Malcolm Gladwell - Outliers

Loved this book. As many of you know Chris and I decided to spend the holidays at home relaxing. No crazy trips or adventures .... As Chris was trying to finish War and Peace (yes it's true... he started in July!!!) I was given Outliers as a gift so reading was one of our major activites.

I had read his other two books The Tipping Point and Blink and loved them. They are all such quick and easy reads, especially if you love theories on how things may work or how people think/react/function. I'm sure there is a name to this genre of books - maybe social psychology?

Anyway.... fantastic.... it explores why the people that are successful are. For example why are Canadians great at hockey? One theory Gladwell explores is that most of the kids at a young age that are picked for better hockey teams seem to be born in January, February and March. These kids are naturally bigger and stronger than their counterparts and then they get picked for the teams with more games so they practice more and get better faster.

10,000 hours is apparently what it takes to become a real expert in a field and be successful. He explains why Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are outliers, why Asians are good at math, and how ethnicity plays a role in plane crashes.

It's an easy read with a lot of 'ah-ha' moments. I was getting so excited reading it that I was telling Chris all these little points along the way. Now he's reading it!