I recently celebrated birthday number thirty-one. How to honor that in a book-geekery appropriate way? Thirty-one reviews for thirty-one years, of course. Because…why not?

Here we go, in no particular order. Enjoy!

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Losing My Virginity: How I Survived, Had Fun, and Made a Fortune Doing Business My Way, by Richard Branson
Beyond fascinating. Damn does he work hard. How do I raise my kids to have his mindset?

The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
Lost sleep, had to keep reading. Quick, addictive reads.

Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time, by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin
Interesting at first. Too long, lost my attention and my belief.

The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho
Didn’t think I liked it while reading. Upon reflection, very moved by the personal message. Need to read it again.

Vegabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel, by Rolf Potts
Very much a “guide,” was just generally interesting for someone not planning to literally vegabond.

Dark World: Into the Shadows with the Lead Investigator of The Ghost Adventures Crew, by Zak Bagans
Corny. Didn’t include anything the author doesn’t tweet about or share during his show.

Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born, by Tina Cassidy
Disgusted me. Wish I hadn’t read it.

Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, by Todd Burpo
Easy, enjoyable, believable, smile-inducing, moving read.

Night, by Elie Wiesel
Couldn’t wait to be done with it, but considering it’s historical significance, glad I read it.

One Day, by David Nicholls
OMG the ending. Wish it was fluffier, didn’t anticipate it being as deep and serious as it was.

The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun, by Gretchen Rubin
Realistic transformation, a bit too detailed of an account of it, but a good read.

The Book of Awesome, by Neil Pasricha
Laughed out loud repeatedly. Upped my appreciation and gratitude for the daily wonders around me. Recommend it all.the.time.

Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Good character development, creative plot, couldn’t put it down.

The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman
Thought it would be an interesting, light, geeky read. Instead, it was a textbook with overbearing science. Didn’t like it.

Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity, by Hugh MacLeod
Ignited my creativity literally while reading it. Had to keep stopping to write ideas down. Huge thumbs up.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
A bestseller for a reason.

It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, by Lance Armstrong
No question why he had the success he did; hard work. Decent writing, enjoyable, inspiring read.

Poke the Box, by Seth Godin
Inspiring. Fabulous three-hour read. Recommend it regularly. Think about its message regularly.

Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq, by Dr. Dave Hnida
Well written, fascinating account. Thought it would gross me out. Didn’t. Surprised to like it as much as I did.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not, by Robert Kiyosaki
Changed my outlook on money working for me, versus me working for money. Changed my life.

Beach Money: Creating Your Dream Life Through Network Marketing, by Jordan Adler
Ugh. Horrendously written. Generic advice. Very stereotypical network marketing. Upsetting.

The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, by Jim DeFede
Moving, a bit repetitive, but a fascinating account. Made me wonder what other butterfly effects went on that day in different parts of the world.

Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life, by Neil Strauss
Hilarious. Shocking. Eye-opening. You’ll finish it one notch more liberal than you were when you started and thinking Strauss is a badass.

Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling
Huge lesson: You never know what genre of books you’ll enjoy until you pick one up and try it out. Nothing will ever compare.

American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld
Beautifully written, moving novel. Relationship-filled. Fascinating supposed connections to real-life icons.

Little Bee, by Chris Cleave
How come I rarely like books that win big awards? Thought it was weird and disturbing.

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner
Fascinating, as intended. But not surprising.

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, by Christopher McDougall
Astonishing! Changed my outlook completely on the sport and my inclusion in it. Two years later and I still think about this book regularly.

The Shack, by William P Young
Interesting point of view. Keep an open mind and let it sink in. It can’t hurt. Also, moving.

Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, by Pamela Slim
Very detailed, should have read it before I escaped from my cubicle nation. Wasn’t too useful after the fact.

1 Dead in Attic: After Katrina, by Chris Rose
Emotional series of columns from a NOLA journalist. A shocking read, in a I’m-so-glad-I-now-know-this type of way. Couldn’t put it down.

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Phew! That was fun.

What’ve you been reading lately? Any one-liner reviews you’d like to share?

