Books Recommended by Seth Godin

Cal Newport is a clear voice in a sea of noise, bringing science and passion in equal measure.

This is a key component in my Purple Cow thinking, but with a twist. I'm not as worried about the chasm as I am about the desire of marketers to go for the big middle.

The best books fit our persistent locks like a perfectly made key. Marie is honest, generous and caring, and she's sharing her wisdom here. If you're looking for the next step on your journey to make a difference for others, here it is.

Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough insight was to focus on the micro-relationships between individuals, which helped organizations realize that it's not about the big ads and the huge charity balls... it's about setting the stage for the buzz to start.

This book is a rare gift... an honest, behind-the-scenes look at power, success and influence, combined with vulnerability and practical advice. A book you won't soon forget.

Stop worrying about what you feel like doing (and what the world owes you) and instead, start creating something meaningful and then give it to the world. Cal really delivers with this one.

Breezy and fun and yes, scary. Scary because it calls your bluff.

A future classic, a book that will inspire thousands of companies to leap into a much needed re-invention.

If you don't know Rushkoff, you're not serious about figuring out what's going to happen next.

Relentlessly generous and endlessly creative, Chase is challenging us to see the shifts in our culture and media as the opportunity of a lifetime. If you care about making things better, this book is here to help.

This book is built around the brilliant insight that your prospect doesn't care nearly as much about what you do as you do, and thus you must boil down your offering into a unique slot that repositions the competition.

Practical, heartfelt, simple wisdom for people at any stage of their career (or life).

Brilliant. Buy ten copies and give one to everyone you work with. It's that good.

You’re not the user, you’re the product. Hang up, log off, and tune in to a different way to be in the world. Bravo, Cal. Smart advice for good people.

This is the management book of the year. Clear, powerful and urgent, it's a must read for anyone who cares about where they work and how they work.

Better is the goal. And in order to make things better for others, it helps to start on yourself, first. Robert Glazer's short, direct advice is worth checking out.

This is the single best audiobook ever recorded by Patti Smith. It is not going to change the way you do business, but it might change the way you live. It's about love and loss and art.

Rand Fishkin is the real deal. This book is an honest, generous and useful look at what actually happens when you build a company, including the downs as well as the ups... I wish I had read it thirty years ago.

The Coaching Habit is a modern classic.

Sooner or later, we're all in the hospitality business. I bet you'll find that Chapter 8 alone is worth the cost of the book.

Scott Belsky is a master of generous work worth doing. The Messy Middle will help you see that you have more control than you dare to admit, and the ability to make a difference if you care enough.

In the last week, I discovered that at least two of my smart friends hadn't read Godel, Escher, Bach. They have now. You should too.

At a conference I recently attended, David talked about his work. It's all anyone discussed for the next two days. This book will help you understand the meat/electricity/chemicals you're carrying around inside your head better than you ever have before.

Significant change is possible. With those four hopeful words, Barbara Oakley opens the door to an entirely new way of seeing and reaching our potential. Don't hesitate, it matters.

A brave and generous book, the ideal antidote to the perfection and invulnerability we pretend are essential to succeed.

I don't think there are many people who know more about small business marketing than John does, and I'm certain that there's no one more generous in sharing tips and insights. What, exactly, are you waiting for? This book will pay for itself in one day

This is a vitally important book, an urgent call for reason that can transform the way you spend hours every day.

Marketing no longer means advertising, and brand no longer means logo. Your brand is the promise, the experience, the interactions, and the expectation people have for you. Maria Ross understands this, and teaches you how to think about this essential element of your business.

I recommend it in audio because David is sometimes repetitive and a little elliptical, but in audio it's all okay because you can just listen to it again.

The easiest way to get rich is to inherit. This is the second best way—knowledge and some discipline. If you’re bold enough to do the right thing, Ramit will show you how. Highly recommended.

Very old, very good. If you're doing any advertising, you have a professional obligation to read this.

This book is a breakthrough, a lyrical, powerful, science-based narrative that actually shows us how to get better (much better) at the things we care about.

Social Business by Design is a book about turning your business into a social one—not one that spams Twitter, but actually bakes the benefits of the social revolution right into the fabric of your organization. A big idea, and an urgent one.

...which is very hard to find on audio and is totally worth seeking out.

