I can’t be the only one who believes there’s something magical about walking into a Barnes and Noble, with the faint smell of books and coffee in the air! Or maybe the colder seasons make you want to curl up with a good book and a glass of wine 24/7 too? Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always enjoyed immersing myself into someone else’s words, thoughts, their story process and learning something fascinating from them. I think that’s why I love podcasting so much! So on today’s episode, I wanted to give you a little look into what’s on my nightstand currently. I recommend some great reads for business and personal growth, as well as a fun fictional novel in there too! 

(You can click the titles for direct links to purchase them too!)

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Be Seen by Jen Gottlieb

I was first introduced to Jen back in the summer when I attended the Powerhouse Women Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Her keynote speech had closed the conference and I was so enraptured by her adorable personality and the way she just shown on stage. Afterwards when she published her book, she went on a podcast tour and did what all authors should be doing; telling the same stories over and over and over again, but with a little twist each time for the new audience to promote her book! It just so happened that because of the small community we’re both involved in, she ended up being mentioned on almost every podcast I listened to that month! So of course I had to grab her book and I could not put it down! 

Big Idea to Bestseller by Jake Kelfer 

With Jake’s book, I intentionally picked it up to put in these swag bags I had put together for 3 women at a podcast roundtable. These 3 ladies all have podcasts that I believe should be turned into books one day! If they had never thought about that before, I kind of wanted to give them a little nudge in the back of their minds, that this is something they could definitely do in the future! I had flipped through the book lightly, but it wasn’t until I met Jake in person that I went and bought another copy of his book to read for myself. Although I know book writing is a very far off project for me, Jay’s book was so easy to follow and lays everything out clearly, that I think it feels a little closer to me than it did before! 

Guy Raz by How I Built This

I already love Guy’s podcast of the same name, How I Built This and I absolutely adore how he interviews these entrepreneurs and really digs into the story of how they built their business. My favorite thing to do is wait a few weeks for a bunch of his new episodes to come in and then binge them all at once! So if you can imagine, Guy’s book is kind of like a compilation of  thousands of hours of his podcast’s greatest hits all in one place! It is truly a great companion to his podcast and I could not recommend it enough!

Now my next two books are not business related, but I wanted to mention that they are still worth your time for other amazing reasons! 

How Are You Really? By Jenna Kutcher

If you’ve been following the B-Word for some time, you’ll already know that I love Jenna Kutcher! From her podcast The Goal Digger, to anything she produces, from her personality; they are all just gold! Grabbed this book when she first published it knowing it wasn’t a business book, but loving how she teaches people through her podcast and hoped the same feeling would come across. I thought halfway through with the actual book in hand, that I was literally hearing Jenna’s voice read the book out loud to me, so my next natural step was grab it on Audible. I don’t normally get books in both hard copy and in audiobook form, but you really hear the tone and inflection of the author when they narrate it themselves. I appreciate that most authors do this nowadays, and sometimes they add a little something extra! I’ll often play this audio book over and over, because I think there is something about listening to Jenna go through her thought process that is almost therapeutic!

The Ballad Of Snakes And Songbirds By Suzanne Collins 

Okay, so you might laugh at this one because it’s been out for some time now, but I just picked it up! I’ve read and enjoyed all the past books in The Hunger Games series with my son when they first came out and watched all the movies! When I saw that the movie for this one would be coming out soon, I grabbed it so I could stay up to date! So I have to admit, I’m only 35 pages into it so far, but I can already tell it’s going to be a great read that I’ll be curling up with on Thanksgiving evening with a glass of wine and a roaring fire after all our family goes home!

With the holidays coming up, if you are searching for that perfect gift for someone, even someone you might not know very well, grab one of these books and bring them that added layer of quality and value to their festive season! I’ve put all the books on my Amazon list here, however maybe you’re in need of a much deserved Barnes and Noble date to buy it in person! If you buy one of these books, or have already read one, leave me a review here on the B-Word and tell me which one you liked best! 

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