Each year my wife and I sit down and map out a plan for ourselves and our family. Corny, yes. But, effective in starting our year right and establishing family, personal and professional goals for the year ahead. We go out to breakfast and talk about our prior year and what we want to do in the year ahead.
In preparation for that meeting, I started thinking that I wanted to read more hardcover, bound books in 2011. Serendipitously, I came across a post from Dave Fleet that day that referenced a challenge I remember hearing about this time last year. The challenge to read 26 books in a year.
Seems daunting, right? For me, especially so since the demands on my time have never been greater. How could I fit 26 books into a year? Well, as Dave lays it out, you only need to read 20 pages a day, on average. Suddenly doesn’t seem so daunting does it? I can easily read a few pages before bed instead of watching mindless TV. I could easily bring my book to the gym and read while I bike. I can do this, right?
So, I’m doing this. And, I’m going to attempt to hold myself accountable by doing it with two friends–Josh Braaten and Patrick Garmoe. Care to join us? Send me a note or DM and we’ll do this together!
Here are the 26 books I tentatively plan to read in 2011. This list may change, but I wanted to get this out on “paper” as a way to track and refer back each month:
* The Facebook Effect–David Kirkpatrick (review here)
* The Cluetrain Manifesto (always wanted to read)
* American Assassin–Vince Flynn (I’ve read all of his books–this one’s a must-read for me; update: read in Feb 2011)
* Play Their Hearts Out–George Dohrrman (recommended by Jeff Shelman; update: read in March 2011)
* Trust Agents–Chris Brogan/Julien Smith (reading right now--review here)
* Back of the Napkin–Dan Roam (recommended by Lauren Fernandez)
* The Power of Less–Leo Babauta (recommended by Jason Falls)
* Mediactive–Dan Gillmore (recommended by Richard Bailey)
* Reality is Broken–Jane McGonigal (recommended by Mary Bjorneby)
* Band of Brothers–Stephen Ambrose (recommended by Ryan Mathre)
* Rework–Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson
* Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard–Don & Chip Heath
* The Little Big Things: 163 Ways to Pursue Excellence–Tom Peters
* Four-Hour Body–Tim Ferriss (Loved Four-Hour Work Week, and really looking forward to Ferriss’ second outing)
* The Four Agreements–Don Miguel Ruiz (recommended by Meghan Wilker)
* An Object of Beauty–Steve Martin (recommended by Gini Dietrich)
* What would Google Do?–Jeff Jarvis (recommended by Gini Dietrich)
* The Medici Effect–Frans Johansson (recommended by Len Kendall)
* Cracking Creativity–Michael Michalko (recommended by Len Kendall)
* Makers–Cory Doctorow (recommended by Len Kendall)
* Exile–Richard North Patterson (recommended by Heather Whaling)
* Spend Shift–John Gerzema (recommended by Mark Jenson)
* I Love You Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagn to Nancy Reagan–Nancy Reagan (recommended by Kris Schindler)
* Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd–Youngme Moon (recommended by Beth Harte)
* The Micro-Script Rules–Bill Schley (recommended by Beth Harte)
* Now Revolution–Jay Baer and Amber Naslund (review here)
What’s your list look like for 2011? Care to join me in this challenge?
Note: Photo courtesy of austinevan via FlickR Creative Commons.
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