Books are dead (long live books!)

In college I read most of the books assigned, but not much else. Since I began working for a living, however, I have read far more books per year than I ever did as a hard-working college student. There is no panacea for success or any single formula for professional growth, but an unbridled  curiosity and a hunger for knowledge and the enthusiasm for sharing that knowledge with others around you is at least part of a formula. Reading is a huge part of that. And reading books is key.

But do people still read books? Steve Jobs, speaking on what he thought of Amazon's Kindle said: “It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is; the fact is that people don’t read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year.” It is true that a large minority of people in the US do not read even a single book in a year. But as Randall Stross pointed out in his New York Times article, "the overall distribution is balanced somewhat [in the US] by those who read a lot." In my own case, as every year goes by and technology gets better and better, I actually buy more and more books. I buy more books perhaps because I am far more aware of books in the long tail thanks to blogs and the increased avenues for Word of Mouth marketing that reach me.

So what's the future for books?
As I mentioned on the podcast with the Microsoft guys, as technology keeps pushing forward and we all spend more and more time online for information, networking, etc., I actually have found that I purchase more "real books" every year and do most of my learning and studying "off the grid" and away from the computer. I have come to look at books, then, as a refreshing and comfortable escape that allows me to slowdown and think more deeply about what I am reading.

I purchase about 7-8 books a month and I actually read most of them. I read more living here in a large city in Japan since I spend so much time on the trains (hours spent on trains is probably one reason why Japanese read so much). I get most of my books online, but I also love book stores. I love stumbling onto things through serendipity. While in the US a few weeks ago I picked up these books below while just browsing (except for Bert Decker's; ordered that one). You may think that some of the books are an odd choice. I mean the Dali Lama and Donald Trump! Are you nuts? Maybe. But I actually learned something from both (though I do not agree personally with everything Donald preaches, such as the idea of revenge, etc.).


A potpourri of non-fiction discovered serendipitously in the US.

• Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing out of Sync? (Seth Godin)
• The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living (Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler)
• The Art of Happiness at Work (Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler)
• The Swordless Samurai: Leadership Wisdom of Japan's Sixteenth-Century Legend---Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Kitami Masao)
• Creating Messages That Motivate (Bert Decker)
• The Digital Photography Book (Scott Kelby)
• Type Style Finder: The Busy Designer's Guide to Type (Timothy Samara)
• The Designer's Desktop Manual (Jason Simmons)
• Think India: The Rise of the World's Next Superpower and What It Means for Every American (Vinay Rai, William Simon)
• Think BIG and Kick Ass in Business and Life (Donald Trump, Bill Zanker)
• The World Without Us (Alan Weisman)
• Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture (Taylor Clark)

I learned something from all the books; some more than others. For the business folks out there Meatball Sundae is a must (and a very quick read), and Starbucked (which I actually read in a Starbucks—they're everywhere!) is a very interesting read from a local writer in Portland, Oregon. If you have a book that you'd like to recommend, please let us know.

And speaking of Seth Godin, go here to sign up (free) to hear Seth Godin, Tim Sanders, Andy Wibbels and Pamela Slim reveal the one thing that will make or break your marketing efforts in 2008.

Comments

[Diego Dal Cero]

Hi Garr,

this comment is off post's topic, but I just want to say "thank you" for your book. I've just received it and after reading Guy's foreword I found that are for sure the best $29.99 spent on a book. Now I just want to finish it and "just do it".

Thank you again!

Diego

[russ stalters]

Garr,

Could not agree more! I guess I am one of those helping bring the average up. I read 20-30 books a year and sometimes go back and reread parts of books.

I am anxiously waiting the arrival of Presentation Zen which I am sure I will wind up repreading many times.

Long Live Books!

[Lesley]

I would say as well that technology has allowed me to utilize the library a lot more...now I go to my library's website, find the books I want, request them to be delivered to my library if they aren't currently on the shelf at my nearest location, and they send me an email when the books are there. How easy is that!

[Ryan]

I would second the use of the public library as a resource for books. And it is very convenient given the ability to "order" books online from any branch and have them "delivered" to your closest local branch. Especially for people who buy 7-8 books a month, you could do a lot to reduce your environmental impact as well as save money by borrowing from the library. How many books do you really re-read? Be honest! So why not use the power of technology to help the planet. It's a win-win.

