šÆ July wrap: a whole lotta good books
Hello,
Iām very excited because;
Live music is very much BACK; I went to see Gorillaz a couple of weeks ago (epic), enjoyed the MSO this weekend, and have picked up tickets to Alt-J (for two of their concerts across two days), Sigur RĆ³s, Nick Cave, David Gray, and of course, Elton John. Nick Cave is a seated concert, which I have strong negative opinions on.
Iāve been getting acquainted with my new Kindle (read my obit to my faithful old Kindle here). I went for the classic version because itās a little smaller for my smol hands, and you can turn the backlight off (it was unclear if that was possible on the Paperwhite). Plus, frankly I donāt need all the bells and whistles of the Paperwhite. I want fireworks and jazzy things on all my other tech, but I want my Kindle to be as low key as possible. Thereās things I like about it, and a few things that are a bit frustrating, but I should do a full review of that another time.
Next week is my thinking week. I canāt wait. This trip will be focused on goals and planning. Iām going to go back through MBSā How to Begin, and do some planning for one particular client project. Iām staying in a lovely Airbnb in the country and Iām spending the trip predominately offline. I always know when Iām getting close to the start of being a bit āovercookedā as I start resenting things that I usually enjoy / should be happy about. Iāve noticed that creeping in over the last fortnight so this break feels very well timed.
I move into a new office space on 15 August. Iāve decided to make a bit of a leap into my own space (within a coworking space) to work from. Itās going to be a creative, productive, fun home for my work and I canāt wait to move in.
Hereās some things Iāve enjoyed since we last spoke:
Article - Adam Grantās reading list: Did anyone else get eleventy billion (ok, five) different emails from Adamās newsletters all in one day yesterday? I did, and Iām working through the rest, but these ones always catch my attention as I always add a number of his book recommendations to my Kindle.
Book announcement - I was delighted to see that Dr Catherine Ball is releasing her first book, Converge, with my friends over at Major Street Publishing. I saw Dr Catherine speak at an event a few years ago and have been following her work with great interest ever since. This book is described as āa futuristās insights into the potential of our world as technology and humanity collideā, which Iām very excited about. Roll on 25 October!
Music - Side Project Sessions playlist: Multi-talented Jeff Phillips (aka Jeff the Peff) made this playlist a couple of years ago to accompany Madeleine Doreās IRL Side Project Sessions. Since then I use it as the trigger to get me into the mood for doing deep work (always start from the first song). Iāve needed this a lot lately and am always grateful when I hit play. (I might have shared this before, but itās definitely worth a re-share ICYMI).
Treats - Sacred Cacao hot chocolate: this is currently a daily essential, not too sweet and very delicious, weāve gone through 5kg of it between two of us since we discovered it last year. You can get $5 off your first order with this link^.
(As a few more of you made the most of this discount in the last newsletter, so in case you missed out - here it is one last time).
What have you been reading/listening/watching/enjoying recently? Pop a comment to this post, hit reply, or just tap the little heart button if you liked something you read.
Counting down until I turn the internet off,
Steph
PS. To borrow from Austin Kleon (and everyone else who borrows this from Austin Kleon), this newsletter and the podcast are 'free but not cheap'. You can support their ongoing creation by buying me a coffee as a one off 'thank you', or leaving giving the podcast a (five š) star rating on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Thanks!
What I read in July
I read a lot this month, which I hadnāt actually realised until I checked my StoryGraph stats over the weekend. Clearly time flew because I was having fun with all of these great reads. Here they areā¦
š BOOKS I READ WITH MY EYES šā
4 Disciplines of Execution by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, Jim Huling, Beverly Walker, and Scott Thele āļøāļøāļøā āļøā
The ideas in book are brilliant, and it sums up exactly where I see most teams failing; execution and discipline. The book brings both of these together in a deceptively simple approach, one that makes the difference between progress and stagnation. I highlighted A LOT of the book and have already bought a copy to send to a client.
The only reason itās not a full five stars is that I found the newly added second and third sections of the book a bit wordy and confusing. There were some useful bits in there for more nuanced application, but I reckon reading and taking action on the first section alone would make a significant difference to most teams. Iād go as far to say that if all leaders were to read just two books, those two books should be this one and Dare to Lead by BrenĆ© Brown.
ā
Die With Zero by Bill Perkins āļøāļøāļøāļøā
I havenāt read a personal finance book in forever, so this was a well timed recommendation as weāre getting back into ālivingā a bit more. Iāve found myself having deep and meaningfuls about the ideas with several different people since reading it so itās definitely a sticky one. Recommend.
(PS. this is next weekās podcast episode, make sure youāre subscribed to listen when it drops and hear how I was tricked into reading this one š)
Cult Status by Tim Duggan āļøāļøāļøāļøā
Ok, I wasnāt going to read this one yet as I try not to read two books by the same author too close together. However, so many people raved about it when Iād posted about Timās latest book, Killer Thinking, that I knew my resolve wouldnāt last long. And it was a treat, I loved the concepts Tim shares about building a cult brand, and the Aussie examples he champions; the small but very mighty companies who have made a huge impact with who they are and what theyāre doing. A fast-paced and fun read that will have you suitably inspired to put some of the ideas into practice.
Move to the Edge, Declare it Centre by Everett Harper āļøāļøāļø
This book was pitched to me by a PR company, which I actually often donāt accept because my reading list is just too long, but Everettās background and experiences had me intrigued. Iām glad I did say yes, as whilst some of the approaches werenāt novel if youāre familiar with human centred / design thinking, the examples he shares were fascinating. Great fodder and case studies to back up the huge need to solve complex problems alongside the right people.
(PS. this is this weekās podcast episode, go check it out)
100 Days of Brave by Iolanthe Gabrie āļøāļøāļøāļøā
A fun book about building businesses and brands from scratch, and how to do it without the scaries. Iolanthe guides you through the A-Z of getting off the ground without crash landing, with just the right balance of humour, optimism, and realism. Great stuff.
(I talked about this book a couple of weeks ago, give it a listen here)