How to ‘read’ a book in an hour

I can read an entire book in an hour.  Well, not really, but it feels like I can. 

Have you ever watched the hour-long clips called ‘Authors@Google’ on YouTube?

Google runs an in-house programme for their employees called ‘Authors@Google’.   They regularly invite authors of recently published books to give talks and lead informal discussions with employees.  The speakers are prominent economists, politicians, novelists, company executives, philosophers, business consultants and artists.

Google has recorded many of these hour-long talks and put them on YouTube for the public to access.  To find them, type ‘authors@google’ in the YouTube search bar.

The authors have included people like Richard Florida, Carly Fiorina, Jeffery Sachs, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Maria Shriver, Steve Wozniak, Henry Kissinger, George Soros and Muhammad Yunnis.  Thomas Friedman’s new book is being published this month so he should be on ‘Authors@Google’ any day now.

All the authors have written widely-acclaimed, stimulating books that I do not always have time to read.  During their short Authors@Google talks, the authors discuss the main themes in their books.  I recommend you multitask and listen to these talks while you do other things.  I generally prop my laptop on the kitchen counter and listen to them while I make dinner.   I feel like I am absorbing the gist of an entire book and getting a new perspective on the economy, world, politics or business all in the short time in takes me to prepare a meal.

If this is the kind of investment Google makes in developing their employees, then it is no wonder it is considered one of the best places to work.  

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