Novels: The Windup Girl and Pattern Recognition are chock full of images and ideas that will stick with you for months.

We so often live our lives day by day. Laura wants us to think about doing it hour by hour. Living this mantra by example, she gets more done in a day than most of us do in a week.

George Dyson’s book Analogia has been on this list before, but it’s worth repeating.

Dan is hysterical. Better than Gary Larson, panel for panel. Go for it.

Noah has woven together memorable examples, detailed common sense and an innate understanding of what makes a business thrive. Hunting for new customers wherever you can find them doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Zig is your grandfather and my grandfather. He's Tony Robbins' grandfather. None of us would be here if it weren't for Zig.

I can't get this one out of my head. It's not just an inside look at Google, it's an astonishingly honest take on what it is to be a cog, a sheep, a follower in a company filled with leaders. I wanted to shake Doug and push him to go fail, to do something, loudly.

You know what they invented right after they invented cars? Drunk driving. This is a surprisingly gripping book for an academic treatise. It helps you understand the machinations of politics, industry and how society just can't let go of the status quo, even when lives are at stake.

Novels: The Windup Girl and Pattern Recognition are chock full of images and ideas that will stick with you for months.

Jenny Blake wants to help you manage your career.

Recoding America by Jen Pahlka is important, timely and worth the read.

The biggest challenge most executives face is selling their ideas, not their products. And selling internally is a lot like selling in the street. This is the best book I've ever read about selling anything at all.

Guy has written several irrestible books, but this is a great place to start. It's all about starting the virus.

Bill Taylor will help you manage your organization's future.

This book helped me see design differently. Good design costs just as much as bad design, but it breaks through all sorts of clutter.

A vivid thinker, Rushkoff is an insightful and acerbic antidote to Facebook, cultural hegemony, and the corporatization of everything.

I don't know if you can teach this kind of creativity, but you can certainly raise your expectations by seeing how well they do design.

Before you spend a dollar on advertising, and before you hire a consultant, and before you give up on the tactics of local marketing, please read and digest and absorb this book. The tip of the Guerrilla iceberg.

As we head toward the end of the year, I think you'll find inspiration in the work of people who show up and do the work. Daily. For decades. Jacqueline Novogratz and her classic book, The Blue Sweater continue to change lives.

If you're trying to get people to buy more stuff, this book will show you how. If you're trying to understand why you buy so much stuff, this book will show you how as well. Good stuff on every page.

The Curse of Pietro Houdini is lyrical, gripping and memorable. The audiobook is particularly good.

This book exhaustively looks at one very influential group of early adopters. This may not be YOUR group, but the thinking applies to every hive I can think of.

The Knowledge, Steve Pressfield's new book, is put together like a Swiss watch. Every single word, every scene... it's a master class in what it means to get out of your own way and write a book that works. I am walking around the house, unable to put it down.

This one really stuck with me--a top level analysis of how changes in media change the culture and change the structure of industry.

This book outlines the reasons why many efforts to jumpstart third-world economies fail. It's not just peasants, though. Many of your prospects feel precisely the same way.

Tom Peters at his best--the book that will push you to do the safe (risky) thing you must do to make your products remarkable.

Out of print, but findable at abebooks and other spots, this is a book about an entrepreneur getting his head around the otaku of his audience.

Scott will open your eyes to a different way of doing work that matters. His generous, persistent, consistent belief in our ability to level up and contribute comes through. This is time well spent.

For decades. Jacqueline Novogratz and her classic book, The Blue Sweater continue to change lives. As does Jim Ziolkowski's amazing true story. This is what happens when people step up, keep their promises and make things happen.

I end up recommending this book to parents again and again. It will transform the way you think of schooling.

What Technology Wants is more prescient now than it was a decade ago. A must read.

Almost the flip side. I'm so much better at [protracted difficult periods] because of Pema and because of meditation and because of knowing how to sit with it and not insist that the tension go away.

Joi Ito and Jeff Howe have a new book called Whiplash. Joi's the head of MIT's Media Lab and an extraordinary thinker. Jeff brings the ideas and the lessons of the Lab to life. This is a big think, well worth a deep dive.

The shift in power to the customer is now a certainty. In her engaging book, Shelle lays out precisely what's going on and how to think about it.