I try to avoid new books. New books are hypy. New books rarely include new concepts. Instead they regurgitate old concepts with a new spin to them.
Instead I want my reading to be heavily weighted on older books. Ten plus years old is a good timeframe for me. And never self-help books.
But sometimes you make exceptions.
Two of my favorite authors are releasing a new book this year: Ryan Holiday and Jack Carr.
Both are scheduled for release in June of this year.
Ryan’s book “Right Thing, Right Now” is his last book in his Stoic Virtue Series. While his books are new, they reference old text and historical individuals. I’ll barely scratch the surface of the number of books he references and cites in his books.
Jack’s book is his seventh book in his Terminal List Series. I don’t read enough fiction. I want to read more but don’t. And it’s hard for me to put Jack’s books down. This book was delayed at the publisher due to its size. I will probably read it in a week regardless.
The third book is by a writer I’ve quickly come to admire – Matthew Dicks. I first learned about Matthew on Lenny’s Podcast (give it a listen). Matthew is a storyteller. He’s also a fifth grade teacher and advisor to some of the largest companies (e.g., Slack, Amazon, Salesforce).
His book Storyworthy is an excellent book on storytelling. The better one I’ve read on the subject. The lessons are more applicable than they were in Story (granted this book is meant for screenplays) and Storytelling Animal.
His next book, Stories Sell, is a guide for how brands and companies tell stories. I’m excited for this book. It’s the first on my list to read (Ryan’s book will be delivered on the same day, it’ll have to wait). I’ve read Storybrand a couple of times. I don’t think the book is that helpful in crafting a story for your company. I’m excited about Matthew’s book because of how Storyworthy was written and the brand examples he shared on Lenny’s podcast.