Books are an influential part of my life, and will continue to be instrumental, as I reinforce the concept of lifelong learning, in my personal and professional growth. Therefore, I’ve partnered with Amazon.com and some authors whose work I respect, to promote their books. You can invest in them as well by making a purchase as you seek to grow personally or professionally. Please check back monthly for NEW titles. And if you have found a GREAT book that you think I should include here, please let me know. Once I read it, and if I think it’s a good fit for the blog, I’ll include it on the following month.
Disclosure: I do not get compensated by the authors to review and promote their books on my blog. These books are simply resources that I find in my research to either write or read about, for my own personal development.
Title: The Business Solution To Poverty: Designing Products and Services for Three Billion New Customers. Authors: Paul Polak and Mal Warwick. Brief Review: The book makes a solid case as to why businesses should pay attention to providing solutions to the world’s 2.7 billion people who are considered poor. According to Polak and Warwick, “If you’re already doing international development work, want to start a business, or are interested in growing a multinational unit of your organization, you’ll find this book useful.” After reading the book for a post, I have to agree.
Title: A Concise History of the Haitian Revolution. Author: Jeremy D. Popkin. Brief Review: This book is one in a series written by Professor Popkin, based on his research and interpretation of the Haitian Revolution. Although I have not read the book, it is on my reading list for the next few weeks. I hesitated to include it here since I have not read it, but I didn’t want to deprive my readers if they wanted to pick it up before I did. According to the excerpt that I’ve read, it should help you understand beyond a superficial level the global impact of the Haitian Revolution in the world. And, if you’re a history buff, it will add to your knowledge of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Title: The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results. Authors: Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. Brief Review: In this New York Times bestseller, Keller and Papasan present a compelling argument on the ONE thing that separates those who are somewhat successful from those who are part of the top 10 percent. I would say the book falls under personal and business development since it deals with time management, focus and clarity. Gary Keller is chairman of the board and cofounder of Keller Williams Realty, Inc.
Title: Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. Author: Seth Godin. Brief Review: Seth Godin is a best-selling author and one of my favorite leading business thinkers. I’ve read many of his books, which I will share here in the next few months. The one idea that you will take away from Tribes is that no matter who you are, what your job status or background, if you are determined, focused, passionate and willing to work hard, you can have tremendous influence. Godin has inspired me with some of the ideas and tools for starting this blog.
Title: Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Authors: W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. Brief Review: This international bestseller takes business strategy to a completely new level. Although the research is grounded from an MBA academic standpoint, the writing is limited to the usual business jargon where any layman can understand the message. I would strongly recommend it for those thinking about starting a business. The book provides some interesting business cases for creating a foundation for long-term growth.
Title: APE: Author Publisher Entrepreneur (How to Publish a Book). Authors: Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch. Brief Review: This book has an exhaustive list of resources for those who are new to the world of publishing, or who wish to self-publish. The authors take the mystery out of publishing by walking the reader through the process of writing and marketing a book.
Title: The Magic of Thinking Big. Author: David J. Schwartz, Ph.D. Brief Review: The Magic of Thinking Big will challenge readers to reveal some of the underlying fears that can prevent one from becoming successful. The book also forces one to recognize and evaluate personal assets for creating success.