The Importance of Reading: What Is On My List

One of my favorite "reads" is the monthly newsletter of Alan Weiss called the Balancing Act. It is full of advice for life, consulting and dealing with people. It is educational and often amusing. In this most recent issue Alan makes the comment "The debate whether you're reading books in hard copy or electronically is immaterial. The question is: Are you reading books?"


I mentioned the other day that I was posting (or trying to post) five times a week and occassionally a sixth time. Another person's remark to that was "I don't know how you do it, I don't have that much to say." Well part of the way I do it is from reading. Other blogs, newspapers (the actual paper kind), online news stories and books. I actually have two stacks of books on my desk here beside me to be read of reread. Here is what is there.

• Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web 
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
• Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
• How to Acquire Clients: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner
• What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures
• The Talent Advantage: How to Attract and Retain the Best and the Brightest
• Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?
• Aligning Human Resources and Business Strategy, Second Edition
• SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
• The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization
• Thrive! Stop wishing your life away
• Thinking about the Future, Guidelines for Strategic Foresight
• The Abs Diet: The Six-Week Plan to Flatten Your Stomach and Keep You Lean for Life
• The Abs Diet 6-Minute Meals for 6-Pack Abs: More Than 150 Great-Tasting Recipes to Melt Away Fat!
• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us
• Pursuit of Honor: A Novel
• Anna Karenina (I am reading this one on my IPad)
• The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America
• 25 Big Ideas: The Science That's Changing Our World

Well there you have a glimpse into my mind based on my reading list. What is on yours? And more importantly if you had ONE book you would recommend I read what would it be? (other than the Bible.. got that one.)

In summary the importance of reading books is you get NEW IDEAS, NEW WAYS OF THINKING, REVISIONS OF OLD IDEAS, GUIDANCE AND ENJOYMENT. At least I do. I always think of the statement I once read LEADERS ARE READERS.