Business Books: the 411 on the How-tos

I've loved reading since the git-go. I constantly have 4-5 books stationed strategically around my house, my office, even my car. I keep one at my desk for 'reboot time'. I carry one or two with me on any trip, anywhere.

Fortunately my wife is patient and understood. I warned her "NEVER...EVER...leave me alone in a bookstore or I'm bringing 5-6 books out with me." She thought I was kidding. Now she knows I'm not.

Slacker Manager has a great post on how to read business books. Change is rampant in any industry. From marketing to products to legal issues, employee management, corporate structure, global competition, change is all around and it's fast and furious. Reading is the only way to stay on top of that change.

How do you read ALL these business books? Well, a good start is to read what others are reading. After that it becomes an issue of how to organize your time and your psychology to maximize your reading time. That's where Slacker Manager's post comes in.

He covers WHY, WHAT, WHERE and HOW(his tips on active reading is perfect for me at this time) and this section gets down to the nitty-gritty literally of pen selection for marking your reading choices. And he includes the WHERE, where do you buy them? (Hint: 800-CEO READ)

Action Step for TYPEPAD: Take the ISBN numbers and link them to 800-CEO READ as opposed to Amazon. Not sure what Amazon pays for affiliate purchases...but 800-CEO READ is a good partner with the blogging community.

Best quote from Slacker Manager's post:

...reading is the trailhead to personal mastery. Reading alone won't give you personal mastery - you actually have to do stuff, not just  read and think about it. But reading will give you the clues about where to start and what to do.

Here's my current business book reading list. You can see them in my Books List on the side:

* THE DAILY DRUCKER: 366 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done. - Peter Drucker. ( 60 years of business management brilliance condensed into a daily topic for 366 days.)

* PURPLE COW: Transform Your Business By Being Remarkable. - Seth Godin. 

* THE TIPPING POINT. How Little Things Can Make a Difference. Malcolm Gladwell

* THE PURSUIT OF WOW! Every Person's Guide to Topsy-Turvy Times. Tom Peters.

* Small is Beautiful.Economicis as if People Mattered. E.f. Schumacher.

A tip of the hat to the FAST COMPANY blog for pointing me to Slacker Manager.