[Ryan]

Wanted to include a link to finding a public library near you:

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/librarysearch/

[Pamela Slim]

I have to agree with you Garr that the more involved I get in the online world, the more books I read! Although I really enjoy blogs and other electronic means of information, there is something wonderful about the experience of settling down in a comfortable chair with a good cup of coffee and a great book.

Books can also organize information in a nice, logical order which is easier to grasp than random blog posts. I think that is why we are seeing the trend for "blogs to books," much like your own. You can pull the very best of your content and distill it in such a way that it is easy to understand and act upon.

And thanks for the plug for the Meatball Sundae conversation with Seth today. I really enjoyed it and walked away more inspired than ever that New Media, or whatever you choose to call it, is doing our society a favor by allowing trust and authenticity to be the new business currency. It is about dang time!

-Pam

[Chris]

I wish I was on a trainride more often in order to read all the books that interest me. i am a book lover, too. thus I have been reserving more and more time for reading. Currently on my reading list: presentationzen, a whole new mind, introducing neuro-lingustic programming by joseph o'connor with a lot of concepts echoed in your and pink's book.

another great book i have enjoyed reading (three times by now) is gary zukav's account of the history of the new physics: the dancing wu-li masters. this book has sparked a huge interest of physics in me (i hated the subject in school) and now i even delve into the mathematics to get a better understanding of the subatomic world. again the findings from that world very much point towards what you advocate - it's a zen-world after all.

i have also come to like the universal traveler by don koberg and jim bagnall. it's inspiring.

last not least, i just want to say that your blog, garr, is a real treasure. your blogging has depth and - i leave your blog always a little wiser and this is what i really appreciate.

a big thank you from austria
chris

[avagee]

Long Live the Book indeed - but perhaps not as we know it. A while ago I sampled reading books on my cell phone, I had not anticipated how much I would like the portability. I found myself flipping out the phone to read 'all the time'. For me for novels and prose I was very happy reading on very small screen, I quickly got 'that reading feeling' and was in the story. You can get free books for phones from http://www.booksinmyphone.com if you have internet connectivity on your phone you can install direct from the mobile version of the site, or download and install via a PC.

[Francois]

Hi Garr,

Just wanted to point out a typo in the first paragraph (3rd sentence): "huger" should be "hunger".

Cheers,

Francois

[Andrew Mitton]

I have learned so much from your blog. I'm corporate counsel for a large company and make many presentations to the board of directors. I have adopted much of what you teach and it's beginning to catch on in the company, which improves our communication.

I listen to books while I run on the treadmill. I download the book from Audible.com and can usually get through a book every two or three weeks. I recommend: Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler. If there is anyone who knows how to make a presentation, its Walt Disney. Disneyland, the movies, and everything Disney are all about presenting.

[Paul M.]

Garr, great post. Good you mentioned that. The more I spent time in the Internet, the more I appreciate paper. Really. I love reading books and I read much more than before. I find it easy to order on Amazon and I read a lot of recommended books. Currently "Blink".

Books are great as you can calm down and enjoy the moment of peace. I also use Moleskine notebooks a lot to organise my day and boost creativity.

Paper rocks!

[T. Benjamin Larsen]

Yeah, I think Jobs was way off on this one. I don't think I know anyone who doesn't read, but I know that a lot of people don't get to read as much as they used as new medias have take some of the time away from reading.

I've only seen the Kindle on the web, and from my point of view it looks like a great idea with mediocre execution.

Personally I don't think I read more now than I used to, but the web has helped me find some real gems I probably wouldn't have discovered on my own.

