Blog / News & Opinion

New Spanish Titles

By Porchlight

Welcome back from the holiday! ! Hope everyone had a safe and fun-packed weekend!

Blog / News & Opinion

The train wreck that was Bear Stearns

By Porchlight

Caption: "An August conference call fails to calm investors. " On Tuesday May 27, The Wall Street Journal begins a three part analysis of the collapse of Bear Stearns. Buffeted by the most treacherous market forces in a generation and hobbled by indecision, the firm's leaders missed opportunities that might have been able to save the 85-year-old brokerage.

Blog / News & Opinion

Powerlines Bonus

By Porchlight

Being placed at the crux of an industry as we are means we're sometimes privy to material you may not see elsewhere. Authors sometimes send us reviews and articles to post, for example, and we were able to post "the lost chapter" of Dan Roam's book on ChangeThis. I've just posted something new from Steve Cone, author of Powerlines: Words That Sell Brands, Grip Fans, and Sometimes Change History, over on our excerpts blog.

Blog / News & Opinion

Powerlines

By Porchlight

Being placed at the crux of the industry as we are means we are sometimes privy to material that you might not see elsewhere. Today, we have something from Steve Cone, author of Powerlines: Words That Sell Brands, Grip Fans, and Sometimes Change History. It was finished just after deadline and didn't make it into the book itself, so it's not officially an excerpt, but we thought you'd enjoy it anyway.

Blog / News & Opinion

Thoughts on Seth Godin's "How To Read a Business Book"

By Porchlight

Seth Godin wrote a great post on Wednesday titled How to read a business book. I encourage everyone to go read it in its entirety. The main points are that business books are essentially recipes for action, but that the majority of a book's words are spent convincing and motivating the reader to action.

Blog / News & Opinion

Read Books, Any Kind Will Do

By Porchlight

Florian Hollender at Killer Consultant recommends gurus read something other than business books every once in a while. He says you'll relax, get new ideas, and enjoy reading business books more.

Blog / News & Opinion

Robert Mondavi passes away - The House of Mondavi

By Porchlight

As many of you know, legendary winemaker and benefactor Robert Mondavi died last Friday. The Mondavis have been called the "Kennedys" of American wine. They transformed Napa Valley from a small, family-owned network of wine producers into the huge hub it is today, helping to establish America as one of the world's great wine producers.

Blog / News & Opinion

City of Thieves - A summer reading recommendation

By Porchlight

Once in a while I take a little liberty and write about non-business books on this site. Before I came to 800-CEO-READ, I worked for our sister company, Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops, Milwaukee's oldest and largest independent bookseller.

Blog / News & Opinion

What is Wrong With Business Books?! - Part II

By Porchlight

On the heals of my Fast Company news, I found a wonderful essay that berates business books. Yes, I said wonderful. An anonymous writer under the byline "Uncle Saul" wrote The Author's Dilemma - Why Most Business Books Suck for socialtech.

Blog / News & Opinion

What Is Wrong With Business Books?! - Part I

By Porchlight

I first found out through email from my friend Sara at Cave Henricks Communications about the publication of my letter to the editors of Fast Company. Below is the full text of the letter I sent in response to Elizabeth Spiers' Library of the Living Dead essay that appeared in the April 2008 issue. I have used bold to highlight the portion they published in the magazine.