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.

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

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 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

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