up:: Personal Development
Table of Contents
Introduction
As of September 10th I’ve read 35 books in 2021. Out of those 35 books, 9 of them I rated 5 stars. My star rating for books is as follows:
- 0 stars: couldn’t even finish it, so no review
- 1 star: trash, but I finished it
- 2 stars: it could have been worse
- 3 stars: good, but not great
- 4 stars: great
- 5 stars: great and reread it someday
As you can see, 4 stars and 5 stars are generally the same but the 5 star books I want to pick back up and reread someday.
2021 5-star Books
The 9 books I will recommend today are across 3 genres: business, biography, and fiction. These are rated alphabetically, by genre, and not by rating.
Business
The business books are about finding what to sell (Unlocking the Customer Value Chain), selling (Pitch Anything), and structuring a company to be successful (Winning).
Pitch Anything – by Oren Klaff is about not just selling an idea but creating an idea that you and your client believe in. The book builds to a final presentation that I found enthralling to read vicariously. This book is for anyone with a passion for sales using presentations instead of marketing pamphlets and platitudes. To agree with this book, you must really believe your product or service can help the customer.
Unlocking the Customer Value Chain – by Thales S. Teixeira and Greg Piechota is about navigating the customer journey and finding value opportunities that you can steal or defend. The entire process of drilling down to new markets is interesting. This book is for business folk, especially entrepreneurs, trying to figure out what company to build.
Winning – by Jack Welch is his thoughts, in hindsight, about successfully running GE. Jack encourages candor as one of the novel ideas presented in addition to how to win, competition, growing yourself, and others. This book is for anyone trying to evolve their career as a leader. There are a lot of business books available, but this one seems the most genuine and platitude-free.
Biography
The biography books stretch from a wrestling commentator (Under the Black Hat) to a tech conductor (Steve Jobs) to celebrities (Me by Elton John) and celebrities turned politicians (Reagan)..
Me by Elton John is about his life from entry into fame until modern day. The most interesting part was when he sobered up and founded an AIDS charity when his friends started dying young. There is a lot of blunt honesty in this book about his sex life, drugs, and how he feels about past friends and enemies. I recommend watching his biopic Rocketman first and if you like that, you’ll love Me.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson walks through Steve’s life from birth to the end. This is my second read through and I hope to read a third time someday. The most interesting part was when Steve Jobs dropped ‘interim’ from his CEO title and went full speed developing new products and strategy at Apple. Steve did a good job grooming his team and setting Apple up to succeed without him. Fans of Apple will love this book as it reveals pieces of the secretive company’s inner workings.
Reagan: The Life by H.W. Brands document’s Reagan’s life from birth to death. Acting perfected Reagan’s oratory skills. Passion for leadership brought him into politics (starting with SAG) and then governor and president. Regan was very effective in his first term and the journey was exciting. Anyone hearing about Reagan’s legacy (good or bad) and wants to make their own decision on his reputation should read this book.
Under the Black Hat by Jim Ross documents his life being the voice of wrestling for WWE picking up where his last book, Slobberknocker, ended. There are lots of insider stories (aka “the dirt”) on the wrestling business throughout his tenure as VP of Talent at WWE. JR thinks he was the scapegoat of Vince McMahon’s machinations but at the same time Vince’s daughter, Stephanie was wrestling Brock Lesnar on Smackdown. This book got very emotional when his wife Jan was killed in a tragic accident. Anyone who watched WWE and enjoyed listen to JR in the Aughts will like this book.
Fiction
The two fiction books would be broken up into LGBT/Thriller (Hush) and fantasy (A Dance with Dragons).
Hush by Tal Baurer is about a federal judge and US Marshal who become involved with a political plot to discredit the USA globally. There is a great twist on who is involved in nefarious activities without being blatantl foreshadowing. Anyone into unsanctimonious LGBT books will like this book. The story is very well researched and the characters have more personality than just being gay.
A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin is the 5th (and most recent) book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. It follows Daenerys, Jon Snow, the Starks and Lannisters through Westeros and Meereen. In this installment Danny grows up, the War of the 5 Kinds winds down, and Reek is given Stockholm syndrome. Anyone who liked the show and read the previous 4 books will enjoy A Dance with Dragons.
Conclusion
This is the second year I’ve indulged in biographies. I’m hoping to read 52 books this year (17 more to go) with a mix of the same genres. I hope to add more 5-star books to this list as I find them.
