# 36 The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

The author defines the tipping point as "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point." The book basically looks into the phenomenon of fads and how and why it happens. The author posits that a product, idea or message spread like a virus. First, a virus will go around the population all chill-like, until it reaches a critical mass, or a tipping point, and becomes a full blown epedemic.

Gladwell theorizes that there are three very important things that make a so called "social epedemic". Thing which I shall not be discussing right at this very moment because I am lazy (and really, it's in wiki).

Some of the thoughts are obvious really, common sense. We all know that it's because of some cool people wearing high waist jeans or something that makes it spread. But what I found most interesting about the book was not really his theory, which I don't think is really on point all the time, but the examples given on successful products. Its just interesting reading about how stuff became popular. So yeah, I don't think the science or the theories are really all that, but I like the way its written and there are some interesting stories. GOod was to pass a few hours.

# 14 Bonk by Mary Roach

actual review date - 12/22/11

I read this book so long ago, I must admit, the facts that I've read about here have mostly flown out of my head. I have horrible retention when it comes to non-fiction. But what does stick with me is that it was fun, funny and flippant. Mary Roach has a way of making any subject matter (whether it be the dead as in Stiff, or sex as in this case) fun to read about.

I have this friend who tells the most awesome and strange stories about her experiences. It is sometimes so absurd that you have to wonder if she is not stretching the truth a bit to make it more interesting. But no, it's just the way she l0oks at the world. She thinks everything is amusing and interesting and it translated to how she talks about her experiences. Reading this book gave me that sort of feeling. It felt like Roach delving into the world of sex research was a big adventure. I mean, sex research in itself would seem to be pretty interesting but the author makes it even more so.

Basically, though I may have forgotten most of the fact that I learned, I do vividly remember that it was a really funny and quirky book which kept me interested throughout.