Good Books to Read for Business & Pleasure * July 2014
This July, it’s mostly about telling stories.
I’m excited about the books I’m recommending this month because one of them concludes a quartet, so I can move on to a new author; one of them is a future treasure; and the one about business is either already a must-read classic or is destined to become one.
Intrigued? I hope so.
Here goes good reading:
Good Books to Read
Business
Story by Robert McKee.
One of today’s content strategy and online marketing buzzwords is “storytelling.” We don’t advertise, maybe we’re not even copywriters. We are storytellers. We tell brand stories, we tell stories about our clients — we bring products and services alive. Sometimes it’s tough not to feel cynical when selling gets wrapped up in authentic, transparent (more buzz words) new packaging, but this book transcends all that and makes you feel inspired, no matter what kind of writing you do, to become a storyteller. Required reading for serious writers, but I actually could have categorized this one under pleasure because it’s just so d***** delicious.
Caveat: I’ll admit it. The fact that this dude is alive and sells information products, has an ugly website, and makes a living teaching seminars makes me a little paranoid. Can he be trusted? Would he, in person, live up to the wonderful standards he set in his book? I don’t know, but I would like to.
If you would like to have this book for your very own, purchase Story at the Anna Colibri Amazon shop.
Pleasure
Clea by Lawrence Durrell.
I already shared Justine and Balthazar. I’m not sure why, but I passed over Mountolive, the third book in the Alexandrian Quartet in which we learn why Pursewarden commits suicide. This final book has trouble living up to the first three, although it shares all the qualities of rich vocabulary and an experimental approach.
On the one hand, as a reader, one can become exhausted by delving into the same story from different points of view. On the other hand, the author still delivers gem-like insights. If he were alive, I’d like to have lunch with him and ask him about his process.
There’s no way to read the first three and not read the last. You want to know what happens!
If you would like to have this book for your very own, purchase Clea at the Anna Colibri Amazon shop.
Children
The Miniature World of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.
Peter Rabbit is kind of a new discovery for me. I’m sure I read these ubiquitous books as a child, but they didn’t make much of a conscious impression on me and when I reread them to my children I don’t feel the thrills of resonance or memory. That said, I enjoy reading these books to my sons. We own a set of the books redone in miniature, and they are very charming. I hope to save them and, if my children have children, regift them at that time. The new memories will involve curling up in bed with the lads before they were dads. Something to look forward to, despite the fact that my 45 year-old eyeballs are already starting to have trouble with the small print of these mini classics.
If you would like to have this book for your very own, purchase The Miniature World of Peter Rabbit at the Anna Colibri Amazon shop.
I hope you’ll enjoy these books as much as I do. If you read one only, well, don’t do that. Read all three.
{Image credit: Wortz48}
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