I’m really jazzed by this book my friend, Dave Gray, sent me. It’s called Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers (amazon affiliate link), and it talks about a lot of ways to use visual thinking to work through business challenges. The book is PACKED with examples and how-to information, so it’s not nearly a book on theory. It’s a book for people willing to try.

You surely don’t have to be an artist to dig into this book. Stick people will suffice. Check it out if you need to think in more than one dimension.

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Important disclosure: this book review pertains to a client’s book. The thing is, they’re a client because I really liked their last book. Decide for yourself.

I just finished reading Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton’s The Orange Revolution: How One Great Team Can Transform an Entire Organization (amazon affiliate link), and at first, I was thinking that the book would be best suited for managers. By the end, I knew that the book belongs in the hands of anyone who wants to work within a system or a team and build a high performance organization. What I loved in the book was the whole mindset change from thinking that only leaders had to care about the important recipe of building a team, and that by the end, I knew that everyone had to be part of the vision of what makes an ideal team.…

My friends, David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan wrote a book that I thought I wasn’t going to like. Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History (amazon affiliate link) is a book about a band that I’m just not with. I appreciate that they have many fans. I’m just not one of them.

Luckily, I’m a fan of David’s and Brian’s take on marketing. Their book had lots of great takeaways, and though there’s not a ton of step-by-step in here, that’s why you buy their other books. This one? It’s a “directional adjustment” mixed with a labor of love, by two Deadheads who still fly their multi-colored bear flags high.…

Stan Slap’s new book, Bury My Heart at Conference Room B: The Unbeatable Impact of Truly Committed Managers (amazon aff link), had a subtitle that immediately made me think the book wasn’t for me. I’m not a manager. And if I am, I’m a bad one. Luckily, I actually read the book. It’s a book for leaders, who may or may not find themselves in the role of manager, but about leaders nonetheless.

Here’s a quick video, and then there’s an offer:

Special Offer

Daniel Decker, who sent me the book, set up this special offer. They’re giving away 50 copies of the book, picked by random (note: to US residents only).…

I’m really happy with what Jim Kukral put down on in his book, Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue (amazon aff link). By the way, Jim, I think you get the reward for longest subtitle ever. The book is full of actionable advice for how to use the online world to improve your business marketing. It’s geared more towards smaller to medium businesses, but a savvy enterprise buyer would get some value out of it, too.

I don’t know how to say this appropriately, but I’ll say it like this: I was pleasantly surprised.…

I am often put off by books about making money. Or I was. After reading Robert Kiyosaki’s book, I started scooping up plenty of books about making money, to see which ones were helpful and which ones just talked a good game.

One of the best of the bunch is Loral Langemeier’s The Millionaire Maker: Act, Think, and Make Money the Way the Wealthy Do (amazon affiliate link). I say this because the Millionaire Maker has a lot of actionable how-to information in it. Here’s a quick video review:

The best part of the book, to me, is that Langemeier’s “wealth cycle” makes sense to apply to multiple situations.…

I’m rarely as impressed with a business book as I was with Tony Hsieh’s Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose (amazon affiliate link). The reason is that not only does Tony do a remarkable job weaving great stories and narrative into the book, but he gives you so much actionable information that you’ll be taking notes until you run out of ink. Twice.

Having seen Tony speak a few times, I knew that he would be engaging, and I knew that he’d be methodical in his information delivery. What I didn’t realize was just how much depth and what a wealth of information the book would provide.…

I’m grateful that my dad, Steve Brogan, is available to do video book reviews for Hachette Audiobooks from time to time. In this review, he checks out Preston & Child’s Fever Dream (amazon affiliate link). He hooked me when he asked the question, “How does John J. Audubon fit into all this?” Before that, I was thinking, “oh well, another book.” Now? I might want to have a listen myself. Thanks, Dad.

If you want to check out the audio program, get it here :

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There are times when a book is the right way to go, and other times when an audiobook is what will make it all work out. I received When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man (amazon affiliate link) from Hachette Audio, and I’m so glad I did. The book was brilliantly read by the author, and when I say that, I mean that the book ended up feeling more like Mr. Weintraub was having a conversation with me than it felt like I was reading a book.

Jerry Weintraub is a famous talent agent turned Hollywood producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in the business.…

I don’t read much fiction any more, and frankly, it’s weird to explain when or why a fiction book slips into my sights. But I caught a glimpse of Justin Cronin’s The Passage (amazon affiliate link), and knew I wanted to read it. I’m very glad I did, and I can recommend it, should you be in the mood for a late summer page turner.

The Passage is probably easiest described as The Stand meets 28 Days Later meets Daybreakers (that vampire flick with Ethan Hawke that very few people saw). It starts off rather fast-paced and rushes right into the premise. I shot a quick video review of my take on The Passage.…