It’s June. Somehow we’re halfway through 2013. It’s time to talk about the books that have most influenced me so far this year. In no particular order, here they are…
Bob Goff is an amazing man. There aren’t many books that can make me laugh, get angry and cry—all within the span of 20 pages! The first half of this book was so powerful that I could barely stay seated.
I got to see Bob speak at the Orange conference this spring and he is the real deal. Rarely have I see someone so full of joy and courageous optimism. I guess there is more than a little Jesus going on inside that guy.
This book didn’t make me laugh at all. It broke my heart. If you haven’t read this book, you really should. The author lived in the slums of Mumbai for 3 years and this book is the story of what she witnessed.
The best word for it is “brutal”. However it is a story that needs to be told. There is a cost to development and the cost is usually people who are left in the dust of rapid advancement.
Jon Acuff’s first book was hilarious. When I read his second book I thought, “This is pretty good.” While reading Start as fast as I could I kept thinking, “THIS BOOK IS AWESOME!” If you are stuck, bored, or going through something difficult you should read this book. This book is the reason I went from thinking I should start blogging to actually starting to blog. It’s pure motivation.
If you’ve been living in a cave for the last few years, here’s Jon’s blog.
Speaking of blogging—a few months ago I didn’t know jack about blogging and I’ve never been very tech savvy. Michael Hyatt’s book changed all that for me. This book is the best “how to manual” for anything that I’ve ever seen. There’s great stuff in here about building a platform. If you already know quite a bit about blogging, e-business and publishing you’ll pick up a few helpful pointers. If you don’t know anything you better get ready for the fire hose treatment. Platform is a very well written book that I simply loved to read. If you aren’t following Hyatt’s blog you should be.
If you deal with ideas or the spread of information in any way this book is a must read. The central question of the book is what causes something to go viral? And, we’re not talking disease. We’re talking about ideas, You Tube videos, products, restaurants, and blog posts. It’s a fascination read and the author does a good job of describing how anyone in any field can employ his theories to achieve virality.
Honorable Mention
Hey Jack! I know it’s not very intellectual but I just can’t get enough of this show or this family. They are too funny! Besides, there are too many odd similarities between the Robertsons and my family…
What books have impacted you so far this year?
