Revenge of the Tipping Point: Overstories, Superspreaders, and the Rise of Social Engineering - Malcolm Gladwell ---------------------- 3 Stars

One of my favorite, and most popular books that I've enjoyed was Malcolm Gladwell's 2006, The Tipping Point. It really moved me into reading more non-fiction books and got me on a path to read far more books that were more focused on modern culture and human behavior. After reviewing a number of Gladwell's books over the years, I was pretty excited to pick up the long awaited sequel, Revenge of the Tipping Point. Unfortunately, it really didn't live up to my expectations. 

So, I don't even think Gladwell was planning to write this book. Rather, he shares that he was looking to update a few parts of the original book but as he learned more about a few subjects, it seems he felt motivated to share some of the stories and lessons he learned. And, the highlights are certainly the stories and anecdotes he tells. He is still a gifted writer who doesn't waste words and keeps the reader engaged with really fascinating tales of real life that I would imagine nearly all readers don't know about.

Some of the places/people/issues he talks about include: Miami - why is it the way it is?; how did successful bank robbers work in LA in the 1970s; how did a TV show from the 1970s change the world?; why does Harvard care so much about random sports?; How the "Magic Third" leads to racial harmony, and many more. Again, these discrete stories are really fascinating, and I found myself flying through the book wanting to know how how each would end/what lesson Gladwell was trying to make in sharing.

Unfortunately, this is where the book really disappointed me. Perhaps I am getting older and struggling to see connections as well, or, perhaps (and I'd argue more likely), Gladwell did a really poor job of connecting and explaining why these events matter. And, even more challenging for me to understand, what they hell do they have to do with tipping points. I mean, a couple were certainly more clear - like a finding that he shared once a certain group gets around 33% representation in a place/setting/etc., it immediately has massive benefits and changes of culture. That's a tipping point. However, for much of his other stories, I really struggled to see any point in his retelling.

Of course, I still recommend this book. It's wildly entertaining and I'll probably read anything Gladwell writes. Just be aware that I really feel like he lost some of his fastball on this one.

Yellowface - R. F. Kuang ------------------ 4 Stars

Released last year, Yellowface was met with some strong early reviews and was recommended to me as a good read. I recently finished it, really quite quickly, and agree that it's a worth checking out for a coupe of reasons.

As the title and cover aren't super helpful in understand the premise, it is a book about a struggling author who is friendly with a much more popular author. But, when that author dies suddenly with the main character present, she pilfers a few things and then finishes the dead author's unwritten novel. Of course, it goes on to great success but there are some problems that quickly arise, most obviously the book is written by an Asian author, which she is not. 

The book really leans into the satire of racial diversity and the thread of race is inherent through the entire novel. Besides having a "viewpoint" and having clear takes about modern culture, the book is a really fun read. It's written in a way that the reader's attention is grabbed pretty quickly and continues at a quick pace through much of the novel. As my reviews are heavily based on entertainment value, I enjoyed this text and found it hard to put down. 

I also really did appreciate how modern and relevant the text was. While I am not sure it will necessarily age well, it already felt like there was an over reliance on the use of X/Twitter in the book, it did seem clearly written in the present day. Leaning into a variety of current technology the book talks about not just the wide variety of social media apps, the ubiquitous of cell phones, but even AI software used to determine what of the novel was the original author and what was not.

The biggest downside of the book was it didn't seem like it knew where it wanted to go after the initial premise.  The first half is great but then it slows down a bit and never really hits a different gear. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good read and interesting but it felt a bit in stasis. I also thought it was not a strong ending which also took away from the success of the story. I'm writing this about a week after I finished and am struggling to even remember how it ended; not a good sign!

Overall, it's a fun and thought provoking book that really does have some interesting takes. Like any good piece of satire, I left thinking differently about a few things. That, plus, a super fast read via a non stop page turning story, leads to a 4 star review.