Instead of getting something that offered a road map or outline into becoming what Godin tabs as a lynchpin, the book offers a series of questions that have the reader pondering the answers. Most of which are centered around will you be satisfied being a cog or do you strive to be something greater?

My favorite recurring theme in the book was centered around the primitive reptile brain.  This is the part of the brain that deals with survival and tells you not to do things that might fail. This is the part that scares us from taking risks. I try to tell this part of my brain to pipe down, because trying and failing is part of the fun of things.

I would say to check out the book if you want to question yourself.

After reading book after book on social media, I needed a break. After hearing Michele McPhee talk about her new book,  A Date with Death: The Secret Life of the Accused “Craigslist Killer” (Amazon link), on the Craigslist Killer, I decided to pick up a copy.

The book is a quick, but informative read, much like a newspaper article. McPhee gives some great insight into how sick and twisted Philip Markoff (the Craigslist Killer) is. Living in Boston while this happened heightened my interest in the topic, but it also shows how social media is going to start shaping the law of the land. I would suggest picking up a copy, it’s about eight bucks and is worth the read.

The book is the best book on social media that I have read in a while. Not only does it offer relevant insight and advice, it also offers practices that can be utilized to educate an organization on incorporating social media.This is something that I am currently working on in the office, so I have a few sections tabbed off as teaching tools.

I’d suggest picking up a copy if you are a CMO, marketer, flack or someone entering the space. You will get some good insight and pick up some great practices.

Oh and if you are wondering about the video I referenced in the video review, click here to see it. Stupidity 101, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

After graduating college in 2003, I was confident that I wouldn’t have to do homework again. However in the past few months I have had two books to read for work, the first was on writing better and the second, BrandSimple was on breaking down brands to their most simplistic form.

The book was given to me by my company’s new head of marketing communications. This is one book that I was encouraged to read. Not only does Allen Adamson break down brands into digestible nuggets, but also showed how brands like JetBlue, Gatorade and Coke made it happen.

The book is a must-read for folks in PR and marketing along with folks on the front lines for brands.

Over the past few weeks, I consumed the 300+ pages of Brian Solis‘ Engage: The Complete Guide for Brands and Businesses to Build, Cultivate, and Measure Success in the New Web (Amazon link). The engaging book offers advice, tips and best practices for professionals looking to improve in the SM space.

The lengthy tome breaks out the lessons like college courses and can be easily digested by folks entering the space for the first time or have been practicing for years.

The book is definitely worth checking out as its companion site www.areyouengaged.com. Have you checked out the book or do you plan to?

The only issue that I disagreed with was the thought that a company Twitter account needs to be given a face instead of a logo. While a face is always a plus, the brand using real folks in this situation run the risk of having a personality overshadow the brand. With a logo-based account, multiple team members can work together to respond to the constituents.

What do you think?

I was given a copy of William Zinsser’s On Writing Well as an improvement assignment at work. Writing is something that we can all improve upon, especially those of us in the public relations field. Zinsser offers some great tips for all types of writing and I’d suggest checking it out if you want to improve some of your skills.

While I read this book months ago, I just got it back from a friend and am considering it as a time filler and overall good read as I wait for baseball to start back up. The book paints the behind the scenes Cowboys just as we’d expect them – wild, crazy and with enough blow to put Columbia to shame. Definitely check it out.

This is my video book review of Assholeology: The Science Behind Getting Your Way – and Getting Away with it (Amazon Aff. Link) from Chris Illuminati, Dennis LaValle and Stephen B. Green. The book is an interesting self-help guide to becoming an AH. It is a quick read that provides laughs and some great tips to getting what you want in your life – only caveat is that you may be called an AH. I would check it out if you need a good laugh.