom to.” But these two types of liberty need not always go together.
Instead, I believe that we make the most of our freedoms by learning to make good choices about the things that matter, while at the same time unburdening ourselves from too much concern about the things that don’t.
Most good decisions will involve these steps:
1. Figure out your goal or goals.
2. Evaluate the importance of each goal.
3. Array the options.
4. Evaluate how likely each of the options is to meet your goals.
5. Pick the winning option.
6. Later use the consequences of your choice to modify
your goals, the importance you assign them, and the
way you evaluate future possibilities.
The conclusion of the book gives us 11 things we need to do with our choices.
1. Choose When to Choose
2. Be a Chooser, Not a Picker
3. Satisfice More and Maximize Less
4. Think About the Opportunity Costs of Opportunity Costs
5. Make Your Decisions Non reversible
6. Practice an “Attitude of Gratitude”
7. Regret Less
8. Anticipate Adaptation
9. Control Expectations
10. Curtail Social Comparison
11. Learn to Love Constraints
I really do recommend this book to everyone even if you just read the last concluding chapter. Life is about our choices and we need to choose wisely without overwhelming ourselves and living in a constant state of regret.
“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” Robert Anson Heinlein
I have always enjoyed reading history books. I probably read them more like a novel than a serious work of non fiction, first because I find it more entertaining that way, second because I don’t beleive everything I read. Napoleon Bonaparte is said to have said “History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon”. That said I am currently reading a book called “A History of Egypt: From the Arab Conquest to the Present“. I had recently come across a post which listed Egypt’s rulers from the beggining of time till the present. The interesting point was that never have the Egyptian people chosen their own ruler, and that for most of history the rulers were foreigners (apparently nothing has changed much in Egypt).
An excerpt from the book;:
At first the Egyptians tended to look down on the less refined Arabs. Amr, a man of wit and discernment, allegedly decided to teach the Egyptians a lesson. He gave a three-day banquet, to which all were invited. On the first day he served camels as the main course, much to the disgust of the Egyptians who were accustomed to more delicate fare, but the Arabs fell to with hearty appetites. The next day he served the delicacies of Egypt, and his men wiped the boards clean with an equally voracious appetite. On the third day he had his soldiers parade in battle formation while he addressed the crowd: ‘The first day’s entertainment was to show you the plain food of the desert Arabs; the second was to show you that we can also appreciate the finer things in the conquered lands; the third day is to show you that we still retain our martial valour.’ The lesson was not lost on the Egyptians. Caliph Umar approved Amr’s finesse and commented that the art of warfare depended on wisdom as well as on the use of force.
The book is divided into seven parts:
The Arab conquest of Egypt to the end of the Ayyubi dynasty, 639–1250
The age of the mamluks, 1250–1516
The Ottoman age, 1516–1805
The beginning of the state system, 1805–1922
The liberal experiment, 1922–52
The Nasser years, 1952–70
From Sadat to Mubarak, 1970 to the present day
It is interesting, appears to be unbiased and is written simply yet is proof that history books can be just as entertaining as best selling novels.
a couple of weeks ago. She sent me a message saying:
I went on a book shopping spree in Egypt, one of the books that caught my eye was 
I love leaving these kinds of books on my coffee table so guests can page through them while I make tea or coffee.
Choose your own adventure 
by Barry Schwartz explains why less choice is better for our lives. I had watched this TED clip a while back, in which he explains the concept in 20 minutes but reading the book was still just as educating.
“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.” Robert Anson Heinlein
“. I had recently come across a
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