2006 Reading List (39 books)
Michael Angelo Caruso read 39 books in 2006. The best of the lot are indicated with an asterisk. The list includes titles by journalist Thomas Friedman, physicist Richard Feynman and comedian Jon Mack.
39. Too Early To Say Goodbye
By Art Buchwald
Art Buchwald is once more the toast of the town. An award-winning author and syndicated humor columnist, Buchwald has developed a lot of friends in his lifetime. When a kidney breaks down and he loses a leg to amputation, Buchwald laughs his way into hospice. Once he starts holding court, however, his body rallies and he becomes “The Man Who Won’t Die.” This book is not his finest, but it’s an unexpected and pleasant swan song. [Note: Buchwald passed away early in 2007.]
38. What Do You Care What Other People Think?
Audio book by Richard Feynman
The author began his physics career working on the Atomic bomb and concluded his work life investigating the Challenger disaster. Along the way, he earned the Nobel Prize in physics. The reader sounds a little bit like Andy Rooney from 60 Minutes, which lends a light-hearted and welcome quirkiness to the lofty subject matter.
37. Pagan Babies
Audio book by Elmore Leonard
[Disclosure: I've met Mr. Leonard at several of his book signings.]
Elmore Leonard lives in Birmingham, Michigan, the city adjacent to my town of Royal Oak. Leonard is perhaps the best dialogue writer in the world. All of his novels are fun to read, but I never got used to Steve Buscemi’s voice quality in this audio version of Pagan Babies. Buscemi is a tremendous character actor, but I had trouble listening to him portray the characters in this book.
36. Three Weeks With My Brother*
Audio book by Nicholas Sparks
Sparks pays the rent with his best-selling novels. I’m not a fan of his fiction, but this non-fiction title is one of the best books I read this year. Part travelogue and part memoir, this book makes me want to be a better sibling for my three brothers.
35. Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play “ The Demise of Dysfunctional Selling and the Advent of Helping Clients Succeed* By Mahan Khalsa
The title is bulky, but the Let’s Get Real conveys terrific money-making concepts for sales professionals. The author is an associate of Stephen Covey. My favorite advice from Khalsa is how salespeople can avoid guessing when creating proposals. The author also knows the importance of asking the right questions. This is one of the best books on selling I’ve ever read.
34. Working With Emotional Intelligence
Audio book by Daniel Goleman
Goleman pioneered the concept of emotional intelligence (EQ) and creates traction by comparing and contrasting EQ to IQ (intelligence quotient). The latter was developed in 1918 by the government as a way to sharpen military recruiting techniques. Goleman really knows his subject matter, but he’s not the most exciting reader and some passages lack enough practical ideas to keep the listener engaged.
33. The Art of Possibility “Transforming Professional and Personal Life
By Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander
Benjamin Zander is the long-time conductor of Boston Philharmonic. He seems to truly revel in the intricacies of creativity. An eternal optimist, Zander urges readers to respond to bad news (and good) with the simple phrase: “Isn’t that fascinating!”
32. Get Real Money Now
By Jim Guarino
[Disclosure: Jim Guarino is a friend of mine.]
Everyone needs solid financial advice. Here’s some solid information for young folks about how to have more money.
31. The Short Stories (Volume III)
Audio book by Ernest Hemingway
Stacy Keach reads these stories and does a great job with the accents and dialects. Many of the plots occur in pubs. Many scenarios involve alcohol and drinking. What is the old adage? Write about what you know, right Mr. Hemingway?
30. Team of Rivals
Audio book by Doris Kearns Goodwin
There are more books about Abraham Lincoln than perhaps any other American. Yet, Doris Kearns Goodwin finds a new angle. Apparently, Honest Abe was able to run the country with a team of competitive politicians, many of whom didn’t like each other or him. Richard Thomas from The Waltons TV series is the reader.
29. The River of Doubt*
Audio book by Candace Millard
At age 55, Theodore Roosevelt entered the Amazon jungle for his final and possibly greatest adventure. His goal was to chart an unknown river, but along the way the Roosevelt party experienced a combination of deadly circumstances, including a loss of supplies and boats, malaria, a drowning and even a murder. T.R. was pulled out of the jungle on a stretcher and died within a few years of this horrific, debilitating experience.
