I’ve read a lot of books over the years.
As I think back on my life I see some interesting things regarding books.
When I was in elementary school I was a big reader. I usually had a novel I was reading at any one time. Probably a sports novel as I was big into playing sports.
Then for some reason as I got into middle and high school I don’t remember reading much. Maybe it was changing interests. Maybe it was my general apathy toward school. I guess I can’t say for sure.
In college, I did a little more reading. I remember reading novels for awhile. I remember reading Shantaram and getting a few strange looks from friends that would see it on the coffee table. I read some John Grisham novels during this time. Also a few World War II books.
Then when I graduated college things took an interesting turn…
When I graduated college and got my first job, a marketing role, I really started getting into business books. But at the same time I also started reading biographies. I had a little run of reading about rock stars. But at the same time I loved reading about entrepreneurs.
There is an interesting world when it comes to business books. Many come in the form of a successful businessperson sharing their favorite advice with readers. Some also write or work with a writer to create their official autobiographies.
These books can be great. There are a few good stories. There are a few good lessons. But you can pretty read a Wikipedia page today to get what you’ll normally get from an autobiography.
Now, I love Wikipedia. I’ve read a lot of Wikipedia pages. I guess over the years with books I’ve just come to want more. More stories. More details. Even the seemingly boring stories and details that perhaps other readers don’t find that interesting.
And with the advice-type books, I think those are often too long. They often have some great information. Some great action steps. I remember hearing Seth Godin talk about this or maybe he wrote it somewhere… He said that he receives these advice-type business books often. If he chooses to read them he’ll read the introduction and the first chapter. Then he skips to the final chapter with the action steps or closes the book for good.
Seth assumes that if the author took the time to write the book and if a successful publisher took the time to edit and publish it, the advice must be pretty sounds. There is no need to read the middle, which is usually explanation. Now, explanation is certainly something many people are interested in, but you can maybe also see why it makes for many boring business books.
My favorite type of business books are straight biographies.
The best of the best are ones where the author tries their best to tell the full story of the individual in focus. No personal agendas. Not even any right or wrong focus or even a focus on advice or lessons.
I can’t remember who said it now, but in the past I heard or read something about stories. Books or movies or whatever. The best stories leave the audience with continuous debate. Some read a story and have a certain takeaway. Others read the same story and have another takeaway. Not necessarily opposite takeaways, but different takeaways.
The Steve Jobs biography is a good example. Steve, to his credit, wanted the author, Walter Isaacson, to write the book while doing his best to leave Jobs’ judgement and feelings out of the equation.
With autobiographies, you often get good stories. But with any of us it’s obvious that we hold back. Or we skew the stories. Or we try to make ourselves look good. Maybe it’s human nature.
Andre Agassi did a great job with his book. That was a great book. But it’s one person’s perspective. A good biography usually comes from hundreds and even thousands of sources.
Perhaps the best business book is one that takes the approach Steve Jobs took. It had his involvement and the involvement of other sources.
But I think what makes a good business book is one that tries to tell stories. With no aim for a lesson or advice or anything like that. Just storytelling. Here is what happened as best as I can remember and perhaps with a few other perspectives on the situation.
This way, each reader can glean their own lessons from the book.