Category Archives: Books

Review: Korak at the Earth’s Core

Posted on March 20, 2024 by ricbret

Korak at the Earths Core is a welcome addition and continues the evolution of the world of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan. Continue reading →

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Review: Carson of Venus: The Edge of All Worlds

Posted on April 20, 2020 by ricbret

Can I tell you about a unique book experience? I’m going to work hard to spoil none of the book’s surprises, while telling you why this is a book you should enjoy. Consider a prolific writer, now long passed, whose … Continue reading →

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Why I Judge Books by Their Cover

Posted on April 17, 2018 by ricbret

Book Judgement is someplace where I can review and express my love for the manufacture of books, the binding, typography… Continue reading →

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The Dark Tower – Defending the Rose

Posted on August 6, 2017 by ricbret

The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.
Probably the best opening line in literature. Yeah, better than Call me Ishmael.
(Seriously Ishmael, I was just asking you for a name to write on your coffee cup!) Continue reading →

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Not the book you expect… the one you need.

Posted on May 23, 2016 by ricbret

Right off the top, this is not the book you expect. This is no a paint-by-number, 15 steps to being a better communicator, lightweight feel-good-about-your-limitations book for snowflakes. This is a book that expects you to learn and remember the keys to memory. This is a deep book, but clear in its ability to guide you through an area of learning that far too few have mastered. It is an honest representation of the author’s voice, a voice that I’ve personally enjoyed listening to a number of conventions. In short, if you’re ready for the next step in making your business communications something that your audience remembers and acts upon, it’s here. Continue reading →

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What does Bill Gates read?

Posted on December 7, 2015 by ricbret

I find Bill Gates fascinating because he’s always surprising me with some new way to think about something we all think we already know. Continue reading →

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Design vs. Fashion vs. User

Posted on October 24, 2014 by ricbret

I found myself rereading parts of Richard Saul Wurman’s Information Anxiety this afternoon. Last week at Presentation Summit I gave a talk on the Pecha Kucha format. Pecha Kucha is a form of presentation using exactly 20 slides, with each slide advancing automatically after 20 … Continue reading →

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The Beauty of Books

Posted on October 3, 2014 by ricbret

In 1981 an Italian artist, architect, and industrial designer named Luigi Serafini worked for three years crafting an alien artifact that pushed the concepts of beauty, alienation, and book craft to new dimensions. Serafini created a tome, thick and large, embellished with impenetrable glyphs and symbols that by style and repetition of forms can be nothing but a language, but one no human has ever spoken.
Continue reading →

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Considering the Blue Pill…

Posted on September 19, 2014 by ricbret

Sure, and there’s stuff you can do with digital that you could never do with physical media. I travel with hundreds of books in my backpack. I can choose what movie I want to watch on the plane. Mix tape from 100’s of albums when and where I want? Sure, I’m future boy!

It’s all upside, right? What could be wrong? But about this time in any SyFy movie, you know the foreboding music is about to rise and everything you’ve been enjoying is about to turn on you. Continue reading →

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Take the Red Pill…

Posted on July 26, 2014 by ricbret

As well as producing the weekly podcast, I often write for a web site called Fanboy Planet. Fanboy Planet reports on all the silly and serious aspects of being a fan in this modern day. Being involved in fannish media is … Continue reading →

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Book Judgement is on Fire!

Posted on July 16, 2014 by ricbret

Well, it’s at least warming up… Just a quick note that I’m so pleased to welcome Christopher J. Garcia back for his second submission to Book Judgement: A Book That Must Be Called Luscious.  It is a love letter to the … Continue reading →

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And another new blog… Book Judgement

Posted on July 10, 2014 by ricbret

Have I mentioned Book Judgement? It’s a project I’ve wanted to do for years, but never figured out exactly what it was and how I would do it.  Together those are pretty inhibiting factors. Simply put, I love books.  Not … Continue reading →

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She’s Giving It Away…

Posted on November 7, 2013 by ricbret

No secret to anyone about my love of this book. So why is it news today? This morning Nancy Duarte announced that “the multimedia version of Resonate is now available on HTML5 and iTunes for FREE! You can read, learn, … Continue reading →

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Rotten Bitter Apple

Posted on April 10, 2013 by ricbret

Update: Word from comiXology now after many hand-wringing updates overnight is that Apple didn’t prevent comiXology from pushing to iOS apps, but comiXology made the call.  In a letter on their blog page, comiXology CEO David Steinberger noted: After hearing … Continue reading →

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Love of Books – An Unboxing of “The Fifty Year Sword”

Posted on December 10, 2012 by ricbret

I’m a big fan of books. Not just the stories, but the book construction as well. From bindings, paper choice, typeset, typography, layout, it’s all interesting to me. Mark Z. Danielewski is most famous for House of Leaves, an inventive … Continue reading →

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PowerPoint History, 25 years ago…

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ricbret

This has to be quick.  Sorry for any typos or errors, but I’m packing, medicating, and generally running about today and this could not wait. I got a very nice letter from Bob Gaskins yesterday. If you don’t recognize the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business, Deals, Design, Geeking around, History, Media, Organizations, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts, Writing | 2 Comments

The Garr Box…

Posted on September 23, 2010 by ricbret

To be honest, I’m having a little trouble getting to the point where I write every day. But I’m lucky, I have inspiring friends who help me get past this without even trying.  Today is Garr Reynold’s turn. It’s Wednesday … Continue reading →

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The Walking Dead…

Posted on September 21, 2010 by ricbret

AMC just released a new bit of advertising for the October 31st release of their “The Walking Dead” series.  That’s it over there on the left. The series is based on a comic by the brilliant Robert Kirkman.  The stark … Continue reading →

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Resonate!

Posted on September 21, 2010 by ricbret

Nancy Duarte’s new book, Resonate, is in the house. Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business, Design, Personal, Presentations, Thoughts | 1 Comment