Candace Millard does a fairly good job reporting the action, but I’m hoping Edmund Morris covers Teddy’s South American adventure in his third biography on this great American.
28. Stumbling on Happiness
Audio book by Daniel Gilbert
Happiness is a fascinating concept. It’s such a deep and personal subject that we can’t even agree on how to define it. Daniel Gilbert has studied why most malcontents seem to avoid happiness, even though they know how to achieve it.
It turns out that human beings have several issues that keep them from being happy. First, we simply aren’t very good at predicting our future emotions. Gilbert presents information about how many people think they would be happier living in California. Yet, researchers have proven Californians to be no happier than Iowans. Many married couples conceive children because they think kids will make them happier. According to Gilbert, parents are no happier than other people, until the children move away from home.
Another roadblock to happiness is that the brain plays tricks on us. Apparently, we are predisposed to pleasant information even if that information is not always useful. Conversely, we tend to ignore unpleasant info that might actually be useful.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, most of us simply don’t do what is most likely to ensure happiness. We don’t try to understand happiness before seeking it. We don’t, for example, interview people with the express intention of better understanding what truly causes happiness.
If we are going to start smoking, we don’t interview senior citizens with lung disease or emphysema. A person who wants to quit his job tends to talk with other malcontents who still work at the job, rather than people who have quit. If we are going to open a retail store, we don’t talk to many people who run retail stores, let alone people who have formerly run retail stores.
Gilbert style is witty, but his triple and quadruple entendres are sometimes a challenge to decode. He’s funny enough, but as an academic, Gilbert can’t help trotting out an endless parade of research and case studies.
27. FutureShop
Audio book by Daniel Nissanoff
Attorney and author, Daniel Nissanoff, has written yet another book on the phenomenon known as e-Bay. He also uses this platform to mention his company a few times, although I’m not always sure the self-promotion is a fit. I have yet to buy or sell anything on e-Bay, so I enjoyed learning about the “drop shops” that service clients who want to sell used items without having to do business directly with the online auction giant. This book convinced me to try e-Bay and get with the program.
26. Revved
By Harry Paul and Ross Reck, Ph.D.
[Disclosure: Harry Paul and I know each other from the speaking circuit and have performed at the same speaker showcases.]
Here’s a fable about a working woman who overcomes some challenges and becomes a better person. Much of the content involves winning people over and getting others excited about your agenda. Women may like this book better than men.
25. Freedom From Fear Forever
By Mark Matteson
More great aphorisms from a fantastic speaker. Learn more about Mark at www.MattesonAvenue.com.
24. Freedom From Fear
Audio book by Mark Matteson
[Disclosure: Mark Matteson is a personal friend. Together, we've produced an audio CD titled, How to Produce Information Products.]
The tried and true fable formula is applied here with great success. Len, the book’s protagonist, is wise, practical and clever. He’s a terrific role model.
23. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase For Lincoln’s Killer
Audiobook by James L. Swanson
The story is uncomfortably familiar. A frustrated zealot with a need for attention plans a terrorist attack designed to change life as we know it. The plan is grandiosesimultaneous attacks on innocent people. The attacker is are armed with small blades.
The Lincoln assassination has many parallels the 9/11 attacks.
22. The Beatles
Audiobook by Bob Spitz
The Beatles career has been documented in hundreds of books and I’ve read most of them. But its Spitz’s new spin on the Fab Four that makes The Beatles such a pleasure. It’s read by British actor, Alfred Molina, who I can listen to all day. I even learned a few new tidbits about The Beatles.
For example, I didn’t know that VeeJay records, a record label that courted the band in the early days, unfortunately went bankrupt immediately after signing the band.
Also, The Beatles’ first words to the American press were “Shut up!” John Lennon was trying to settle the crowd prior to the band’s initial press conference. Oh, and listen. Do you want to know a secret? Sir Paul apparently made a young girl pregnant, yes?
21. Running a Juice Stand “ The 6 E’s of Wise Management
By Don E. Schoening, Ph.D.
This book was a gift from my friend Ted Gaffin. Ted and I are both members of the Optimists. Running a Juice Stand, offers simple life and business lessons for adults and youngsters alike.
