Recommended Books
(By Dan Simmons)
If you’ve followed my columns, you’ve probably learned that I love the beach. I love warm summer days spent under an umbrella reading a good book—sometimes fiction, other times business, biographies, and self-improvement. Below you will find my suggestions for your summer non-fiction reading list. If it’s listed, I’ve read it, enjoyed it, and found it rewarding. I’ve linked titles to the books to Amazon.com and have also provided an excerpt from their description. I’m not making money by doing this, I’m just linking so you can learn more.
I hope you find these nine titles as interesting and rewarding as I did. See you on the sand!
Self-Improvement
The Art of Happiness at Work by The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler
Attitude and a sense of meaning are the keys to happiness at work, the exiled Tibetan leader tells psychiatrist Cutler in the course of conversations that took place over several years.
Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell
Developing the Leader Within You also allows readers to examine how to be effective in the highest calling of leadership by understanding the five characteristics that set "leader managers" apart from "run-of-the-mill managers."
Keys to Success by Napoleon Hill
Dale Carnegie-esque and user-friendly, this work contains practical advice for success. If some of these ideas seem familiar, it’s because later writers have latched onto them and presented them in more abstract terms. However, the advice remains solid. Of particular interest is the section on the major causes of personal failure. No one could go wrong trying to follow Hill's common sense exhortations and principles.
Biographies/Historical
What Would the Founders Do? by Richard Brookhiser
An intellectual exercise, this is an enjoyable, stimulating work. Combining the skills of a first-rate writer with those of a medium at a séance, Brookhiser channels the spirits of eminent early Americans in discussing contemporary public debates. At times, Brookhiser has to stretch to find an analogy between the era of the founders and today, such as his comparison between stem cell research and the old practice of robbing graves for medical research..In other cases, however, the conceit works to shed light on present and past alike.
Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt by Aida D. Donald
The extraordinary life of the man who reshaped the presidency and forged modern America--chronicled in an exhilarating, lyrical new biography.
Business
The 4 Elements of Success by Laurie Beth Jones
Based upon the elements of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire, the Path Elements Profile helps to determine both individual and team behavioral tendencies that affect everything from career choice to daily "to do" lists. We choose to act on what we value, and each element type values very different things:
- Fire personality types love and thrive on challenge.
- Water personality types thrive on harmony and calm.
- Wind personality types love chaos and change.
- Earth personality types love order and structure.
Good to Great by Jim Collins
To find the keys to greatness, Collins's 21-person research team (at his management research firm) read and coded 6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts, and created 384 megabytes of computer data during a five-year project. That Collins is able to distill the findings into a cogent, well-argued, and instructive guide is a testament to his writing skills. After establishing a definition of a good-to-great transition that involves a 10-year fallow period followed by 15 years of increased profits, Collins's crew combed through every company that has made the Fortune 500 (approximately 1,400) and found 11 that met their criteria, including Walgreens, Kimberly Clark, and Circuit City.
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
The premise of this facile piece of pop sociology has built-in appeal: little changes can have big effects, and when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or "tipping point" is reached, changing the world.
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
This is an illuminating look at how we make snap judgments—about people's intentions, the authenticity of a work of art, and even military strategy
More Recommended Books
(By Matt Deutsch)
I don’t profess to love the beach—or reading—as much as Dan, but I’ve come across a few books in my day that you might also find of interest. Like Dan, I’ve included books in the categories of “Self-Improvement,” “Biographies/Historical,” and “Business,” but I’ve also included a wildcard category which is self-explanatory.
Also like Dan, I’ve included links to Amazon.com, should you feel compelled to make a purchase. And no, I’m not making money off the links, either (sigh). Since Dan’s already presented nine titles, I thought I would keep mine to a tidy five selections.
Self-Improvement
Talent is Never Enough by John C. Maxwell
If only everybody understood this lesson. Unfortunately, it’s human nature to attempt to get by on talent alone. Maxwell, universally regarded as a foremost authority on the topic of leadership, embarks upon a slightly different path, emphasizing that the choices people make are just as important as the talent they possess. In other words, it’s not how much talent you have that’s important, it’s what you do with that talent that ultimately counts.
Biographies/Historical
Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Platinum Book of Cha-Ching! by Jeffrey Gitomer
Doesn’t sound like a biography, does it? Well, Gitomer does a great job of examining the business life of John Patterson, who bought the patent for an invention called the “cash register” and formed the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio. In his typical, exuberant fashion, Gitomer ties the philosophies and successes that Patterson experienced to today’s world, applying it both to business and also to the reader’s individual situation.
Business
Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie
We’re all creative geniuses to one degree or another, did you know that? Unfortunately, we had that genius stamped out of us at an early age because of society’s obsession with order, conformity, and uniformity. In this fun, easy-to-read “how-to” manual, MacKenzie first helps us identify the rules and regulations that serve to squelch true innovation in the corporate realm, while at the same time helping the reader to get reacquainted with their inner creative genius.
The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey
Trust is the single-most underrated element involved in the dynamics of human interaction. In fact, according to Covey, “changes everything.” In fact, he strives to apply the concept not merely to business, but also to personal relationships. Trust is the key element in every single relationship that everybody has, no matter what that relationship is—and that’s something worth thinking (and reading) about.
Because You Can’t Be Serious All the Time
Money Secrets by Dave Barry
The next-best thing to solving a problem is . . . to laugh at it. And that’s exactly what world renowned columnist Dave Barry does in his latest book, which, surprisingly, is as informative as it is hilarious. Barry apparently takes being funny in a serious fashion, as it’s obvious that he’s done his homework. I guess you have to know what you’re talking about before you can properly lampoon it—and nobody is better at that than Barry. With a section titled “How to Argue With Your Spouse About Money,” you know it has to be good.
I probably won’t see you at the beach, but you might consider picking up a copy of the above books, for when you see Dan there. |
passing cars. There are dangers for visitors, too, especially those who forget that they’re in close proximity with wild animals. Assateague Island ponies, while beautiful, will still kick or bite you if they feel threatened. It’s best to view them from a safe distance and to let them find their own food. (After all, they’ve done a pretty good job of it to this point.)