The Invisible Mentor

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10 Books I Have Enjoyed in 2012 – My Book Reviews Included

I’m having better luck this time reading the literary classics, and I’m really enjoying the ones I have read. The funny thing is they are transforming me in a way that I never expected. When I wrote my book Tales of People Who Get It, I indicated that Key to Yourself by Venice Bloodworth, New Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz and The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz profoundly impacted me. Five years later, my response would be very different. This shows me that I growing and evolving as a person, and I’m delighted that I’m not standing still.

Magic of Thinking Big Cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently, I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for the very first time, and I felt like I was on an emotional rollercoaster. I related so well to the character Jo March that it was uncanny. And I started to question some of the life choices I have made. A friend suggested that I read Wide Sargasso Sea, which is actually the prequel to Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. At the end of the book, my heart was heavy, and I felt this big hole inside of me. I remember thinking, “Such wasted lives.” Because of my response to Wide Sargasso Sea I have included it on my list of 10 books.

While reading Watership Down by Richard Adams, I felt it was a demonstration of true leadership and team building. When we respond that way to books, the authors have done their job. Here are a few of the books I have enjoyed in 2012, some of which have transformed my life.

1. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
2. Watership Down: A Novel, Richard Adams
3. The Scarlet Pimpernel, Baroness Emmuska Orczy (Review)
4. The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas (Review)
5. The Whip, Karen Kondazian (Review)
6. The Railway Children, E. Nesbit (Review)
7. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach (Review)
8. Pygmalion (Enriched Classics Series), George Bernard Shaw (Review)
9. The War of the Worlds (Dover Thrift Editions), H G Wells (Review)
10. Wide Sargasso Sea, Jean Rhys

I have not written the reviews for Little Women, Wide Sargasso Sea, or Watership Down: A Novel as yet. Which books have you read in 2012 that have impacted you?

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book links are affiliate links.

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: Divergent by Veronica Roth, John Stuart Mill, Philosopher and Economist, and Miranda Vande Kuyt, career development professional.

John-stuart-mill 1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Adventures in Learning

Have you ever been at a cocktail party and didn’t have much to contribute to the conversation? If you read broadly, and not only just books, you will always have something to talk about and contribute to the conversation.

Why You Must Read Broadly – Tip 1 

Booked for Mentoring

Divergent by Veronica Roth is set in Dystopian Chicago where the residents are from five factions – Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity and Dauntless – which are the traits that best describe and embody them. Residents have to conform to the norms of their factions.

Book Review – Divergent by Veronica Roth 

Wisdom of Life Profile

Take John Stuart Mill, he was the most influential British philosopher of the nineteenth century, his books, A System of Logic: Ratiocinative and Inductive and Principles of Political Economy became textbooks in their fields. Mill made significant contributions to philosophy, economics, political theory and women’s liberation. While Mill was a Member of Parliament, he was the first representative in Parliament to request the right for women to vote.

Success Lessons from John Stuart Mill, English Philosopher and Economist 

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we featured career development professional Miranda Vande Kuyt. Miranda got to where she is now because she capitalized on the opportunities that came her way. Here are Part I and Part II of Miranda Vande Kuyt’s interview.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book links are affiliate links.

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: Silas Marner by George Eliot, Mentor Yourself: Profile of Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics, and 15 Deserted Island Books.

Image via Wikipedia

Adventures in Learning

This post contains links to four professional development articles.

Adventures in Learning: 4 Articles to Aid Professional Development 

Booked for Mentoring

Silas Marner by George Eliot has a very ominous start, and you find yourself asking many questions like what do they mean by disinherited race, the Evil One and the living dead? Sounds like a ghost story doesn’t it? The story is about an outsider, and how he becomes an insider. Most socialized people do not like the feeling of being outside looking in, but Silas Marner feels comfortable doing just that, why?

Mentor Yourself: Book Review – Silas Marner By George Eliot 

Wisdom of Life Profile

How would you feel if someone you trained was promoted over you to become your supervisor at twice your salary? That’s what happened to Mary Kay Ash at World Gift Company, so she quit her job, planning to write a book for women on the art of selling. As she got ready to write, she outlined what an ideal company would look like, drawing on the experiences she had at both Stanley Home Products and World Gift Company.

Mentor Yourself: Profile of Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics 

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we did something a bit different, and culled interview responses for tips on How to Generate Great Ideas and 15 Deserted Island Books.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book link is affiliate link.

Related articles

• Mentor Yourself: Profile of Mary Kay Ash, Founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics (theinvisiblementor.com)

If you were a finalist on a reality show, and placed on a deserted island for two years to win the big prize. As a finalist, you are guaranteed $2 million for progressing so far. How would you spend the two years, and what are five books you’d like to take with you?

Here are some of the books that interviewees would take with them, how many of them have you read?

1. Milton Berle’s Private Joke File: Over 10,000 of His Best Gags, Anecdotes, and One-Liners
2. Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
3. The Bible
4. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (Authorized, Trade Ed.)
5. The Cat in the Hat
6. Don Quixote
7. Les Miserables
8. Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice
9. Paradise Lost
10. Ulysses
11. The Alchemist
12. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
13. Jane Eyre
14. The Five People You Meet in Heaven
15. War and Peace

Adventures of Don Quixote (1933) FULL MOVIE

Cannot view video? Click here. Uploaded by ArtFilmsAnimation on May 21, 2011

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.

Book links are affiliate links.

This is what we talked about on The Invisible Mentor Blog this week: Why I Am So Wise by Friedrich Nietzsche, Wisdom of Life Profile: Helena Rubinstein, Pioneer of Modern Beauty Industry, and Pauline Crawford, Chief Executive at Corporate Heart.

Adventures in Learning

There is a new field called biomimicry, just over two decades old, where nature is used to solve problems in the world. This may sound odd to you, but George de Mestral invented Velcro after burrs stuck to his jacket, and when examined them he recognized the potential for a fastener.

Could a Palm Tree be a Solution to Any of Life’s Pressing Problems? 

Image via Wikipedia

Booked for Mentoring

Written in 1888, and published a decade later, Friedrich Nietzsche’s Why I Am So Wise is his autobiography, which was his final book.  He wrote his autobiography so that he would not be taken the wrong way. Gerta Valentine who translated Why I Am So Wise writes, “Nietzsche saw himself as a missionary and a prophet; he did not write for personal gain or fame. He wanted to confront the world with the truth – his truth…”

Book Review – Why I Am So Wise by Friedrich Nietzsche 

Wisdom of Life Profile

Helena Rubinstein had a stunning multimillion dollar collection of jewelry which included pieces that once belonged to Empress Catherine of Russia. Rubinstein was also a contradiction, she wore nightgowns that cost $4.99 yet she wore very expensive jewelry.

Wisdom of Life Profile: Helena Rubinstein, Pioneer of Modern Beauty Industry 

Interviews for Mentoring

This week we featured Pauline Crawford, Chief Executive at Corporate Heart. A big message is to learn to let go of the things that drain you, and to do so intentionally. Here are Part I and Part II of Pauline Crawford’s interview.

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the right hand side) by email or RSS Feed.