Dreaming about books in one-line summaries,
AS

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This one:

Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Ford County: Stories, by John Grisham

I read so much non-fiction that when I’m away from home on vacay, I crave nothing but fluffy, daydream-inducing novels. The couple that I stashed away in my suitcase for our recent trip to Mexico didn’t disappoint.

First, Grisham. Now just you wait. Don’t judge me yet! Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.

Was this written by John Grisham? Yes.
Is it anything like his most recent, fulfilling-contractual-obligation- esque books? Not in the least.

I typically don’t enjoy short stories, as I find that I don’t like the feeling of having to remotivate myself to start the same book a dozen times. I start the story, I quickly finish the story, and then I have to start over. Ugh.

So perhaps it was the fact that I was on vacation that that didn’t bother me this time. Or perhaps I just enjoyed Grisham’s stories.

Either way, this is a great read. Seven short stories, each centering around fictional events and characters in Ford County, Mississippi. They’re very Grisham.

They are all very A Time to Kill. You follow? Yeah. That.

Bonus: At 40-50 pages a story, they’re individually perfect for that short plane ride or an evening in the hotel room or the first hour sitting in the poolside lounge chair when you still contain the ability to sit still.

Ford County: Stories, Rating: 4 (out of 5) stars

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Second, Life As We Knew It. I stole this one from my Mom’s bookshelf the week before we left. It caught my eye because a) it had an enormous moon on the cover, b) the physical book was square, and…huh?, and c) flipping it open, the font was well-spaced and visually pleasing, a huge factor in my fluffiness determination.

I know. All awful reasons to pick up a book, but ’tis the truth, my friends.

I didn’t know this until after I had read it, but this is the first book in a series of three. If you’re like me and simultaneously get excited and frustrated when you realize you’ve read a book that’s a part of a series – frustrated because that means the remaining members of the series are immediately and automatically added to your Must Read list, hanging over your head until you complete them, and excited because, well, the book’s not over! THERE’S MORE! – consider yourself warned.

The plot centers around the improbable (but strangely not completely unbelievable) possibility of a massive meteor crashing into the moon, altering its orbit, and sending Earth into a horrible, life-altering chain of events. Weather, economics, disease, etc.

It’s told from the point of view of a sixteen year old girl in diary-entry fashion, which lends itself to most of the comical lines in the book. Teenagers are weird, man.

The audience for this one might be tipped a bit in the direction of female readers, but barely. If you enjoy light, sci-fi novels, it’s one for your list.

Life As We Knew It, Rating: 3.5 (out of 5) stars

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Happy vacay reading! Here are the Amazonian details on both:

Ford County: Stories, by John Grisham

Life As We Knew It, by Susan Beth Pfeffer

(All links are Amazon affiliates. Cool? Cool. Over and out.)

Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, by Hugh MacLeod

So. What should I talk about in this review? I’m not quite sure where to begin with this book.

Maybe with the fact that it’s broken up into 40, unrelated mini-chapters? Mini-chapters that make reading the book cover to cover a little disjointed? But that allow you to pick it up and put it down and still pull juicy, effective tidbits from the book?

Or maybe I’ll begin with the fact that the author, Hugh MacLeod, is the creator of one of my favorite pieces of office artwork. Hmm.

Perhaps I’ll begin by sharing the story of the transformative realization I made while traveling last weekend, while I was also reading this book, and make parallels between the creativity-inspired text and finding your true work. The work, the area in your life, where your personal creativity lives.

Would people like that in a review?
Nah.

Maybe I could begin the review discussing the author, and how he’s a little, umm, crazy? And a bit morose? And swears like a sailor?

I could talk about his cartoons, and how fun it is that they are peppered throughout the book. Would people care about that?

Or I could chat about his writing style, perhaps? How, regardless of his craziness and swearing and moroseness, it’s still very easy and enjoyable to read? And that the book is a swift 158 pages?

Man, I don’t know. I’m not sure how I’m going to write this review. Maybe I’ll just quit while I’m ahead, and say…

Read it.

Ahh, there we go.

Rating: 4.5 (out of 5) stars

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Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, by Hugh MacLeod

(All links are Amazon affiliates. You know this. I know this. In books we pray amen.)

