So, two blog post got me thinking about the books I’ve read this year. One from Annie Sorenson which I misstated the books I’ve read and another from Lauren Leto where I ribbed her for not having any business books on her list.
Anyway, I am often asked “how I know what I know” and while I’d like to take credit for having a huge brain, vast intelligence and an uncanny ability to see the world in a way no one else does, I simply can’t tell that lie. The truth is, a lot of what I know and the insights I have is because of what I choose to read. I then apply these insights into my world view and cement them in real life examples of my own – making them my own, but most of what I know is seeded from great books. I typically read 3 or 4 books at one time. That seems to keep me the most interested and also allows me to cover several topics at one time.
I’ve found that books on business, self improvement, sales and just about anything else are truly the cliff notes to success. All you have to do is invest some of your time and attention and a few bucks and you can learn what took someone else countless hours of personal experience and research to create. Reading books is so much smarter, faster, and more insightful than college classes. Of course, it’s worthless if you don’t apply what you read or learn and it doesn’t matter if you are reading books that only serve an entertainment purpose.
I think I’ve covered all the books from this year. The following is my list of books from 2009.
- Referral of a Lifetime by Tim Templeton. (read this twice this year)
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki with Sharon Lechter (second year in a row to read this book)
- The Microsoft Edge by Julie Bick
- Tribes by Seth Godin (very quick book – read twice this year)
- Innovation by Tom Gorman
- Multipreneuring by Tom Gorman
- How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath and Donald O Clifton ( I read this at least once a year).
- The Big Red Fez by Seth Godin
- Write the Perfect Book Proposal by Jeff Herman and Deborah Levine Herman
- All Marketers are Liars by Seth Godin
- Free Publicity by Jeff Criley
- The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott
- Unleashing the Idea Virus by Seth Godin
- Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout
- Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath
- Buzzmarketing by Mark Hughes
- Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
- Word of Mouth Marketing by Andy Sernovitz
- The New Influeners by Paul Gillin
- No B.S. Direct Marketing by Dan Kennedy
- What Would Google Do by Jeff Jarvis (have this on audio – 2 times this year).
- The Google Story by David Vise
- Purple Cow by Seth Godin (have this on audio – 5 times this year).
- Small is the New Big by Seth Godin (have this on audio – 3 times this year).
- Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell (have this on audio – 2 times this year).
- The Long Tail by Chris Anderson
- How to Build a Complete Sales Person by Bryan Dodge (have this on audio – 3 times this year).
- Influence. The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
- Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven ways to be Persuasive by Goldstein, Martin and Cialdini
- 91 Mistakes Smart Sales People Make by Tim Conner
- The 25 Sales Habits of Highly Succesful Sales People by Stephan Shiffman
- Cold Calling Techniques by Stephen Shiffman
- How to Become a Marketing Superstar by Jeffrey J Fox.
- Magic Bullets by Michael Kessee and Ankesh Kothari
- The Dip by Seth Godin
- What Matters Now by Seth Godin and friends (free ebook)
- Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen
- The Shack by William P Young
Liesure reading:
- NEXT by Michael Chrichton
- Ghost Radio by leopoldo Gout
- Busting Vegas by Ben Mezrich
- People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
- The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg
- No Survivors by Tom Cain
- Ghost Medicine by Andrew Smith
- The Boxer and the Spy by Robert B Parker
So what are you reading? Do you agree that books are better than college? What do you recommend I read in 2010?
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