Best Books of 2011: Staff Picks

The AMACOM staff knows that all work and no play makes us dull, so we’d like to share a list of our favorite books from 2011—business not included.

Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester (HarperCollins).
A “biography” of the Atlantic Ocean, this book discusses the ocean’s impact on various civilizations, our struggles with its pollution, over-fishing and other current problems, and the various discoveries we’ve made about the ocean along the way. I loved it because it was a book about geography, travel, history, and adventure–all things which spark my imagination.
—Andy Ambraziejus, Managing Editor

The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly (Hyperion).
I actually haven’t read it yet, but I enjoyed the first two in the series (The Tea Rose, The Winter Rose) so much that I downloaded it to my Nook months ago to read when I had more time. From Amazon: “It is London, 1914. World War I looms on the horizon, women are fighting for the right to vote, and explorers are pushing the limits of endurance in the most forbidding corners of the earth.”
—Erika Spelman, Associate Editor & Copy Manager

Life by Keith Richards with James Fox (Little, Brown and Company).
Life is a remarkably honest book that captures the true spirit of rock & roll. Richards’ intelligence, sense of humor, and, most of all, his extraordinary love of music (not just his own) shines through on every page. —Barry Richardson, Senior Development Editor

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House).
I’m not really a history buff, and what I know about World War II is more about the War in Europe, and much less about the War in the Pacific. This story of an Army Air Force Lieutenant who crashed and was a POW in Japan really held my attention. And sadly, it does leave you feeling that our use of the atomic bombs was probably a good decision that saved lives. —Rosemary Carlough, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, who couldn’t choose just one book, so…

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (Random House).
This is the third book by Lisa See that I have read. After reading Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which is fiction, I read her book about her family’s history in the US, On Gold Mountain, which also tracks the history of many Chinese immigrants to the US who settled in California. Shanghai Girls, which is also fiction, still weaves in a lot of history of how many Chinese were treated when they arrived in California and how they lived as first-generation immigrants. It’s therefore a very believable read and also entertaining.
—Rosemary Carlough, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, who would also like to credit Goodreads for making it really easy for her to look back at what she had read in 2011 (and she would like more Goodreads friends, hint hint).

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart (Random House).
I’ve been following Shteyngart for a while (his writing, not him personally), and it’s been rewarding to see him grow over the past few years. I think that Super Sad True Love Story is where he finally had his own distinct voice, separate from the writers that have influenced him. Since I work a lot with technology, his depiction of near-future New York was all too real. He had many interesting characterizations of how people adapt (or don’t) in this bizarre environment where nothing is private and your value is determined by points on a screen rather than human interaction. Terrifying that his prediction of onion skin jeans came true only a few months later. —Alice Northover, Part-Time Publicist

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Books)
Written for the young adult market The Hunger Games is a sci-fi trilogy.  The first book, Hunger Games, was published in 2008 followed by Catching Fire and Mockingjay. The young adult label didn’t bother me since I love the Harry Potter books and enjoy good sci-fi, plus I was intrigued by the series because of the great reviews it had received.  I was finally motivated to buy the first book on my e-reader because the movie was opening in January 2012. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic future in the ruins of what was once known as North America, the series is a non-stop action, survival thriller. It’s also a social commentary on effects of violence on the young, big brother government, and personal independence. I loved the characters and the plot is tense, dramatic, and engrossing. —Irene Majuk, Publicity Director

Some of you may notice that most of these were published before 2011, but remember with all the work, we need to make time for play.

Hank Shares John Locke on the Book Business

The following is a guest post from President and Publisher Hank Kennedy—another drop of wisdom he likes to share with staff on occasion.

Books seem to be pestilent things, and
infect all that trade in them—with
something very perverse and brutal. Printers,
binders, sellers, and others that make a
trade and gain out of them have universally
so odd a turn and corruption of mind
that they have a way of dealing peculiar
to themselves, and not conform to the good
of society and that general fairness
which cements mankind.

John Locke, WORKS
(London, 1801), x, 291.
From a letter to
Anthony Collins.

Hank Kennedy is the President and Publisher of AMACOM Books. He has over 40 years of experience in the book publishing industry, as editor, sales rep, Vice President at Prentice Hall, and finally our boss here.

Leading at the Edge Now Available on NetGalley

Our upcoming book, Leading at The Edge: Leadership Lessons from the Extraordinary Saga of Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition, 2nd Edition by Dennis N. T. Perkins with Margaret P. Holtman, Paul R. Kessler, and Catherine McCarthy, is now available for review on NetGalley. If you are a book reviewer, journalist, librarian, professor, bookseller, and blogger, or other book professional, we invite you to download an e-galley of the book today. Click HERE to submit your digital galley request for Leading at the Edge.

For the 100th anniversary of the Race to the South Pole, a fresh look at what Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic adventure can teach us about true leadership. Stranded in the frozen Antarctic sea for nearly two years, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his team of 27 polar explorers endured extreme temperatures, hazardous ice, dwindling food, and complete isolation. Despite these seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the group remained cohesive, congenial, and mercifully alive—a fact that speaks not just to luck but to an unparalleled feat of leadership. Part adventure tale, part leadership guide, the second edition features additional lessons, new case studies of the strategies in action, tools to uncover and resolve conflicts, and expanded resources. An updated epilogue compares the leadership styles of the famous polar explorers Shackleton, Amundsen, and Scott. Drawing on this amazing story, Leading at The Edge demonstrates the importance of a strong leader in times of adversity, uncertainty, and change.

