Books, Books, Books - Which are Your Favorites?

I've been thinking about books this week. Books that I've written and great books I've read over the past year.

About a year ago, I got a few pre-publication copies of my new book: The Sale Ready Company: What it takes to create a business someone would want to own, even if you have no intention of selling. I know, the title is more than a little long. I feel I must emphasize a sale ready company has little to do with actually selling the company. I might write about that in the future. It's not this book.

We are still taking a trip with the Aardvark family through the ins and outs of getting a business ready to transfer. Along the way, we have some family issues that threaten to throw the whole transfer into chaos.

I love how the book has turned out and am looking forward to getting more copies out in the world. I'm hoping that will happen sooner than later. Stay tuned. I'll be sure to let you know when it happens.

On to some of my favorite books.

Last year was an excellent year for some great books to appear. Below are four of my favorite that I think you should consider reading. If you don't want to read all four consider, the books from the top of the list. These are the best of the best.

Educated by Tara Westover - This book is far and away the best book I've read in years. I literally could not put it down. The memoir talks about a young girl who grows up in Idaho's backwoods under the most unusual and extreme circumstances. She manages to get out of the backwoods and gets advanced degrees from both Harvard and Cambridge University. Don't miss a chance to read one of the best books I've ever run across.

The Ride of a Lifetime by Robert Iger - I've read a lot of CEO memoirs. Most of them don't teach you a lot and don't show you a roadmap for how you might want to act. This book is an exception to that rule. Bob Iger is the recently retired CEO of the Disney Companies. There have been few CEO's who have accomplished what he did. And he did this while keeping humble and being a generally nice guy. Who says good guys can't finish first?

You will want to pay attention to the section where Mr. Iger talks about the merger with Pixar, which should have been on the rocks. Managing the merger and Steve Jobs is a lesson in emotional intelligence we could all use.

The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy. By Stephanie Kelton. I first ran across Modern Monetary Theory about fifteen years ago. I walked away thinking this is an interesting theory, and I wonder if it would work in the real world.

The past four years or the last twenty years, seem to have proven that yes, it works. It's an economic idea that most will reject out of hand. I think this is a book you need to read, just to stretch your brain a bit. I promise it won't make your brain explode. It will help stretch your thinking and might even have you thinking differently about the deficits we run at the National level.

Ms. Kelton has never said that MMM would not cause inflation. She has said that at some point there will be too much government spending. I would say that she was right in that the government could spend more and we might have reached what more actually is.

Fix this Next by Mike Michalowicz - Mike has a knack for taking complicated business principles and making them dog simple. It's one reason I love his work.

He's written several books, among them his best-selling Profit First.

I love this book because of Mike's simple solution for what to work on next in your business. If there's one thing business owners don't do well, it's prioritizing what they should work on. This book will help you do this simply and straightforwardly. Like all of Mike's books, this is an easy read that will have you taking positive action in your company before you finish the book.?

I could go on with more books for you to read. If I did that, I would be breaking my limit for how long this newsletter can be. These four will get you started. If you want more, just hit return, give me the topic, and I'll send a couple of suggestions your way. After reading over 2,000 books, there are more than a few I love. This is just my list.

I'm curious, what are your favorites from last year? Please let me know in the comments below. And, if you would like to get a discounted copy of my newest book, The Sale Ready Company, click here.