30
Dec
Books I Read in 2006
Last year I posted a list of the Books I Read in 2005. As 2006 draw to an end, it seems only appropriate that I post a list of the books I have read this year. If you would like me to post a review about any of these books, my comments, or maybe even a series of postings, please let me know.
Books I Read with My Eyes:
- ***Built on a Rock: A Memoir of Faith, Family and Place by Jerry D. Neal and Jerry Bledsoe – The life story of Jerry Neal, one of the founders of RF Micro Devices, and a local Randolph County North Carolina resident.
- ****Restoring Order: Organizing Strategies to Reclaim Your Life by Vicki Norris – Time and space management concepts by one of the stars of HGTV’s Mission Organization.
- ****The Advanced Day Planner User’s Guide by Hyrum W. Smith – 83 tips from the inventor of the Franklin-Covey planner.
- ***Write It Down Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It by Henriette Anne Klauser – Using writing as a tool in the power of intention.
- ****Business of Software by Eric Sink- A series of articles on things to keep in mind while starting, or running, a micro-ISV.
- ****Rick Warren’s Bible Study Methods: Twelve Ways You Can Unlock God’s Word by Rick Warren – A dozen different methodologies for studying the Bible.
- ****The Unexpected Journey: Conversations with People Who Turned from Other Beliefs to Jesus by Thom S. Rainer – Interviews with people that were deeply involved in other religions that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior.
- *****The Richest Man Who Ever Lived: King Solomon’s Secrets to Success, Wealth, and Happiness by Steven K. Scott – A study in the book of Proverbs and applying the principles for success.
- *****The Baptist Deacon by Robert E. L. Naylor – A scriptural overview of the office of a Deacon in the Baptist church and how that office is to be fulfilled today.
- *****Get Everything Done and Still Have Time To Play by Mark Forster – Time and task management tips.
- *****Do It Tomorrow and Other Secrets of Time Management by Mark Forster – More time and task management tips.
- *****Beyond Bullet Points: Using Microsoft PowerPoint to Create Presentations That Inform, Motivate, and Inspire by Cliff Atkinson – A methodology to eliminate bullet points from your PowerPoint slides and make your presentations more engaging.
Books I Read with My Ears:
- *****Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill – Practical tips for achievement in all areas, not just finances.
- ****The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin – Lessons as Franklin muses on his own life.
- *****The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis – A fictional work of 31 letters from a senior demon to his understudy that reveals a great deal about how Satan and his forces work in the lives of people today.
- *****Success Mastery Academy by Brian Tracy – Tips for personal and business success.
- **Cesar’s Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems by Cesar Millan – How to have a successful relationship with your dog.
- ***50 Self-Help Classics: 50 Inspirational Books to Transform Your Life, from Timeless Sages to Contemporary Gurus by Tom Butler-Bowdon – Summaries of 50 Self-help books.
- ***The Secret by Rhonda Byrne – A short recording on applying the power of intention.
Update (January 20, 2007): Matt Cornell requested that I update this list with a rating for each book, and a short one-sentence summary. I’ve used Amazon’s 5-star rating scheme: *=I hate it; **=I don’t like it; ***=It’s OK; ****=I like it; *****=I love it.
I’d definitely like to hear your recommendations, Ricky. That would be the value added, in my opinion!
Happy holidays,
matt
December 30th, 2006 at 7:11 pmTwo more points:
December 30th, 2006 at 7:22 pmo The link to 05 books is back to this post (and search can’t find it).
o What’s “The secret” about? The web site is vague!
Matthew,
I’ve fixed the link. Thanks for catching that and pointing it out.
The Secret is essentially about the law of attraction. How we tend to attract things into our lives because of how we focus our thoughts. Although agree that this is true to some extent, I doubt that this is the best source of information. I’m not finished with it yet, but I expect to be in the next week or so. It’s on my Palm TX and it is the book that I am currently listening to whenever I’m on an airplane.
Recommendations are kind of tough since that is more closely related to personality and interest. For example, to you, I would highly recommend both of Mark Forster’s books. The Baptist Deacon was a great book as well, but would be of no interest at all to someone that wasn’t serving, or considering serving, in the role of a Deacon.
Do you think I should expand each of these with a two or three sentence commentary? Would that help?
December 30th, 2006 at 8:02 pmI love Write it Down, Make it Happen. I sometimes do “future journaling” where I visualize how life would feel if a certain thing happens and write as though it is fact. The part about seeing the curved roof of my Airstream home didn’t quite happen–we have a Silver Streak instead. Some of it comes close. I read WAY too many books to try and track what I read. I probably have 13 checked out from the library now. You might want to add a bit of Calvin Rutstrum to your reading list too.
January 2nd, 2007 at 3:54 pmTeri – Thanks for the comment and the suggestion! I rarely read books from the library, so I can usually compile my list mostly from my history at Amazon.com and Audible.com. I also keep a daily journal and note when I start or finishing reading a book, so a quick search for “read” in my journal for the year usually turns up most of the stragglers. Obviously, I don’t read as much as you do.
If you had to recommend one book by Rutstrum, what would it be?
January 4th, 2007 at 12:04 amCalvin Rutstrum was a wilderness writer. I actually like his work better than Thoreau. There’s some great stuff at Outdoor Magazine that will give you a review on many of his books. I just read A Wilderness Autobiography thanks to this article and it was wonderful. I have the Wilderness Cabin and the New Wilderness Way, along with Paradise Below Zero. You might want to try whatever catches your fancy in those reviews. I think it’s important, especially for us techie folks, to get out of our chairs and back into nature to renew ourselves.
January 4th, 2007 at 7:52 pmThanks, Ricky. I think the update adds a lot of value.
January 21st, 2007 at 10:44 pmI started keeping track of the books I read a few years ago as well. I categorize them on my computer according to subject area and then note the year I read it and my comments if any.
I also keep a section for any books I want to locate. I notate them because I know that I’ll probably never think of or come across the title again unless I write it down.
I often wondered though the “requirements” for deciding whether one keeps a book. Obviously the books really add up for avid readers. I thought that I’d keep a book if I felt it was worth re-reading or was somehow unique/rare. This is especially difficult for those that have several interests such as myself. Another idea is I like to give books as gifts to other people who might be interested.
Actually, as a side note, I also keep track of the movies I watch (because I’m nerdy like that)..lol.
March 5th, 2007 at 10:36 am