Like most Dan Brown novels, its all about symbology – but this time, its not about Catholicism, but the mysterious secret society of the Freemasons.

From what little I understand of them, the Freemasons are largely about dispensing with the differences between religions, and just accepting members as a Brotherhood which believes in God and positive action.

Unlike the bru-ha-ha caused by The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol is not expected to generate oppostion from the Freemasons – they seem quite happy to get the attention and have been quite open with Brown in his research.

Janet Maslin from The New York Times:

Within this book’s hermetically sealed universe, characters’ motivations don’t really have to make sense; they just have to generate the nonstop momentum that makes “The Lost Symbol” impossible to put down.

Nick Owchar of The Los Angeles Times:

The wait is over. “The Lost Symbol,” the follow-up to Dan Brown’s 2003 mega-seller, “The Da Vinci Code,” is here — and you don’t have to be a Freemason to enjoy it (although it wouldn’t hurt).

I never read the The Da Vinci Code, thought the movie was ‘OK’, didn’t read Angels & Demons either, and hated the movie.

I have good expectations for The Lost Symbol however, and more than a passing curiosity about the Freemason culture discussed in the book.

I think its time I gave Dan Brown a break, and read one of his books before everyone and their brother gives me their opinion on it, and before the movie comes out. I owe him that.

Note: The Kindle Edition is $6 less than the hardcover

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: “The Lost Symbol” Reviews Look Good

So, just for fun, I decided to put together a list of the top bestselling books on Amazon which have over 100 5-star reviews.

If you noticed, I kind of cheated with the last two, one only has 4.5 stars and the other doesn’t have over 100 reviews, but I felt editorially together they made the best choice for the fifth book.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: The Top 5 Bestselling Books with Over 100 5-Star Reviews

For a long time, I have been looking forward to the Amazon Kindle e-book reader to be an outstanding train commuter companion.

Unfortunately, because of its popularity, Amazon has not been able to keep it in stock. At long last, they have caught up with demand and the Kindle is now in stock for immediate delivery.

The Kindleis much more than an ebook reader – especially when you compare it to previous generation ebook readers such as the Sony Reader.

The Kindle has its own, free high-speed mobile internet connection, and is connected to the Amazon store – which means if you aren’t particularly interested in the books you have stored on the Kindle, you can buy a new one – anytime, anywhere – and be reading it in seconds.

And unlike the A TYPE=”amzn” asin=”B000WP2RC2″>Sony Reader, the collection of titles available for the Kindle is massive – over 150,000 titles. A quick check shows that 9 out of 10 of the New York Times hardcover fiction bestsellers are currently available for the Kindle – and at only $9.99, its much cheaper than the hardcover.

For straphangers, the availability of the New York Times and many other newspapers, as well as a number of weekly and monthly magazines, means catching up on the daily news without needing change or killing a small forest with a print subscription.

If any of our readers have been using the Kindle on the train, please let us know what you think in the comments.

The other day I noticed the passenger in front of me on a flight was reading one, so I surreptitiously got to see firsthand how well the e-ink display worked – it was great!

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Amazon Kindle In Stock – Finally!

I almost hesitate to write a post about David Allen’s productivity bible “Getting Things Done” – seriously – what has not been said? But I will, because its very relevant to busy NYC professional commuters – especially as more and more Manhattan workers spend more of their time working from home.

Even if you don’t typically give the time of day to self-help gurus, Allen’s book is definitely worth the read. Its not at all evangelic like Tony Robbins – its a practical and results-oriented cult wrapped in a $9 paperback – Allen isn’t trying to sell you a 40-CD seminar. No matter your overall impression of the book, you will, one day, find yourself unconsciously using some method you learned from it.

For Metro-North commuters, I definitely recommend both the paperback and an audiobook version – its available on iTunes as well. Listen to the audiobook on the train on the way to work – I can’t think of a better way to introduce GTD then that. When you’re done, read the book and use it as a reference for developing your own GTD habits.

