2005 Reading list (35 books)
As an author, speaker and consultant, it’s important to be well-read, particularly in the area of non-fiction, including biographies and psychology books.
In 2005, I processed (read or listened to) 35 books. The list and brief reviews are below. Recommended books are indicated with an asterisk.
35. Founding BrothersThe Revolutionary Generation
By Joseph J. Ellis
The 1790’s may be the most important decade in American history. Author Joseph Ellis traces the contributions of eight individuals Abigail Adams, John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington.
34. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything*
By Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
This unusual book established a publishing trend by linking pop culture to economics. Freakonomics is a collection of economic articles written by Levitt, a University of Chicago economist and Dubner, a journalist with the New York Times.
It’s a fun book to read because the topics of sumo wrestling, drug dealing and the naming of children make the study of economics much more interesting.
33. A Great ImprovisationFranklin, France, and the Birth of America
By Stacy Schiff
Benjamin Franklin believed that the last part of a human life should be like the last act of a great play important and satisfying. After a lifetime of notable accomplishments, the inventor, publisher and statesman journeyed to France.
Adams resented the attention showered on Franklin and wrote that he was the “scourge and curse of domestic affairs.” Born the youngest son of a youngest son, Franklin parlayed his diplomacy and boundless energy into a long and fruitful life. Many believe he is our country’s most famous non-President.
32. The Virtual HandshakeOpening Doors and Closing Deals Online
By David Teten and Scott Allen
David Teten knows about networking online. He met his eventual wife over the internet. The book provides seven keys to establishing a world-class network, which include character, confidence, relevance and diversity.
31. Gods and Generals
By Jeff Shaara
Jeff inherited the book franchise from his father, Michael. People can’t get enough of the Civil War. A movie of the same name starred Jeff Daniels.
30. You: The Owner’s Manual
Audio book by Michael Roizen, MD and Mehmet C. Oz
Doctors Roizen and Oz write about how to decrease the age of your body. The book gives advice on what causes aging and how to take years off your life.
Well organized and an easy read, the text handles all the important parts of the body, including the brain, the heart and the lungs.
There’s lots of information on the hardening of the arteries and cholesterol.
I especially enjoyed the authors’ creative metaphors like “your breathing gets less attention than Janet Jackson’s backup dancers.”
29. Who’s There?
E-book by Seth Godin
Most of Seth Godin’s p-books or print books are short and sweet. Imagine how wispy his e-books are.
Still, Godin’s an interesting writer with many good ideas.
28. How to Be a Great Communicator
Audio Book by Nido Quebein
The author is a long-time member of the National Speaker’s Association and the business person’s motivational speaker.
27. What Great Telecom Managers KnowHow to Get the Recognition You Deserve by Demonstrating Your Value and ROI
By Roger Young
I met Roger at a telecommunication conference and was very impressed with his marketing savvy. Self-promotion, after all, is a form of marketing.
This niche book is sure to help an overworked and often underappreciated sector of the industry known as telecom managers. They take care of little things like phone service, an amenity people don’t appreciate until they don’t have it.
Did you know that telecom managers are at least partly responsible for an almost unbelievable consistency of service? Known as the “Five 9’s,” you can expect your land line at work to have dial tone 99.999% of the time. By contrast, computer and data people often report software and hardware crashes.
26. How to Master the Art of Selling
By Tom Hopkins
The author is a veteran seller and perhaps the most famous old-school sales consultant alive. This book is worth reading for the close techniques alone.
25. Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play*
Audio book by Mahan Kahlsa
This is one of the best books on selling I’ve ever read. The basic premise is that a salesperson should never guess at what the customer wants. When we guess, we are likely to guess wrong, which leads to all sorts of problems ranging from not providing the correct product/service to underbidding.
The author writes about “yellow lights” and how sellers need to not proceed if they observe one.
Kahlsa is not patient with buyers who keep information and sometimes even the decision- maker away from the seller.
This is a great book for sellers and the world needs another Kahlsa program for the purchasing agents.
24. Secrets of VITO: Think and Sell Like a CEO
By Anthony Parinello
A Chicago client asked me to read this book before speaking to their sales team. Anthony Parinello offers some good ideas including, the favorable interruption, signing your business card before giving it to VITO and how to properly invite people to your sales presentation. This book is the sequel to Selling to VITOThe Very Important Top Officer.
In sales, it’s important to sell to decision makers. These men and women hold what are called “C level” positions within their companies. The “C” can stand for CEO, CFO, COO . . .
23. NLP: The New Technology of Achievement
Audio book by Nightingale Conant
I would only recommend this very basic introduction to the science of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) to newbies. This book contains lots of real-time applications that move along too slowly for audio processing but too quickly to be effective. One of the strongest sections is on the history of NLP, which was discovered in the 70’s by two West Coast scholars.
