Two years ago I was combing through my laptop files. I suddenly began to notice the number of non-fiction books I had collected from seminars, summits and workshops. There were even a few written by friends and colleagues from various parts of my business world. Yet, while I was avidly collecting all these books, I never seemed to get around to reading them. Even though each of the books was on a topic that I knew would benefit my business. And I found myself asking why it was that I wasn’t taking the time to read them and learn from them?
That started a two year adventure of diving into my library of non-fiction books. I set myself the target of reding at least one book each month. And slowly I’ve begun to slim down the number of books that are waiting for me.
Below is the list of the books I’ve chosen to read this year. Looking at them, I see that my interest in the world of disability is well represented, especially that I appear to have consumed everything by Georgina Kleege that I could lay my hands on. I also see my interests in speaking and writing well represented, as is my growing interest in exploring different ways to grow my business and my online offerings. Each of these books has given me things to think about, tools and ideas to bring into the work I do and, in some cases, will form topics of podcasts. Not a single one has proved a waste of my time and energy.
I will admit that I still have sufficient titles remaining to keep me busy for several years. Not to mention that I’m bound to acquire more non-fictions in the coming year. But at least I’m being intentional in starting to gain from the previous books I’ve bought.
I still have one additional title I hope to read before the end of 2023. That’s Andrew Leland’s The Country of the Blind. Yes, another book on disability.
Finally, while I’ve learned from each of the books I’ve read, I think the most impactful for me is the one I finished most recently, Lisa Blooms The Storybook Advantage, which has really got me thinking about the way I talk about and market my work.
Here, in alphabetical order, is the list of my 2023 non-fiction books:
Barez-Brown, Chris – How to Have Kick Ass Ideas: Shake Up Your Business, Shake Up Your Life.
Bernadi, Cheryl – Managing Money in the Real World: Connecting Purpose and Joy to Money Management.
Bloom, Lisa – The Storybook Advantage.
Brandon, Jodi – Write_Publish_Market
Ersapah, Rama (ed)- I Rise 2022
Iny, Danny – Teach Your Gift: How Coaches, Consultants, Authors, Speakers and Experts Create Online Course Business Success.
Kleege, Georgina – Blind Rage: Letters to Helen Keller.
Kleege, Georgina- More Than Meets the Eye: What Blindness Brings to Art.
Kleege, Georgina – Sight Unseen.
Kuusisto, Stephen – Planet of the Blind.
Puig, Linda Claire – Free: Build an Online Following that Liberates You for Life’s Adventures.
Rutkowska, Alinka – How I Sold 80000 Books: Book Marketing for Authors.
Snyder, Joel – The Visual Made Verbal: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description.
