Categories: Articles

10 Brand New Books That You Should Read

Suddenly, I don’t know where to start.

It’s like the brains of the world converged, had a meeting and decided to overwhelm us with a mass amount of brand new books to get our brains frothing. This is, without question, a tough time to figure out which brand new business book you should start with. My Kindle runneth over with books that must be consumed, contemplated and implemented. All of these books have either just come out (in the past month, or so) or will be coming out at any moment.

Go get your credit card. Here are 10 brand new business books that you should read (in alphabetical order):

The Authentic Swing – Notes From The Writing Of A First Novel by Steven Pressfield. I am an unabashed fan of Steve Pressfield. If you write or create anything and have not picked up his books, The War of Art and Do The Work, you are really missing out on something special. In this book, Pressfield walks you through how he came up with and wrote his smash bestseller, The Legend of Bagger Vance. The Authentic Swing arrived today, and odds are very strong that every other book on this list will be dropped down a notch until this one gets chewed up. Also of note, Pressfield will be appearing on Oprah‘s Super Soul Sunday series this coming Sunday. If you struggle with getting inspired, starting a project or getting to another level in your creative thinking, you don’t want to miss this book. Pressfield also launched a two-part online video series to promote The Authentic Swing that walks through his The Foolscap Method. Amazing stuff. Here’s a conversation we had back in 2011: SPOS #251 – Do The Work With Steven Pressfield.
David And Goliath – Underdogs, Misfits, And The Art Of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell. This is my current read. The book will be out on October 1st, 2013 and I am enjoying it immensely. If you’re not a fan of Gladwell, it is doubtful that this one will win you over. Personally, I like the way that he weaves research and academics with everyday people stories. I also like how he challenges the status quo with a different point of view. Insights, perspective and an amazing writing style makes this one a necessity for your book collection. Let’s face it, walking around with a Malcolm Gladwell book also makes you look smart and cool. Who doesn’t want that? 😉
Die Empty – Unleash Your Best Work Every Day by Todd Henry. This is Todd Henry’s latest book. For my dollar, it is one of the best titled books on creativity to date. But, as you know, we never judge a book by its cover (or title). Thankfully, Henry fully delivers on this one. It’s a veritable page-turner of insights and new ways to think about how to soak the most creative juices out of your life. People seem to think that creativity is based on scarcity. Die Empty will help you better understand that it is a model of abundance. You just have to better understand how to harness it. This book comes out tomorrow, so don’t delay. Here’s a conversation we had back in 2011: SPOS #259 – Accidentally Creative With Todd Henry. Plus, look for an upcoming episode of Six Pixels of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast where we discuss Die Empty.
Epic Content Marketing – How to Tell a Different Story, Break through the Clutter, and Win More Customers by Marketing Less by Joe Pulizzi. In a world where everyone is talking about the merits of content marketing, Joe Pulizzi is one of the true, experienced voices in the space. I read an earlier draft of this book and was amazed by the depth of it. If you’re looking at how to bulk up your content marketing strategy, or where to get started, this is a great primer and is right up there with Content Rules. Here’s a conversation we had back in 2012: SPOS #289 – Content Marketing With Joe Pulizzi.
Remote – Office Not Required by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. The guys from 37 Signals blazed the bestselling book lists with their opus, Rework. Now, they’re back with a book and topic that is near and dear to my heart. There are days when my office is my MacBook Air and iPhone, and there are days when my office is the physical space that we occupy at Twist Image. How would we build, design and market brands if we all worked remotely? I’m not sure it would be as successful. This probably isn’t a zero sum game, so I am curious to see how Jason and David tackle this issue as our work environment changes from day to day. This book comes out on October 29th. I don’t have it, yet.
Smarter Than You Think – How Technology Is Changing Our Minds For The Better by Clive Thompson. Another book that I bought, but have yet to tackle. Thompson’s articles in Wired Magazine are always amazing. There is a massive technology backlash underway. A lot of it stems from comments like Google is making us all dumber or that Wikipedia isn’t always perfectly correct, and we’re loosing our ability to learn because all of this technology and inter-connectedness. Thompson doesn’t agree, and he lays out his lucid reasoning in this important book. Personally, I can’t wait to dive in!
Thinking In New Boxes – A New Paradigm For Business Creativity by Luc De Brabandere and Alan Iny. Don’t be fooled by the notion that these two Boston Consulting Group consultants would struggle with helping businesses to figure out new ways to be creative and innovative. This book reads like an instruction manual for businesses to review their own strategies and figure out how to out-innovate those who seek to disrupt their industries. It is well-researched and tells some amazing stories of brands that have discovered non-obvious but complimentary new business models and have managed to create a sustainable competitive advantage. I talked up the book with Alan Iny right here: SPOS #374 – Inside The Box Outside? Outside The Box? New Boxes With Alan Iny.
Unlabel – Selling You Without Selling Out by Marc Ecko. I am still waiting on the physical version of this book from the fashion, pop culture and art icon. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ecko at a mastermind session earlier this year, and we recently took some time to discuss his latest project: this book. The conversation with him will be published this coming week on the Six Pixels podcast, but he is one person who understands (and can explain) what it means to build an authentic brand. Many people talk the talk, but Ecko walks the walk… time and time again. If you’re interested in brands and how they work, order a copy of Unbrand. This book comes out on October 1st.
Without Their Permission: How the 21st Century Will Be Made, Not Managed by Alexis Ohanian. I have been hearing about this book for well over a year. Alexis and I share the same publisher and editor. I’m really curious to read this book (which also comes out on October 1st) from the co-founder of Reddit, Hipmunk and more. He’s a passionate startup guy and investor (deeply rooted with Y Combinator) and this book is all about using the Web for good. I’m fairly confident that this one will live up to its hype… if not, he’ll get mauled on Reddit. I doubt he will let that happen 😉
The Year Without Pants – WordPress.com And The Future Of Work by Scott Berkun. This is another one that I have recently purchased and can’t wait to attack. Scott has written books on everything from productivity (Making Things Happen) to how to be a great public speaker (Confessions Of A Public Speaker). I’m excited to see where this journey leads. Berkun writes with a very fresh, direct and powerful style. He makes reading easy… and it’s a welcome break from some of the more laborious reads.