October 22, 2024

Finding the right book at the right time can transform your life or your organization. We help you discover your next great read by showcasing four recently released titles each week.

The books are chosen by Porchlight's Managing Director, Sally Haldorson, and the marketing team: Dylan Schleicher, Gabbi Cisneros, and Jasmine Gonzalez. (Book descriptions are provided by the publisher unless otherwise noted.)

This week, our choices are:

Jasmine’s pick: Being with Busyness: Zen Ways to Transform Overwhelm and Burnout by Brother Phap Huu and Jo Confino, Parallax Press

In this fast-paced, complex world, how do we uphold our ideals without burning out? How can we remain open and vulnerable while also ensuring our safety and protection? Zen Buddhist monk Brother Phap Huu and journalist and leadership coach Jo Confino examine the modern diseases of busyness, overwhelm, and burnout, and how the power of mindfulness and compassion can help us when we run out of energy and inspiration to 

• Process suffering 

• Regain balance 

• Set healthy boundaries 

• Rest and nourish ourselves 

• Bring back more happiness and joy in our lives 

Phap Huu and Jo Confino also offer ways to practice the authentic, loving, and courageous communication needed to break through and transform stressful situations in relationships at work and home. With examples drawn from real life on the spiritual road, they share candid stories, timeless wisdom, and the simple yet effective practices they follow daily for a dynamic and balanced way of life.

Sally’s pick: The Life Cycle of a CEO: The Myths and Truths of How Leaders Succeed by Claudius A Hildebrand and Robert J Stark, PublicAffairs

Being appointed CEO is seen by many as the pinnacle of success in business, but it is actually the first step in a journey of evolving stages requiring ongoing personal reinvention. In an unprecedented study of the individual performance of every twenty-first-century CEO of the S&P 500, combined with over 100 in-depth interviews of CEOs and board directors, Claudius A. Hildebrand and Robert J. Stark discovered the CEO Life Cycle, a series of five stages: launch, calibration, reinvention, complacency trap, and legacy. Each presents distinctive headwinds and tailwinds that require leaders to develop the fresh skills and strategies needed to thrive.

Successful CEOs are often portrayed as fully formed heroes endowed with exceptional leadership traits. Hildebrand and Stark break through the mythology to provide unique understanding, explaining how outstanding leaders surmount predictable challenges and develop the mental fortitude, emotional resilience, and self-awareness required to keep adapting.

Invaluable not only for CEOs to take their game to the next level of high performance but also for executives who envision themselves in the role, The Life Cycle of a CEO provides the unvarnished truth about what it takes to be a successful CEO.

Gabbi’s pick: Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay: Crafting the Story Only You Can Write by Nancy Slonim Aronie, New World Library

Everyone has a story, and for Nancy Slonim Aronie, helping people tell their story has been a life mission. In Seven Secrets to the Perfect Personal Essay, she reveals the secrets every aspiring writer needs to tell their own story as a personal narrative that moves, connects, and resonates with readers.

Building on the insights and guidance from her acclaimed Memoir as Medicine, this new guide tackles the short personal essay, providing prompts, direction, and wisdom as well as remarkable examples of her own and others’ writing to inspire and spur potential essayists to get their story down. With warmth, humor, and brutal honesty, she gives readers the inspiration and wisdom they need to write a story that readers won’t forget.

Writers will learn how to: 

• begin with a compelling hook (“kill ’em with the first line”) 

• build structure into a personal narrative 

• use the words and insights of other writers to illustrate their own story 

• show honesty and vulnerability in their storytelling 

In a culture inundated with auto-generated junk text, a well-crafted personal narrative is more important than ever, a declaration of humanity, meaning, and personal connection.

Dylan’s pick: This Is Strategy: Make Better Plans by Seth Godin, Authors Equity

Are you tired of quick fixes and short-term thinking? Do you want to make a lasting impact but feel stuck in outdated systems? This is Strategy is a modern classic – a must-read for anyone seeking to drive positive change, whether you’re revolutionizing an industry, sparking a movement, or building a career.

Godin challenges you to: 

• Identify your "smallest viable audience" and make remarkable work they can't ignore 

• Understand and influence the systems shaping our world 

• Prioritize long-term thinking over instant gratification 

• Make smart, purposeful choices that shape a better tomorrow 

With Godin's trademark clarity and insight, This is Strategy provides a framework for effective and elegant strategic thinking, offering essential building blocks to turn vision into reality. It’s a rallying cry for doing work that matters.

Whether you're an entrepreneur, a leader, or an individual with big dreams, this book will inspire you to think bigger, act bolder and make a difference.

Strategy turns our effort into impact. Your journey starts here.