For the last four years, I wrote blog posts (2019, 2018, 2017 & 2016) listing the books that I read in the past year and that I wanted to be reading during that year. As always, the past year I didn’t read all the books that I’ve listed out in the blog post as I discovered some new ones and changed my focus on some others. But I did read a lot, as I finished ~25 books (and put two books aside that weren’t worth finishing).
What books I didn’t get to in 2019 and have re-added to the list for 2020:
- 60-Minute Brand Strategist: The Essential Brand Book for Marketing Professionals: As I’ve continued to read more books about branding this one is still left to the side.
- The Intelligent Investor: Wanting to read more about investing, this is apparently a good book to start with to learn more.
My favorites from 2019:
- High Growth Handbook: My favorite book from last year as it touched right on the topics that I care about on a daily basis, great interviews with daily practitioners on many topics that relate to High Growth companies including a lot of tactical advice.
- The Ride of a Lifetime: A fascinating read on how Robert Iger made it’s way to the top of Disney as their CEO. One of my favorites as it shows the personal side of growth he had to go through to reach the top and it provides some insights along the way of how big Disney is of a company.
- High-Performance Habits: Nothing wrong with learning more about performance habits that could help you improve.
- Loonshots: A different book from what I would usually read as it went into detail on projects that have changed the world and created innovations that we still benefit from these days (think radar, energy).
- Secrets of Sand Hill Road: A great book if you want to know more about investing, money and the workings around startups related to investors, deal flows and structures.
What books I’d like to be reading in 2020:
- The Great CEO Within: Started this book on the 1st of January and it aligns a lot with the High Growth Handbook but takes a bit more the approach from a CEO point of view with tons of tactical advice. With the lack of books around other C-level positions, it will hopefully provide enough useful input for other exec positions.
- Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity: This (text)book was a recommendation/resource from Strategic Brand Management that I read in 2019, as it’s more focused on measurement it’s interesting to me.
- Kellogg on Branding in a Hyper-Connected World & How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know: More books on branding.
- Hacking Marketing: Agile Practices to Make Marketing Smarter, Faster, and More Innovative: As an avid reader of Scott’s blog posts over the last years on Martech I want to also read the book on it.
- The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs: Defining, Communicating and rewriting strategy is becoming more and more important.
- Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable: Quite a fan of the narrative that Tim Grover has and his work with top NBA players should speak for itself.
Leave your recommendations on Twitter: @MartijnSch as I’d love to know from others what I should be reading from your recommendations and should be on the list or removed from the list.