Books Are Precious

Rosa over at Talking Story with Say Leadership Coaching offers this great post called, A love affair with books.

"I am continually amazed at the power of influence a book can have on me, and its ability to have me fall in love with ideas, with stories, and with characters."

I could not agree more, Rosa. I love books. There is something special about a well bound book. I have ADD and mild dyslexia, so I am not the best reader, but I love to find a book that captures my attention and imagination. I covet books and spend way too much on them. Much like the special connection many people feel toward Moleskines, a well crafted book is romantic no matter the topic.

Since I can remember, I wanted to write a book too. I will admit to holding my book often and feeling a sense of great joy and pride.

I love great bookstores, too. In Seattle, one of my favorites is Elliott Bay Bookstore, a wonderful independent bookstore in Pioneer Square, downtown. Please plan to stop by if you are in town. I also love other bookstores - B&N, Borders, etc. While I buy a lot from Amazon and 1800CEOREAD.COM, I still enjoy getting lost in a bookstore.

For business books, you cannot beat the expertise of 1800CEOREAD. They don't always have the lowest price, but they care more about business books than anyone. I like patronizing places that I have an emotional connection with like Elliott Bay Books and 1800CEOREAD.COM.

My tastes run pretty shallow when it comes to fiction. I don't have the patience for most highbrow novels. I like off-beat and funny mysteries. My favorite authors are Carl Hiaasen and Dave Barry. I pre-order all their adult books.

A great book can change someone's life. I have several books I cherish and I aspire to write books that make a difference for others.

Here are some of the folks who have written recent books I loved reading:

Michael Ray - The Highest Goal
Guy Kawasaki - The Art of the Start
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi - Good Business
Carl Hiaason - Skinny Dip
Benjamin Zander, Rosamund Stone Zander - The Art of Possibility

Put some time aside this weekend to curl up with a good book.

Comments

[Rosa]

Aloha Lisa, thank you for adding your thoughts to my February Ho'ohana - and you've just added to my wish list!

From those you've listed here, so far I've only read Guy's book - and by the way, your past reviews of Art of the Start here on Management Craft made for a great review for me.

I'm a sucker for a well-written jacket blurb, and so over time I've learned to dip a little farther into a book's pages when the cover promises seem a little over the top. However when someone like you makes any recommendation it speaks volumes.

Like you I don't do that well picking out fiction though: there is such great diversity in that genre that it really seems a roll of the dice. I wish there were a bookseller specializing in fiction with the same m.o. of 1800CEOREAD.com -- if anyone out there reading this knows of someone, let us know!

So much to read, so little time...
Aloha, --Rosa