Books Recommended by Benjamin Spall

Deep Work by Cal Newport put into words something I'd had in the back of my mind for some time.

[Question: What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?]

Steal Like an Artist, [...]

[Question: What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?]

On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft by Stephen King, [...]

[Question: What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?]

Show Your Work! by Austin Kleon, [...]

I'm currently reading Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin [...] I've been waiting to read [it] for years, and while I'm only fifty or so pages in I'm already loving it.

[Question: What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?]

[...] Grit by Angela Duckworth

[Question: What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?]

Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott, [...]

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo [...] I started reading on vacation. I interviewed Marie for my own book and while the translation is somewhat quirky in places, her book is worth the hype.

From a business perspective, The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson is one of the best explorations on the importance (both in the positive and the negative) of the habits we do every day that I've ever read.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach taught me that it's okay to fly against conventional wisdom.

I loved The Fish That Ate the Whale by Rich Cohen. Not only is it a fascinating story, Cohen's writing is a reminder of just how great non-fiction writing can be if you truly care about it.

The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work by Alain de Botton gave me a wider perspective on work in the modern age, and what it means to be a butcher, a baker, or a candlestick maker versus a Regional Sales Managers for an obscure biscuit brand (real example from the book).