SeekReviewsBlog.com

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Buy new: $14.27 / Used from: $10.30

Possibly one of the best books I’ve ever read. “The Kite Runner” (by the same author)was also amazingly good, but I liked “Suns” better because it is told from a woman’s perspective. I felt it would be unfair to nominate another book by the same author.

 Peony in Love: A Novel by Lisa See
Buy new: $16.29 / Used from: $7.49

I also read “Snow Flower and the Secret Fan” by Lisa See. They were both incredibly captivating novels that transport the reader into ancient Chinese culture. I picked “Peony” because the story has a unique presentation. See my previous objection to listing two works by the same author.

The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette Walls
Buy new: $9.00 / Used from: $3.68This memoir was so involving, I wanted to somehow magically enter the story and throttle the author’s infuriating parents

Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen
Buy new: $8.37 / Used from: $6.98

A beautifully rendered, and (I’m told) historically accurate story.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (P.S.) by Betty Smith
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $7.29

I now understand why my mother harassed me for years to read this book.

The Painted Drum: A Novel (P.S.) by Louise Erdrich
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $3.19

Grand Ambition: A Novel by Lisa Michaels
Buy new: $4.29 / Used from: $0.01

This is a very well done fictionalized account of a true story. I read it in a single day.

The March: A Novel by E.L. Doctorow
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $2.38

Long, but worth it.

Saving Fish from Drowning: A Novel (Ballantine Reader’s Circle) by Amy Tan
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $0.73

As far as I’m concerned, Amy Tan’s never written a novel not worth reading.

Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why by Laurence Gonzales
Buy new: $10.17 / Used from: $5.92

Even if you never set foot in the wilderness you can learn from this book.

Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy
Buy new: $17.13 / Used from: $0.48

This was my first Maeve Binchy experience, and so far it’s been the best.

Fall On Your Knees (Oprah’s Book Club) by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Buy new: $10.20 / Used from: $0.01

Disturbing.

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $14.00

Depressing. Everyone should be required to read it.

Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy by Barbara Ehrenreich
Buy new: $17.16 / Used from: $10.17

A good antidote to the previous book.

You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore
Buy new: $14.93 / Used from: $3.44

Funny and refreshingly bitter.

Lost in the Forest: A Novel (Ballantine Reader’s Circle) by Sue Miller
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $4.95

Can’t Wait to Get to Heaven: A Novel (Ballantine Reader’s Circle) by Fannie Flagg
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $3.33

I know she’s not considered high-brow literature, but I’m a huge sucker for Fannie’s sweet, southern-flavored stories.

By an Amazon.com customer

His Needs Her Needs
Buy used from: $18.10

This book provides a powerful framework for what makes or breaks relationships. It is delightfully simple, yet I can trace every personal relationship’s success or failure to Dr. Harley’s concepts. It is a must read before engaging in any serious relationship.

Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love by Helen Fisher
Buy used from: $24.65

I’ve long been intrigued by the biological influences of that “out of control” feeling of being in love. This book is a wonderful resource of information of what creates that euphoria…and why it is in the best interest of human beings to form those seemingly unbreakable attachments.

The Secret Psychology of How We Fall in Love by Paul Dobransky
Buy new: $5.49 / Used from: $4.59

The premise of this book that we have 3 brains involved in a relationship is very powerful. It helps explain a lot of the male-female dynamics and ultimately provides a guide for how to leverage that understanding to fall in love. Fascinating.

Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence by Esther Perel
Buy new: $11.16 / Used from: $7.85

Is it possible to have a great marriage and passionate sex? With so many sexless marriages out there, I have pondered about this question for quite some time. This book takes this issue head on and provides such deep insight on this issue which blew me away!

Tantric Love : A Nine Step Guide to Transforming Lovers into Soul Mates by Ma Ananda Sarita
Buy new: $10.88 / Used from: $5.85

I wish Tantra were mandatory teaching in high-school sexual education. Tantric love takes sex to a totally different level…akin to evolving from fast food to gourmet. I bet that if couples were all practicing tantra in their relationships, divorces would be dramatically reduced.

