WHAT I READ THIS SUMMER: A METAVERSE BOOK REPORT

What book is on your night table?

That’s the question we put to the team here at Metaverse. With the dog days of summer approaching, we thought it would be interesting to see what our staff members are reading. Cutting-edge business tomes? Light and fun beach reads?

The result, unsurprisingly, is a delightful mix of fiction and non-fiction that runs the gamut. Here are some of the intriguing titles that we’re currently enjoying when we’re taking a breather from the whole “digital engagement” movement.

41uqX+wVxbL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_How Music Got Free: The End of an Industry, the Turn of the Century, and the Patient Zero of Piracy by Stephen Witt. I’d highly recommended this book about how the industry has, and hasn’t, adapted to the digital revolution. Music companies were actually cognizant of the likely decrease in CD sales and growing trend toward digital music. Witt reveals that no one has truly figured out an effective business strategy in response to this digital business model. — Mary Lex

Disrupting Digital Business: Create an Authentic Experience in the Peer-to-Peer Economy by R “Ray” Wang. Focuses on the shifting tide in the workplace, from the way customers are more and more in control of the conversations they have with companies, to the way workers now expect more control over their workplace, hours, technology, and company mores. Resistance is futile, says Wang. — Blagica Bottigliero

51n3g9EtQ9L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_Build for Change: Revolutionizing Customer Engagement Through Continuous Digital Innovation by Alan Trefler, who sees diminishing importance in brands as new generations change the way we do business. He focuses on the importance of customer engagement and creating a positive customer experience. Hey, he’s preaching to the choir for those of us at Metaverse. — Mike Pinkerton

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. The Nobel Prize in Economics winner explains why the human brain is able to generate amazing insights from the smallest amounts of data and why some problems can be solved in seconds and others require us to stop and think for a long time. A fascinating and powerful read. — Lucien Parsons

Leaving-TimeLeaving Time by Jodi Picoult. The story starts out as a mystery and slowly turns into a thriller as it progresses. The main characters include an ex-detective, a psychic who lost her legitimacy, and the daughter of an elephant researcher. I enjoyed this book because it touches on a wide range of emotions from sadness and grief to happiness and closure. Not to mention the huge surprise at the end! — Matt Ramsey

Our Man in Charleston: Britain’s Secret Agent in the Civil War South by Christopher Dickey. An account by a British Consular agent in the South before and during the Civil War, the book provides a very interesting and little-seen viewpoint of a representative of a foreign power during the American Civil War. It focuses particularly on the institution of slavery and Southern attitudes in that time. — Rich Weil

The Dark Tower series by Stephen King. It’s a weird and interesting mix of western, science fiction, fantasy, post-apocalyptic, and horror genres – and unlike anything else I’ve read. I just finished the fifth book in the series last week, with three more to go! The book series may not be for everyone, but I’m really enjoying it. — Steve Henry

41BLVHdRXzL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_Shareology: How Sharing Is Powering the Human Economy by Bryan J. Kramer.  I met Bryan a few years ago at a conference in New Orleans. Over the last two years, he has shed tremendous light on the need for human engagement and genuine interaction in social media and marketing. His energy is just as infectious on the page as it is off the page. — Izzy Neis

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Talk Back

Amy
Posted on July 22, 2015

Umm, I don’t think y’all get what “summer reading” means. I can’t envision reading “Build for Change: Revolutionizing Customer Engagement Through Continuous Digital Innovation” on the beach with a drink with an umbrella. 😀

    Posted on July 23, 2015

    This summer, I’m reading the Walking Dead on Netflix and The Americans on Amazon Prime.

      Amy
      Posted on July 23, 2015

      Better.

Suzie
Posted on July 22, 2015

Most people know and love J.K. Rowling for her beloved series Harry Potter, and while I am a fan of the young wizard, I am crazy about her private investigator Cormoran Strike. The two books that she has written under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith are some of my all time favorites. I have previously read 2013’s The Cuckoo’s Calling and 2014’s The Silkworm, but am rereading both this summer in preparation of the next book in the series Career of Evil, which is being released this October.

Melissa Kamphuis
Posted on July 22, 2015

This summer I have revisited two favorites: Neuromancer by William Gibson and The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I still have my fingers crossed for a Neuromancer movie one day!

Susie
Posted on July 21, 2015

I read some “fluff” last month, recommended to me by our own Amy Pritchard. It was “Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail,” by Cheryl Strayed, and I loved it. It made me want to hike the trail… but I won’t. I might take a nice long walk though!

    sharon
    Posted on July 22, 2015

    I read three books by Dan Brown. Both Angels and Demons and The DaVinci code are already movies, The Lost Symbol is the next book to be made into a movie. The books are SO much better than the movies…i really enjoyed them! I have them on cd, i love to listen to books when i drive and i really enjoy them!

    Amy
    Posted on July 22, 2015

    Susie liked the horse part the best.

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