Summer Reading: My 2015 List of Books (So Far)

I have the amazing opportunity to focus on self-improvement at Buffer and, by extension, to focus on reading. Books are baked right into the culture---all new hires get a Kindle and any ebooks they'd like. I'm incredibly grateful for the chance to focus on reading more and to learn from the amazing authors who put together such influential books.So far this year, I've read through a few dozen books on a wide variety of topics. I thought I'd share them here in case they inspire any summer book reading for you!Let me know if you want to chat about any of these. The comments are open. :)(When possible, I've linked to my favorite highlights of the books.)--   Dept. of Speculation (Amazon)The Art of Communicating (Amazon)Startup Growth Engines (Amazon)  So You've Been Publicly Shamed (Amazon)How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character(Amazon)Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within(Amazon)   Small Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace(Amazon)How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World(Amazon)The Year Without Pants: WordPress.com and the Future of Work(Amazon)  How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big : Kind of the Story of My Life(Amazon)How to Write Short: Word Craft for Fast Times(Amazon)The 48 Laws of Power(Amazon)  Garner's Modern American Usage(Amazon)The Art of Stillness(Amazon)Traveling Mercies(Amazon) (highlights)

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.- Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies

    Product Design for the Web(Amazon)Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works(Amazon)What We Talk About When We Talk About God(Amazon)Style: The Art of Writing Well (Amazon) (highlights)

How is clarity to be acquired? Mainly by taking trouble; and by writing to serve people rather than to impress them.- F.L. Lucas, Style

 The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons(Amazon)The Design of Everyday Things(Amazon) (highlights)  Intercom on Product Management(Amazon) (highlights)Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar(Amazon) (highlights)

Compassion isn’t about solutions. It’s about giving all the love that you’ve got.- Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things

Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero(Amazon) The Great Divorce(Amazon) (highlights)The Education of a Coach(Amazon) (highlights)The Divine Conspiracy(Amazon) (highlights) Growth Hacker Marketing(Amazon) (highlights)Artful Sentences:  Syntax as Style(Amazon) (highlights)Yes Please(Amazon)

I have realized that mystery is what keeps people away, and I’ve grown tired of smoke and mirrors. I yearn for the clean, well-lighted place. So let’s peek behind the curtain and hail the others like us. The open-faced sandwiches who take risks and live big and smile with all of their teeth. These are the people I want to be around. This is the honest way I want to live and love and write.– Amy Poehler, Yes Please

On the Shortness of Life(Amazon)Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World’s Rarest 78rpm Records(Amazon)Station Eleven(Amazon)     The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking(Amazon)The Noble Hustle: Poker, Beef Jerky, and Death(Amazon)The Long Mars(Amazon)  The Alchemist(Amazon)The Innovator’s Hypothesis(Amazon)Cloud-hidden, Whereabouts Unknown(Amazon) Peace Is Every Breath(Amazon)Hoyle’s Modern Encyclopedia of Card Games(Amazon)