I really enjoy reading books about emerging technologies, social media, learning and professional development. I also read plenty of fiction, especially fast paced, well written crime fiction in settings I’m not too familiar with such as South East Asia, Britain, South Africa, the far north etc.

I’m very pleased with the books I bought this summer and I few that I’ve received as gifts.  I’m reading these books simultaneously and employing many of the ideas in projects I’m involved with.  Perhaps in the fall when I’ve digested theme properly, I’ll take the time and write a post about what these books meant to my learning and work. Here are a few of my summer reading books with a few comments to go with each book.

Community: The Structure of Belonging: Peter Block – This book has changed my thinking about community and community work. I’m finally recognizing (after all these years) that you can’t problem solve your way to building community. I sailed into uncharted territory when I read this book, but by doing so, it’s awakened my sense of discovery and personal commitment towards building a community that I want.

Trust Agents:Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, Chris Brogan and Julian Smith - Lessons about trust as the cornerstone of your practice. A very timely book to guide my work with non profit organizations.

The Diamond Cutter: The Buddha on Strategies for Managing Your Business and Your Life, Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally – My daughter Meghan gave this to me on Father’s Day. She knows how much I enjoy Buddhist teachings and this one promises to be an excellent read. It’s about an ancient book based on the diamond industry and how you can practice your business successfully by following key life principles. I’ve put it aside for now but I keep it close by for quick references and inspiration.

Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead,  Charlene Li - Charlene’s book, The Groundswell introduced me to social media strategies for engaging your communities and stakeholders. Her newest book takes the next step and is helping me understand the changing role of leadership in the world of the social web.

Six Pixels of Separation: Everyone is Connected – Connect Your Business to Everyone, Mitch Joel – Understanding the changes brought about by the social web and how the businesses (other sectors as well) are  implementing successful strategies to survive and thrive.

The Abundant Community: Awakening the Power of Families and Neighbourhoods, John McKnight & Peter Block – This book is deepening my understanding of communities and the strengths of residents to change  their lives and their communities. Like Peter Block’s book on Community, the Structure of Belonging, this book will be a constant reference for me in my social media work.

Drupal for Dummies, Lynn Beighley – Drupal is the platform of choice for my partner Alain Hurtubise (iAutomate) and I’m glad he chose Drupal. I’ll never be a web design and developer but with this book I can learn the basics of supporting Drupal based web sites and teaching staff and volunteers how to manage their web site – without paying costly outside experts who don’t know anything about your business.

P.S. The bookends are core samples taken from the mines in Sudbury Ontario, my home town. Having worked in the mines before starting my career in community & social media work, the bookends remind me of the lessons learned from growing up in a mining town.

Brent Uncategorized books