Father Joe is the story of author Tony Hendra's faith journey. It is an inspiring, heartfelt story of the four decade relationship between the satirist and a surprisingly wise Benedictine monk named Father Joseph Warrillow.

Hendra, one of the original editors of National Lampoon, captures the beautiful essence of a truly God-inspired man. The portrait that emerges is of one a cleric who is a credit to Church, a cleric who is a credit to his Christ. Father Joe is truly a saint. Hendra, in a startling departure from his normal style, portrays Father Joe's actions as non-judgmental, caring, and engaged.

This is the most powerful book I have read in a long time. If I have one criticism, it is Hendra's prodigious talent occasionally clouds this great story. I would occasionally find myself re-reading a particularly clever or unique descriptive phrase. However, you should properly view those words as the musings of a less talented, envious and jealous writer.

Father Joe is a tribute to one of the most charismatic, selfless, spiritual mentors of our time. At times it is funny; at times it will bring tears to your eyes. Tony Hendra experienced a miracle. I am grateful he shared the story with me. Read the book. You will be grateful he shared it with you.

This is a great story. The election of 1912 was one of the few times since 1804 when the country was given the opportunity to debate its future.

James Chace, a history profession Bard College, spins an interesting and readable story about the four men who sought office. Theodore Roosevelt, a former President, sought to redirect the Republican Party's focus towards nationalism and social justice.

William Howard Taft, his chosen successor, wanted only to sit on the Supreme Court.

Woodrow Wilson, the former president of Princeton, who surprised himself and the nation by snatching New Jersey governorship without the support of the state's political bosses.

Eugene Debs, running for the third time as a Socialist, sought economic justice for all the country's workers.

What made the 1912 campaign unusual by today's standards was the race was punctuated by a basic decency, honesty and quality of debate rarely seen in my lifetime. Chace recounts it all. 1912 changed America. Had Roosevelt been the Republican nominee he almost surely would have been re-elected president. His platform would have transformed his party into the party of reform.

Instead, the GOP passed into a conservative ascendancy that peaked with Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Today, the party still struggles between reform and reaction, isolationism and internationalism.

If you are tired of our current quadrennial circus, this trip into our nation's past may restore your faith in our system. The election of 1912 dealt with substantive issues. The candidates staked out differentiated positions. The nation spoke. Chace relates the story with all the zeal and passion it held for participants and voters in 1912.

One key to success is the ability to influence people's thinking. Whether one is attempting to introduce a major organizational change or convince consumers to switch brands, the ability to change people minds is an important business process.

Howard Gardner, a Harvard psychologist who specializes in cognitive theory, offers us insight into what happens when one changes his or her mind. In order to change someone's mind, Gardner writes, one has to produce a shift in that person's perceptions, codes and the way he or she retains and accesses information.

There are seven levers to change, he says.

1. Reason.
2. Research
3. Resonance
4. Re-descriptions
5. Rewards
6. Real World Events
7. Resistances.

Gardner explores how these levers are employed in six realms.

1. Diverse Groups - such as a nation.
2. Homogeneous Groups - corporations, universities.
3. Culture - Changes effected by art, science or scholarship.
4. Classroom
5. Intimate Gatherings - one-on-one meetings, family gathering.
6. Changes within one's mind.

This book is enlightening and compelling. It offers insights into the methods one can employ to influence others and oneself.

Business "surprises" occur with an alarming frequency. It is an understatement to say they exact a considerable toll on the organization.

According to Kenneth G. McGee, even the worst catastrophes rarely happen without warning. The author is a group vice president and research fellow at Gartner, Inc., a consultancy that specializes in information technology. His book, Heads Up, is about predicting the present.

Managers need to understand what is happening now and how these current events will impact future success. This involves extracting raw empirical information, analyzing it and determining its meaning and implications.

So what is new, you ask? McGee answers managers do not need all the data to understand the present. Only enough to answer the question, "Where are we right now in meeting our corporate goals?"

To an effective executive, this current information always reveals opportunities to improve results. There is a tendency to confuse real-time information with real-time response. In the perfect situation, the following processes happen in the background between the time when an event happens and that event's impact is felt.

1. Information related to the event is monitored.
2. A change in the information is captured.
3. The information is analyzed.
4. The information is reported.
5. A response is initiated.

No manager can afford to monitor all his information sources. To determine which sources to monitor, information should be filtered using the following Identification Model:

1. List goals for the planning period.
2. Prioritize them.
3. Evaluate them.
4. List causal events.
5. Prioritize the causal events.
6. Evaluate whether the real-time information will enable the executive to respond effectively.

Each candidate generated by the Identification Model is subjected to the Justification Model:

1. Does the goal the information further the corporate vision and mission?
2. Does the goal meet current corporate priorities?
3. Is the information material to the goal?
4. What is the goal's corporate impact?

McGee's book goes beyond the usual real-time hype. It will help executives anticipate events and changes. The result: potential disasters will be transformed into opportunities.