The Way Of The Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Woman, Work, and Sexual Desire by David Deida
Buy new: $12.21 / Used from: $10.00

The main goal in this book is to encourage men to see that they can control their lives and that in fact, women want them to be in control. Confidence is of course very sexy. This book is especially for men with a masculine sexual essence who want to deepen their life experience with a lover who has a very feminine sexual essence.

The Mystery Method: How to Get Beautiful Women Into Bed by Mystery
Buy new: $13.57 / Used from: $11.91

Neil Strauss first broke out the news about the world of Pick Up Artists, led by Mystery, in his famous book “The Game”. Here, Mystery would lay out his principles grounded in our understanding of human psychology. A must for any guy who wants to be successful with girls and every girl who wants to protect herself from being seduced by the wrong guy!

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Buy new: $10.40 / Used from: $2.75

I originally bought this book knowing nothing about Frankl, his experiences, or psychological theories. It was highly recommended by my counselor. What a life-changing book. Merely reading it at any given time has a marked positive influence on my attitude and appreciation towards life.

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Collins Business Essentials) by Robert B. Cialdini
Buy new: $12.21 / Used from: $8.21

This is the best book ever on the science of persuasion. I have found it equally applicable in my personal and professional life. I wish I had come across it 20 years earlier. It would have saved me from so many frustrations and equipped me to be more effective with people.

Emotional Intelligence: 10th Anniversary Edition; Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman
Buy new: $18.48 / Used from: $12.48

Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman’s brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our “two minds”—the rational and the emotional—and how they together shape our destiny.

Stop Walking on Eggshells: Taking Your Life Back When Someone You Care about Has Borderline Personality Disorder by Paul T. Mason
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $7.62

This book totally transformed my approach to a member of my family who exhibited Borderline Personality Disorder behavior during a very critical period of my life (2000-2005). It also played a fundamental role in my personal recovery from the associated trauma.

Bill Phillips Body For Life Two-Book Set (Body For Life, Body for Life Success Journal) by Bill Phillips
Buy used from: $28.18

Around 2001, I was severely overweight and helpless in areas of Health & Wellness. My trainer recommended this book. Just seeing the “Before” and “After” photos of people who had taken the 12-week challenge was enough to shock me into change. By the end of the year, I had shed nearly 50 Lbs.

Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating by Walter M.D. Willett
Buy used from: $19.18While inundated with a wide range of messages about proper nutrition, it was refreshing to come across this well-written, authoritative work. So many new things have been recently discovered about the effects of food on our health. This book debunked the myths and ultimately led to the revision of the Food Pyramid by the Federal

John T. Molloy’s New Dress for Success by John T. Molloy
Buy used from: $4.17

I bought this book when in my 20s, during a visit from Israel to the US. I was intrigued by the application of scientific methods to dress and success. I subsequently totally revamped my business wardrobe, helping colleagues as well.

StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths by Tom Rath
Buy new: $11.97 / Used from: $9.81

As I was mulling career options, I was given a book called “Now Discover Your Strengths” which had profound influence on my choices. “StrengthFinder 2.0″ is the updated sequel with a powerful message: focus on building your natural talents into towering strengths, not your development opportunities into average strengths.

Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller–Now Revised and Updated for the 21st Century by Napoleon Hill
Buy new: $8.00 / Used from: $5.55

The most famous of all teachers of success spent “a fortune and the better part of a lifetime of effort” to produce the “Law of Success” philosophy that forms the basis of his books and that is so powerfully summarized in this one. This book has opened my eyes to “bottlenecks” holding me back on the path to greater success.

 The Dick Davis Dividend: Straight Talk on Making Money from 40 Years on Wall Street by Dick Davis
Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $16.36

As its title proclaims, this is indeed a Straight Talk book. Everything you always wanted to know about making money in investments is so eloquently explained by this veteran of Wall Street. If you are not an index-oriented investor, this book will help you get there.

