Books, Books, Books

I love to read. Some of my earliest memories are bound up with books. I took the story book about John F. Kennendy my mother read to me as a child to Washington DC last year and had Edward M. Kennedy sign it. It's one of my most cherished possessions.

I've been through Little Women more than a dozen times, and I've read Pride and Prejudice four times. I read Roots with a flashlight under the covers after bedtime. Same with Forever Amber.

There's a book on my shelf from my college Russian History days that I would run into a burning building for. It is out of print now, and my copy is full of my notes. For the record it is called What is to be Done? by an author named Nicholas Chernyshevsky. It's the best novel ever written, and I highly recommend it.

These days my reading time is more limited, but not less enjoyable. I read mostly in the early mornings, before work. And there is no place I would rather be in the summertime than on my back patio with a good book. I usually have a half dozen or so going at any one time, and I switch back and forth depending on my mood. Some books are just for reading. Others are for studying. With those, I read with a pen in my hand, underlining and making margin notes. Later, I will type up the notes and keep them in a bound notebook on my desk for later reference. Lately, I have been making two-page synopses from my notes. These I am now slowly getting posted to my website to share with others.

Visitors to my website will see that I read a lot of personal development, how-to-be-a-better leader stuff. Stephen Covey, Marcus Buckingham, and Malcolm Gladwell are my favorite authors in this genre. Keep watching my website and eventually you'll find synopses of all their books there. Some of the others I read might not be as familiar to American readers. In the course of things I've learned about some wonderful Canadian authors like Roger Martin and Adam Kahane. I hope some of you will be inspired to pick up some of their titles as well.

In addition to posting the synopses here, I am also organizing a monthly book discussion group at the Huron Public Library. Anyone who is interested should download the calendar from the homepage on my website. Please come join us.

So, there is my little explanation for why Creative Option C, LLC is so wrapped up in books. They are part of who I am, and a big part of what I bring to my clients. I hope that others who share this passion will feel free to share one of my synopses with your colleagues, or post a note here to let me know what you are reading. Can't ever get enough about books.