22. Don’t Make Me Think–A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
By Steve Krug
The author refers to his thinking on the subject of Web site building as “advanced common sense.” Krug has produced a terrific book on the basics of website practicality.
The book is very easy to understand because it’s light on the technical verbiage and heavy on screen captures. The screen captures use real sites.
Highlights include, how Web site visitors scan instead of read, how to design a home page, navigation secrets and how to test the pages you post.
21. Literary AgentsWhat They Do, How They Do It and How to Find and Work With the Right One for You
by Michael Larsen
I met author Michael Larsen at a trade show and we became instant friends. He really knows his stuff!
20. A Match Made in Hell: The Jewish Boy and the Polish Outlaw Who Defied the Nazis
By Larry Stillman
Publishers Weekly reviews the book this way:
Rarely has the old saw about war making strange bedfellows been more appropriate than in this story of a small 16-year-old Jewish boy and one of rural Poland’s most notorious criminals, Jan Kopec. Stillman has found a very different kind of Holocaust story, full of drama and adventure.
When Hitler’s army invaded Poland in 1939, Goldner and his rural Jewish family were spared from immediate roundup. But by 1943, he had witnessed his mother and sister being herded onto a train and been left for dead beneath his father’s body, both of them shot and bayoneted by a collaborator who had been one of his father’s childhood friends.
After Kopec, Goldner’s unlikely rescuer, nursed him back to health, the pair began an 18-month partnership in which Kopec received money from partisans for having Goldner carry out acts of sabotage against the Nazis. His small size, courage and ability to learn-Kopec trained his young charge in marksmanship, a renegade German soldier taught him fluent German and a Gypsy trained him in hand-to-hand combat-resulted in impressive victories for area partisans.
Goldner blew up trains and bridges used by the Nazi army and photographed Jews arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Stillman has done a remarkable job tracking down what little documentation exists in order to corroborate Goldner’s unique story, making a trip to the region, meeting with former neighbors and with the children and grandchildren of Jan Kopec.
19. Fresh Air Laughs–Terry Gross Interviews 21 Stars of Comedy
Audiobook by Terri Gross
Old school comics such as Henny Youngman, Phyllis Diller, joan rivers, Jackie mason, Bob Newhart and newer comedians such as Franken, Maher, Ullman, Martin Short, Conan O’Brien, Richard Pryor, Lovitz, Belzer, Colin Quinn, Chris Rock, Drew Carey, Carol Leifer, larry David,
Having a background in show business, I am continually surprised to learn how many comedians are not funny in real life. Larry David and Jon Lovitz do not give funny interviews and didn’t offer much information. The best interviews were with Carol Leiffer and Phyllis Diller, who explains that the rhythm of words is important when setting up a joke.
Drew Carey discloses that he learned how to tell a joke by reading a book on it.
The program was obviously recorded shortly after September 11, 2001 because there are so many references to the World Trade Center Disaster. In this collection, NPR seems to relish the opportunity to interview Jewish comics.
18. Writers Speak
Audiobook by Terry Gross
National Public Radio was smart to market compilations of Terry Gross’ excellent interviews. My favorite interview was with Stephen King, who gross interviewed right after the accident that almost killed him.
The writers talk about how they got to be writers, how their work is adapted and interpreted and perhaps most importantly to other writers, how they write.
17. The New York Times
The Sunday New York Times is a lot of reading so it’s not out of place in a reading list. The content of 52 editions constitutes far more reading material than the average book.
16. Squeeze Song by Song
By Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook with Jim Drury
My brothers and I modeled the Caruso band after Squeeze, the band from England with the clever songs and catchy melodies. Unfortunately, Squeeze never received wide-spread fame. Note to brothers: If you aspire toward fame, never model yourself after a band that never became really famous.
Early on, journalists referred to Difford and Tillbrook as the new Lennon and McCartney.
15. The Creative Tools Memory Jogger: A Pocket Guide for Creative Thinking
By Diane Ritter and Michael Brassard
This little publication is jam-packed with ideas for creative thinking.
14. Sinatra
Audio book by Anthony Summers and Robyn Swan
Read by Tony Roberts, this bio made headlines because it has officially provided evidence that Frank Sinatra had mob ties. I thought everyone already knew this already, but okay.
Bigger news for me was Frank’s life of excess. Sinatra, as the song, “My Way,” explains, “lived a life that [was] full.”
In particular, I was fascinated to learn that the swaggering macho Italian tried to commit suicide at least four times. He was an insecure man, who we now know was probably an alcoholic (”whiskey is good for my throat”) and uneducated (”chocolate soaks up the whiskey”).
