One of the joys of a break, especially Winter Break, is curling up with a good book or two or three. I got this love of reading over extended periods of time from my mother, whose first job when my sister and I went back to school full-time was as a part-time school librarian. I always looked forward to find out what books she brought home during extended breaks to catalog. I think that she was just letting me have access to the books before anyone else did. This is a memory that I will cherish forever.

This Winter Break was no different than any other. I immersed myself into three different books, each which I enjoyed immensely. The first was a book that I re-read, Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization by Lee Sproull and Sara Kiesler. This is a book, written in 1992, which I found out about in 1997. At the time, I found it fascinating, especially as it related at the time to the growth of email, mailing lists, and other forms of computer aided communication. In re-reading through the lens of the new web 2.0 tools, this work seems even more ground breaking as it relates how people begin to utilize these tools. A good read that presents neat background.

The second book that I have just started reading is Sir Ken Robinson’s Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative. I have just started this, but having watched the TED talk by Mr. Robinson and reading how others have been inspired others, I am looking forward to finishing this soon.

The last book that I have finished just today is Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Maps. It was a fascinating read about trying to determine the causes of cholera outbreaks in urban areas. The methods used and the establishment of new ideas was interesting.

For those of you who took the time to read something over the holiday, what did you choose?