A new recruit to the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team thought he understood what he was joining. Instead, he finds himself plunged deep into an Alice in Wonderland World of lack operations.

In Black, Christopher Whitcomb, a fifteen-year veteran of the FBI and a Hostage Rescue Team member, has written a troubling novel about the shadowy world in which this recruit unexpectedly finds himself. It is a world dominated by black-box technology, gorgeous females with hidden agendas and mercenaries with shifting loyalties.

Whitcomb infuses current sense of reality into the genre. It is obvious he has experienced the interplay between intelligence organizations and international corporations. He also includes timely references to the war on Iraq and Al-Qaeda.

The novel is an easy read. Were it not for several instances of poor editing (he confuses Lincoln Center in New York with the Kennedy Center in Washington) it novel would rate five stars.

This season has it all. An eccentric writer, who speaks the unspeakable, surrounds himself with a beautiful wife, eclectic friends and enemies. Mix in a truly funny script and you have an evening's entertainment.

As a bonus, Larry David's hour long HBO special is included. If you have not seen Larry David in action, take my word for it: this guy is hysterical. He is honest to the point of thoughtlessness. He plays a perfect victim. His misunderstandings and missed opportunities create some of the funniest material I have seen or heard in a long time.

It may take a few moments to catch on to the humor. Rest assured, your time investment will reap the reward of many deep belly laughs.

The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986. To millions of viewers, it is a moment they will never forget.

Official inquiries into the accident placed the blame with a "frozen, brittle O ring." In this book, Diane Vaughan, a Boston College Professor of Sociology, does not stop there. In what I think is a brilliant piece of research, she traces the threads of the disaster's roots to fabric of NASA's institutional life and culture.

NASA saw itself competing for scarce resources. This fostered a culture that accepted risk-taking and corner-cutting as norms that shaped decision-making. Small, seemingly harmless modifications to technical and procedural standards propelled the space agency toward the disaster. No specific rules were broken, yet well-intentioned people produced great harm.

Vaughan often resorts to an academic writing style, yet there is no confusion about its conclusion.

"The explanation of the Challenger launch is a story of how people who worked together developed patterns that blinded them to the consequences of their actions," wrote Dr. Vaughan.

"It is not only about the development of norms but about the incremental expansion of normative boundaries: how small changes--new behaviors that were slight deviations from the normal course of events- gradually became the norm, providing a basis for accepting additional deviance. Nor rules were violated; there was no intent to do harm. Yet harm was done. Astronauts died."

For project and risk managers, this book offers a rare warning of the hazards of working in structured and institutionalized environments.

During his 84 year life, Benjamin was his country's best scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, business strategist, and perhaps, its most practical political thinker.

Walter Isaacson, formerly CNN Chairman and Time Magazine Editor, provides us with a 590 page portrait of the Founding Father who winks at us. This revolutionary leader prized pragmatics, religious tolerance and social mobility. Isaacson pictures a man with a vision for his new country that was based on middle class virtues and values. He pictures a man instinctively comfortable with the strength and wisdom of the country's shopkeepers.

He pictures a man who based his morality on leading a "good" life, serving his country and on the belief that salvation would be achieved by good works.

Franklin was a complex person. And Isaacson succeeds in drawing lessons from his life that are more complex that those usual drawn by founding father's foes and fans. I, for one, am grateful author had the time to thoughtfully explore them. These lessons are as vital today as they were during the revolutionary time in which Benjamin Franklin lived.

Public speaking has never been more important. The ability to deliver a well written speech is one of the most effective measures of a leaders' ability. The ability to motivate, spire, console, rebut and address the eventualities of everyday life in a forthright and honest manner will mold their futures.

This speech collection offers unusual insight into the speechwriter's art. No speaker who aspires to greatness should be without it.

Using 50 speeches as a model, the reader is provided proven presentations. By providing a running rhetorical commentary on the techniques of the speech, John Kador, a professional speechwriter, illustrates the art and science of effective speechwriting. Adapt the models to your style, but follow the rules. This book contains the wisdom and experience of more than 25 professional speechwriters

I have the good fortune to have a speech I wrote included. While it is tempting to criticize the commentary on my edited text, it is pointless. The lessons are invaluable to the reader.

To paraphrase the showman P. T. Barnum speaking to reporters, "write what you will, just spell my name correctly."

Being included in this collection is an honor.

Let's face it; there are lots of great ideas.

In this insightful and well-written book, Malcolm Gladwell explores what differentiates ideas that fall by the wayside and those that suddenly become society-changing.

The author, a staff writer at The New Yorker, introduces the reader to the three particular personality types - people he refers to as mavens, connectors and salesmen - who are the natural sires of social epidemics. These are the people who create the word of mouth phenomenon.

To support his idea, he analyzes fashion trends, children's television, business organizations, religious sects and Paul Revere revolutionary ride. The result is an engaging book about an engaging idea. Somehow I missed this book when it was first published. Its explanation of why human beings behave the ways they do is as relevant today as when it was published.