If you find yourself slipping, just listen to it on the train again. It’ll get you right back on track and set a positive mood to attacking your tasks at work and home.

Last fall I was servicing a contract at a major Manhattan internet company, and overheard a snippet of conversation in the next cube – “you are totally into Getting Things Done techniques, aren’t you!“. This kind of highlighted for me how well-known Allen’s productivity brand among Manhattan professionals. Not only was the guy in the next cube a True Believer, but a random co-worker could identify some element of his workflow that was GTD-based.

The beauty of Allen’s approach is that GTD is not just designed to improve your performance, its designed to reduce your stress – and can do so within minutes.

A huge component of anyones stress level is the endless list of todos – important and unimportant, urgent and pending, personal and professional – which keep popping up in your mind throughout the day. As a collection of unorganized thoughts, these are infuriating, sometimes alarming.

Conventional wisdom is that in order to make the stress from these thoughts go away, you need to complete their associated tasks. This is untrue. You can reduce the stress within minutes by collecting them ALL and storing them somewhere you know you will not lose track of them. Once you do this, your mind will seriously curb the constant nagging, as you know you will not forget them.

OK, so GTD is about TODO lists – you’re thinking “gee, what a productivity breakthrough“. Well, the breakthrough is that the traditional thought is that todo lists are functional tools – but they are therapeutic tools as well. The rest of Getting Things Done is really about taking that concept and going down a rabbit hole of endless practical techniques you can adopt which personally help you develop a system for being consistently at ease and productive, rather then just when you are overwhelmed.

Besides your current to-do list, there is another element as well – which is an all-day (or multi-day) agenda-clearing GTD cleanout. You basically go through ALL of your paperwork and todos – at work and at home – and dispose, file, archive, or prioritize them. If a todo list is theraputic, this mega-cleanup is catharsis.

Think about it – think about how ‘Ready For Anything‘ (another Allen Book) you were last time you cleaned out your garage, home, office space, or home office. A nice clean desk, everything put away, nowhere to go but forward. Suddenly, not only are you more productive and less stressed, but your mind also wanders in into new ideas and possibilities. Vacations sound more like fun rather then a week of work backlog. You’re always ready to leave the office at 5PM. You spend more time with your family then with your laptop, because you are at ease with the idea that everything is under control.

This is so important for our modern lifestyle, as more and more people are working from home. Without some time of control, working from home can quickly bundle your entire life – work, home, family – everything, into one giant and amorphous stressball where boundaries of time and effort are nonexistent. This phenomenon is so well known that work-at-homers are pretty much considered the driving fans of GTD – as well as communities which continuously seek new scientific methods of managing work and life – most notably, the website Lifehacker.

The most wonderful part of Allen’s philosophy is that he is not at all draconian about which ideas you incorporate into your life or exactly how you choose to do so. He is much more interested in letting you know that parts of his system which people have found the most successful, and offering suggestions for different ways to do things. His primary concern is helping you find a personal management system that works specifically for you.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” – The Compulsory GTD Productivity Post

Well, our new favorite NYC tunnel historian, Joseph Brennan, read the book and had quite a lot to say about the legitimacy of many passages in the book in his critical review Fantasy In The Mole People.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: Joseph Brennan Says The Mole People = Fantasy

After watching the recent PBS American Experience: Grand Central Terminal documentary, I was really impressed with the level of civil engineering that took place so long ago. That, even back at the turn of the century, one would even think of digging such a massive underground project is just stunning.

Last night, while meeting with the Trainjotting crew at Pershing Square for their first anniversary celebration, we all mentioned our amazement at how they continued to keep the entire congested train system running on time *during* the excavation – its just a mind-boggling engineering feat.

Which makes me very interested in reading more and viewing a big book full of beautiful photographs of the construction of the New York Subway system. Courtesy of the New York Transit Museum.

Originally appeared on: StationStops - Metro-North Train Schedules and NYC Commuting Blog See the original post here: The City Beneath Us – Digging Out the New York City Subway System