BC Business
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Which is the bigger crime? To be able to read and then not – or to not be able to read?
Books provide wisdom, insight, knowledge, perspective, new ideas and thought starters. They provide another viewpoint – inspiration and understanding.
If you read 17 pages a day, you will read 31 200-page books a year – a great start!
At the Speakers Roundtable conference held in Vancouver earlier this year, members submitted a list of their favourite top 10 classic books and top 10 modern books. I believe you’ll be inspired by these great authors and their words of wisdom as much as I have been. Absolutely, the number one selling book of all time in history, hands down, is the Bible.
Classic Books:
1. “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Need more be said about this absolute classic?
2. “The Greatest Salesman in the World“ by Og Mandino. A practical guide to transforming yourself into a better person. Written by a man who lived its message.
3. “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.
4. “Power of Positive Thinking“ by Norman Vincent Peale. Most definitely one of the classics.
5. “Psycho-Cybernetics“ by Maxwell Maltz. Provides the rational reasons and methodologies on how to change your habits and yourself.
6. “How Showmanship Sells“ by Elmer G. Letterman. 1965 cost: $3.95.
7. “Man’s Search for Meaning“ by Viktor Frankl. Everybody should read this book!
8. “Atlas Shrugged“ by Ayn Rand. A story of a future America where the world’s best minds must carry the weight of a society gone wrong.
9. “The Republic“ by Plato. The basics of argument and debate.
10. “The Pilgrim’s Progress – From This World to That Which is to Come” by John Bunyan. This Christian allegory was written in 1678. Contemporary in its impact and prophetic in its wisdom.
Modern Books:
1. “The Magic of Thinking Big“ by Dr. David Schwartz. A classic motivational/positive-thinking book.
2. “Uncommon Friends“ by Jim Newton. Great insight into the lives of the five leaders who were called “The men who invented the 20th century.”
3. “Today Matters“ by John Maxwell.
4. “Courageous Leadership“ by Bill Hybels. Simply the best book on leadership – how to attain it and use it.
5. “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership“ by John Maxwell.
6. “Wooden on Leadership“ by John Wooden.
7. “Outliers“ by Malcolm Gladwell.
8. “Made to Stick” by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. Helps one understand how “truths,” whether supported or not by the facts, are shaped and get carried into a culture.
9. “You and Your Network“ by Fred Smith. Practical book of advice written from great wisdom.
10. “Good to Great“ by Jim Collins.
And then again, you could read one of my 13 books, all classics in waiting – haha.