GOOD READS IN 2010

This was a year that I knew I wanted to read. I wanted to immerse myself in soft white pages, breathe in deep that distinct book smell, turn page after page after page until I reached the end. I believe so wholeheartedly in the power of books and I’ve spent much of my life just gobbling them up. Books to me equal growth. I keep a notebook beside me at all times for the business/inspirational non-fiction reads; a stack of stickies for the stories and passages of fiction that I come across that are just so well written that I don’t ever want to forget it. It’s been a busy year, and at some points I was burning the candle at both ends, so to speak. But still I tried as best as I could to make time for my books. I had a goal to read 30 books this year and whether it was reading on long car trips, for a few minutes before my head hit the pillow, or listening to them in audio book form, I know that my life is better for having made time for them.

The books I have listed below are my top reads from 2010. And I know this post will be long, but that’s just because there’s so much goodness that I want to share with you. These are the books that made me think, that I filled up notebooks with ideas from, that kept me up too late, and that in some way or another challenged and inspired me. These were the books that that gave me little pieces of quiet when things got too hectic and that guided me in setting up and running my business this year.

Purple Cow by Seth Godin

I don’t know what to say about this author, other than his words and insights about business have rocked my world. I could recommend any one of his books that I’ve read this year (Small is the New Big & Linchpin are both amazing) but if there’s any logical place to start, it’s with this book. I couldn’t agree more with his philosophy that in order to stand out among a field of a dozen identical black and white cows, you’ve just got to be purple. That is, you’ve got to find a way to stand out. Find a way to be remarkable, memorable, and excellent in a marketplace saturated with mediocrity. It’s a philosophy that I’ve tried to build my business on. Take home message? Treading on the safe path is perhaps the riskiest thing you can do.

Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders

This was the book I kicked off the New Year with. I remember reading it while we were visiting New York City, and I will never be able to detach it from that feeling I had while there, of fresh beginnings, wet city sidewalks, and endless possibilities. This was a book from which I filled up a whole notebook with ideas. Sanders takes on the business world from an entirely different perspective, and that is one of sharing. Sharing your knowledge, your network, and your compassion. He challenges us to become a source of answers to people’s questions. At a point in my business when I was just starting to understand what it meant to create a brand for myself, this book came at just the right time.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Don Miller

This book made me want to write a better story for my life. This is also a book that I know I need to revisit. Miller writes in a way that is non-confrontational, that is easy to connect with, and that above all else, is so very honest. It’s so quirky too. Basically, it’s the story about how on the journey of writing his own life’s story, he realizes that he’s not actually writing the story that he wants his life to tell. And so, just like any writer can, he decides he’s going to start writing a better story with his life. So inspirational was this read. Don Miller is a Christian author but he writes in a way that just about anybody can get a whole lot out of this book.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

A whirlwind of a story written from multiple perspectives, all revolving around a single event in 1970s New York City. A lovely miasma of all my favourite things, this read had it all except for a nice tidy ending, which I happen to love too. This was maybe my favourite fiction read of the year.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

I’ve read this book probably about five times now. It’s a book I just keep going back to, loving more with each read. And yes, it’s better than the movie. Well, I should say, it’s almost the exact same as the movie, but if you’re a lover of words and sentences and paragraphs like I am, it just doesn’t even compare. Every time it leaves me with the resounding feeling that most times things we see or hear about are really so much more beyond our comprehension. I love how a whole story comes out of a vase breaking on a hot summer’s day, and how a whole life can change so innocently.

Ignore Everybody & 39 Other Keys to Creativity by Hugh McLeod

40 keys to being more creative. My personal favourites were :#1 – The more original your idea, the less good advice other people will be able to give you; #2 – The sovereignty you have over your work will inspire far more people than the actual content ever will – it will inspire them to do the same in their own lives and that is a powerful thing to put out into the world; #11 – The more talented somebody is, the less likely they need props. Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece on the back of a deli menu would not surprise me. Meeting a person who wrote a masterpiece with a silver Cartier fountain pen on an antique writing table in an airy SoHo loft would seriously surprise me; #23 – Nobody cares – do it for yourself. This book is filled with so many nuggets of wisdom, written by a guy who made a life for himself drawing cartoons on the backs of business cards.

At Home by Bill Bryson

I just finished this one and not going to lie….it was a long read. All 400+ pages of it. But for trivia junkies and those who enjoy learning about where we come from and why things are the way they are… this book is unlike any book you’ve ever read before. Bryson goes through the rooms of his old rectory cottage in the UK, room by room, truly revealing that anything that happens in history, in one way or another, has eventually made its way into our kitchens and bathrooms, bedrooms and hallways. Such a fascinating read…and that’s coming from someone who has never been particularly interested in history.

City of Thieves by David Benioff

I love books that are more than they seem on the surface, and I loved getting lost in the pages of this one. In this telling of two boys during World War II Leningrad, the author makes you come face to face with brutal honesty, savagery, and descriptions that are heart stoppingly difficult to read….and then a few sentences later has you laughing. This book held me from start to finish.

I’ve also been heavily inspired this year by quite a few blogs that I read from time to time…..here are some of my favourite posts from this past year that I’ve kept bookmarked and occasionally revisit:

Sarah Rhoads’s thoughts about CHOICE | Seth Godin’s thoughts about SPREADING IDEAS | Chase Jarvis’s thoughts about INSPIRATION & CREATIVITY

What were some of your favourite reads from this past year? Books that changed your perspective, inspired you, or were just plain fun to read? Just leave a comment with some of your recommendations – I would love some more books to add to my ever-growing 2011 reading list!!

Happy reading!

- Jenn xx