[John Spence]

Garr - you have made a very important point here. I am an executive trainer and travel about 230 days a year -- meet with thousands of business people and the vast majority have trouble reading a single business book in a year. I have kept a pace of reading a minimum of 100 business books a year -- usually it is closer to 130. Books do not have all of the answers, but they give us great information to help make much better decisions. If you blog readers are interested, I have a list of my top 120 books on my blog -- broken down by subject. My site is: www.johnspence.com. And -- I just read your book (and Seth's new book) last week -- both very, very good --- I really got a lot out of your book -- as I make dozens of presentations a year to groups as large as 1,000 people -- you have had a big impact on how I arrange and present my information -- thank you so much. Take good care Gar and keep up the fantastic work! John Spence

[Alyssa]

I couldn't agree more...although I may be a bit biased since reading books is what I do for a living. Still, the time I spend reading for pleasure is restorative in so many ways. Reading helps us focus and encourages introspection that I think we often miss in the chaos of our world today. Thanks to all of you who put in a good word for the public library system as well. I couldn't live without my neighborhood library!For those interested in non-fiction, if you haven't read "The Google Story" by David Vise I would recommend it.

[rich]

i'm curious, what are public libraries like in japan?

[Luis]

Books are alive! At least for me. Right now I am reading Presentation Zen and I love it. I also have 12 more lined up.

Books are the best and cheapest way to keep up to date. And I still prefer them printed. Have a couple digital editions, but its still not the same.

[Pensacola Real Estate News]

I love my books. I like to read before bed. Not only does it get me tired and ready for sleep, but I fall asleep pondering what I've just read. I usually read positive motivational type books, so my subconcious is absorbing that good energy as I fall asleep. It beats falling asleep after having watched the 10 oclock news and pondering the latest murder in your town or the latest political maneuver designed to keep us all in the dark about what is really going on.

[tartle]

I love reading but I always keep this extract near to me to remind myself I may not be typical:

"For all the talk about learning, what I've noticed is how few organizations really
think about how people learn. My advice is, figure out what kinds of learners
make up your organization, and immediately begin to modify the training,
meetings, and workshops you offer to acknowledge different learning styles.
Teach the way people learn; don't make them learn the way you teach.

In our organization, for example,
50% of our people are "Action Learners" - these are people who learn by doing. Another
33% are "People Learners" - they learn
best through conversation and exchanging ideas with others. Only
17% are "Information Learners" - people who read texts, listen to lectures, and learn through the traditional school experience.

What's wrong with this picture? The problem is we keep designing learning
programs that only work for 17% of the people in most organizations. It may be
hard to quantify the benefits of learning - but it's easy to measure the money
that's wasted on training programs that work only for a fraction of the
organization.

So if you want people to learn, start by learning how they learn.

Chris Turner, Learning Person, Xerox Business Services
Rochester, New York"

Welcome to the 17% Club... but remember it only takes 15% of determined people to change things!

[Paul M.]

Garr, what do you think about Think big and kick ass?

[Stormy]

I think the web helps me find more interesting (to me) books. People like yourself recommend them and I look them all up on Amazon.com before I buy them! (If I'm in the store, I look them up through my cell phone.)

On a side note, thanks so much for writing Presentation Zen! After reading it, I redid my keynote talks for LinuxConf Australia and SCALE and I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the new format!

[manu]

I have recently finished a book and I almost feel obliged to recommend it.
It is 'An Empire of wealth', the economic history of the US, by John Steele Gordon.

It's a great example of how to basically give a presentation making use of 'images' and not tables and graphs, even when the subject is the economy and its evolution, which by definition is about figures (at least for me).

[carina]

dont remember when i bought books last time. use pda to read and download books from web-sytes

[Jonathan Clemons]

Thanks for the suggestions, Garr. You always seem to be reading some great books and every one you've recommended has been useful or inspiring.

I did however lose the piece of paper with the name of the book that wasn't made out of trees. Really wanted to put it in the order of my next batch of books from Amazon (including three of your books, 2 of which are gifts for friends).

P.S. Wish I could take your other class this semester, but I'm in the Academic Japanese program now.

[Preetam Rai]

I for one wish more books were available electronically. The trouble with print books is that they are hard to get in most places in the world. The shipping cost is also a bummer.

I wanted to get the Presentation Zen book when I first heard about it. I logged on to Amazon hoping I can get a digital edition but there was none. The only option I have is to order the print edition and then wait for couple of weeks. And I need to order 3-4 books to justify the cost of shipping.

[Sholeh]

I went on a photoreading course this month - the best investment ever - I love reading books and now I can read more and remember more and I am more in control of my reading. What a joy. Highly recommended http://www.photoreading.co.uk/

[propecia online]

Very informative post about Books are dead! Keep the nice job. We would love to see more.