I am always consuming books, whether they’re physical, digital or audio. Every month, I like to share a breakdown of everything I read, including the books I abandoned. I do this because it gives me an opportunity to introduce you to books you might not have had an opportunity to read while practicing the art of writing concise book reviews.
In August, I read 11 books to completion and started a couple of others that have yet to complete. Here’s what I read:
- Non-Obvious: How to Think Different, Curate Ideas & Predict The Future by Rohit Bhargava
- Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, Vol. 1: Going Underground by Gerard Way
- Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
- The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less by Richard Koch
- Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Chip and Dan Heath
- Teen Titans by Geoff Johns Book One by Geoff Johns
- If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B-Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell
- Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing by Andy Crouch
- God’s Very Good Idea: A True Story of God’s Delightfully Different Family by Trillia J. Newbell
- Superman, Volume 3: Multiplicity by Peter J. Tomasi
- The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals by Sean Covey, Chris McChesney, and Jim Huling
Business, Business, and a B-Movie Actor, too
This was an extremely business-heavy reading month, and the next few months look to be more of the same. This month’s included:
- One re-read (4 Disciplines, which was more helpful the second time around);
- One that I needed to use the principle described to get through (The 80/20 Principle):
- One describing the techniques of trend curators (Non-Obvious, the techniques being to be observant, fickle, elegant, thoughtful, and curious, which therefore saves you from needing to read it, unless you’re curious to see how Bhargava puts them into practice);
- One on effective decision making that offers a really helpful framework (Decisive‘s WRAP Framework);
- One advocating humility as a way of life for hotshot business guys who think they’re a big deal, by the former king of dark arts marketing (Ego is the Enemy, which is actually really, really helpful); and
- Quite possibly the best leadership book I’ve ever read, Strong and Weak, which uses a 2×2 chart to explore the relationship between vulnerability, authority, and human flourishing. That sounds less great than it is, but trust me, it’s fantastic.
But one of my favorites of the month was Bruce Campbell’s early 2000s memoir, If Chins Could Kill. Back when I worked in a bookstore in college, I bought our store’s only copy and devoured it. It’s a terrific book to show how unglamorous Hollywood can be, in addition to just being kind of silly. Eventually I’ll get around to the sequel.
Books with pictures for all ages
August also saw three graphic novels on the list. First, a throwback to the early 2000s with Geoff Johns’ Teen Titans. This was the first really strong run on the series since the 1980s and one of the books that made people notice Johns as a writer. Cave Carson is another series in Gerard Way’s Young Animal line, and it’s as cooky and intriguing as Doom Patrol. Superman Vol. 3: Multiplicity was a rare misstep in the current Superman series by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, in that it was okay, but just okay if that makes sense? The story was told well enough, but it didn’t seem to really move the plot forward all that much. Ah well…
Finally, there’s a new children’s book y’all may have heard of, God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia Newbell. I can’t say enough good things about this book—it’s well written (which is extremely hard to do), and meaningfully explores the topic of race with children. My son has read this almost every day since we purchased it (and more than once on several days), and he doesn’t seem to be interested in setting it aside anytime soon. Go get a copy as soon as you can, friends.
That’s it for this month’s round-up. Do you find these posts helpful? Do you have a suggestion for a book for me or someone else to read or want to share what you’ve read? Connect with me on Twitter or Facebook and let me know!
Here’s a look at what I read in:
