I’ve been on both sides of this Christmas gift dilemma, and the bottom line if is very hard to find a meaningful gift for clients, when there are so many different types and personalities to cater to. But in 2011 I got an idea from Barry Moltz, a speaker and small business strategist at http://barrymotlz.com, to take a different approach. I am always pushing myself to find and read new books, so I have started a habit of sharing my annual book list with friends and clients and offering to buy them a book of their choice from my list. It is personalized, because they get what they want, but it also helps to further deepen our relationship because great books have a way of bringing people together.
I didn’t blog about this last year, but I thought it might be of interest to others, so I decided to share the idea and also to share my book lists from the last couple of years. What books should I add to my list in 2013?
2012 List
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
Kill Shot by Vince Flynn
Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
Excuse me, Your Life is Waiting by Lynn Grabhorn
The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Best Served Cold by Joe Ambercrombie
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
#1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Tears of a Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
Running: The Year Round Plan by Jeff Galloway
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King
Run to Overcome by Meb Keflezighi with Dick Patrick
The Passage by Justin Cronin
How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
The Twelve by Justin Cronin
Last Man Standing by Vince Flynn
The Life of Pi by Yann Martel
2011 List
Endless Referrals by Bob Burg
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival by Laura Hillenbrand
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
A mans search for meaning by Victor Frankl
Transfer of Power by Vince Flynn
Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef
True Purpose: 12 strategies for Discovering the Difference You are Meant to Make by Tim Kelly
Too Big to Fail by Andrew Ross
Enchanted by Orson Scott Card
Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
A whole new mind by Daniel Pink
Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
5 Secrets you must discover before you die by John Izzo
Bacon Vs. Oatmeal by Justin Foster
Magic Street by Orson Scott Card
Bossy Pants by Tina Fey
Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting by Robert McKee
Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
2 Comments. Leave new
Love this idea – and that you are so honest about what you read!
I like a wide variety, don’t mind sharing that.