20. 8 Degrees of SeparationThe Imperatives of Success
By Dan Nichols
[Disclosure: Dan Nichols is a friend of mine. He lives here in Royal Oak, too]
Judging by his rapid-fire delivery, Dan Nichols feels very strongly about the qualities of passion and persistence.
19. Lipstick on a Pig
By Torie Clarke
Torie Rumsfeld has held a lot of important positions in Washington, DC, but her biggest claim to fame may be her role as Assistant Secretary of Defense to someone named Donald Rumsfeld. Her lessons are basictell the truth, tell it early and admit your mistakes. Rumsfeld was run out of office, but many feel he will become known as one of the greatest disaster managers of all time.
18. How to Be Funny
By Jon Macks
My speaker buddy Mark Matteson loaned this book to me. Maybe he’s trying to tell me something.
Macks writes for The Tonight Show and many of the Academy Award telecasts. He does a good job breaking down the technical aspects of good comedy by covering mechanics like tags, runs, triples, reverses and mis-directs.
The author has written a good book on how to tell jokes, but ultimately the material comes up short. Writing about joke-telling is a little like teaching someone how to dance while talking with him on the phone. I especially enjoyed the advice from Macks’ friends, Arsenio Hall, Carrie Fisher (one of the funniest women in the world), Dave Barry and Billy Crystal.
17. The World is Flat*
By Thomas Freidman
If you are upset about the state of the world, read this book and feel better. Freidman applies his award-winning journalistic style with optimistic results. You don’t need to speak vaguely about China like most people. Read this book and you’ll bet the smartest person in the room.
16. The World is Flat*
Audio book by Thomas Friedman
I listened to the audio book version of Friedman’s masterpiece and was blown away by the depth and breadth of the information. Hoping to get more of it to stick, I read the p-book (print book) and was mesmerized all over again. For example, the terrorist attacks on New York happened on 9/11 (2001), but did you know that the Berlin Wall fell on 11/9 (1989)? Did you know that McDonald’s drive-thru operators in Cape Girardeau, Missouri are actually speaking to you from another state? Did you know that Jet Blue’s call center is staffed by housewives and grandmothers in Utah?
The world is now flat as well as small.
15. The Big MOOStop Trying to Be Perfect and Start Being Remarkable
By the Group of 33, edited by Seth Godin
The Big MOO is a collaboration of 33 of the world’s smartest business thinkers, including Malcolm Gladwell, Tom Peters, Guy Kawasaki, Mark Cuban and Tom Kelley. Seth Godin put the group together and edited the book. The group’s goal is to help readers “remarkablize” their companies. The short chapters have catchy titles like, “Harry Houdini Was a Lousy Magician,” “How to Make Money With Garlic” and “Bob Wears Panty Hose.”
One of my favorite lessons is on Virginia Apgar. She and another physician invented the Newborn Scoring System, also known as “APGAR.” APGAR stands for Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity and Respiratory. It’s the first of many tests we take as human beings. This test is not graded on a curve and you must pass this exam before taking any others.
14. Just GusA Rescued Dog and the Woman He Loved
By Laurie Williams
Okay, so it’s a picture book. Okay, so it’s a sappy picture book, but it’s the kind of title that rounds out my reading list for 2006. Terminal cancer victim Laurie Williams rescued a mutt she named Gus to escort her through the final stages of life. This is a terrific story that convincingly documents the indefatigable human spirit. Laurie writes, “If I hadn’t gotten sick, I would have [put off my novel and] probably never finished it. Cancer is allowing me to realize my dream.” Laurie’s article, “Saying Goodbye to My Life,” was published posthumously in Glamour magazine.
13. The Interview With God
Edited by Morgan Westerman
I’m a sucker for these simple, motivational stories. I enjoy the soft poetry and find myself analyzing their remarkable popularity.
12. Secrets to Creating Wealth
By Stephen Pierce
I met Stephen when he spoke at Armand Morin’s BigSeminar event. Pierce has overcome some tough obstacles to become an authority on building wealth. He lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
11. Quantum Physics and the Law of Attraction
Audio book by Dr. Robert Anthony
The Law of Attraction is one of my favorite lessons of all time. Anthony does a good job of explaining attraction at all levels but the quantum physics lesson comes a little too soon in the book. Some people probably feel it doesn’t belong at all, but I appreciate the linkage.
