The Best of 2012 in Books & Movies

I have been surfing twitter this morning to find the best books for 2012.   So far I have been directed to ten highly recommended Business Books for 2012.  I have also been directed to a  link to the Top Ten Films for 2012.  Les Miserables, based on our previous book club pick, and Lincoln are among the top ten.  I found a link to Brain Pickings and its 2012 Best-of Reading Lists covering different genres.

I searched the Goodreads website and found that Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling topped the 2012 Goodreads Choice Awards for Best Fiction for 2012 and Light Between Oceans, set in Australia, was the top pick for the Best Historical Fiction.

By the way, allow me to move away from books and movies for a second. I am sure you would not be surprised to see the top Ten Twitter Trends:  The Olympics, The Elections, Justin Bieber take the lead.

If you are looking forward to the new year, I found  a list of 13 Must Read Books to kick start 2013.  However, if you really think the world will end on December 21, 2012, feel free to  scan the heavens for any sign of the apocalypse. 

Let me lead briefly into the book I am now reading.  I am enjoying the historical fiction, Revelation by C. J. Sansom, which indicates that the fear of doomsday goes way back. It was an obsession in the sixteenth century. People so feared going to hell that it led to insanity.  The protagonist, Matthew Shardlake suspects that some bizarre murders taking place in London are linked to the Book of Revelation and possibly to a former monk who has knowledge of a drug called dwale.  I am on page 210 and there have been three murders so far.

Creating a Small Business

Everyone these days know someone who is, was, or will be job hunting.  How about starting your own business? I took a break from fiction to start reading, The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future.   It's about combining your passion with something useful in the world.  The author Chris Guillebeau says this book has two themes: freedom and value meaning that all people want is freedom and providing value is the way to get it.  To write this book he looked at 1,500 respondents online and offline who started micro-businesses and who met at least 6 of his criteria: The "follow-your-passion" model, low startup costs, minimum of $50,000 in net income, no special skills other than on the job training,  willing to discuss their business income and expenses, and fewer than 5 employees. 

Interestingly, this writer says not everyone can build a business around his or her passion, the focus has to be on providing value, making sure the product or service will help other people. On page 18 he outlined the 3 simple things needed to start a business:  

1. Product or service 2. Customers  3. A way to get paid

By page 35 there were 6 steps to get started: 1. Decide on product or service 2. Set up a website ( free at WordPress.org) 3. Develop an offer 4. Ensure you have a way to get paid (PayPal) 5. Announce your offer to the world 6. Learn from steps 1-5, then repeat.

He also makes a very important point to help us think about the product or service that we want to sell.  Hone in on what people want.  We all want more love, money, acceptance/attention, and free time and we want less stress, conflict, hassle and uncertainty/debt.

Here is another interesting book title that seems to be similar to The $100 Startup, Mash-Up! How to Use Your Multiple Skills to Give You an Edge, Make Money and Be Happier, by Ian Sanders and David Sloly. This book is supposed to show you how to  mash-up your skill set to create the work life you want.

Also useful to help you decide on  a product or service for a small business is this article by Alexa Hirschfield who posed these useful questions:

1. Does this business have a reason for being? 2. Does it already exist? 3. If not, why not? 4. Is there a customer for this? 4. If so, who are they, how many of them are there, and how do we know?

Bringing it all together is Guillebeau's one page business plan found on Life Hacker.

Frugality

Frugality will become the new status symbol; I like that. Dilute the dishwashing liquid, cut the dryer sheets in half or quarters, and check out the business book titles in this article in Time magazine.

I bet Pia Catton and Califia Suntree, editors of Be Thrifty: How to Live Better with Less would like my Frugal Library Tips.

Also in the Times article are books by Richard Florida and John Robbins. Amazon readers gave Mr Florida's book, The Great Reset, an average of 4 1/2 stars and gave Mr Robbins' The New Good: Livng Better than Ever in an Age of Less, 5 stars.

Business Life Books

I am looking at various library blogs and came across interesting book reviews on a book for people who work, Linchpin by Seth Godwin.

Here also is a freebie titled, What Matters Now, that is in pd format as well as powerpoint. There is an article by Seth Godwin on Generosity. Other interesting topics include: Fear, Excellence, and Vision.

Entrepreneurial Dreams

I took a break from my usual novels to read Donny Deutsch's book, The Big Idea, based on interviews he has done with successful Entrepreneurs on the show he hosts on CNBC. Deutsch describes himself as a brash, upstart, creative ad guy. It is a very inspiring book if you want to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality.

I like that he inserted encouraging tips in bold print titled, Big Idea Lesson. One story is about the creator of iHearSafe earbuds and the Big Idea Lesson on page 61 is : "You don't have to be a technical expert to invent a new technology. The idea is the key. Then seek out people who know...."

Who knew you could send a ball by mail? Deutch writes about the folks behind Send a Ball,also Vita Coco, MadPackers and so many others who had big ideas.

The Big Idea Toolbook is also very useful and the writer targets the young and the old entrepreneurial dreamer.