Bibliomania, marginalia and 6 unmissable business & marketing books coming this Autumn/Winter...

My name is Shane, and I'm an addict.

It's a problem that has cost me thousands of euro and hundreds of hours of free time over the past few years.

And I wouldn't change a second of it.

I've got bibliomania you see, the technical term for an addiction to buying books. I love all books - sports, biographies, narrative non-fiction. But I hold a particular gra (love) for business and marketing books. Only paper or hardback though, none of that Kindle nonsense!

I love the concept of learning from the mistakes and revelations of some of the best business people who've ever lived, told in their own voices. As a strategist, I firmly believe that you aren't doing your job properly unless you're reading heavily.

A solid reading habit is one of the common traits of the vast majority of the most intelligent strategists out there, not to mention Buffet, Zuckerberg, Gates and the cream of the business crop.

Podcasts are great, blogs are brilliant, watching presentations on YouTube and reading case studies can all help to expand your mind, but there's nothing like a book that's packed full of stories, revelations and insights to ignite the brain. Indeed that's what it feels like when I'm reading a really good book - like my brain is on fire with ideas and thoughts.

I also love to have a conversation with whatever book I'm reading. Sounds strange eh?

But this is the practise of 'marginalia' - writing short, relevant notes to yourself in the margin. Personally, I then transcribe into a journal afterwards to help them sink in. It's a laborious process, but I find it helps my comprehension of a book when I engage with it, probe its findings and try to integrate them, almost in a spider graph way, to other things I'm thinking about.

The tactile element of physically writing on the book also seems to break down a mental barrier, in that I feel it's not just an item that I pick up and glance over, but a working document that I can contribute to also.

Anyway, now the summer break is over and the nights are closing in, what better time to pick up a few new books to inspire and engage? The pre-Chrsistmas/Autumn/Winter market this year is hotter and more exciting than ever. It seems as though the lower barriers to entry for the book market means there are both more books being released overall, but importantly, more quality out there too.

Here are the six upcoming business and marketing releases that I'm most excited about. Please leave your comments below on your own choices or what you're reading at the moment too.

1: The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google

Having entertained YouTube for years with his hilarious and brilliantly insightful Friday 'Winners & Losers' videos, L2Inc's Scott Galloway is finally releasing his first book this September. Titled 'The Four', the book will examine the rise and incredible semi monopolistic power of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google from a variety of angles.

Scott is particularly interesting on Amazon, and we can expect a LOT of juicy insights and takeaways around e-commerce, building a digital brand and what the growth of these superpowers means for the the rest of us in terms of employment, the economy, politics etc.

2: Streampunks YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media

This release has been relatively low key so far, but it sounds like a cracker for those interested in media and particularly how YouTube is impacting our consumption patterns. Written by one of YouTube's top execs Robert Kyncl, 'Streampunks' will examine the commonalities behind some of the platform's biggest stars, and what this means for media and entertainment. Kyncl has gotten access to the likes of Vice's Shane Smith, some of YouTube's biggest stars like Casey Neistat, Tyler Oakley and Lilly Singh and Scooter Braun, the entertainment mogul behind Bieber.

If you liked Derek Thompson's 'Hitmakers' (and if you haven't read it, I guarantee you will like it), then this sounds like a good follow up. Not many good books have been written about YouTube, despite its incredible cultural impact, so this looks like it's worth picking up. Cool cover too.

3: Dollars and Sense: How We Misthink Money and How to Spend Smarter

A new Dan Ariely release is always one worth waiting for. Besides being a master of behavioural economics and the hidden biases embedded within our brain, Ariely is also a masterful storyteller. Lucky that, because most books about spending money are dry and boring.

In 'Dollars and Sense', Ariely will try to reveal some of the illogical reasons behind why some of us have such a hard time managing personal finance. There's bound to be plenty of 'aha' moments hidden in there in relation to investing, saving and spending, so the compound interest on this book will make it a worthwhile purchase.

(Hopefully his advice doesn't extend to wasting disposable income on buying books!)

4: A Dozen Lessons for Entrepreneurs (Columbia Business School Publishing)

Tren Griffin write one of my favourite business/investing blogs called 25iq. In each post Griffin details 12 lessons from some business luminary, and there's consistently some absolute nuggets of gold to be found.

Griffin has written a brilliant book on Charlie Munger, but this time around, he seems to broadening his horizons, and looking at the wider topic of entrepreneurship.

Any book that purports to be revealing lessons from the likes of Marc Andreesen, Ben Horowitz and other Silicon Valley heavyweights sounds good to me. This is a bit of a left field recommendation, but I have high hopes for it.

5: Principles: Life and Work

Dubbed the 'Steve Jobs of investing' the quotes on the back of Ray Dalio's new book should have you scrambling to pre-order (Bill Gates thinks of Dalio as 'one of the world's great business thinkers'.

In Principles, Dalio reveals, for the first time in print, his unconventional approach to work and investing. If the below podcast episode is anything to go by, this book is bound to contain some absolute gems on life, investing and business.

6: Tribe of Mentors: Short Life Advice from the Best in the World

And finally, perhaps the most exciting release of them all. Love or hate him, Tim Ferris' podcast is one of the best around. His previous book 'Tools of Titans' took the podcast material and packaged it into a huge tome of life advice. It's one of the most useful books I've ever read.

This new release, though there's little concrete detail, is set to come out in December, and focuses on mentorship through print. The list of contributors and interviewees is stellar, from sports stars to entrepreneurs to comedians, actors, activists, politicans etc.

Pre-order this now, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

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And that's it! If anyone wants to buy me these books I'd be happy to do a review.

Here are some other book recommendations from me too, if you want more, sign up to my newsletter.

Happy Reading.

Shane

@shaneoleary1

[email protected]