Just finished reading this book, which is definitely on my list of best books of 2006 already (I know we’re only just half way through the year) but this book does stand out very tall.

Blink is written by Malcolm Gladwell who has crafted the only book on psychology and how the human brain works that I’ve ever, not only been interested in reading, but actually got past the first paragraph.

Blink is all about rapid cognition and the way our brain works in such a way so as to actually aid us in making dicisions throughout our lives. It’s about those GUT feelings you get and all about the hows and the whys that you get them. It’s about how you can trust them and why you shouldn’t ALWAYS trust them. How your mind is sometimes misled and then the explanation about why it was mislead.

It’s truly a fascinating look at the world around you and more importantly the people and how you interact with these people. Once you’ve read this book you will start looking at people around you in a different way. You’ll begin to ‘read’ their reactions slightly differently. Body language and subtle twitches of their face will begin to shape a whole new meaning for you.

One of the great things about this book however is the style in which it is written. It’s got an almost informal feel to it all. Like Malcom was just sitting next to you and having a conversation with you about something he’s been researching for a while now. This would make an absolutely brilliant documentary and in many ways the book reads like one, in that it does reproduce a number of conversations with various characters and their experiences throughout the book. I guess that is ultimately what makes this book so readable is the fact that it doesn’t go on and on and bore you about the theory. He gives you a small description of the theory only AFTER he’s hooked you with the bait. He explains the situation and stops it off at a place which keeps you hungry; wanting; needing to know the final reasons. I’m a COMPLETE sucker for that method at first. If the final explanation leaves me wanting however my attention span turns away. Malcolm manages to really deliver with a good ending in just about every single one of his examples.

It very funny, but I’d never heard of Blink before I picked it up and bought it. I’d never heard of Malcolm Gladwell before Blink. I was casually walking around Fopp one Sunday (must have been a few months ago now), and the cover really grabbed me. Something about the name just clicked in my head. I read the cover very slightly, but it was only until I got into reading that I realised just how important it was to really start believing in your unconscious mind. The bloody thing works on OVERTIME and we haven’t even noticed. Or more accurately don’t tend to notice as often as we really should.

Go buy Blink, your life will be different once you’ve read it. Guaranteed.