Energizing Books to Fuel Your Mind this Summer

Summertime is a great time to fuel your mind!  With the longer days and warmer weather, there are lots of ways to start reading again, or catch up on your current reading list.
 
You can enjoy reading while sipping your morning coffee on the porch.  Lose yourself in a page-turning novel, while swaying in a backyard hammock with the warm summer breezes dancing on your skin. Or flip pages, sitting on the beach blanket in the sun, or leaning against a tree in the shade. And when a pop-up summer thunderstorm hits, you can curl up inside and escape into an engaging story.

While I definitely recommend reading my energizing book, Ignite Your Leadership and Jack Canfield's The Success Principles, I put together this summer reading list of some of my other favorites for you:
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1. Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindberg. A heartfelt read, written by Charles Lindberg’s wife of her reflections, meditations, and musings on aging, love, family, peace, and solitude written during one of her brief vacations by the sea.
   
   
2. How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael Gelb. My father gave me this book for Christmas in 1998, and it’s one of the first books that fueled my love for personal and professional growth. Based on his notebooks, inventions, and artwork, it’s a creative look into the mind of the famed da Vinci. By revealing seven principles to guide you in a personal and professional renaissance, it includes many fun exercises and self-assessments to help you cultivate and engineer your own "Da Vincian" mind.
   
   
3. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy. From the publisher, of SUCCESS magazine, this small book of fewer than 200 pages, packs a powerful punch on how small consistent actions, taken daily, multiply to drive extraordinary success over time.
   
   
4. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. While a children’s book, and a really quick read, this book always melts my heart and lifts my spirits when I read it. It takes me back to my childhood, and how like the boy in the book, I had a favorite tree in the backyard that I love to climb, felt a connection with, and often comforted and grounded me when I sat within her branches.
   
   
5. The Go-Giver by Bob Burg & John David Mann. A short, playful fable, about how downshifting being a “go-getter” and plugging into the power of giving leads to generating unexpected returns for fueling success.  
   
   
6. The Last Days of Night by Graham Moore – a historical novel about the Current War, the infamous feud between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to determine the electric grid of our modern world. (Do you know who won?) The story is told from the perspective of Westinghouse’s lawyer, and I loved how Moore includes a timeline of actual events and where he took liberties for a more engaging read, at the end of the book. 
   
   
7. The Rhythm of Life by Matthew Kelly. A great book gifted to me by my friend and co-worker, when I transitioned to a role. An inspirational read of stories, simple strategies, and reflective questions to help you discover your passions, explore the possibilities, and plug into a more purposeful everyday life.
   
   
8. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. A favorite novel of mine, and an enjoyable love story, between the dashing librarian, Henry DeTamble, and passionate artist, Claire Abshire. The book is creatively written from the perspective of Claire through her chronological timeline, while woven with Henry’s perspective time travels into the past and future of their untraditional love story.
   
   
9. The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews. A book, I picked up at the library in Lake Geneva, WI, while vacationing there one summer. An enjoyable parable about a once successful executive, now working a part-time, minimum wage job, and his transformational journey to explore life lessons on the attitudes that make the difference between success and failure.
   
   
10. Uncommon Friends: Life with Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone, Alexis Carrel, and Charles Lindbergh by James Newton – a memoir of the author’s experiences with five of the most notable and accomplished men of the 20th century. An insider’s perspective their business relationships, friendships, and the ultimate mastermind group contributing to their success.

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I'd love to hear from you!  Drop me a comment below to let me know what you plan on reading this summer, share your favorite book recommendations, or circle back with me to let me know how you enjoyed reading any of the books above. 

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