I read a lot of books and am always looking for a good recommendation. So when I saw Mark Schaefer’s plug for Brains on Fire in his post entitled The Spirituality of Social Media, I figured I’d check it out as I respect Mark’s opinions and the term “profound admiration,” is pretty serious.

After reading the book by Robbin Phillips, Greg Cordell, Geno Church, and Spike Jones I can safely say that Mark’s description was well deserved. Instead of focusing on tactics to increase engagement within social networks, the Brains on Fire team creates movements.  The book encourages readers to embrace their core audience and find out what they are passionate about in order to build a true movement for their company or cause.

The examples in the book of Fiskars Fiskateers, the Love146 and Rage Against Haze were inspirational. You just need to listen and engage with the people.

Brains on Fire was a book that moved me and is one that I strongly suggest you pick up and give a read, you’ll be happy that you did.

Given the title of this book, there will be big kid words used. If you are offended by the, please check back tomorrow or browse some of my other posts that may suit you better.

This is my video book review of Assholeology: The Science Behind Getting Your Way – and Getting Away with it (Amazon Aff. Link) from Chris Illuminati, Dennis LaValle and Stephen B. Green. The book is an interesting self-help guide to becoming an AH. It is a quick read that provides laughs and some great tips to getting what you want in your life – only caveat is that you may be called an AH. I would check it out if you need a good laugh.

When you start reading a book, you often want to get off on the right foot. However when the book opens with

Michael Irvin stabbing someone in the throat, you know you are in for a wild ride.

Growing up, I remember the Dallas Cowboys winning three championships in the 90′s. However, I really don’t remember too much about those teams. Which in itself is kind of hard to believe since the egos and clothing styles were larger than life. There was the Playmaker, Prime Time, Jimmie and Jerry.

Jeff Pearlman captures the essence of America’s Team as well as the times in Boys Will Be Boys. Drugs, sex, booze and more drugs with some football added into the mix.

Aside from the aforementioned characters, the book also breaks into the bit players and characters like Charles Haley who were much more in your face than anything that South Park could drudge up. Funny thing was that it was all true.

If you are a fan of the NFL or would like to know more about the last real-life Cowboys of the Wild West, then this book is for you.  On top of the stabbing there is plenty of full-frontal nudity (Haley), contract disputes, pissing contests, illicit plane parties and the White House.

On a scale of 1-10 I would give this one a 10 for content and 20 for shock value.

After slimming down my cable bill, I have had limited choices to view outside of network television, I have been missing out on Little People Big World, Plant Earth, Lockup: Raw, Survivorman, any History Channel show and the occasional Boo-Ya from Stu Scott (not that much). Its also during this time that I began reading heavily, reminding me much like college, minus the papers.

After ripping through all of the books I had in the house, I heard author, Michael Connelly on the morning

Image courtest Motorbooks.com

show on WEEI talking about his new book Rebound! Basketball, Busing, Bird and the rebirth of Boston. At first it sounded like just another sports book, but then the author went into details about how the book not only chronicled the Celtics glory days and the rise of Bird’s team, but also the tumultuous time in the city of Boston during the busing fiasco.

Figuring it sounded like an appealing read I picked up the book and started away and quickly couldn’t put it down.

Not only was the jumping between stories seamless, but the racial unrest in Boston actually seemed to parallel the falling from grace of the NBA’s most storied franchise.

Originally coming from Jersey, I had heard stories of how the city was racist and how there was a scandal around busing, but never really understood it.

Chapter after chapter, I was shocked that some of the happenings of the book were something happening in one of the country’s oldest most revered cities and not in the pages of Mississippi Burning.

With the emphasis put on the history of the city, I almost think that it should be added to the curriculum of the Boston Public School System in an effort to educate less history repeat itself.

Connelly’s most powerful image in the book is the culmination celebration in Government Center of the Celts championship, almost washing away the racial unrest that consumed the city less than three years earlier.