Books I’m Reading
Those of you who know me well are very aware that I love reading. I always have a least one book on the go and sometimes up to five, especially at times like this so soon after Christmas which rarely passes by without numerous additions to the library. One of my dreams actually is to have a house one day with a room big enough to have one of those libraries that requires a ladder to reach the second level!
I am often asked by others what I’m reading or what book recommendations I have. As such, I thought I take this chance to share my current reading material. I’d love to know if any of you have read any of these or have an recommends to add to my list for 2007.
Books I’m Currently Reading:
First, Break All The Rules
What the World’s Greatest Managers do Differently
Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
The End of Poverty
How we can make it happen in our lifetime
Jeffrey Sachs
The Ten Face of Innovation
Strategies for heightening creativity
Tom Kelley
The Way of the Wild Heart
A map for the masculine journey
John Eldredge
Books I’m About To Read:
The Innocent Man
John Grisham
The One Thing You Need To Know
…about great managing, great leading, and sustained individual success
Marcus Buckingham
Have I Got Views For You
Boris Johnson
Books I’ve Just Read:
Soul Cravings
Erwin McManus
The Starbucks Experience
5 principles for turning ordinary into extraordinary
Joseph Michelli
Ok, that will do for now. There’s a few more I could add to my future list but I may just do that at a later date. As to the two books I’ve recently read, I really enjoyed them both. I’d recommend Soul Cravings to everyone. It is a fascinating look at how our core longings for intimacy, destiny, and meaning point to the existence of God. The Starbucks Experience was also a very enjoyable and easy read. I’d recommend it to those of you who are interested in the success of Starbucks and any lessons you could learn from that for within your own organisation.
January 6th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
awesome list.. yeah i recently finished soul cravings… not my favorite book by Erwin but still great nonetheless.
wild at heart, was good as a guide with a bunch of guys.
i thought one thing you need to know was really good.. not sure what i’ve taken from it though, and ten faces of innovation seemed excellent until i had to return it to the library!
i’d like to hear more about your thoughts on the starbucks experience!
January 6th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
I agree with Lon - that is an awesome list.
The End of Poverty was amazing - I’m doing some detailed notes on it on my blog [except I had to return my copy to the library but then have a copy coming in the mail…]
The One Thing was the best book I read in 2006.
I loved everything Elredge has written - I just finished The Journey of Desire.
I’ve heard of The Ten Faces of Innovation book - would love to hear what you think of it.
January 6th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
End of poverty was awesome…gets a bit gluggly towards the end, but it’s brilliant and understandable at the same time, he is one dude I wanna meet!
Erwin got us to read the Alchemist for our communication class this year, and it was brilliant
I also read a book called integrity by Henry Cloud which was great too!
January 7th, 2007 at 11:49 am
Lon, Tony - I’ll post some more detailed thoughts on The Starbucks Experience and The Ten Faces of Innovation this week.
Russ - I LOVED The Alchemist when I read it last year. We’re going to have it as our March book at our book club as a theatre production of it is coming to Sheffield this April. I also enjoyed Integrity - lots of good thoughts. (What’s with the mass exodus from your cricket team?!)
January 7th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Okay, I tried to read God’s Politics, which is an American political viewpoint, and never got past the first few chapters. I bought the Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama because I wanted to learn a little more about him, and made it through the first three chapters.
I used to love to read, but reading isn’t something I’m enjoying these days.
But I did want to get the Starbuck’s book. And I plan on reading The Alchemist because my 17-year old daughter did, and I can’t be outdone by a 17-year old
Looking forward to hearing what you have to say about End of Poverty.
January 10th, 2007 at 4:42 am
Thank you for taking the time to read my book. I am glad you found value in it and it was worth your time. I appreciate your willingness to recommend it. I am in your debt!!! Joseph Michelli, author of The Starbucks Experience
January 10th, 2007 at 6:56 am
sam - Happy New Year -I hope all is well with you and the Mrs!
I just finished In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day from Mark Batterson who’s the lead guy at National Community Church in D.C. Very encouraging - also just finished Confessions of a Reformission Rev. from Marc driscoll who leads Mars Hill in Seattle - 0 to 4000 folks in 8 years - kinda scary!
It’s funny I’m about half way through The Starbucks Experience - also reading The Book on Leadership by John Macarthur and also Hard Wired Leadership by Pearman. Coming up is Affluenza about the culture of over consumption(it’s sitting on Erics coffee table so I’ll throw it in my bag at our next gathering ) and River’s Edge about my wifes fav. band Weezer.
on the personal front, I took my U-8 “football” team The Corsairs to indoor soccer for Winter season - two 18 minute halves with a minute break - Brilliant!
See you next month!
January 10th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Beth - thanks for stopping by. You should definitely read The Alchemist. And it’s quite short too which is always an added bonus!
Joseph - thank you for visiting my blog again. I thought you did a great job with The Starbucks Experience. A lot of books on organisational success can be very heavy and tough to read. I thought yours managed to be light, easy to read, and yet still high impact. I intend to dedicate a whole post shortly to reviewing it. By the way, I have also been enjoying your podcasts.
Heath! Really looking forward to seeing you in Feb. It’s going to be a bit manic between now and then as it looks like we’re going to be moving house just a few days before jumping on the plane over to Orlando. All fun and games.
January 10th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
It is truly my pleasure to visit your blog, you give great book book reviews and I am glad you listen to the podcast. Joseph