Check out this well-written tale of uber-hacker Max Butler’s attempt to take over the credit card-stealing cyberworld. You’ll find it in Wired magazine’s January issue.  I particularly enjoyed the way author/Sr. Editor Kevin Poulsen hits all the nerdy high notes without going too tech speak on you. Trust me, I’m geeky but not actually techy – if that makes any sense. Here’s a sample:

The takeover was all business. The stolen-data market had become fractured across too many sites, and they were pocked with snitches and security holes. By taking control of the entire underworld, Butler had created a marketplace he could trust. Even more important, it satisfied his competitive urge. Offline, Butler was a gentle giant with a generous nature and hippie sensibilities. But in the privacy of his hidden redoubt, Iceman pursued his online enterprise with ruthless zeal. He wasn’t after money, not really. He just wanted to prove that he was smarter, bolder, and tougher than everyone else.

Read it in full here.

Seriously, it’s a fascinating story even if you aren’t geek-inclined. I’m surprised Fox hasn’t turned Butler’s life into a TV show yet.

Just finished reading the new Malcolm Gladwell book, Outliers: The Story of Success. And OMG. You need to read it. Like now.

With its steady cadence of take a closer look beyond the individual to the social norm and culture, it is no surprise Gladwell’s book was a real page-turner for me.

I was fully hooked on page 10. The intro. Not even Chapter One!

“They had to understand the culture he or she was a part of, and who their friends and families were, and what town their families came from,” writes Gladwell. “They had to appreciate the idea that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.”

I’m fortunate to work closely with The Urban Child Institute in Memphis. I do a great deal of early childhood brain development writing for them, so I’m sensitive to research based articles that tout the undeniably important role family, community, culture and environment play in your development as a child and potential as an adult.

Weekly, we beat the drum of nature WITH nurture. That none of us are just born knowing how to learn, behave or react to the world, or how to be a good parent for that matter. These are things we are taught through and by our community. And these lessons are handed down from generation to generation.

This “it takes a village” message is mostly applauded by pediatricians and non-profit leaders, which is why it is refreshing to read a “business success book” with the same mantra.

Now, I understand that these change-the-way-you-think-about-life-and-business books aren’t for everyone, so if you are only going to give it a good skim at least read Chapter Seven. You’ll never look at an airplane the same way and you’ll learn a great communications lesson.

I would give you my copy but Dave’s gotta get it back to the library tomorrow. Sorry. If you have read it – what was your take-away? Was it the same as mine? Did you like the book? Was it a pager-turner for you, too?

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Over the holidays I read The Fall of Advertising & The Rise of PR, by Al and Laura Ries. I don’t recommend you buy it and read it; it’s a much better library check out and scan type book.

For one thing, it was published in 2002, which makes reading it’s tales of Segway, Pets.com and The Red Tent pretty boring and stale.

Also, it’s clear the authors are terribly sad to see the age of advertising slip away and do not see a value in PR. I’m not even sure why PR is in the title, honestly. Here’s a gem from Chapter 9, page 85. Emphasis mine:

Perception is the name of the game, and advertising is perceived as the only way to create a better perception. Not true, but that the perception.

And that better alternative is publicity or, as its practitioners like to call it, PR, or public relations.

Whatever you all the function (publicity, PR, or public relations), the objective is the same. Tell your story indirectly through third-party outlets, primarily the media.

There are many disadvantages to PR. You can’t control the content, you can’t control the timing, and you can’t control the visual appearance of your message. You can’t even be sure that any of your messages will be delivered.

But the one advantage of PR makes up for all of its disadvantages. PR has credibility, advertising does not.

Gosh, too bad PR only has ONE advantage. How the heck would ANYONE hope to build up sincere media relationships that will one day help get your message out? If only there was a person one could turn to for media strategy and message control! (sigh).

Clearly, I’m still processing the tone and take-away message of this book. It has been on my read list for a while, which is why I’m sort of bitter about how disappointing the read was.

What about you? Have you read it? What lessons did you learn?

More importantly: Do you agree that PR offers no message control and only boasts ONE advantage, credibility?

Can you believe I actually get paid to promote a cultural institution like the Southern Festival of Books? This is my job: tell folks about how great this festival is and encourage them to write about it.

Not sure how I got so lucky. I really have to pinch myself when I get to do cool stuff like this. It is like when I first heard I was going to be on the team that would do our best to keep the Predators in Nashville… really no words for how freakin cool that opportunity is.

I grew up with this book festival and am excited to be doing my part to help it succeed. If you aren’t familiar with the Southern Festival of Books, I’m sad for you.  Go here and read about it. Then, go here and book your flight to Nashville.

See you on October 12!

You must read Made to Stick by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. You’ll come away enlightened, but not in a snobby way.

It is a smart and fun read about, well, what makes ideas “stick.” I have learned a great deal; many suggestions I am already applying to my creative process at work.

Go on now … get your copy here.

After reading this book, I very much regret not going see these guys when they spoke at SXSW, but I just couldn’t drag myself out of bed for their 10 a.m. panel. Curse those Hilton Hotels down mattresses!

The last time my friend Trish tried to make me read “the best book” she had “ever read,” I made it through about 20 pages before declaring, “This might be the worst book I have ever read.” So, when Trish recently told me I HAD to read the new “best book” she had “ever read,” I was not exactly giddy with anticipation.

It was Christmas though, and I had the week off, so into the book I dove. Eight hours later, my faith in Trish’s taste in books was renewed and I now join her chorus and say unto you: Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories is one of the best books I have ever read.

It is a mystery novel; gotta love ‘em. It was one of those books where the characters were so vividly described that you actually dream about them later.

I highly recommend that you read this book, especially if you are member of a book club because your peeps will have no trouble plowing through this page turner.

It isn’t just about being bored and needing something to do. For me, reading is now a way to stay on top of my game.

Try out a trade publication, or even an advanced University text book on your trade. You will learn a great deal that you:

A. never knew;

B. thought you knew and it turns out that you didn’t.

I am now the worlds biggest fan of Business Week. Every Saturday morning I pray the mailman in his new Honda CRV will show up with this week’s addition. I then pray that my husband still loves me enough to let me read it first. (he does)

I guess this whole smarty pants reading for pleasure thing is new to me because I was a liberal arts major at Auburn. We didn’t really read so much as we wrote about stuff that other folks spoke to us.

I now read blogs like this, contribute to blogs like this and read books like this. I don’t know what has gotten into me, but I like it!