February 5, 2017

Over the past 3-4 years, reading has become one of my top 5 favourite things to do. Growing up I rarely picked up a book outside of a school assignment but as I got older I found that reading could be one of the most interesting things a person could do. I went from reading zero books a year during my 20’s to reading at least one per month in my early 30’s.

When I developed my plan to update my blog on a weekly basis, I made sure I left some space each month to discuss and review some of the books I enjoy and find inspiring. The quotes you see at the top of each page of my website come from authors/books that stuck with me after reading.

Today, I thought it’d be fun to rundown a few of the business and leadership books in 2016 and have my readers count how many of them they read. Please feel free to send me an email or comment on social media if you’ve read any of these books and if you have others that you’ve read and enjoyed, please share!

How Music Got Free – Stephen Richard Witt

Being a teenager in the early 2000’s was an incredible time for music. Not only were Eminem, Dr. Dre and the rest of the Aftermath records crew tearing up the charts – you could download all their music form free – legally. How Music Got Free by Stephen Richard Witt provides a history of how sites like Napster, KaZaa and others nearly crushed the recording industry.

Small Data: The Tiny Clues that Uncover Huge Trends – Martin Lindstrom

There’s a big push in business these days with “Big Data” and how it can improve your business. In Small Data: The Tiny Clues that Uncover Huge Trends, Martin Lindstrom argues that small data can still be a huge factor in people’s purchasing habits. He cites real-life examples of consulting work he’s done with businesses across the globe where some of the smallest details lead to the biggest changes.

Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry – Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff

I’m an absolutely junkie for business biography stories and Losing the Signal fits the bill perfectly. It details the rise and fall of BlackBerry one of the world’s most popular smartphones in the mid-2000’s. Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff lead you on a rollercoaster ride through BlackBerry’s early days, all the way up to early 2015 when BlackBerry’s smartphone market share dwindled to under 5%. Interesting fact: one of BlackBerry’s founders Mike Lazaridis went to Herman High School in Windsor, ON.

How Google Works – Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg

How Google Works opened my eyes to how I’d like to one day run my business. It seems that most of the stories you’ve heard and read about how great it is to work at Google have not been exaggerated. While the details about the positive tmosphere at Google need to be taken with a grain of salt (author Eric Schmidt is the former CEO of Google), it still provides a great roadmap on how to keep employees happy and engaged.

Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future – Ashlee Vance

The real-life Tony Stark’s had led a life that is as intriguing and mind-blowing as you think. With every turn of the page in Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future, you see how his passion and drive has fueled some of the best inventions of the 21st century. One particular Musk quote that stuck out to me was “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads” – showing how making money isn’t even in the top 10 reasons why he does what he does.