2003 Reading List (20 books)
In 2003, speaker and author, Michael Angelo Caruso, started keeping track of the books he read from year to year. Here is his reading list from that first year when he read twenty books.
1. The Secrets of Power Negotiating*
Audio book by Roger Dawson
All right! Here’s Negotiating 101 by the master. Dawson’s British accent is easy on the ears. He covers all the basics, including closes (including “the door knob close”), effective gambits (like “higher authority”) and plain fun techniques (including “the flinch”).
2. Hughes: The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters; The Definitive Biography of the First American Billionaire
By Richard Hacker
This is a fascinating study of the enigma known as Howard Hughes. What other billionaire movie producer do you know of that set airplane speed records, walked away from several plane crashes and still managed to enter the aviation hall of fame?
Do you know where Howard Hughes initially got his money? He inherited most of it from his father’s fortune. Daddy Hughes was in the oil business. He invented a drill that worked better than most. Daddy’s brilliant idea, however, was to rent the drill bits rather than sell them outright.
3. How to Be Assertive
Audio book by Jennifer Buck
[Disclosure: Jennifer is one of my speaker buddies.] It’s not easy for women to be assertive without seeming aggressive. The author offers great tips on how to be assertive. Women will especially enjoy this program.
4. Self Matters
Audio book by Dr. Phil McGraw
I learned several important lessons from this audio program from Dr. Phi:
1. You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.
2. The world is not dedicated to my nurturance.
3. The word “infanticize” or to treat like an infant.
It’s interesting that the “new guy,” Dr. Phil, refers to lessons learned decades and even centuries ago. Dr. McGraw talks a lot about Rotter’s “locus of control,” Locke’s “blank slate” and Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs.” Oops! He doesn’t credit Julian Rotter, John Locke or Abraham Maslow.
5. Guerilla Marketing for Writers: 100 Weapons for Selling Your Work
By Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman & Michael Larsen
This book is a must for writers and publishers. It offers scads of low-cost ideas for getting your work published, distributed and eventually read. The Guerilla series will rarely let you down.
6. Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Times of James Jamerson*
By Dr. Licks
This is the source document for the Academy Award-winning movie, Standing in the Shadows of Motown. It’s written in narrative prose, but the book it has lots of musical analysis, including a CD that features famous bass players laying down their favorite Motown licks. The book also has sheet music so that musicians can enjoy musical notation of the music recorded by the incomparable Funk Brothers.
7. Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . and Others Don’t*
By Jim Collins
This best-seller became the book to mention at board meetings and strategic-planning sessions. Collins and his team of researchers identify the company’s who have done something special. The criterion is strict and the prose is dogmatic, but there are lots of interesting findings, including:
1) Money does not motivate.
2) It’s important to get the right people on the bus.
3) It’s important to get people into the right seats on the bus.
4) Great companies are usually not run by charismatic leaders.
Collins likes to say that Good to Great is the prequel to his best-selling Built to Last.
8. The Four Agreements*
By Miguel Ruiz
The first agreement is worth the price of admission: “Don’t harm yourself with your own words.” Self-talk is so powerful. If you’ve ever said . . .
1) ”I’m not good at public speaking”
2) ”I’m not a morning person.”
3) ”I hate Mondays.”
. . . then you must read this book.
9. Unbeatable Customer Service
Audio book by Judi Moreo
[Disclosure: Judi Moreo is a friend of mine.] Service has become a huge economy in the United States. This audio books is friendly and fun.
10. The Power of Losing Control
By Joe Caruso
[Disclosure: The author is my younger brother. I have known him all his life.] This book has a unique approach to gaining control to your life. Joe Caruso suggests that you understand how out of control you really are and then offers lots of tips on how to deal with it. The opening passage of this book is extremely compelling.
11. Catch Me If You Can
By Frank Abagnale
I reread this book in 2003, having first read it many years ago before Steven Spielberg made the movie. I love the story and was continually surprised how gullible people can be and how the young con artist worked the system — for a short time. Abagnale eventually became a security expert and wrote a sequel to this book, titled, The Art of the Steal.
12. The Art of the Steal
By Frank Abagnale
This is the sequel to Catch Me If You Can. In this book, young con artist Frank Abagnale grows up and lends his underworld expertise to those of us wishing to not experience underworld expertise. The Art of the Steal has lots of tips on how to avoid the popular crime known as identity theft.
13. The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature*
By Stephen Pinker
Pinker denounces John Locke’s “tabula rasa” theory and painstakingly documents how the mapping of the human genome suggests that almost everything about your personality is a foregone conclusion. This book is not easy to read although each page offers some important thought or clever viewpoint.
14. On Writing
Audio book by Stephen King
The master of fiction uses the book On Writing to explain how he became the master of fiction. Although many of his “secrets” have ordinary explanations, I enjoyed learning how King goes about his day. It’s fun hearing He also covers the details of his near fatal accident
15. Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World’s Greatest Outlaw
Audio book by Mark Bowden
Cocaine king, Pablo Escobar, ruled Columbia’s drug trade with a iron fist. Killing Pablo is a fantastic adventure that will make a killer movie. I’m betting on George Lopez to star as Pablo.
16. The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary*
Audio book by Simon Winchester
Here’s a book that chronicles the creation of what might be the most important book ever written. Simon Winchester’s wonderful voice is a treat.
17. Negotiate This! By Caring, But Not T-H-A-T Much*
Audio book by Herb Cohen
I’ve been a fan of Herb Cohen for many years. In Negotiate This! Cohen teaches that when we care too much about something, we get emotionally involved. When we get emotionally involved, Cohen contends, we cannot effectively negotiate. The author takes us behind-the-scenes into international politics and the hot topic of terrorism.
Like most people on the lecture circuit, Mr. Cohen has a tendency to go on a bit, but what professional speaker doesn’t? Laugh and learn with Herb Cohen.
18. Survival is Not Enough: Why Smart Companies Abandon Worry and Embrace Change
Audio book by Seth Godin
The author is certainly prolific. His books are not long or deep, but always contain good ideas in an easy-to-understand format.
19. Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work
Audio book by John Maxwell
I’ve always wanted to learn more about John Maxwell, the founder of INJOY. Maxwell is a former man of the cloth who has fashioned a strong career as a speaker and an author. I read Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership a while back and enjoyed it more than this audio program. Still, Maxwell has some interesting ideas on how to become successful.
20. The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade
By Thomas Lynch
Lynch is a poet and an undertaker. My brother gave me this book as a gift and I became enchanted with how the author manages to weave his memoirs and teach his vocation in one book. The Undertaking has given me an idea about a book I want to write.
* Highly recommended
