Reality Panic

With several long flights and a pre-next-gen lull of great games to play, 2006 was a good year for reading. I got in 26 books this year (better than my 2-book-a-month average goal and better than the 22 books I read last year). Not bad considering that I’ve added Edge to my monthly magazine reading habit (alongside Wired, Game Developer Magazine, Develop and Associations Now).

In somewhat logical categories, here’s what I read over the past twelve months:

Game Related

• Expose 4 - Finest digital art in the known universe
• Half-Real - Video Games Between Real Rules and Fictional Worlds
• Video Games & Interactive Media - A Glimpse at New Digital Entertainment

Business

• Blue Ocean Strategy - How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
• Built to Last - Successful Habits of Visionary Companies
• Crucial Conversations - Tools for talking when the stakes are high
• How to Say It for Executives - The Complete Guide to Communication for Leaders
• Making Meaning - How Successful Businesses Deliver Meaningful Customer Experiences
• Talent Force - A New Manifesto for the Human Side of Business
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - A Leadership Fable
• The Innovator’s Dilemma - The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business
• The Long Tail - Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More

Culture/Social/Economic

• A Whole New Mind - Moving From the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
• Blink - The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
• How to make people like you in 90 seconds or less
• How to Win Friends & Influence People
• The World is Flat - A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
• Work to Live - The Guide to Getting a Life

Associations Related

• 7 Measures of Success - What Remarkable Associations Do That Others Don’t
• Communities of Practice & Associations - How to Build and Sustain Effective Communities in Your Association
• The Executive Director’s Survival Guide - Thriving as a Nonprofit Leader
• We Have Always Done It That Way: 101 Things About Associations We Must Change

Tech/Science

• designing for interaction - Creating Smart Applications and Clever Devices
• Publish & Prosper - Blogging for your Business
• The Universe and Beyond
• WebEx WebOffice Workgroup for Dummies

So, a bunch of biz books and lite on the game related books this year - along with some “self-help” books to soften my often aggressive approach… Many of the biz books were particularly informative and insightful. Particular highlights were Blue Ocean Strategy, Built to Last, Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Innovator’s Dilemma and Long Tail. On the more economic/social side of things A Whole New Mind, Blink, The World is Flat and Work to Live were all great reads.

Also, happy to say that I bought my first ever print-on-demand book, …101 Things About Associations…, from Lulu.

Although there’s still 2+ weeks left in December, I’m currently too distracted by my Xbox 360 to be bothered to read ;) And, next in the queue is the mammoth 1000-page Team of Rivals…