My Best of 2011 Book List

Each category is in priority order of my preference. I find it odd that I put Spiritual at the bottom. I think it is because I find this the hardest category to recommend, c’est la vie. Also these are books new to me in 2011.

I was “rocked” by Tim Flannery’s “Here on Earth”. I really like how Eric Ries wrote “The Lean Startup”. It’s much more than a re-hash of this blog. Very worthwhile. Tina Fey’s Bossypants was simply LOL. A great waste of time 🙂 The Heath brothers “Switch” is a very practical book on organizational change. Roger Martin comes out against modern businesses love affair with “Maximizing Shareholder Value in “Fixing the Game”

I read a lot of non-fiction in 2011. I was big on Neuroscience and Education. I really like what Sir Ken Robinson has to say, but I’m still not sure how it will be implemented. Seth Godin’s “Linchpin” is a manifesto defining his model employee for today. We’ve all got a lot of work to do if we want to live up to his definition.

On the spiritual front. I read a lot of books, but I’m finding “The Daily Good Blog” to be a very good source of reading.

Fiction “Entertainment”

• Daemon and Freedom – Daniel Suarez | MUST READ | Techno-Thriller | Read in print this year. Listened in Audio last year. Still really fun.
• The 39 Clues – Pre-Teen … Totally fun for Adults too.
• Vinyl Cafe – Stuart McLean | Canadiana | I was mainlining these this year. Great Short stories. Best in audio, but print is good too.

Humour

• Bossy Pants – Tina Fey | LOL | Park Your “Guy-ness”. This is lots of fun. The Rules of Improv are great.

Non-Fiction

• Here on Earth — Tim Flannery | MUST READ | “Words of Hope from a Prophet of Doom” Love that quote 🙂
• Incognito – Dan Eagleman | Mind Bending | Neurolaw … wow!
• Mindsight – Dan Siegel | Very interesting | What is the medical definition of Mind? How do we “blow our lid”?
• The Post-American World – Fareed Zakaria | Interesting take on the rise of India, China, and RoW.
• Proust Was a Neuroscientist Johah Lehrer | Cool concept | Art precedes Science. Linkages may be a bit weak, but it is a fun read.

Education & Careers

• Switch – Chip & Dan Heath | MUST READ | Another practical gem from the Heath’s
• Johnny Bunko – Dan Pink | Graduation Gift | This is useful and fun 🙂
• Out of Our Minds – Sir Ken Robinson | Wow! | Very Interesting take on education today.
• The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything – Sir Ken Robinson | Easier read than “Out of Our Minds”. I preferred “Out of Our Minds”.
• Linchpin – Seth Godin | Wow | What are the attributes of the model employee in 2012?
• Drive – Dan Pink | Excellent ideas on motivation. Practical recommendations wrt/ reading and activities.
• War of Art – Steven Pressfield | Very practical “Kick in the !@#”. What are the attributes of a professional artist? A “HowTo” get to work.

Business

• The Lean Startup – Eric Ries | MUST READ | How to do “real” projects.
• Fixing The Game – Roger Martin | Thought Leader | Why you aren’t actually focussing on customers when you’re “supposedly” maximizing shareholder value.
• ProActive Sales Management – Skip Miller | This is for people who are actually doing the sales work. This is almost an “anti Sales Manager” perspective.
• Customer Centric Selling – Bosworth, Holland, Visgatis | for Sales Managers and Marketers. Good process ideas.

Spiritual

• The Daily Good Blog Just what it says.
• The Art of Happiness – Howard Cutler | Interviews with Dalai Lama. A humans purpose is be happy. It takes practice.
• Hidden Gifts of Helping | or Volunteering your way to happiness.
• Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life – Jon Kabat-Zinn | “What is a meditation practice” by one of the guys who brought meditation into the mainstream US medicine.

More Interesting 2011 Book Lists

• Harvey Schachter’s, Globe & Mail, Best Business Books of 2011
• Maria Popova’s Best of, Brain Pickings Blog | A lot of interesting titles. Goodnight iPad looks really good 🙂