Frank was also a bully. Even as an old man, he literally chased Dean Martin off the Rat Pack Reunion tour by chiding him about going to bed before Frank deemed the night to be over.
13. Managing to Succeed
By Roger B. Blakely
You’ve got to be inspired by books that promote successful leadership in action. “Managing” also donates text to adapting to change and enjoying it.
Blakely relates the story of how 750 volunteers planted 450 trees in 40 minutes. He also tells how he recruited Coca Cola as a major sponsor by first asking, “What is your slowest month for sales?”
Blakely understands the value of staying in touch with old contacts because most people move up in the world. Blakely worked as the City of Yuma as Parks and Recreation Superintendent, but used his rather plebian office to turn a trash dump into Yuma West Wetlands Park, one of the biggest success stories on the Colorado River.
12. The Likability Factor
Audio book by Tim Sanders
Former Yahoo executive helps readers become more likable. Not a bad skill for everyone to have.
11. What Went Wrong With Our Relationship?
By Dawn L. Billings, M.A., LPC
[Disclosure: Dawn is a friend of mine and a member of my Writer Master Mind group.]
Helpful advice for those in a troubled relationship.
16. Ponzi’s Scheme
Audio book by Mitchell Zuckoff
Before Bernie Madoff, there was Charles Ponzi.
Ponzi was an Italian immigrant who famously used a “pyramid scheme” to steal from people in the 1920s. He is most known for a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” scam that bilked thousands of people.
Ponzi was gifted with literacy and “numeracy.” His English was charming and convincing and he quickly learned his way around international money systems, eventually focusing on international postal reply coupons. The coupons were only worth pennies by themselves, but Ponzi discovered that thousands of coupons were worth millions of dollars.
His company, the Securities and Exchange Commission, promised investors that they could double their money within 90 days. He used the money of subsequent investors to make good on his promise, a practice that is illegal today. An estimated 40,000 people had entrusted an estimated $15 million (about $140 million in U.S. funds today). Ponzi, who was in trouble with the law before and after his 15 minutes of fame, died penniless.
15. Winning Without Intimidation
Audio book by Bob Burg
[Disclosure: Bob Burg is one of my speaker buddies.]
Many of Bob’s personal stories are about food, but his overall enthusiasm for the subject wins the day.
14. Six Steps to Sales Success
Audio book by Gail Cohen
[Disclosure: Gail Cohen is one of my speaker buddies.]
I love the way Gail writes and reads her programs. “Six Steps to Sales Success” is an awkward title, but the content within is exceptional. Gail is definitely organized and knows what she’s talking about. I like her concept about selling the customer his or her own dream. Gail refers to this as “selling backwards.”
13. Monday Morning Leadership8 Mentoring Sessions You Can’t Afford to Miss
By David Cottrell
This program is a twist on the trendy fable format. In this version, Cottrell tells what he purports to be an autobiographical story of a mentoring process that worked for him. It must be working for others, too because “Monday Morning Leadership” has been rolled out as an official training program for mentors and protégés.
12. Adventure CoachingA Guidebook for Anyone in Life and Work
By Doug Gray
[Disclosure: Doug Gray and I have belonged to the same MasterMind Group.]
The author is an accomplished athlete who has completed many marathon races and extreme physical contests in various parts of the world. Doug has cleverly used his competitive adventures as a framework for teaching the reader to be a coach.
11. 5 Cool Ideas for Succeeding at Work
E-book by Michael Angelo Caruso
If you’ve ever written a book, you know that the writer must read and re-read his or her own copy. An author needs to read the book at least once to check on continuity, once for a rough edit and once to catch typos and other small problems.
This book is the second in my 5 Cool Ideas series, a follow up to 5 Cool Ideas for Better Working, Living & Feeling. I’ve already got plans for the third version, which is tentatively titled, 5 Cool Ideas for Succeeding in Sales.
10. The Art of InnovationLessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm
By Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman
Look for 7 Secrets of Brainstorming and 6 ways to kill brainstorming Kelley is a cinema buff so there are lots of references to motion pictures. I like the concept of his Famous Tech Box.
My favorite idea from Kelley is the idea of “cross pollination,” which is the process of learning from other industries. The authors offer hundreds of innovation examples, many of which were created by IDEO in Silicon Valley. Some of the examples are well-known, however. I enjoyed examples of innovations that have not yet come to fruition.
Did you know that the only three countries that have not adopted the metric system are Myanmar, Lyberia and the United States?
9. Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales
Audio book by William Bass and Jon Jefferson
You want to pay attention to any book where Patricia Cornwell reads the forward. Cornwell almost single-handedly sparked the current the mega-trend of medical crime fighter literature and television shows.
In this book, though, Cornwell mentor, William Bass is the protagonist. His long career begins when investigating the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby and ends with more awards than you can shake a pair of tweezers at.
The reader of this audio book has an avuncular, appeal, but presents Blass’s memoirs as eerie and sometimes macabre tales of the crypt. The mysterious transition music helps establishes just the right combination of lilting intrigue.
8. Seat of the Soul
Audio book by Dr. Gary Zukav
It’s hard to believe that Dr. Zukav was once the darling of the Oprah show. This reading is dry and relentless. Zukav is a big thinker and his message does not transplant well in this audio program. He has some great ideas on non-judgmental justice and complaining as a form of manipulation but the drone of his voice in this production forced me to listen in short intervals and ultimately lost my interest.
7. The Only Thing You Need to Know
Audio book by Marcus Buckingham
When studying success, it helps to consider successful people\.
The first four Presidents had vastly different leadership styles. Washington was enigmatic and steady, not a good speaker. Adams a good speaker but only when he could rail against a perceived enemy. Jefferson was a great writer but not the best speaker. Jefferson actually preferred to write his state of the union address for someone else to read. Madison was good a building coalition one person at a time.
Focus is about filtering and “lasering.” Buckingham thinks it’s critical that you identify what you’re not good at and cut it out of your life. He handles the topic through three lenses: management, leadership and individual success. I found his information on personality styles particularly interesting. The “Big 5″ personality styles are openness to experience, extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness and conscientiousness.
On individual success, Buckingham says: “Don’t fix weaknesses; eliminate them.” You can eliminate them by letting someone who is strong in an area of your weakness help. As for controlling insight, the author recommends that you “Build your success around your strengths and the strengths of others.”
6. Jarhead
Audio book by Anthony Swofford
Good writer; bad reader. Swofford’s message is a detailed memoir of his version of what it was like to fight in the Iraqi war. It seems like such a message would be personal and passionate in nature, but Swofford’s narrative comes across as unemotional.
The author is particularly peeved, however, at the the pain caused by unsupportive families that don’t write their loved ones who are at war.
5. Soft Sell
By Tim Connor
[Disclosure: Tim Connor is an old friend and a speaker buddy.] He has authored dozens of books and “Soft Sell” is the best selling of the lot.
4. The Legend of Discount Tire Co., Inc.
By Jeffrey L. Rodengen and Richard F. Hubbard
This book was my introduction to Rodengen’s excellent “Legend of . . .” series, which includes “The Legend of Worthington Industries”and the “Legend of Federal-Mogul.” The authors do an excellent job of assembling a comprehensive and kind biography of companies so popular that we think of them as people.
Discount Tire founder and owner, Bruce Halle, comes alive as readers learn the story from beginning to end. Halle started Discount Tire in 1960 when he opened the first store in Ann Arbor, Michigan and stocked the shelves with “two new tires, four retreads and an odd assortment of small auto[motive] supplies.” Today, Discount Tire has over 725 stores in 21 states and has become the world’s largest independent tire and wheel retailer today. The company was founded in 1960.
3. The Laws of Money, The Lessons of Life
Audio book by Suze Orman
Law #1: Truth creates money and lies destroy it. Media princess Suze Orman presents an interesting mix of money and motivation in this 5-CD audio book plus workbook. Clearly, she targets her message toward women, but is lots of good advice for both genders.
Law #2: Do what is right for you before you do what is right for your money.
This five-CD set plus a “Bonus CD” that looks like a .pdf of the book text, complete with sample spread sheets and other helpful graphics.
2. The Giants of Philosophy–All You Want to Know: Plato and Aristotle
Audio book by Simon & Schuster
Once upon a time, there was a teacher named Socrates. Socrates invented the question and somehow made a career of asking questions although he was not compensated for his work.
Socrates had a student named Plato. Since Socrates never wrote anything down, Plato made a living by writing down what Socrates had taught him.
Plato had a student by the name of Aristotle.
My fourth grade teacher was Mrs. Woodhead.
Guest lecturer, Professor Heston gives this program grandeur and importance. It’s exciting to discover how the early great philosophers explained the world, societal structure, biology and even the concept of happiness, all without the benefit of modern science, diagnostic tools or even formal analysis.
1. Lost and Found Sound
Audio book by National Public Radio, narrated by Francis Ford Coppola
The famous director narrates this program, which traces the early days of radio and features rare, raw recordings from the Coppola family archives.
* Highly recommended. For more of Michael’s annual reading lists, visit www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com.
