21 Books to Spark Your Summer

For a lot of us, the summer is a time when we take a break. Our children are out of school, we're planning family vacations, and we're trying to beat the heat by going to movies or the community pool.

One great benefit of taking a break is that by slowing down in other areas, you free up some mental bandwidth to think more deeply about topics you might not have the time or capacity for during the rest of the year.

While you're mentally detoxing this summer, I challenge you to incorporate learning and development into your plans.

For me, this means reading! I truly believe reading is one of the best tools for personal and professional advantage. According to research quoted in Business Insider, it has been proven to increase empathy, expand vocabulary, improve critical thinking, enhance communication, and strengthen memory.

Siphoning inspiration and expertise from literary mentors has always been my game-changer, and I challenge you to make it yours. Below I’ve compiled a list of resources to share with you regarding: business, communication, faith, relationships, productivity, strategy, society, and?culture.?

I believe you can leverage these recommendations to spark your personal growth and professional edge.

1. The Path of Least Resistance – Learning to Become the Creative Force in Your Own Life – Robert Fritz .?I love this book for so many reasons. One of my favorite insights in the book is “creative people know they make up what they create.”?
2. Your True DNA – Discovering God’s Gift Within You! – Thomas J. Winninger . My hardcover copy of this book is highlighted from beginning to end. I’ve dogged eared the pages, written all over the pages, and have been personally challenged by this insightful book.?
3. Cashflow Quadrant – Rich Dad’s Guide to Financial Freedom – Robert T. Kiyosaki .?This is a classic that I read 20 years ago. However, after reading it again, I really that I missed so many great nuggets.?
4. Betting on You – How to Put Yourself First and (Finally) Take Control of Your Career – Laurie Ruettimann .?Every college student or person entering the workforce should read this book. Every person that is a mid-career professional should read this book. There would be higher engagement in organizations if individuals and their leaders made it mandatory to read this book.??
5. Talking to Strangers – Malcolm Gladwell . I?can promise you right now. If you read this book, you will go on a binge in reading his previous brilliant works. There is so much in here that I can’t even unpack how much it challenged my thinking.??
6. Non Obvious Mega Trends – How to See What others miss and Predict the Future – Rohit Bhargava . I love this book for so many reasons. It starts with a powerful question, What if you could become a lifelong learner, curious about the world, and able to see, understand, and expect things others miss? What if you could use that skill to understand patterns, spot intersections, and see around the corner to develop an observation of what the future might hold???
7. The Future is Faster Than You Think – Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler. ?If you want to understand how converging technologies are transforming business, industries, and our lives, then get this book and don’t delay in sharing it with others.?
8. Range – Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World – David Epstein . My former boss at Disney Institute suggested that I read this book. He was spot on. It validated why I’ve had 10 different jobs with 6 different companies over 30 years. I refused to have my brilliance pigeon-holed and hijacked by someone’s limited view of my potential.?
9. The Creature from Jekyll Island – G. Edward Griffin .?Listen to this book via Audible.com I am not political. This book will give you an entirely different perspective on what’s going on.?
10. Rings of Fire – Walking in Faith Through a Volcanic Future – Leonard Sweet with Mark Chironna .?This book gives you an entirely new perspective on how to take a leap of faith amid uncertainty.?
11. Disrupt Yourself – Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve – Whitney Johnson .?The title says it all. Key takeaways, learn the psychology of disruption. Take the right risks, embrace constraints, battle entitlement, stepping back to grow, giving failure its due, and being discovery-driven.?
12. The Infinite Game – Simon Sinek ?This is one of his best books to date. Dennis a friend of mine called me out of the blue and said you gotta get this book. He was right. I downloaded the audio version and the e-book version. Love it. I had a chance to interview Simon about leading through crisis. The interview was supposed to only be 8 minutes and it ended up last for 43 minutes.?
13. Begin Again – Eddie S. Glaude, Jr. ?– I’ve admired this Princeton Professor for many years now. This book didn’t disappoint as he opens a window into James Baldwin’s America and its urgent lessons for our own. I recommend listening to this book via Audible.com to get the richness and substance of this masterpiece.?
14. The Color of Law – A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America - Richard Rothstein. ?This was an eye-opener that helped me understand housing discrimination and redlining.?
15. How to Be an Antiracist – Ibram X. Kendi .?In light of everything that has happened after the murder of George Floyd, this is a must-read for everyone who intends to hear, heal, and help.?
16. White Too Long – The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity – Robert P. Jones .?I listened to a Zoom presentation by Dr. Jones and my only disappointment is that millions more were not listening. I downloaded his book immediately and will continue to refer his book to those who are on a journey of learning.?
17. Completing Capitalism – Heal Business to Heal the World – Bruno Roche and Jay Jakub .?I was in Cape Town, South Africa when I first heard Bruno’s vision about shifting from a shareholder mindset to a stakeholder mindset.??
18. Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire – Rebecca Henderson . I heard her present her research at the Oxford Forum for Economics and was riveted by the Harvard Business School professor’s insight on how companies are transforming the world.??
19. The UpSwing – How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do it Again – Robert D. Putnam .?If you want a condensed history lesson on politics, economics, education, commerce, culture, racism, and so much more, then get this book. By the way, it has empirical evidence to back it up. By the way, it’s 800+ pages and it’s not a light Saturday night pleasurable reading. It will make you think and think again.?
20. Your 168 – Make Every hour of Your Week Count – Harry M Kraemer, Jr .?– Harry is the former CEO and Chairman of Baxter Healthcare. Clinical Professor of Leadership at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern. His book was a game-changer for me and is shaping how I think about 2021.?
21. Love is the Way – Holding on to Hope in Troubling Times – Bishop Michael Curry .?The title says it all.

Your actions determine your habits, which create your direction, which defines your life.?

I believe in your brilliance.?

To your success,

Simon?

If you have a book recommendation, share it with me?@SimonTBailey?on social media with?#STB21books