What are YOU reading?

I often find it interesting to learn what people are reading. In addition to the WSJ, The Economist and the New Yorker magazines, I enjoy a great variety of reading material. I have recently finished reading A World Lit Only By Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age by William Manchester; The Bayeux Tapestry by David Mackenzie Wilson, a history of the medieval tapestry depicting Battle of Hastings in 1066; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, a 1937 work by this important African American writer which follows the lives of poor African Americans as a hurricane envelopes southern Florida in the early 20^th century, causing great destruction and death; The First Crusade: A New History: The Roots of Conflict between Christianity and Islam by Thomas Asbridge; Managerial Economics by our own Luke Froeb, and MP Equity Valuation and Analysis with eVal by Richard Sloan and Russell Lundholm. I am currently reading Competing for the Future by Gary Hamel, one of the great living business strategist; Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky; Speechless by our very own Bruce Barry; The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America by Warren Buffett and, to top it all off, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Why not just business books? My experience is that reading great authors, history, and literature about the human condition expands my ability to deal with the myriad problems, people and issues I face daily. It helps me understand other people’s values, historical perspective, religion, and why people think the way they do. Reading one subject is not only boring, it makes me pretty narrow as an individual. For those of you who are parents (or even if you are not), I recommend a children’s classic entitled Bread and Jam for Francis by Russell and Lillian Hoban. It is a great life lesson about why diversity is interesting.

Favorite authors of all time: Wallace Stegner, E.B. White and William Barry. Oh yes, and Peter Drucker on the business side. While business school may overload you with reading, I encourage you to develop a habit of continuous learning and exploration. Ask people what they read. It might help you understand their perspective. By the way, I also like to read cookbooks… but that is a whole other story.