27 Best Books of 2015: The Invisible Mentor Picks
You must be thinking that I am late out the starting gate with the Best Books of 2015, but I’m not. I deliberately waited before presenting my picks. I wanted to take the time to reflect on the books that I read during the year. Additionally, I started the Read the World Challenge for myself one month early to anticipate the obstacles that participants would likely face. During the reading challenge, each month, there are specific requirements. Because of this, I was very intentional in choosing the books to read in December, which impacted my selection of best books of 2015.
Month One – Read the World Challenge
- Read a book written by an author, born in an African country.
- Read a book about your industry/niche that will allow you to develop skills or give you a new understanding about the way the industry works.
- Read a book that will help you to develop your personal brand, and position you as an expert.
- Read a book for entertainment.
- Read a book to improve your writing – written communication is a prized workplace skill.
Books I Read During Month One of the Read the World Challenge
- Contagious
- Hooked
- The Misfit Economy
- Non-Obvious
- Several Short Sentences About Writing
- Nervous Conditions (By an author, born in Zimbabwe)
- Creating Fat Content
- The Devotion of Suspect X
- How to Fly a Horse
I wanted to understand how ideas spread, so I was very intentional when choosing the books to read. Since the first month of the reading challenge we are visiting Africa, I opted to read Nervous Conditions by a Zimbabwean writer. Another requirement is to read a book for entertainment, so since I love detective stories, I decided to read The Devotion of Suspect X, but what I did differently, was to read a book by a Japanese author, instead of one by an author from a Western country. Although the requirement was to read one book by an African author, since we are traveling the world via the books we read, I opted to visit two countries. That was my choice, others are free to choose differently.
Because I was very intentional in choosing which books to read the first month of the Read the world Challenge, all the books are among the best books of 2015.
27 Best Books of 2015 – The Invisible Mentor Picks
- The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure
- The Art of Social Media: Power Tips for Power Users
- Little Bets
- What Do You Care What Other People Think?
- The Hard Things About Hard Things
- Buyer Personas
- Connect
- Picnic at Hanging Rock
- The Choice
- Artemis Fowl
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold: A George Smiley Novel (George Smiley Novels)
- Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered
- Zero to One
- What Do You Do With an Idea?
- Shane
- Murder on the Orient Express
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Contagious
- Hooked
- The Misfit Economy
- Non-Obvious
- Several Short Sentences About Writing
- Nervous Conditions (By an author, born in Zimbabwe)
- Creating Fat Content
- The Devotion of Suspect X
- How to Fly a Horse
- Think Like A SheEO: Succeeding in the Age of Creators, Makers and Entrepreneurs
For many of the books, you will not find a review on the blog yet. Except for the Hard Things About Hard Things, I have detailed notes, but haven’t written a post yet. Stayed tuned. Below, you will find the links to my book reviews for some of the books. While I was reading The Hard Things About Hard Things, it was the first print book I read while listening to the audio version, and although I was focused on the book, and remember quite a bit, I couldn’t figure out how to take notes while reading and listening to a book at the same time. If you have some advice, please let me know.
From looking at the list on the 27 best books of 2015, you will notice that many of them are business books, which is unusual for me. But, I want to learn how to do specific things, and that’s why I read so many business books.
Related Posts
Summary: The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone
The Art of Social Media, Do You Read Broadly and Speed Reading
Finding Your Ideal Client: Buyer Personas
Connect by Josh Turner, Book Review
Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, Book Review
The Choice by Nicholas Sparks, Book Review
Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, Book Review
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John Le Carre, Book Review
Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon, Book Review
Zero to One by Peter Thiel, Book Review
What do you do with an Idea by Kobi Yamada, Book Review
Shane by Jack Schaefer, Book Review
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, Book Review
