The Ten Best Books of 2008
Well, it’s officially the holiday shopping season, so, instead of the usual Friday Freebies, here is my list of my favorite business books (and a few non-business ones too) of 2008. Maybe you’ll find something here for your holiday wish list. I’ve included some reviews and personal notes as well.
Hot Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America by Thomas L. Friedman
From The NY Times: The litany of dangers has been told many times before, but Mr. Friedman’s voice is compelling and will be widely heard…Heads will be nodding across airport lounges, as readers absorb Mr. Friedman’s common sense about how America and the world are dangerously addicted to cheap fossil fuels while we recklessly use the atmosphere as a dumping ground for carbon dioxide.
Chris’ note: Friedman rocks again. Best business book I read this year. If you like this kind of reading, check out T. Boone Pickens’ Energy plan video as well.
The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures by Dan Roam
From BN.com: The Back Of The Napkin proves that thinking with pictures can help anyone discover and develop new ideas, solve problems in unexpected ways, and dramatically improve their ability to share their insights. This book will help readers literally see the world in a new way.
Chris’ note: A great book. It changed the way I think and communicate ideas to others. Along with the next two books by Bert Decker and Garr Reynolds, they made a huge impact on my world this year.
You’ve Got to be Believed to Be Heard by Bert Decker
From the publisher: Effective communication is essential in business and in everyday life. The most powerful communicators reach not just our minds but our hearts: They win our trust. You can learn to impress and persuade other people by following Bert Decker’s program in You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard.
Chris’ note: I took Bert Decker’s course and he sent me his book to review. Amazing results and a great and informative book.
Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds
Nancy Duarte, CEO, Duarte Design: “Garr is a beacon of hope for frustrated audiences everywhere. His design philosophy and fundamental principles bring life to messages and can invigorate careers. His principles of simplicity are as much a journey of the soul as they are restraint of the mouse.”
Chris’ note: The book I’d been waiting for for a long time. If more people read this and use the Zen principles of design Garr espouses the world will be a much better place…well, at least boring lectures and conferences might be a bit better anyway!
Slide:ology by Nancy Duarte
From Amazon.com: Millions of presentations and billions of slides have been produced — and most of them miss the mark. slide:ology will challenge your traditional approach to creating slides by teaching you how to be a visual thinker. And it will help your career by creating momentum for your cause.
Chris’ note: Add this to your library along with Presentation Zen and You’ve Got to be Believed to Be Heard and won’t go wrong in a presentation ever again!
The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
From the publisher: Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha.”
Chris’ note: Great biography. Informative, inspiring and very well written.
The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew J. Bacevich
From The Washington Post: This compact, meaty volume ought to be on the reading list of every candidate for national office — House, Senate or the White House — in November’s elections. In an age of cant and baloney, Andrew Bacevich offers a bracing slap of reality. He confronts fundamental questions that Americans have been avoiding since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, first of all: What is the sole superpower’s proper role in the world?
Chris’ note: A powerful read written by a retired army colonel that is an indictment of American selfishness and how it has led us to the point we are at now. Hope you have thick skin when you read this!
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
From Amazon.com: Now that he’s gotten us talking about the viral life of ideas and the power of gut reactions, Malcolm Gladwell poses a more provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential? Challenging our cherished belief of the “self-made man,” he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don’t arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: “they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot.” Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, “some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky.”
Chris’ note: Gladwell has done it again. Another excellent book from one of my favorite authors. Check out Malcolm himself talking about his latest book here.
Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition by Guy Kawasaki
From the publisher: In Silicon Valley slang, a “bozo explosion” is what causes a lean, mean, fighting machine of a company to slide into mediocrity. As Guy Kawasaki puts it, “If the two most popular words in your company are partner and strategic, and partner has become a verb, and strategic is used to describe decisions and activities that don’t make sense” . . . it’s time for a reality check.
