Five New Business Books To Read For Your Winter Vacation

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With all the great business information out there on the Internet, you may wonder why you should take the time to read a non-fiction book about money or leadership strategies.

I like to use a popcorn versus steak analogy (or popcorn versus quinoa, for my vegetarian readers). Most business blogs are like popcorn. When well prepared, they are quick, tasty and satisfying. However, you cannot exist on popcorn alone. You need more substance and nutrition.

Books allow an experienced author to delve deeply into a subject, offering more details, engaging personal stories and well-documented studies to back up their points. This “meatier” information helps get you motivated to try the author’s ideas and to think up some of your own ideas.

How to find the time to read longer works? Look for pockets of time on your daily commute, while you are waiting in line or getting ready for bed. It is easy to take non-fiction books in small doses – such as a chapter a day — and you don’t have to abandon that novel you are reading either.

Five new fall business books

Here are five new fall business book releases to get you started.

Fall business books – The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge by Matt Ridley (Harper, released Oct. 27, 2015)

Do we, as human beings command and control our world? Matt Ridley thinks not.

In this thought-provoking book, author Matt Ridley Matt Ridley asserts that there is a general theory of evolution and natural selection that applies to everything in our lives – both the natural and the man-made.

Using examples from history, science and philosophy, Ridley, a British scientist and the bestselling author of The Rational Optimist and Genome, maintains that trends emerge and evolve without a plan and without the design dictates of man. It’s an interesting look at the way things work and the role we play in, well, everything.

Fall business books – Extreme Ownership by Leif Babin and Jocko Willink (St. Martin’s Press, released Oct. 20, 2015)

If you’re like me, when you think of a U.S. Navy Seal, you think of the best our armed forces has to offer. You think of someone who is precision trained and ready to defend our country in just about any circumstance.

In this book, two Navy Seals share how you can translate the knowledge they have learned as warriors into strategies for life. Leif Babin and Jocko Willink served together in Iraq in a highly decorated Special Operations unit, the SEAL Task Unit Bruiser.

Through their time leading their men and making life-and-death decisions, they have developed principles for success that apply to any walk of life but are especially applicable to the business world.

The book has a clear, straightforward format and is a good bet for anyone who is interested in both military history and in learning how to be a better leader.

Fall business books – The School of Greatness: A Real-World Guide to Living Bigger, Loving Deeper, and Leaving a Legacy by Lewis Howes (Rodale Books, released Oct. 27, 2015)

A broken wrist may have ended Lewis Howes’s professional football career, but he was able to turn his life around by applying some of the advice he had heard from his coaches to his own changed circumstances.

The result is his career as a business coach and motivational podcast speaker. In his new book The School of Greatness, Howes shares advice and tips he has learned from many of the sports and business leaders he has interviewed. He also draws from his own experiences.

Eschewing luck and talent in favor of hustle, dedication and perseverance, Howes gives a game plan for getting off the couch (as he did) and getting back into life in a big way. If you are in need of a locker room-style pep talk to help you take your career to a higher level, this book is or you.

Fall business books – America’s Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein (Penguin Press, released Oct. 20, 2015)

We call it the Fed, and we know about its critical role in our financial landscape. But how much do you know about how America’s modern central bank got started?

By focusing on the four men who struggled to create the Federal Reserve, financial journalist Roger Lowenstein takes on the sweeping story of the Federal Reserve. The men are German-born financier Paul Warburg, Rhode Island Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, House Banking Committee Chairman Carter Glass and President Woodrow Wilson.

Lowenstein weaves together the drama of Washington and Wall Street in a compelling historical narrative. As you read you will notice striking similarities between century-old politics and today.

Fall business books – Intentional Living by John C. Maxwell (Center Street, released Oct. 6, 2015)

John C. Maxwell knows how to strike a chord with his readers. The author of three other best-selling books on leadership, Maxwell discusses in this new book how we can make major changes in our lives by starting with little steps.

Maxwell stresses the importance of our individual life stories and how they can have a big impact on others. He challenges readers to write their stories so that they will be ready to share them at the right time. Maxwell offers many personal examples of how he has learned to become more intentional with his own life.

“You have it within your power to make your life a great story, one of significance,” Maxwell writes. “Every person can.”

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