End of year book report

2012 looks like the year in which I managed to read more books then the past 5 previous years combined!

This is an amazing achievement for me. I learned so much from the books I read and I am grateful to all the people who inspired me and/or recommended reading -and I do apologize if I have missed someone -but here's those that spring to mind at the time of typing - Bob Marshall (@flowchainsense), Mike Sutton (@mhsutton), Rob Brown, Jurgen Appelo (@jurgenappelo), many of the chaps at work including Julian Browne, Thomas Moore, Joe Karthauser and Alistair Thomas and of course my family for letting me read whenever I can.

To add to the 12 books I read in the first half of 2012 here's the rest:

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(audio books)

How to Win Friends and Influence People in the Digital Age (Unabridged) Dale Carnegie & Associates

Change Anything (Unabridged) Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler 6 hrs and 32 mins

Great by Choice (Unabridged) Jim Collins, Morten T Hansen 8 hrs and 33 mins

Spark (Unabridged) John J. Ratey

Primal Leadership (Unabridged) Daniel Goleman, Richard Boyatzis, and Annie McKee

Crucial Conversations Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler

The Lean Startup (Unabridged) Eric Ries

Just Listen (Unabridged) Mark Goulston

The Fifth Discipline Peter M. Senge

Getting Things Done When You Are Not in Charge: Second Edition By Geoffrey M. Bellman

How the Mind Works By Steven Pinker

(Kindle)

Buylogy by Martin Lindstrom

Running Lean by Ash Maurya

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A total of 25 books which is what I wanted to achieve so pretty lucky. I shall now just carry on reading throughout 2013 ;)

What have I read in 2013 (and why you should be reading some of these titles too)

This year I decided to include a short (1-2) sentences review for each of the books I have read. I also implemented a simple "star" rating: 1-3 stars where 3 is the most positive rating.
A shorter journey to work for more than half of the year and more time off on holiday meant a slight drop in my total number of books however overall I was very happy with most of the titles.

So here goes:

Audiobooks

** All Marketers Are Liars - Seth Godin  
** Purple Cow - Seth Godin  
I started the year under the influence of Seth Godin, also thanks to Joe Karthauser's recommendation. I found these books to have some great advice and good examples but overall I thought the core message was the same. So for some time I do not intend to get another book from the same author.

*** Living Without Stress or Fear - Thich Nhat Hanh  
I thought this is an amazing lecture. I recommend this wholeheartedly to anyone looking for insights into mindfulness and relaxation. Thanks to Rob Brown for recommending it!

** Mindful Leadership - Maria Gonzalez  
This book has confirmed my thinking around mindfulness and application in business environment. I am afraid not much more than that in it although if this is your first book on the subject it could be useful.

*** Positioning - Al Ries and Jack Trout  
This has been a real eye opener for me and has dramatically changed the way I sell stuff. Highly recommended.

** Pitch Anything -Oren Klaff  
I have mixed feelings about this book. Oren's stories are interesting, his approach is quite aggressive. I believe some things could be useful but be mindful of the environment and the culture as these techniques can easily upset people.

* Good Business - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi  
Having previously heard only good things about the author I was a little disappointed with this book. In principal I am in agreement with a lot of it however the "flow" he describes can easily be mindless and I see no good things coming out of it!

* David and Goliath -Malcolm Gladwell  
This is the first ever book I pre-ordered. However while there's a lot of value in the advice and the examples after listening to the book I felt disappointed and I would not recommend it.

*** The Lean Entrepreneur: How Visionaries Create Products, Innovate with New Ventures, and Disrupt Markets - Brant Cooper, Patrick Vlaskovits  
I think this is a good book. It can be really valuable for entrepreneurs looking for more effective ways to build a business. I personally have found some useful insights that I have used myself.

** Real Influence -Mark Goulston, M.D., Dr. John Ullmen  

*** The Leader's Guide to Storytelling: Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative, Revised and Updated - Steve Denning
I very much enjoyed listening to Steve Denning read his excellent book. Highly recommended

*** The Ultimate Introduction to NLP: How to Build a Successful Life (Unabridged) Richard Bandler, Alessio Roberti, Owen Fitzpatrick  
This must be the 3rd or 4th NLP book that I read and for the first time I found the concepts presented here easy to remember and apply. If you're looking for single book on NLP I recommend this one

** Rewire Your Brain - John Arden
I think this is a good book although for me it confirmed my thinking which I have already formed by reading other similar books (like David Rock's "Your brain at work"). Nonetheless I think this book is a good read.

Kindle

12 Brain Rules - John Medina

*** Non Violent Communication - Marshal Rosenberg
To me this is not just a must read but such a powerful idea which has the potential to change the world. Having read the book twice I am definitely re-reading it again this year.

** The Start-up owner's manual - Steve Blank
Good manual overall, much easier for me to read compared with his first book. I do however prefer the practicality and style of Ash Maurya

*** Running Lean - Ash Maurya
I am a big fan of this book. Very practical, actionable advice with good examples and backed by lots more content online. If you are interested in building a web product I recommend reading this book.

Paper

** The 4 steps to E.piphany - Steve Blank
I am sure the content is valuable because I have read Steve's other book (See above). However I found this one to be extremely difficult to read after the first chapter.I'd suggest going for the startup owner's manual. Oh yes and there's some ideas I do not agree with (will blog about these soon).

** Personal Kanban - Jim Benson
Personal kanban is great, I use it every day. Does it need a book? I don't think so. It can be explained in a blog post. The book repeats over and over the same ideas. For beginners it might be great. If you already know a bit about this stuff find some info on the web.

The Winner

For 2013 I can't decide between Living Without Stress or Fear by Thich Nhat Hanh  and Running Lean - Ash Maurya so I'll go with two winners ;)

A year of new beginning, excitement and tons of learning

My year runs to end of August. The time I spend back in my own Bulgaria naturally marks the end and the beginning. And it feels like this is a much better point in time than the one suggested by the calendar.

So here it is again - it is that time of the year. I am off tomorrow and have 10 days to go through my "rebirth" once more. And before I go there's a few things I shall write down to remind me of 2011.

"What a year" are probably the only known 3 words that can fully describe it. While 2010 was a(nother?) year of frustration, ridiculous events at work, lots of sadness to go through with the only real highlight being the visit to India, 2011 brought the new beginning I was so long preparing and longing for, two visits to dream destinations and most important of all - finally - a work place where I no longer have to deal with any of the weirdness and frustration that were built into my days before. LeaveWizard also made a significant step to becoming a success and as time goes by working on the product continues to be a privilege and pleasure.

The significance of the events in 2011 is so immense for me that words cannot describe it well enough. If I achieve the same in the next twelve months I'd be extremely happy. I hope at the very least I do not miss many opportunities to learn and I also hope that together with this amazing team we can build the right product right (or at least get as close to that as possible).

So with that I am off to get a few days break, some sunshine and generally restart. Ta-da.