Books to Read
I'm reading some incredible material these days, from diverse sources but unified in its ability to help me continue to develop as a personal and a professional. Here's a quick snapshot of some of the volumes that occupy my home and office "space" at the present moment:
The Story of My Experiments With Truth, by Mahatma Gandhi (autobiography of one of the 20th Century's most influential individuals)
Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin (a classic work of literature from the 20th century)
On Becoming a Leader, by Warren Bennis (a modern classic by world's leading expert on leadership)
The Essential Drucker, by Peter Drucker (a collection of essential writings from the world's leading expert on management)
The World Is Flat, by Thomas Friedman (a bombshell of a book for understanding how rapid change has completely re-oriented the way individuals and organizations work and thrive)
The Fifth Discipline, Updated Edition, by Peter Senge (another modern classic that is a must-read for those intrigued by systems thinking)
I need a 25th hour in the day just for reading!
The ongoing challenge, of course, is applying the content of what I read to real-time needs and opportunities. I find I am constantly updating and refining my systems for how I increase my understanding, character and performance based on what I have read. Just as the gaining of knowledge never reaches a conclusion in this life, the process of such refinement knows no coda as well.
So what are you reading these days? I'm afraid to ask this question, because it could very well prompt me to buy even more books...
Labels: Learning, Literature
posted by John Michael De Marco @ 2:33 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Well,
I haven't read any of those but was going to try and read the World is Flat.
I used to read only non-fiction up until 5 years ago, then I just flipped and wanted only fiction. I think it has something to do with being in denial. I went through a bunch of Kurt Vonnegut stuff recently, and then read Beloved by Toni Morrison. That is now in my top 5 of all time. Certrainly, I can't think of a better book since the 60's. It blew me away at how good it was, how much control she had, how much she used nature and the supernatural as viable themes.
I read the New Yorker for non-fiction. It does the trick.
I am looking for the modern all-American novel. Any suggestions about a book in the last 15 years to fit that? Who really understands what is going on and can put it into a classic fiction format?
If you were awed by Friedman's Flat ...
please read a different POV:
http://www.mkpress.com/flat
watch
http://www.mkpress.com/flatoverview.html
Best wishes,
--scottie
--- just another Floridian
I need to read Beloved. That's been on my short list of fiction for quite some time.
Ed, I think Douglas Coupland's fiction of the past decade and a half or so has been very striking in capturing the angst of our generation. You might want to give some of his titles a try, such as Life After God. Mitch Albom's Five People You Meet In Heaven is a great little book, in my opinion, and has been a bestseller of the past three years or so.
I'm probably better as navigating the non-fiction landscape when it comes to more recent books; I find it much easier to get my arms around more classic works of literature than contemporary ones.
Thanks for pointing me to this other book, Scottie. I'd never heard of it. I enjoy getting alternative perspectives, especially when the book in question is such a huge best-seller.
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