There is nothing that inspires me more than a great book.

Yes, I love the power of connecting to content on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, magazines (Fast Company, Wired, etc…), online publications (Quartz, Lost At E Minor, PSFK, etc…), but if I could only choose one media, it would be books. I rarely read fiction. It’s non-fiction for me. I’m fascinated with the art of writing business books, and what these authors pull together into something substantive that can take months/years to crystallize. Not that long ago, one of my favorite authors, Seth Godin, pulled together a list of his favorite authors (you can read his list right here: Sharing and celebrating your favorite authors…). Seth’s right when he says: "Ideas that spread, win. If you speak up about an idea or an artist you care about, the word spreads, the world changes. Find a favorite and tell someone…". Like Seth, I regularly hand sell the work of my favorite authors. In fact, I often buy multiple copies of books that truly inspire me and give them away as gifts to people.

Here are just some of the authors that everyone should read (in alphabetical order):

• James Altucher.
• Dan Ariely.
• Brene Brown.
• Julie Burstein.
• Susan Cain.
• Alain De Botton.
• Nancy Duarte.
• Dave Eggers.
• Bryan Eisenberg (and his brother, Jeffrey).
• Jeffrey Gitomer.
• Seth Godin.
• Ann Handley.
• Arianna Huffington.
• Lewis Hyde.
• Joseph Jaffe.
• John Jantsch.
• Steven Johnson.
• Avinash Kaushik.
• Austin Kleon.
• Anne Lamott.
• Nilofer Merchant.
• Tom Peters.
• Dan Pink.
• Steven Pressfield.
• Douglas Rushkoff.
• Clay Shirky.
• Sherry Turkle.
• David Weinberger.

Ugh, now I feel bad for all of the amazing authors that I am surely forgetting.

Why not make your own list and share it? Not in the mood? Feel free to add to this list below in the comments or try out Seth’s new reviewing site: HugDug.