800-CEO-READ's 2017 Bestsellers

This is the time of year when we make resolutions. And, whatever new aspirations we may have, it is important they remain rooted in where we come from and who we are. I bring this up to begin a post about our past years' bestsellers because our resolutions as a company will always involve selling even more books in the next year than we did in the past. This is obviously, in part (if not primarily), because we want to make more money, but it is also because we believe we help make an impact moving those books into the world. As David Schwartz, our former owner, and the father of our current owner and CEO, said, "The true profit in bookselling is the social profit; the bottom line, the measure of the impact of the books on the community."   

Of course, we can't survive as a business without turning a financial profit, as well, so that's never out of the intellectual equation, but we do our best to remember to put that social profit first. And for us it goes beyond our love of books. This is more than a fetish, or a lust for paper bound between two hardcover boards. It is a deep, abiding belief  in books as an agent of change in our world. That is why the first article in our company's constitution states:

We believe in the book’s inherent value as a means of spreading information and culture, and we believe in the soul of the individual book—that once launched into the world, it can take on a life of its own and have a profound effect on business, our society, and culture. We believe in the book as a business model, on the publisher level, and as an individual, small business model for each author we work with.

We can't do what we do without the community of authors, publishers, businesses, and readers we are a part of. They do the work to bring these books into the world, both literally in terms of conception, editing, design, printing, binding, and publicity, and conceptually as the ideas are integrated into people's lives and businesses. Whatever impact we have on the community, we owe to those who wrote, edited, designed, published, and implemented the ideas in the books below, and all the others we have sold over the past year. 

As we look forward to 2018, here is one last look back and thank you to everyone who helped bring 800-CEO-READ's Bestselling Books of 2017 into the world.

1. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth, Scribner
2. What to Do When Machines Do Everything: How to Get Ahead in a World of AI, Algorithms, Bots by Malcolm Frank, Ben Pring, and Paul Roehrig, Wiley
3. Unshakeable: Your Financial Freedom Playbook by Tony Robbins, Simon & Schuster
4. Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg & Adam Grant, Knopf
5. Head Strong: The Bulletproof Plan to Activate Untapped Brain Energy to Work Smarter and Think Faster-In Just Two Weeks by Dave Asprey, Harper Wave
6. The Go-Giver: A Little Story about a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg, John David Mann, Portfolio
7. Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office by Bill McDermott, Simon & Schuster
8. The Spark and the Grind: Ignite the Power of Disciplined Creativity by Erik Wahl, Portfolio
9. How to Work with and Lead People Not Like You: Practical Solutions for Today's Diverse Workplace by Kelly McDonald, Wiley
10. The Startup Way: How Modern Companies Use Entrepreneurial Management to Transform Culture and Drive Long-Term Growth by Eric Ries, Currency
11. Rethink: The Surprising History of New Ideas by Steven Poole, Scribner
12. Going Public: My Adventures Inside the SEC and How to Prevent the Next Devastating Crisis by Norm Champ, McGraw-Hill
13. Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family by Bob Chapman & Raj Sisodia, Portfolio
14. Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek, Portfolio
15. Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be by Marshall Goldsmith & Mark Reiter, Crown Business
16. Culture Crossing: Discover the Key to Making Successful Connections in the New Global Era by Michael Landers, Berrett-Koehler Publishers
17. The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy by Jon Gordon, Wiley
18. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice by Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, and David S. Duncan, HarperBusiness
19. Machine, Platform, Crowd: Harnessing Our Digital Future by Andrew Mc Afee & Erik Brynjolfsson, W. W. Norton & Company
20. The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate the Three Essential Virtues by Patrick M Lencioni, Jossey-Bass
21. Attitude: Develop a Winning Mindset on and off the Court by Jay Wright, with Michael Sheridan & Mark Dagostino, Ballantine Books
22. Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World by Reshma Saujani, Viking Books for Young Readers
23. Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David, Avery
24. Drop the Ball: Achieving More by Doing Less by Tiffany Dufu, Flatiron Books
25. Becoming the Best: Build a World-Class Organization Through Values-Based Leadership by Harry M. Jansen Kraemer Jr., Jossey-Bass

You can keep up with the ongoing monthly bestseller list online.