Surviving your Serengeti by Stefan Swanepoel

Who doesn't face challenges in their business or personal life?  Surviving your Serengeti discusses life's demands and how to face them in a novel format.  In this book, Swanepoel tells the story of travelers on a safari.  These adventurers learn about the unique skills of animals they discover and how those same skills can be applied in their own lives.

Liquid Smoke by Jeff Shelby

Noah Braddock and his girlfriend Liz Santangelo have settled into a normal life.  When Noah gets an unexpected visit from a lawyer wanting his insight on a death row case, his immediate response is to turn it down.  Learning that the death row inmate is the father he never met causes conflict for Noah as he decides what to do.

Freedom from Performing by Becky Harling

We live in a performance-based world.  There is constant pressure to “do more” and “do better”. In Freedom from Performing, Harling talks about the world’s standards of people pleasing compared to what is pleasing to God.  Each chapter is scripturally based and focuses on a specific issue, such as allowing ourselves time to rest or getting out of the grip of perfectionism.   

102 Minutes by Jim Dwyer & Kevin Flynn

Everyone is familiar with the horrific events of 9/11.  Whether or not we knew someone working in the towers or who was part of the rescue team, we were all impacted by this senseless tragedy.  In the book 102 Minutes, Baker & Flynn offer a non-sensationalized account of what happened to the thousands of employees and hundreds of rescue personnel who thought it was a normal workday.  Working from interviews with rescuers and survivors, the authors offer a thoroughly researched - and incredibly haunting - account of this terrorist account.

PrayerWalk by Janet Holm McHenry

It's no surprise that many Christian women have exercise and prayer at the top of their list for New Year's resolutions.  McHenry speaks to those desires by encouraging women to consider prayer-walking, where women spend time with God while also getting physical exercise.  With so many people being short on time, but neglecting these two important things, her idea makes a lot of sense.  This is one of those rare exceptions when multi-tasking is a good thing!

McHenry is very open about her own spiritual journey and experience with depression, which makes her very relatable.  She offers excellent suggestions on things to pray for, such as one's neighborhood, to help women who are feeling "stuck" in their prayer life.  By simply being `aware', she states that people will begin to see things to pray for on their own.  She briefly touches on spiritual warfare and acknowledges it as real, but warns the reader to not use it as an excuse. 

The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing by George Silverman

Marketing has changed from something you do to customers to something you do with them.  Customers want to be involved in the development of products and have a forum for sharing their opinions.  As Silverman explains, their desire to be a part of your company opens doors for word-of-mouth marketing.  

To actually go viral, you need to offer something that is not the usual, boring, and predictable.  “It’s more important to be different than better” in order to set yourself apart from your competitors.  People are not going to spread the word about what you do unless it’s remarkable. Give them something to talk about if you want them to share your product or service with their network.  Ultimately, testimonials carry more weight than a detailed list of the features you, as the seller, think are important.

Selling in Tough Times by Tom Hopkins

Times are tough.  People are watching their budgets and spending less money, which is challenging for people in sales.  In “Selling in Tough Times”, Hopkins reminds salespeople to look at the reasons they went into the field - new situations, new people, and an opportunity for great rewards - in order to stay focused during tough times and motivated to move ahead.  However, doing what’s needed doesn’t mean resorting to aggressive sales tactics or putting down the competition.  It’s about knowing your product/service, believing in it, and most importantly, listing to your customers or clients.  

Frankly, I didn’t expect this book to be particularly interesting.  I thought there would be some sales good tips that required digging through jargon and theory to get there.  I was pleasantly surprised to have it read almost as quickly as a novel.  It was very clear, easy to follow, and had practical take-aways for people in all fields.