What I’m Reading: August 2014

I follow my enthusiasm by reading…a lot. And once a month, I share (some of) the books I read last month and the books I intend to read this month. You can join the informal book club by sharing your own list in the comments and find all the posts here.

What I read

• Influence, by Robert Cialdini – This book covers the basics of how we're convinced to do things, along with tips to resist influence. This will totally change the way you view commercials, websites, and the world. Required reading if you want to be an effective communicator!
• Mindless Eating, by Brian Wansink – Confession: I will read anything about why we do things and how to change habits. This book is super educational on just that.
• 10X Rule, by Grant Cardone- After hearing the author on one of my favorite podcasts, I couldn't resist reading his book. His style is a far cry from mine, but his point – set bigger goals and work 10x harder than you think – is solid.

I didn’t get a lot of reading in this month, because I spent most of my time writing and editing my new class materials!

What I’m reading

• One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabirel Garcia Marquez
• Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much, by Sendhil Mullainathan
• The Know-It-All, by A.J. Jacobs, at the recommendation of Elise

Still obsessed with…

I got obsessed with the idea of reading the Great Books – you know, the books that have formed the foundation of our culture, that teach us something about ourselves…those books that everyone else read in high school and college that I missed. You can see my list of 101 Great Books here (some of which I’ve read, thank goodness!).

But now – what the heck should I do with this list now? Read through it in a year? Read one a month? Where would you begin?I got a few replies last month from makers saying that if I started a Great Books read-along, they'd join in. What about you? Is this something you'd want to read on the blog (once a month) or follow along on Twitter? Or Facebook?