Reading for growth...

In 2003, multiple members of the team from my day job attended Leadership Network's Camp Improv and heard Jim Collins speak. It inspired us all to read Good to Great. The book was transformational to our language, methodology and thought processes. But more than that, we learned just how much a good book can impact growth...and we began reading.

This process has bled from my professional life to my personal one. Reading for entertainment can be a great way to spend a weekend, but reading for growth is something different. I usually get my titles from the reading lists of people I respect or I surf Amazon in topics that interest me. I have a few friends--including my pastor--who occasionally recommend "dangerous" books...which are always fun.

In looking over what I read in 2011, it was interesting to me that I averaged two a month. Given that 2012 is a year of intention, I'd like to set an intention to read more classics. Maybe poetry.

As for the list of what I read this past year, I'm including it. Not because I think you will read it  <grin> , but because I don't want to forget...

Communication and Interaction 
The Naked Presenter: Delivering Powerful Presentations With or Without Slides by Garr Reynolds
Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences by Nancy Duarte
Architect's Essentials of Negotiation (The Architect's Essentials of Professional Practice) by Ava Abramowitz
SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham
The SPIN Selling Fieldbook: Practical Tools, Methods, Exercises, and Resources by Neil Rackham

Human Journeys 
Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom by Dayna Macy
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Living Yoga: Creating A Life Practice by Christy Turlington
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
Poseranity, Unmasking the Poser Within by Tony Brown

Yoga Curriculum
The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by T. K. V. Desikachar
Science of Breath by Swami Rama
Anatomy and Asana: Preventing Yoga Injuries by Susi Hately Aldous
Royal Path: Lessons on Yoga by Swami Rama
Four Chapters on Freedom: Commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Life Skills
Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
Quitterby Jon Acuff
Reworkby Jason Fried
Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Richby Duane Elgin

Inspiration and Spirituality
Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived by Rob Bell
The Naked Now: Learning to See as the Mystics Seeby Richard Rohr
Read. Think. Pray. Live. (TH1NK)by Tony Jones
Perseveranceby Margaret Wheatley

Books that Just Seemed like They Would be Interesting
Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals by Temple Grandin
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything (currently reading)

So, what do you plan for your reading list in 2012?