Book Report: David and Goliath

Last year I made a New Year's resolution to read six books. I know, soooo ambitious, right? It is for someone who is suffering from Pinterest-induced ADD. And I acheived it. Are you amazed? Actually, I kind of cheated. I started downloading books to listen to in the car. It turns out I drive, like, all the time, so I think I listened to about six books just driving the kids around.  OK, half of them were Harry Potter books but the kids need something to enjoy too, right?

For the most part I really enjoy reading, but I have a tough time finding books I love so sometimes I just stop reading beacause I've lost the will to keep searching for new books. Basically, if I don't go to the library with something specific in mind, I pretty much don't get anything. I want to start sharing the books I read here on my blog. If you have any you like, you can share them with me in the comments. Or you can tell me what you think of the books I'm reading. It won't hurt my feelings. I didn't write them. It's like an online book club, but you don't have any meetings to forget about. Awesome!

Here is the first book I read this year:

David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. I don't think Malcolm Gladwell's writing will ever dissappoint me. He has a talent for changing the way you see things. He starts by showing how we can look at David and Goliath in a different light it starts to look like David has the advantage over Goliath.

The rest of his book is a series of stories that seem random but he weaves them together to show a connecting theme about struggles and the positive effect they have on some people. In David and Goliath Gladwell convinces us that going to a less-prestigious college, having dyslexia, experiencing a difficult childhood and a experiencing oppression and other random, seemingly disconnected examples can help people have extraordinary success in life. My favorite point he makes in the book is that even though we wouldn't wish crushing hardships on anyone, society may need people who have struggled and fought for everything they have. They learn to make things better when everything is working against them.

The book is sometimes emotional and upsetting but Malcolm Gladwell usually puts a positive spin on things. He makes me see the world differently and even changes my ideas about how I want to raise my children. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a 10 because Malcolm Gladwell can do no wrong. Please read it. If you want to. And tell me if you like it!