In This Issue: August 2006

• Because it's summer here in Canada, the main article is a list of seven great books - fiction and non-fiction - that I can wholeheartedly recommend as fabulous summertime reading.
• "Don't Take My Word For It" contains the best piece of writing ever created about the difficult art of finding the right book
• Got It Going On: see the cool and funky places where I'm speaking in the coming months - and plan on dropping in if you happen to be in the area.
• Market Place Product of the Month: Michael Neill's Solution Cafe

The Ninth Principle of Fun: when you're on vacation, be on vacation

It's August, and in the Northern Hemisphere that means it's summer and it's vacation time.

I'm visiting two beautiful places during the month, and hanging out with good friends. First, I'll be on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, and then the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia.

I'll be without computer and email, and doing my best to be truly on vacation. (I have some good folk looking after the shop in my absence).

So this is a "summer reading" edition, with some of the books I've read (or plan to read).

Know anyone who's looking for something good to read? Please forward Outside the Lines (in its entirety please) to anyone you think might be interested. This community grows with your help.

I'd be delighted if you should wish to reprint (for free) any part of Outside the Lines in your newsletters, websites, and message boards. Contact me at michael@boxofcrayons.biz for further details.

Michael Bungay Stanier
Principal, Box of Crayons

Don't Take My Word For It

This is my favourite quotation about the search for a good book, from Italo Calvino's If On a Winter's Night A Traveller:

You have forced your way through the [book] shop past the thick barricades of Books You Haven't Read, which were frowning at you from the tables and shelves, trying to cow you. But you know you must never allow yourself to be awed, that among them there extend for acres and acres the Books You Needn't Read, the Books Made For Purposes Other Than Reading, Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong To The Category of Book Read Before Being Written. And thus you pass the outer girdle of ramparts, but then you are attacked by the infantry of Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered. With a rapid manoeuvre you bypass them and move into the phalanxes of the Books You Mean To Read But There Are Others You Must Read First, the Books Too Expensive Now And You'll Wait Till They're Remaindered, the Books ditto When They Come Out In Paperback, Books You Can Borrow From Somebody, Books That Everyone's Read So It's As If You Had Read Then, Too. Eluding these assaults, you come up beneath the towers of the fortress where other troops are holding out:

• the Books You've Been Planning To Read For Ages,
• the Books You've Been Hunting For Years Without Success,
• the Books Dealing With Something You've Been Working On At The Moment
• the Books You Want To Own So They'll Be Handy Just In Case
• the Books You Could Put Aside Maybe To Read This Summer
• the Books You Need To Go With Other Books On Your Shelves
• the Books That Fill You With Sudden, Inexplicable Curiosity, Not Easily Justified

Seven Books

FICTION

The Turning, Tim Winton. Tim Winton must now be considered Australia's most masterful contemporary writer. This series of inter-linked short stories captures sweet and heart-breaking moments of epiphany, beauty and sadness, set in suburban Australia in the 1970s. [ buy: US CA UK ]

Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino. This short and beautiful book creates imagined conversation between Marco Polo and Kubla Kahn. Marco Polo tells of cities he has visited in his travels, impossible and imagined cities that stretch and expand what's possible for human beings and offers new insights on life, death, love and the world we're shaping. One of the few books I re-read. [ buy: US CA UK ]

Mortification, Robin Robertson. There's embarrassment. We all know embarrassment. But mortification, shame, is another step beyond. This collection of stories and anecdotes will make you laugh out loud - when you're not clenching your muscles in shared agony! [ buy: US CA UK  ]

Vintner's Luck, Elizabeth Knox. Knox is a gifted writer from New Zealand, and all of her books are worth getting hold of if you can. Vintner's Luck was the first of hers I read. It's magic realism set in Burgundy, France in the 1800s. It brings together wine, sorrow, love, and an angel who enjoys all the visceral pleasures of humankind. (I'm not typically interested in books featuring angels, but this one is hard to resist). [ buy: US CA UK ]

NON FICTION

Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert. I do know that what you think brings you happiness (money, possessions) doesn't. But I don't yet know what Gilbert has to say about how one might stumble onto happiness. But with Daniel Goleman, Seth Godin and Daniel Kahneman giving their blessings to the book, I'm sure it's going to be fascinating. [ buy: US CA UK ]

Critical Mass, Philip Ball. Bill Bryson loves this book, and regular readers know that I'm a huge fan of Bryson. This promises to be an intriguing blend of physics, anthropology and philosophy to make the point that, actually, the dynamic of the group trumps that of the individual every time. [ buy: US CA UK ]

Quiet Leadership, David Rock. David's a fellow Aussie who spends time between New York and Australia running coaching programs. His book uncovers the latest thinking in neuroscience and how to think and sets out (and justifies) a "coach approach". Rigorous writing and compelling reading - a rare combination in leadership writing. [ buy: US CA UK ]

Comments? Feedback?
michael@boxofcrayons.biz

Market Place Product of the Month: Michael Neill's Solutions Cafe

Michael Neill is something of a role model for me. When I first started writing this newsletter, his was the newsletter I wanted to be when I grew up - a blend of personal insight, rigorous models and listed resources.

Since then he's published his first book, You Can Have What You Want to much acclaim.

However, I'm most excited about his Solutions Café, of which I'm a member. Membership gives you access to a bunch of cool stuff:

• The Seven Myths of Success (an audio series)
• Success Made Fun, a year-long on-line program
• Great interviews on "bringing your genius to life" with such folk Paul McKenna, Barbara Sher, and Gay Hendricks.
• Access to ten years of great tips, fully searchable (this alone is worth the price of admission).

You can find out more about the Solutions Café here.

PS - I know Michael and I'm an affiliate for his products. And I'm happy to tell you that, because I stand behind him, just as I do every resource that I mention in my newsletters and my websites.

Got it Going On

I'm speaking in Calgary, Michigan and Toronto in October. Watch for details here.

I'm also speaking at the ICF Conference in St Louis in November on "The Five Unspeakable Truths About Coaching That None Dare Acknowledge." Curious? I hope to see some of you there!

My next open Get Unstuck & Get Going teleforum is on Wednesday, September 20 at 2pm EST - you can register here.

As you might be able to guess, I love to speak and run workshops or teleforums for groups! Read more about the keynote and workshop topics I offer in this PDF.

'The Scribbler'

The next edition of the Scribbler will be in September.

Michael Bungay Stanier is the Principal of Box of Crayons, a company that works with organizations, teams and individuals to help them move from doing Good Work to doing Great Work. He is the author of Get Unstuck & Get Going ...on the stuff that matters, a coaching program and tool endorsed by leaders in the coaching and training professions, and creator of The Eight Irresistible Principles of Fun, a movie that's taken the internet by storm. He is the 2006 Canadian Coach of the Year. You can find out more at www.boxofcrayons.biz or you can contact him directly at Michael@boxofcrayons.biz or +1 (416) 532-1322.

To subscribe to Outside the Lines & The Scribbler click here. If you have any trouble accessing the form, send an email to subs@BoxofCrayons.biz.

Outside the Lines is distributed on the 2nd Thursday of every month. The Scribbler is distributed on the 4th Thursday of every month. Your contact information is never traded, never rented, never sold.

©Box of Crayons 2006. Box of Crayons is a registered trading name of Maida CC Inc.

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