Book Binge – January Edition

It’s time for another edition of book binge – a random category of blog posts devised (and now only on its second iteration) where I walk through the different books I’ve read and purchased this month.

First – a personal breakthrough!  I have always been an avid reader, but admittedly become lazy in recent years.  Instead of reading at least one book a month, I was going on small reading sprees of 2 or 3 books every four or five months.  After the success of my December reads, I figured I would keep things going and try to substitute books as entertainment whenever possible.

Here are a few books I read in January:

The Functional Art by Alberto Cairo

I picked this one up because it is quintessential to the world of data journalism and data visualization.  I also thought it would be great to get into the head of one of the instructors of a MOOC I’m taking.  Plus who can resist the draw of the slope chart on the cover?

I loved this one.  I like Alberto’s writing style.  It is rooted in logic and his use of text spacing and bold as emphasis is heavy on impact.  I appreciate that he says data visualization has to first be functional, but reminds us that it has to be seen to matter.  It’s also interesting to read the interviews/profiles in the end of the book of journalists.  This is an excellent way for me to shift my perspective and paradigm.  I come from the analysis/mathematical side of things – these folks are there to communicate stories of data.  A great read that is broken up in such a way that it is easy to digest.

Next book was The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte

Obviously a classic read for anyone in the data visualization world by the “father” of modern information graphics.  I must admit I picked up all 4 of Tufte’s books in December, and couldn’t get my brain wrapped around them.  I was flipping through the pages to get a sense for how the information was contained and felt a little intimidated.  That intimidation was all in my head.  Once I began reading – the flow of information made perfect sense.

I appreciate Tufte’s voice and axiom type approach to information graphics.  Yes – there are times when it is snarky and absurd, but it is also full of purpose.  He walks through information graphics history, spotlighting many of the greats and lamenting the lack of recent progression (or more of a recession) in the art.

I have two favorites in this one: how he communicates small multiples and sparklines.  The verbiage used to describe the impact (and amount of information) small multiples can convey is poetic (and I don’t really like poetry).  His work on developing and demonstrating sparklines is truly illuminating.  There were times where I had dreams of putting together some of the high “data-ink” low “chartjunk” visuals that he described.  And his epilogue makes me forgive all the snarkyness.  The first in a series that I am ecstatic to continue to read.

The last book I’ll highlight this month was a short read – a Christmas present from a friend.

Together is Better by Simon Sinek

I’m very familiar with Simon – mostly because of his famous TED talk on starting with why. I’ve read his book on the subject as well. So I was delighted to be handed this tiny gem.  Written in hybrid format of children’s book and inspirational quote book – this is a good one to flip through if you’re in need of a quiet moment.  Simon calls himself a self professed optimist at the end, and that’s definitely how I left the book feeling.

It aims at sparking the inner fire we all have – and the most powerful moment: Simon saying that you don’t have to invent a new idea and then follow it.  It is perfectly acceptable to commit to someone else’s vision and follow them.  It frees you completely from the world of “special,” new, and different that entrepreneurial and ambitious types (myself) get hung up on.  You don’t have to make up an original idea – just find something that resonates deeply with you and latch on.  That is just as powerful as being a visionary.

The other part of this book devotes a significant amount of snippet takes on leadership.  A friendly reminder of what leadership looks like.  Leadership is not management.

I’ve got more books on the way and will be back in a month with three new reads to share.

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