Floating Off the Page, a Beach Business Book

After pounding at the keys on a big deadline YHB (your humble blogger) is back after a bit of an absence. Today I’d like to recommend a business book you can take to the beach: Floating Off the Page, a collection of the middle column stories from the Wall Street Journal. Here you can read about dwarf-tossing, Klingon translations of the Bible, sheep orthodontists, modern versions of massive medieval catapults…and even more obscure stuff. All written in the clear-headed style that characterizes this unique form of journalism. There’s no better example of great writing than these stories, which should be taught in journalism courses—or any nonfiction courses for that matter—as examples of great detail, clear language, and a great sensibility about what constitutes a gripping story. And because the pieces all run no more than three pages, this is a great book to pick up and read a chunk at a time. Also, the Journal does a nice job of accessorizing the book through a webpage.

By the way, look for more frequent postings on this site now and in the future. In that vein, I welcome suggestions from readers on stories, companies, books, websites, and any other resources by or about small business that folks should know about. Send me an email at Tom@startupgarden.com with suggestions. Thanks!