The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk by William Bernstein
Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $14.00

Oft quoted as a reference on financial asset allocation, this book further explains the principles of sound personal investment in the financial markets. A classic.

The Only Guide to a Winning Investment Strategy You’ll Ever Need: The Way Smart Money Preserves Wealth Today by Larry E. Swedroe
Buy new: $17.13 / Used from: $12.42

This prolific writer has a series of books, all wonderful. A firm believer in index portfolios leveraging Modern Portfolio Theory, Larry Swedroe is gifted with an uncanny ability to explain complex concepts in simple words. This book got me started on the journey from active, high-expense investments to passive, index investments. I have never looked back since.

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t by Jim Collins
Buy new: $16.50 / Used from: $8.99

I’ve often wondered why it is so hard to effect change in good companies with no “burning platform” to prompt them into higher performance ethics. Jim Collins and his team have put together the landmark book on what it takes to go from good to great. It makes so much sense…yet so few companies embrace those principles. Maybe this is why there are so few great companies out there.

Mobilizing Minds: Creating Wealth From Talent in the 21st Century Organization by Lowell L. L Bryan
Buy new: $19.77 / Used from: $8.67

This is the book I thought I’d write one day, based on the culmination of my nearly 30 years of professional experience with large organizations. Luckily, this book came out and saved me the effort…while capturing magnificently the challenges of mobilizing people in such corporations.

LEAN THINKING : Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation by James P. Womack
Buy used from: $13.42

Lean Thinking is a powerful idea first developed by Toyota. First revealed by an MIT team which had studies Japanese success, such techniques have revolutionized the world of manufacturing. It is amazing how lean principles can be applied to so many areas of life. This book does a great job of capturing the fundamentals and demonstrating their power.

Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling by Harold, Ph.D. Kerzner
Buy new: $69.20 / Used from: $55.50

A couple of decades ago, I came upon an early edition of this book which provided my foundation in managing large projects. Lo behold, much of my subsequent career involved managing large and complex projects, in one form or another. I owe much of my professional success in this area to the ideas I learned early on from Dr. Kerzner.

By an Amazon.com customer

Truman by David McCullough Buy new: $14.96 / Used from: $2.49 How to grow up to be a hero without noticing along the way.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Buy new: $9.00 / Used from: $2.96

Involving ethnic fiction from, for most of us, a completely exotic culture.

The Yiddish Policemen’s Union: A Novel by Michael Chabon
Buy new: $17.79 / Used from: $10.25

The voice of his generation, I suspect. Maybe mine too.

Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins
Buy new: $11.20 / Used from: $3.91

How to write an extremely complex, thoughtful story and make it read like some guy casually spouting off at you through the night.

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
Buy new: $21.12 / Used from: $8.50

New information woven in with the subject’s innovative thought processes; the first Einstein book I’ve read that isn’t either an insult to my intelligence or completelty opaque.

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama
Buy new: $8.97 / Used from: $7.48

Perhaps not foreign policy “experience,” but indicative of a new way of looking at our place in the world.

Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy—Until You’re 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley
Buy new: $10.36 / Used from: $7.50

Positively motivating.

The Conscience of a Liberal by Paul Krugman
Buy new: $17.13 / Used from: $15.25

Like a poet screaming wisdom at the wilderness.

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene
Buy new: $11.53 / Used from: $5.00

“Life is a deep well,” said the sage and I looked at him like he was from Pluto. “You mean life is not a deep well?” he asked.

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Buy new: $10.87 / Used from: $6.65

Maybe practical, maybe not, but one of the rare sources of new ideas. Gladwell is a theoretical sociologist.

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World by Tracy Kidder
Buy new: $10.85 / Used from: $5.10

Why someone would want to grow up to be a hero.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath
Buy new: $16.47 / Used from: $13.50

Getting an insouciant Universe to notice.

By an Amazon.com customer