Rich Dad’s Advisors: The ABC’s of Property Management: What You Need to Know to Maximize Your Money Now, by Ken McElroy

I don’t need to get into how much I love Robert Kiyosaki and his entire Rich Dad series. So, when we discovered that one of his “advisors” had a book out under his label about property management, it was a quick purchase.

And then a couple weeks ago we abruptly decided to take our investment property off the market, hire a management company, and rent it out. Suddenly, absorbing everything in this book practically became an income-producing activity.

It’s written by Ken McElroy, a business partner of gazillionaire Kiyosaki. McElroy can talk, he has 20+ years experience with running a property management business, in addition to over $200M in personal real estate investments.

Impressive. I guess. Whatever.

The book is split into three sections:
- Should I manage my own property or hire someone to do it for me?
- How do I find a good property manager?
- How do I hire a good property manager?

Funny you should ask, Ken, WE WERE WONDERING THE SAME THING.

He had me at the table of contents.

The book is detailed and to the point, action items aplenty. Several interesting (and astonishing) real-life examples. No theory or generalities here.

Honestly, the book is a giant, property management to-do list. Hubz read it first, and his highlights abrubtly stopped a third of the way through the book. I think he realized that there just wasn’t any possible way to NOT highlight the whole darn thing, and gave up even trying.

Oh, and the book is only 118 pages. Speedy!

All in all, it’s a very detailed, short-and-sweet-and-to-the-point read by a credible, experienced source. A good book for you if you’re currently asking yourself one of the three questions above. If you want theory about rental properties or investments, this probably isn’t the place for you.

Rating: 5 (out of 5) stars

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Rich Dad’s Advisors: The ABC’s of Property Management: What You Need to Know to Maximize Your Money Now, by Ken McElroy

(All links are Amazon affiliates. We’ve discussed this, yes? Kthanks.)

1. I wrote a guest post a couple weeks ago for the lovely blog, HappyVolunteers.com. It’s run by a Twitter friend of mine and celebrates the dedication and love and goofy things about volunteers everywhere.

I wrote about my gut. It’s a bit more appealing of a topic than it sounds.

Sort of.

Here it is: I mean, seriously, who fails at volunteering?!

2. Can I make a scatterbrained list into a blog post? Is this allowed?

3. Miss Juta is so jazzed about this list. She lifted one eyelid just to prove it to you. SO.EXCITED. Beyond excited.

Ecstatic, really.

Or, she may have spent all weekend cavorting with my parents Westie and therefore has not budged from this chair all day.

One of the two.

4. There is a squirrel outside my window right now that is performing some type of acrobatic move in order to eat the feed in our bird feeder. And succeeding.

I have zero idea what to do about this.

5. I’m currently reading: The ABC’s of Property Management by Ken McElroy. I have so much to learn about the real estate world it’s not even funny. But this book actually IS funny, and straightforward and educational and highlighter-friendly.

Big thumbs-up so far.

6. That link up there was an Amazon affiliate. Mmkay?

7. Once a month we sit down to update the spreadsheets for our Vemma business. Sales, growth, drop-off, etc. In reviewing everything this morning, our membership has grown 23% since January 1st. Holy growth Batman! Thank you.

Thank you!

Thank you thank you thank you thank you.

8. The Kansas City Public Library has a great blog that cranks out daily content. If you’re a library person, or a book person, or a Kansas City person, or community person…or a person person? take a peek. They’re well-deserving of the attention.

You can find them, here: KCUnbound: The Kansas City Public Library Blog

9. I love blog comments.

10. Just sayin.

11. But seriously, let’s chat. I was thinking this morning about attending conferences and how people have such strong opinions – for and against – about the benefits of traveling to and networking and learning at conferences.

Some love, some hate. Really, really hate. I attended quite a few last year, and will be at only one, maybe two, this year for a whole host of reasons. Actually, I even wrote about why I didn’t attend SXSW.

You? Will you be adding a conference or two or three to your calendar this year? Have you already? Why or why not?

Beneficial? A waste of time? Let’s hear it.

