Mind mapping a book review

Steve Richards has posted a very nicely done book review of Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind. What makes Steve's review so interesting is that he's done it in a mind map. This is a technique I have used for a number of years since I have an incurable problem with actually writing on books. I think it dates back to my Aunt Alice, who used to give me a new old book from her library every time we visited her when I was growing up. Aunt Alice was a "Barnard girl" and, along with a couple of other big influencers, I owe my lifelong addiction to reading to her.

I tend to map almost everything from meetings and presentations to project plans. Mapping a book requires a different approach than scribbling notes in the margin. It's one of the great applications I've discovered for the Tablet PC and is possible because MindManager, the mapping program I use, is so well designed for the Tablet. I keep the Tablet next to me in slate mode (screen only) and jot down key points, interesting quotes (with page citations), and summary lists as I work my way through the text. I create a new branch for each chapter and always add a narrative summary in a note attached to the main node for that chapter after I've completed reading it.

I'll often add external material to the map as well. This may include reviews from blogs, Amazon.com, or other sources, related articles, and a link to the book's website when one exists. 

Steve's review is different. He's assembled a conceptual overview of the key concepts in Pink's book and built a second map with the exercises Pink includes at the end of each chapter. It's a nice piece of work and gives you more than enough information to decide if the book is one you'll be interested in reading. Steve has very generously posted the maps in native MindManager and PDF formats on his blog. If you don't have MindManager on your PC (a Mac OS X version is in the works), Mindjet offers a free viewer application you can use to view, interact with, a print the map. It's a great way to familiarize yourself with this information medium.

Thanks to JK for pointing this out.