You can learn a lot about a person from the books they read. Fiction, sports, music, history, or any other topics out there all define your personality. When a person decides to stop reading it’s possible they’ve grown content. Reading requires you to produce thoughts and that is one of the most productive activities you can do as an individual. I spent an hour the other day in a book store and came up with multiple books that strike me as ones I’d like to read. There are millions of books available and it’s important not to waste your time reading the wrong ones. Here are a few that satisfy my tastes that I put on a higher priority than others list. Just to add, I go to the book store and don’t purchase anything, all downloaded to the Kindle Fire.
Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
This is an investment book written in 1949 which Warren Buffet called “by far the best book on investing ever written.” Why this book wasn’t mandatory in college is beyond me. I have a degree in finance and honestly have not made a dollar investing, in fact, quite the opposite. Now I’m more of a risk taker looking for an easy buck than a value investor but that doesn’t mean I haven’t garnered the experience of putting money to work. “Smart” people love to preach the idea of buying the index and waiting but I have news for you, when the Dow goes from 14,000 to 6,000 and it takes 5 years to recover, just remember that you actually have to wait 5 years to get that money back. That point aside, I would like to read this book to get a better idea on this books principals and how I can use money to make money. That is the secret ingredient to take you from rich to wealthy.
Speed of Trust by Stephen Covey
I read the 7 habits of Highly Effective People and remember having a fulfilled feeling that isn’t always easy to acquire. It makes me almost want to read it again because you come away from it with such a great outlook. This book is an addition to that and I like the idea of using trust to develop relationships. If you don’t have trust, what kind of relationship do you have? I believe this book could help me grow my current relationships as well as help me establish new, fruitful relationships.
The Onion Book of Known Knowledge
This book caught my interest because it was a funny, realistic spin on thousands of topics. It was general information on everything and anything that I think would be good reading on the toilet. There is something about having general knowledge on many things that make you sound like you know what you are talking about and help you become a well rounded individual. This book does that with some pizazz.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Who can forget when the Shee read this book and was a changed man for weeks. I actually started this book and ended up losing it about a quarter of the way through which is why I only have a quarter of my friends I should have. I think this book has similar principals to the Covey book above but any book that is relevant 75 years after it’s published has value. Books that can hold up to time are the ones you should read. Plus learning how to cooperate with people can’t hurt.
Ernest Hemingway
There is something about Ernest Hemingway which makes him alluring to a guy like me. Apparently he was a military drunk who loved to get into fights and wrote stories that were off the chain. I’m not sure the similarities to Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing) but I read a biography on him and much enjoyed it. Wild characters like this interest me. I’ve also read Old Man and the Sea which I remember thinking was OK but nothing that floored me. Something tells me I should read up on his life.
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
I should have bought this in the store because a kindle version won’t hold a candle. What I really liked about this book was that the author noted the good songs on the album worth listening to. I personally like sitting down and listening to an album in its entirety but 1,001 is too many and it would be nice to know the best songs. Once again a book like this makes you more well rounded in regards to music. Being able to say you’ve experienced every album in this book would be an accomplishment. I listen to music all the time (Dance Away by Roxy Music right now) and I would just use this as a side project over the years.
Learn a new language – I plan on traveling to Germany in the next year and knowing German would come in useful. Plus it differentiates myself from other ignorant Americans.
Blogging Books – I always try to make this blog better and believe it or not, information on helping this website can be found in books. I’ve actually tried purchasing one before and it just collects dust.
Tony Robbins – He seems kind of cheesy but if you re-wire yourself and buy into his spiel, I bet you could accomplish things you’d never think you’d be able to.
I really wanted to close this post with the youtube clip of Uncle Jesse’s hated professor who says, “read any good books lately” but I couldn’t find it. Well, have you?
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