12. This was fun! Thanks for being you.

Last weekend I sat down to read the free ebook from Chris Guillebeau, 279 Days to Overnight Success, and it didn’t disappoint. Chris is a blogger, bestselling author, travel junkie, and all-around inspiring guy. His main passion is spreading his message of non-conformity, that “you don’t have to live your life the way other people expect you to.”

See why I like this guy?

The ebook is free and doesn’t require you to fill out a long form with all of your contact information or anything. Its 79 pages are full of inspiring stories and facts about how Chris built his blog, strengthened his brand, avoided the negative “vampires” who told him he couldn’t do it, and developed a full-time income stream in the process.

If you’re a blogger or have ever wanted to be a blogger, and wouldn’t mind making more money, you might want to check it out. Even if blogging isn’t your thing, check out Chris’s site. I think you’ll find it fascinating and well worth your time.

279 Days to Overnight Success, free ebook: Details | Download

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Also, I recently read Chris’s published, full-length book The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, Change the World (affiliate link) and would highly recommend it. It’s a short and sweet read full of actionable recommendations.

I learned how to further define the terms of what I want my unconventional life to be (more emphasis on community service, family, maybe book publishing, less emphasis on where I’m living and travel), was inspired by the stories of how Chris has built his business around his life (instead of the other way around), and wrote down a dozen ideas for how to grow my blog, strengthen my networking contacts, and get more done in less time.

Also, Chris’s plan for the One-Year, Self-Directed, Alternative Graduate School Experience is worth the cost of the book alone.

Happy reading.

Instead of doing a summary of what I liked and didn’t like about Tim Ferriss’ second book, The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman, I thought I would mix it up a bit. So, here we go:

The Top 44 Reasons You Will Love The 4-Hour Body

Ahem.

1. You enjoy books that can double as door stoppers.
2. Because you love moments when you realize that the book you’re reading has nothing (read: NOTHING AT ALL) to do with its title.
3. You really, really like to eat meat.
4. You’re openminded.
5. Multiple photos of Tim Ferriss without a shirt. That’s all I’m saying.
6. You’re fascinated by how your body digests, uses, and stores food.
7. You enjoy learning how to do the minimum amount of work required to get maximum results.
8. You like lentils.
9. You like black coffee, red wine, water, and diet soda, but never enjoy drinking ANY OTHER BEVERAGE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Ugh.
10. You don’t like bread. Or pasta. Or chips!
11. You have an interest in making yourself a better person, inside and out.
12. You plan to have kids (or additional kids) someday.
13. You’re a continual learner.
14. You’re able to take-in details about experiments and non-scientific results with a grain of salt.
15. You enjoy visualizing the typical, hiding-out-in-Mama’s-basement geek fan of The 4-Hour Workweek now trying to attempt kettleball swings and two-legged glute activation rasies and something called the Cat Vomit Exercise.
16. You plan to live to 129 but really don’t have a, uhh, plan on how to get there.
17. You’re too fat and want to lose weight.
18. You’re too skinny and want to (healthily) gain weight.
19. You have always wanted to be Babe Ruth or Michael Phelps.
20. Bacon. You’re always looking for an excuse to eat bacon.
21. You’re ready for “real” information about diet, exercise, and nutrition from someone who’s actually put it to the test.
22. You have a bit of a conspiracy-theorist’s mind.
23. Your sex life is important to you. Ahem.
24. Naps! Scientific excuses to take them!
25. Enjoying your life and living as productive and efficient as possible is of interest to you.
26. You’re open to taking cold showers, not wearing a coat, or swimming to boost your fat loss.
27. You like appropriate, non-corny motivational quotes.
28. You are interested in personal stories of the experiments, successes, and failures of Tim Ferriss.
29. Success tidbits. Mixed in! Amongst the food and the fat!
30. Because you have always wanted something resembling a Perfect Posterior.
31. You enjoy reading detailed exercise and nutrition plans that you will immediately forget.
32. You enjoy reading detailed exercise and nutrition plans that you don’t ever really understand.
33. You love buying a book you’ll actually reference and find useful over and over again.
34. You have a secret desire to someday run a marathon.
35. Insights into the NFL. Bonus!
36. The words ‘Turkish Get Up’ intrigue you.
37. You’re an information junkie who’s turned on by the fact that there is ten times more resources online than there even is in the book.
38. You love the idea of eating anything and everything you want and still losing weight.
39. Because you think Uberhuman is fun to say. Uberhuman Uberhuman UBERHUMAN.
40. You want to be in the driver’s seat of your life by controlling your body.
41. You want to improve your inner game.
42. You’re willing to improve your outer game to do so.
43. You want to be a role model for those around you.
44. You want to be a better all-around human.

