Books

As a new - and growing - family, we are starting to define our traditions.  One tradition we've had for a while is each year my wife buys me a book by my favorite author - Jeffrey Archer.  This year, the book was "Paths to Glory", and Archer once again reminded me why he is my favorite author.  He has a way of telling a tale, even a familiar tale, as if you are hearing it for the first time.

"Paths to Glory" is the story of Sir George Mallory, one of the greatest mountain climbers in the history of the world.  A man on whom history cannot agree if he was the first to conquer Everest.  In Archer's fictional account of this true history, I learned much about the type of man it takes to complete those quests as yet unfinished by another human.  It is compelling.

I first found Archer in high school, when I read "As the Crow Flies", the book that sparked my interest in business.  I tried several other books of his:  A Prisoner of Birth, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less, The Prodigal Daughter, Kane and Abel, False Impression, The Fourth Estate, Cat O'Nine Tales: And Other Stories, Sons of Fortune, A Quiver Full of Arrows and Honor Among Thieves...to name a few.  Not a bad book among them.

Though Archer is by far my favorite author, he has not written my favorite book.  Probably not even in my top five.  The best book I've read thus far is The Shadow of the Wind, an absolutely fabulous story about a book - yes, a book about a book - set in Barcelona.  The imagery, plot, and concept of this story is just amazing.  A close second is A Conspiracy of Paper: A Novel (Ballantine Reader's Circle).  If you read "Conspiracy of Paper", you will never look at paper money the same way again.  I did not research the historical accuracy of the story, though it all seems very plausible given the history I do know.

If being more well-read is on your list of New Year's Resolutions, you cannot go wrong with any of those.  Me, I'm starting the year reading the complete, unabridged work of H.G. Wells (thanks to a reference in Paths of Glory).  The science Wells was describing in his 19th Century novels is eerily predictive of our current advancements.  I keep waiting for the time machine.