Chris’ note: Aside from Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki is one of the top people that have influenced my thinking and my writing. Guy sent me his book to read earlier this month and I couldn’t wait to read it! It didn’t disappoint. He’s continued his tradition of flat out saying it like it is and that’s what I love about Guy. Awesome dude and great book! Check out Guy talking about his latest book here.
And last but most certainly not least Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
From Publisher’s Weekly: Short on pages but long on repetition, this newest book by Godin (Purple Cow) argues that lasting and substantive change can be best effected by a tribe: a group of people connected to each other, to a leader and to an idea. Smart innovators find or assemble a movement of similarly minded individuals and get the tribe excited by a new product, service or message, often via the Internet (consider, for example, the popularity of the Obama campaign, Facebook or Twitter). Tribes, Godin says, can be within or outside a corporation, and almost everyone can be a leader; most are kept from realizing their potential by fear of criticism and fear of being wrong.
Chris’ note: What can I say? I mean, my blog’s name is a direct homage to Seth! The guy is awesome and so is his latest books. Just buy it, it’s worth it. And if you don’t want to buy it, download the audiobook for FREE from Audible.com.
And a few of my favorite non-business books this past year:
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
From BN.com: Although the title of Haruki Murakami’s memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, gives you a fairly clear idea of the book’s subject matter, the choice of running as a subject for Murakami, who is better known for his novels and short stories than for his participation in the Boston Marathon (seven times), calls for some explanation. So, in the foreword to the book, Murakami explains: “I’m not trying here to give advice like, ‘Okay everybody — let’s run every day to stay healthy!’ Instead, this is a book in which I’ve gathered my thoughts about what running has meant to me as a person. Just a book in which I ponder various things and think out loud.”
Chris note: One of my favorite authors of fiction wrote a great memoir of one of my life’s love’s: running! It doesn’t get much better than this. After reading so many of his books, it’s the first time I feel like I got the chance to “know” the author. Great stuff. And if you’re over 40 like me, it’s really inspirational!
More Information Than You Require by John Hodgman
From Amazon.com: While writer and former literary agent John Hodgman had a considerable cult following before the publication of his first book, The Areas of My Expertise, the exact moment when Hodgmania hit fever pitch can be traced to his November 16, 2005, appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, when a “Famous Minor Television Personality” was born. Since then he has welcomed a new level of visibility as the Resident Expert on The Daily Show, appearing as the PC in the ubiquitous “Get a Mac” ads, and in bit roles in movies and on TV, so the world should be primed to embrace More Information Than You Require, Book Two in his Compendium of Complete World Knowledge (or, as it says on the cover, “New Ferret, Same Old Con”). Fun facts, bizarre trivia, and oddball photos (“Figure 51: Jane Addams, Pre-Antlers”) are crammed into every corner of the page with extended riffs on How to Tell the Future Using a Pig’s Spleen, What to Expect While Serving as a Juror, Gambling (“Sure Thing Number Three: Star Wars Slots”), How to Deal With Some Common Infestations, and of course, How to Be Famous.
Chris’ note: Yes, I’m a huge Daily Show fan and John Hodgman is hysterical. This book is filled with some of the funniest stuff you’ll read this year! Kept me in stitches.
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
From Publisher’s Weekly: The much-anticipated third book in Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle continues to rely heavily on classic fantasy tropes. The novel launches with magician and Dragon Rider Eragon, his cousin Roran and the dragon Saphira on a quest to rescue Roran’s betrothed. The cousins soon split up, and Roran undergoes his own series of heroic tests, culminating in a well-choreographed and intense fight against an Urgal (a ram-human hybrid). Eragon, at the same time, encounters treacherous dwarves, undergoes even more training with the elf Oromis and gains a magical sword suitable for a Dragon Rider.
Chris’ note: I’ve loved this entire series so far. For a young writer, Paolini is really gifted. His worlds are rich and mysterious and his characters are well-developed. A thick book, but a quick read. Worth the time.
Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America by Steven Waldman
From Publisher’s Weekly: Various American evangelicals have claimed the founding fathers as believing and practicing Protestants who intended America to be a Christian nation. Secularists, on the other hand, see in the same historical record evidence that the founders were often Deists at best. Both views are grossly oversimplified, argues Waldman, cofounder and editor-in-chief of Beliefnet.com. In this engaging, well-researched study, Waldman focuses on the five founding fathers who had the most influence on religion’s role in the state—Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Adams and Madison—and untangles their complex legacy. They were certainly diverse in religiosity, with Jefferson a self-diagnosed heretic, for instance, and Washington a churchgoing Anglican who was silent on points of doctrine and refrained from taking communion. All, however, were committed to the creation of religious freedom in the new nation. Waldman deserves kudos for systematically debunking popular myths: America was not primarily settled by people seeking religious freedom; the separation of church and state did not result from the activism of secularists, but, paradoxically, from the efforts of 18th-century evangelicals; and the American Revolution was as much a reaction against European theocracy as a struggle for economic or political freedom. Waldman produces a thoughtful and remarkably balanced account of religion in early America.
Chris’ note: I first heard Steven Waldman on Fresh Air on NPR. Not only is he a great speaker, he is a great researcher and writer. Glad someone finally tackled this divisive topic and dispelled some long held misconceptions.
The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
From Amazon.com: A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave–”Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”–wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.
Chris’ note: I can’t say enough good things about this book. To be super brief: Sobering yet life affirming! No two ways about this one, you have to read this now!
The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
From BN.com: The Wordy Shipmates is New York Times-bestselling author Sarah Vowell’s exploration of the Puritans and their journey to America to become the people of John Winthrop’s “city upon a hill”-a shining example, a “city that cannot be hid.” To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that means-and what it should mean. What was this great political enterprise all about? Who were these people who are considered the philosophical, spiritual, and moral ancestors of our nation? What Vowell discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoe-buckles-and-corn reputation might suggest. The people she finds are highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty. Their story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance.
Chris’ note: Sarah Vowell has an incredible way of making history fun to read about. I’ve read just about everything she’s ever written and it’s all really good. She’s witty, funny, sarcastic, and brilliant.
A Vineyard in Tuscany: A Wine Lover’s Dream by Ferenc Máté
From BN.com: In this intimate and uproarious story, two daring New Yorkers convert an ancient, abandoned farm into a world-renowned winery. This highly entertaining tale of how two dreamers struggle and thrive in idyllic Tuscany will enrich the lives of travelers and wine lovers alike.
Chris’ note: Much better than Under the Tuscan Sun!
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Thanks Chris. Great list! Adding a bunch of these to my list for Santa! I really liked your non-business list too. Murakami is one of my favorites! Enjoy your holidays.
Thanks. I just grabbed Godin’s free ebook off of Audible and downloaded Outliers from iTunes. Great list.
You must read a lot of books! I’m a Daily Show fan too and love Sarah Vowell’s appearances of the show. I’ll have to get her new book. Thanks for Friday Freebies and this book list.
If you loved Seth Godin’s “Tribes…” you’ll probably love Ray Immelman’s “Great Boss, Dead Boss” too. Highly recommended! And great list BTW. Thanks for sharing!
Free Audible book “Tribes” by Seth Godin http://tinyurl.com/6jvltt …how does it resonate to you?
PINGBACK http://dbvt.com/blog/post/Everyman-Links-for-December-4-2008.aspx
…Here are two 2008 Ten Best Book Lists for you. I like best book lists, and hopefully there will be more before 2008 plays out. Of the two I have to give the nod to Chris Spagnuolo who begins his list with my man Thomas Friedman’s “Hot, Flat, and Crowded.” I just finished Godin’s “Tribes” and would put it in my year’s Top Ten list as did Chris. I’m intrigued with “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running,” and need to read “The Last Lecture.”…
My Ten Best Books of 2008 list: http://is.gd/aLVM
RT @cspag: My Ten Best Books of 2008 list: http://is.gd/aLVM Great list here…
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