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I've just finished The World Is Flat (Thomas L. Friedman) and looking for my next book.

Simple question this one, How do you pick your next book?

aspiringceo's picture

Hi Gareth,
Have a read of M&M's list of their favourtie books which may help http://www.manager-tools.com/favorite/

Mark's picture
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I just reach for the shelf. Always have 50 there to get through.

And, when I see something I need or want to read, I just get it (and add it to the shelf).

So, it occurs to me that my system may not work for everyone, in that I have two queues rather than one, or at least a short queue and a long buffer.

ONE MORE THING: If I am looking at a book on the shelf and am wondering whether or not to get it, I look for THREE USABLE IDEAS in it when I am scanning. If I find them, I buy it. But this is only in bookstores, and I am never there anymore. I am guessing that some of you are, though, so there it is.

Mark

sholden's picture
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Hello!

I have a virtual book shelf of books to read. I keep this list in Microsoft Outlook and when I finish a book, I scan the list, and pick a new one.

This keeps me from buying too many books that I can't get through and then feel guilt about.

Steve

P.S. Call me old fashion but I'm also a big fan of the San Diego County Library system ... you can check out books, read them, and turn them back in without having to pay for them directly :D

lazerus's picture

Perhaps a good choice for your next book could be Getting things Done by David Allen... :wink:

MattJBeckwith's picture
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I may be a little scatter-brained but I always have at least two books going at any one time. When I'm done with one I grab a next one from my queue (which is only getting longer) and when I finish the other I go out and grab one from Borders.

I like library idea but please don't tell my wife because I always buy books. To balance it out though I do buy a lot from the used library book store - I got The Effective Executive for fifty cents!

TomW's picture
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I tend to go to Amazon and see "What other users who bought this book bought". I may not like those books, but those books link to other books, which link to other books.... I build a wishlist of books I want to get when I'm in the mood to hunt for them for hours on end, then when I'm ready I just order a couple.

damcg63's picture
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I will preface this by saying that I am a bit of a book person and a geek as well. I use software called Readerware - a 30-odd dollar download to organize my books. Put in ISBN and it scrapes all info from book sites, reviews, cover picture and all....or drag and drop from Amazon. I have books in about 6 locations and I use this to catalog which ones I have where, which ones on loan and I use user-number field as my next-up-queue sorting mechanism. I usually am reading at least 2 books at a time and this helps me keep track and it is a good place for me to put quick notes.

I know, a little scary....

juliahhavener's picture
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Ohhh I NEED that! I can't think how many times I've started to configure a database just like that.

I literally have a ton of books. My ex-husband got mad at me one year when we moved, so he weighed the moving truck, loaded my books on, then weighed it again.

I haven't gotten any better in the 8 years since the divorce, either. And I'm chronically 'I know I loaned that to someone but I can't remember who'. Or I buy four copies of the same book.

itilimp's picture
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damcg63, Not scary at all, I do almost exactly the same thing just with different software :)

I use [url=http://www.fnprg.com/bookcat/index.html]BookCat[/url] by FNProgramvare (they also do catalogues for CDs and DVDs which you can scan into the system rather than typing any barcodes).

However, for any books related to personal development I actually add these to one of my mindmaps tagged as 'to read' so when I want to look at a particular area I can immediately find some potential books of interest.

In terms of how they make my lists in the first place, mainly through recommendation on various forums that I read as well as references within books to others.

It's very rare that I go into a bookstore and randomly buy something (but that's really because when I do go into a bookstore I alway leave having spent over £100 on a few books!).

I'm also a big fan of my local library.

nancys's picture

A site that is easy and free for keeping up with your reading is librarything. com. You can register quickly, create an account and list what you read and review it. You can see the list of books with the book cover, and you can review them for future use. It's like cataloging your own library--the easy way.

damcg63's picture
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This librarything site looks great. Have been messing with it and I may convert. Thanks for the tip!!

spazm's picture
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[quote="nancys"]A site that is easy and free for keeping up with your reading is librarything. com. You can register quickly, create an account and list what you read and review it. You can see the list of books with the book cover, and you can review them for future use. It's like cataloging your own library--the easy way.[/quote]

Well whaddya know, it seems I already have an account at [url=http://librarything.com]library thing[/url], maybe I should actually put some data in. Thank you for the reminder.

eagerApprentice's picture

I have a backlog of books to read - I found a box full of Drucker and Porter books when I was in Taiwan for almost free, so there are about 20+ books I need to read now!

But that aside, I find that when I talk to people I respect or admire, they are often well-read and during the course of a conversation, they will mention a book they read and enjoyed.

After a brief conversation about that book, I can usually tell if that is the kind of thing that would help me in my career if I read it.