Promethean Partners will regularly list books, articles and periodicals that we believe individuals might enjoy reading, as we sure did. We provide our own reviews and summaries of the publications, which we hope you will find useful.

Scandalmonger, by William Safire

A historical novel set in the early days of US history during the Adams and Jefferson administrations, this novel shows the importance of the media to our democracy and the natural tensions that exist between those in the news and those who write the news. If you took out the names and time references, one could almost imagine that the times are current and the people involved are our leaders today.

Journalists happily called themselves scandalmongers in the formative years of our nation and even then argued among themselves the boundaries of coverage of officials in public office. The narrative uses actual written words from letters and printed materials to create conversations among the chief characters and Safire is meticulous in his footnotes to document his sources.

An education at the same time enjoyable, Scandalmonger has all the elements of a future movie in it!

For the Time Being, by Annie Dillard

It was not immediately clear to me what ruminations on clouds, sand, birth defects, paleontology, archeology and Hasidic thought were doing together in the same book. But Dillard weaves them into an intellectually exhilarating exploration on the significance of our lives, and God's presence – or absence – in it. This Pulitzer Prize winning writer is among my favorites.

A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson

This guy takes travel writing to a new plane. With his (real or imaginary?) friend "Katz," Bryson sets out to hike the whole of the Appalachian Trail. Over weight, out of shape, and not particularly dedicated to their task, they fail. But that's beside the point. Along the way, Bryson hilariously relates not just their adventures and misadventures, but interesting historical information on sites along the way, handy bits about local flora and fauna, and a cornucopia of funny and brilliant observations that I guarantee will make you laugh out loud.

The One-Minute Manager, by Kenneth H. Blanchard

Though this book is 20 years old, the strength of its message gives it legs. And while you may have read it when it came out in the early '80s, like any very good book it bears re-reading to remind you of the important principles it teaches. The book is actually a parable about a young man on a mission to seek out the best management practices so that he might himself become a good manager. He discovers a master manager, who reminds me of Louis Gossett Jr. in An Officer and a Gentleman – tough, clear, but very caring. The manager gets top results from his people with a seeming minimum amount of time and effort. He does so by communicating clearly and directly, being consistent with his expectations, and providing praise and reprimands quickly and effectively. My own personal experiences have taught me that managers with such skills are the most effective . . . and the most rare.

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