That about sums it up. Your thoughts?

Have you read Tim’s first book, The 4-Hour Workweek, that centers around lifestyle design? Have you read The 4-Hour Body? Do you plan to?

I finally had a moment to review UnMarketing: Stop Marketing, Start Engaging by Scott Stratten. Scott, on Twitter, is insightful, caring, goofy, personable, and inspiring. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised then when I found his brand-name book insightful, caring, goofy, personable, and inspiring. Add honest and entertaining and straightforward to the list for the book, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

What I enjoyed the most were the numerous true stories of companies and brands interacting online – how they messed up, how they fixed it (sometimes), how they won customers, how they lost them. Scott is a great storyteller. The stories were entertaining, but also added a real-life application to the book, driving his points home.

Here’s my review (click here if you cannot see the video):

It’s an action-item creating read. No fluff. No generalities. Applicable to big and small brands alike. Definitely worth your time if you’re looking to really make progress with your brand’s social media engagement online, and have a good time doing it. It’s not a huge, complex-concepts type of read, but a simple, fun, straightforward one.

So! What book(s) are you focusing on right now? Do share.

Phew, has the buzz about this book been a bit crazy or what!? I’m not sure if it’s author Tony Hsieh’s frequent and awe-inspiring talks that are catching everyone’s attention or the fact that shopping on Zappos.com is just plain fun. Either way, I enjoyed the book that shares the story of how the two came together: Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.

Objectively, the book takes up an average-in-size 241 pages, not including the Epilogue and Online Resources. I found the cover art, frankly, kind of cluttered and annoying. And the quality of the writing? It was…ok. Pretty terrible in the beginning when Tony’s describing his childhood and early business ventures, improving a smidge later on when Zappos comes into the picture. Generally, it’s pretty fluffy reading. I read the entire book in two medium-ish sittings.

On the surface, Delivering Happiness gets an “ehh” rating.

But – and this is a BIG but, as in, MASSIVE and THEY DON’T LIE – upon closing the back cover and setting the book down, I wanted to be a better person.

I wanted to be a happier person.

In other words? Read it.

And that’s all there is to say about that.

P.S. The awesome folks on the Delivering Happiness Book Team graciously sent me 2 pre-release copies of DH. Thanks, DHBook team! I can only hope to have a team with a fraction of the excitement, caring, and connectedness when I release a book someday. (ahem) Cheers!

Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to receive a pre-release copy of Chris Brogan’s new book, Social Media 101, to play around with, and have recorded a quick review as a guest post on The Ren Men Show. Grant Peelle and Alan Ledford have a fantastic show about lifestyle design, real estate, self-education, and all sorts of other inspiring entrepreneurial topics. They’re professional, always-learning, and a little goofy – perfect.

I was honored to submit the review for their audience to watch. Go check it out! And while you’re there, say hello to Grant and Alan and stick around for a little bit. You won’t regret it.

Also, if you’ve recently landed here, on AnnieSorensen.com, from Grant and Alan’s site, welcome! Thanks for visiting. Please, take a look around, and feel free to leave a comment and let me know what I can do to help you to live your very best life, every day.

Finally, guest posts; let’s chat about those for a second. I LOVE submitting to the blogs of those who have a similar mission, are dedicated to providing great content to the world, and care about building professional, fun, and purposeful relationships. What do they always say, you only become a success yourself once you’ve helped many others find success first? I often don’t know where the posts will be, or what new folks I’ll meet, but several of my goals consistently surround giving and submitting content to the sites of others. I think it’s that important.

So, what do you think of guest posts? Do them often? Worry about giving away too much? Do you enjoy giving away content for free, the “go-giver” mentality?