This is the first part of our two-episode conversation discussing which books individuals should read at different parts of their career.
In this episode, we discuss the characteristics of the best business books, the sort of material one might read at different stages of life, and how to realize lasting value from what we read.
Special guests Larry Gennari, Alex Graham, and Alison Jones join us to discuss:
- The importance of reading for any aspiring business leader
- The difference between great books and those that are less valuable
- Why history books and biographies are often better than “business books”
- Their favorite books (and why they make the list)
Alison Jones has more than 25 years of experience with leading publishers. She’s also the founder of Practical Inspiration Publishing & host of The Extraordinary Business Book Club podcast. Alison has written and edited several books, including This Book Means Business.
Larry Gennari is a co-founder of Gennari Aronson, LLP. He’s also the chief curator for Authors & Innovators, and writes a regular column about business books for the Boston Business Journal.
Alex Graham is an investment banker with over 30 years’ experience. He was previously on the board of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, and is the creator and leader of a popular book club for business leaders in Toronto.
Books mentioned in Part 1:
- Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin
- The Big Leap: Conquer Your Hidden Fear and Take Life to the Next Level by Gay Hendricks
- The Leadership Lab: Understanding Leadership in the 21st Century by Chris Lewis and Pippa Malmgren
- Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
- Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t by Jim Collins
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing by Burton G. Malkiel
- The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau
- Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days by Chris Guillebeau
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World by Tim Marshall
- The Traveling Feast: On the Road and at the Table with My Heroes by Rick Bass
- Silence: In the Age of Noise by Erling Kagge
- Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of the House of Lehman by Ken Auletta
- Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System—and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Books mentioned in Part 2:
- The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock ‘n’ Roll by Ian Port
- Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport
- How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen R. Covey
- On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser
- The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success by William Thorndike
- Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
- The Mother of All Jobs: How to Have Children and a Career and Stay Sane(ish) by Christine Armstrong
- Success Through Diversity: Why the Most Inclusive Companies Will Win by Carol Fulp
- Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry by Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff
- Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street by Sheelah Kolhatkar
