Looking for something to read?
I read books. I think this is important for people to do.
One of the things that is becoming more and more apparent in this generation is the way we consume information. The majority of people these days are reading blogs, such as this, or news sites to fill their intellectual curiousity. I don't think this is necessarily bad, after all, I do have a blog, but it isn't enough. Most news sites operate on such tight deadlines and timetables and with an infinite amount of space to fill that they simple don't have the standards for quality content than they would otherwise. This is a media business that functions under the philosophy it's better to get the story first, than to get the story right. Books, on the other hand, often take the author years of research, experimentation, and synthesis to put together in a way that is most accurate and digestible for the reader (of course, there are many exceptions to this). When you read a book, you are absorbing the sum total of that authors knowledge on a particular subject. You are gaining the knowledge that would've taken you YEARS to learn on your own. So even if you read one book a month, by the end of the year you could gain the accumulated knowledge of 50 years! That is what standing on the shoulders of giants is all about, leveraging other people's insights to improve your work and life. If you can't seem to find the time to read, take a look at how you allocate your time. There are few other activities in life with as much ROI. And no, I do not like eReaders, although I know they work for some people. I prefer having a hard copy in hand with a pen so I can underline and take notes in the margins. Behavioral Psychology Influence- Robert Cialdini Predictably Irrational- Dan Ariely Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard- Chip and Dan Heath Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength- Roy F. Baumeister Freakonomics- Steven Levitt and Stephen Dunbar Think Like a Freak- Steven Levitt and Stephen Dunbar Personal and Business Strategy Blue Ocean Strategy- W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne Recession Proof Graduate- Charlie Hoehn The Game- Neil Strauss The Prince- Niccolo Machiavelli The 33 Strategies of War- Robert Greene The Art of Seduction- Robert Greene The 48 Laws of Power- Robert Greene Mastery- Robert Greene The Art of War- Sun Tzu The Book of Five Rings- Miyamoto Musashi PR & Marketing Contagious- Jonah Berger Made to Stick- Chip and Dan Heath Positioning - Al Reis The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing- Al Reis Purple Cow- Seth Godin Permission Marketing- Seth Godin Tribes- Seth Godin The Tipping Point- Malcolm Gladwell Launch- Jeff Walker Ask- Ryan Levesque Trust Me, I'm Lying- Ryan Holiday Spin: How to Turn the Power of the Press to your Advantage- Michael M. Sitrick Growth Hacker Marketing- Ryan Holiday Health & Fitness Sex at Dawn- Christopher Ryan The Perfect Health Diet- Paul Jaminet The Paleo Solution- Robb Wolf The Paleo Manifesto- John Durant Light’s Out- T.S. Wiley Good Calories, Bad Calories- Gary Taubes Why We Get Fat and What To Do About It- Gary Taubes Engineering the Alpha- John Romaniello and Adam Bornstein The Dark Side of Fat Loss- Sean Croxton The Omnivores Dilemma- Michael Pollan American Buffalo- Steven Rinella The Vegetarian Myth- Lierre Keith Body by Science- Doug McGuff Starting Strength- Mark Rippetoe Business & Self-Improvement The Happiness Hypothesis- Jonathan Haidt Give and Take- Adam Grant Four Hour Workweek- Timothy Ferriss Four Hour Body- Timothy Ferriss Four Hour Chef- Timothy Ferriss I Will Teach You To Be Rich- Ramit Sethi The Millionaire Nextdoor- Thomas J. Stanley The Education of Millionaires- Michael Ellsberg The Charisma Myth- Olivia Fox Cabane The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Read- Dan Roth The Smartest Money Book You’ll Read- Dan Roth Emergency- Neil Strauss Play It Away- Charlie Hoehn The Dip- Seth Godin Liar’s Poker- Michael Lewis Let My People Go Surfing- Yvon Chouinard Blink- Malcolm Gladwell Outliers- Malcolm Gladwell Biographies Napoleon: A Life- Paul Johnson Churchill- Paul Johnson Socrates: A Man for Our Times- Paul Johnson Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero- James Romm Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changes the Art of War- Robert Coram How to Live: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer - Sarah Bakewell The Fish that Ate the Whale- Rich Cohen Where Men Win Glory- John Krakauer The Adventures of Henry David Thoreau- Michael Sims Profiles in Courage- John F. Kennedy Meat Eater- Steven Rinella Philosophy Letters From a Stoic- Seneca On The Shortness of Life- Seneca Meditations- Marcus Aurelius Discourses- Epictetus Living With the Himalayan Masters- Swami Rama Fiction The Hobbit- J.R.R. Tolkien Perks of Being a Wallflower- Stephen Chbosky Ask the Dust- John Fante Fight Club- Chuck Palahniuk Fear and Loathing in Los Vegas- Hunter S. Thompson |
Chris Schelzi is the Media and Marketing Strategist who has worked with best-selling authors, successful entrepreneurs, and multi-million dollar companies to help them grow their brands, launch products, and stir the media into a frenzy.
His work has been featured in places such as Business Insider, Yahoo!, Reuters, and NewsWeek. |