I am in the middle of reading "Love is the Killer App" by Tim Sanders and as constantly recommended by Paul Allen. It didn't take long before I realized that I was going to have to make a list of the books that Tim talked about because it was more than a few. I then listed to a discussion by Malcom Gladwell and another by Steven Levitt in which they both referenced other authors. It seems like they are all familiar with each other and are constantly quoting one another and referencing ideas brought up in each other's books. I'm going to make a network map of books. I'll start with the one that I'm reading and as I go through it, I will make a list of those connected to it. As I go through those and other books, I'll do the same. I don't know if there will ever be an end to it, but maybe there is. Maybe there is a ring of books that reference each other. Of course there will always be other books that reference that ring, but unless it's connected by someone else referencing it, it most likely will not make it into our network map. I can already tell you that my own book list will make it just because I'm going to read them anyways and most of those on Paul Allen's list will make it because I respect his opinion on books. One that might be a node completely unattached, for example, is "Mindless Eating." I'm excited to read it, but I haven't seen it linked to by any other books. Well, the image involved will most likely be constantly changing, but I will try and make sure that I always update it. I'll also provide the ygf file for anyone that uses Yworks or Yed (which I recommend for any lightweight network mapping). I imagine that with this info we'll also be able to make a network map of the authors and then maybe the topics and which topics are linked to other authors, etc. Anyone can feel free to include their own networking and I'll add it to this. Also let me know if I make a mistake. You'll notice the different colors. These will probably change but right now the darker yellow is the book that I'm mapping or have mapped. The pastel green are those listed as a must read by the author and the pastel yellow are all others mentioned in the book. I'm only on page 76 of Sanders', so there is more to come.

YGF File Download

Labels: books, network mapping