10. Andrew Jackson
Audio book by H. W. Brands
A rogue President, if we ever had one, Andrew Jackson was a scrapper who struggled all of his life. Jackson fought against the British, the Indians, the Spanish and the Federalists. Despite his rough reputation, Jackson was a well-liked leader who became known as “The People’s President.” “Old Hickory” organized and endorsed the tragic “Trail of Tears” escapade, a sorry effort to relocate Native Americans. Shame on him.
9. Taking Heat
Audio book by Ari Fleischer
Fleischer spent two and-a-half years as former press secretary for President George W. Bush. His book explains how the early Bush White House made decisions and handled important situations. Remember when the United States Air Force shot a Chinese pilot out of the sky for flying too close to an American P-3?
Naturally, Fleischer dedicates much of the book to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the dramatic, aftermath. Fleischer also spills considerable ink bemoaning the media’s liberal bias.
The author can be guilty of presenting unbalanced information, too. The book praises President Bush for all the leader’s words and deeds. According to Fleischer, Bush made no missteps. I admire Ari’s loyalty, but this type of hero worship makes for a lopsided narrative.
8. Adventures in Hairdressing
Audio book by Geno Stampora
This audio program came highly recommended by one of my clients, a high-end salon owner. Stampora is high-energy and full of good ideas on how to develop relationships with customers and how to improve one’s attitude.
I found his advice to be great counsel for customer service workers in every industry.
7. POWs of Japanese RESCUED!
By Hal Leith
This is the true story of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the repatriation of General Jonathan M. Wainwright USA (deceased) and the release of other allied prisoners of war from Japanese captivity in Manchuria. The OSS was the pre-cursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As the story goes, six soldiers parachuted into Manchuria and rescued 1,600 soldiers. Much of the narrative is culled from Mr. Leith’s diary from Aug 16, 1945 to Feb 20, 1946.
This narrative is an important record of the event, but it’s loosely organized and a little disjointed. Hal Leith is an impressive man. I met him when I was speaking at a Rotary conference. Mr. Leith is fluent in three languages (Chinese, Russian, Japanese) and recently mastered American Sign Language. He has a fascinating background in intelligence training.
6. Golden Rules for Money Making
Original p-book by P.T. Barnum, revised and issued as an e-book by Charles Carpenter
[Disclosure: Charles Carpenter is a "speaker buddy" of mine.]
I like the author’s approach to the subject. I don’t think we can get too much advice about how to earn, spend and invest money.
5. Dean and Me
By Jerry Lewis and James Kaplan
I expected Jerry Lewis to be his usual ego-centric, maudlin, over-the-top self in his new role as autobiographer. But Dean and Me is a surprisingly balanced and entertaining love story filled with fun and interesting anecdotes about the truly brilliant comedic duo.
4. Secrets of On-Line Marketers
By Mitch Meyerson
It’s getting late to read this book. The information is dated and the Internet has grown from its childhood into adolescence. Nonetheless, it was fun reading what the experts had to say when things were first getting started. Some of the principles still hold true, but as one might expect, many of the Web sites in the book are extinct.
3. Symptoms of Withdrawl
Audio book by Christopher Lawford Kennedy
The author has had an interesting life. Marilyn Monroe came to one of his childhood birthday parties. Frank Sinatra visited the house. What’s most amazing is that Christopher Lawford Kennedy can remember any of it. He spent much of his youth and some of his adult life as an addled substance abuser.
2. The Total Money MakeoverA Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
By Dave Ramsey
I hadn’t heard of Ramsey and his popular regional radio show when friend/client Anthony Green recommended this book to me. I love Ramsey’s plain talk and immediately put some of his advice to work in my own life.
1. iPod for Dummies
By Tony Bove and Cheryl Rhodes
The Dummies series makes me crazy. Like most of the omnipresent black-and-yellow books in the series, this title has too much basic information on some issues and not enough details on others. Still, I can learn from any book about technology. The iPod is, after all, a computer.
* Highly recommended.
Again, the books are numbered from first to last read. An asterisk indicates the highly recommended books. You can find more annual reading lists at www.MichaelAngeloCaruso.com.