DENNIS N.T. PERKINS, PH.D. is the chief executive officer of The Syncretics Group, a consulting firm dedicated to effective leadership in demanding environments. MARGARET P. HOLTMAN is founder of Margaret Holtman, LLC, which specializes in leadership solutions for individuals, teams, and organizations. PAUL R. KESSLER is a consultant and coach with over 15 years of experience. CATHERINE MCCARTHY, PH.D., is a consultant for Korn/Ferry International.

Click HERE to submit your e-galley request for a copy of Leading at the Edge on NetGalley.

You can find more information about Leading at the Edge on the AMACOM website.

You can review how to get AMACOM’s digital galley request approval on NetGalley HERE.

You can find all of AMACOM’s e-galleys on NetGalley HERE.

There are a number of different reading options for this e-galley:

• Quick Browse. Preview the galley using NetGalley’s web-based reader.
• Download Galley. Read a Protected (DRM) galley on your computer, Sony Reader, B&N’s Nook, Kobo Reader, or other device. You’ll need Adobe Digital Editions (free software). You can also read on your iPad or iPhone via the Bluefire Reader app.
• Kindle. Send a NetGalley file to your Kindle device, using your @Kindle.com or @free.Kindle.com email address. Make sure to follow the instructions here. Note: The Kindle button works for Kindle devices only. By pressing the orange Kindle button for a NetGalley title, you can send the file to your Kindle device. You will not be able to share that file with any Kindle apps (like Kindle for PC or iPhone).
• Email Publisher. This button will allow you to email the publisher directly to request a reading option not currently enabled.

NetGalley is a service for people who read and recommend books. Publishers upload their galleys, plus any marketing and promotional information; then invite contacts to view their title on NetGalley. Readers can also find new titles through NetGalley’s Public Catalog, and request to review those titles from the publisher. Any professional reader who reads and recommends books—book reviewers, journalists, librarians, professors, booksellers, bloggers, etc.—can use NetGalley.

Archived Webcast: Crucial Steps for Ensuring Project Success

Our American Management Association New Media Team held a webcast with Todd C. Williams, PMP, author of Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure, last week. He discussed how to provide more accurate information when a project starts and creating a team of people that can work with your customer to set expectations and align stakeholders. Sign up to listen to an archived version of the webcast.

Crucial Steps for Ensuring Project Success
Meeting Number: 17495-00001
December 14, 2011
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST
Fee: Complimentary
REGISTER HERE.

Doing it right the first time

A question that plagues executives and project managers alike is “What do we do about problem projects?”

Stop them, bring in a new team, throw money at them, and so on, are some of the answers that float around the room and keep you up at night.

What if you could avoid them almost entirely?

In this webcast, you’ll learn the two crucial steps that ensure successful projects. Without a solid foundation, projects are doomed from the start. Most problems can be traced to the earliest points of project inception—long before that delivery team is involved.

To combat this, you need to introduce the concept of a guidance team that stays with the project from customer’s first inception through deployment.

The advantages of a guidance team are numerous. They provide continuity and guidance to the project, maintain alignment of expectations on the deliverables, and a baseline intent for the project.

This team is present to guide the conversation back to what is needed when the project starts to creep get off track or lose focus.

Second, include project staff with the customer during their initial planning process. This provides clarity to the roadmap, makes sure what is promised is delivered, and assists the customer in identifying the “what” and “when” and the “what after that.”

By including project staff during inception, the delivery and customer teams will be aligned and the project charter will be much more realistic, comprehensive, and include the correct scope, features, functions, and risk.

By making sure you have a guidance team and involving project staff during inception, you will eliminate many problems before they have a chance to derail your project.

Click HERE to sign up for the webcast: Crucial Steps for Ensuring Project Success with Todd C. Williams, PMP.

Click HERE for more information on Rescue the Problem Project: A Complete Guide to Identifying, Preventing, and Recovering from Project Failure by Todd C. Williams, PMP.

Todd C. Williams, PMP, is president of eCameron, Inc., and a senior project audit and recovery specialist with over 25 years of international experience. He is considered an expert in rescuing projects and preventing their failure. He maintains a blog that has been quoted on ZDNet, The Center for CIO Leadership, CIO Essentials, IT Business Edge, and Project Managers Planet. He is the author of Rescue the Problem Project (AMACOM). For more information, visit: toddcwilliams.com.

List of Business Book Publishers

We get a lot of questions about who’s out there publishing business books, so we decided to make a list of traditional, trade business book imprints and houses who release non-specialized and non-academic business books. There are, of course, general non-fiction publishers who publish the occasional business title, academic publishers with academic titles on business subjects, and specialized publishers who only work in one topic area, such as project management or human resources. Here is our alphabetical and limited list (descriptions taken from publishers’ websites).

AMACOM Books: Book publishing division of the American Management Association. AMACOM’s broad range of offerings spans not only the critical business topics and leadership challenges of today and tomorrow, but also the issues that affect our lives, our work, and our world.

Berrett-Koehler Business: An independent publisher dedicated to an ambitious mission: Creating a World That Works for All. We believe that to truly create a better world, action is needed at all levels–individual, organizational, and societal.

Broadway Business: An imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, publishes narrative-driven and innovative business books in a wide range of categories. Many of our books take a fresh slant on traditional business topics by marrying, for example, neuroscience with marketing, psychology with finance, or sociology with economics or technology.

Business Plus: Highly-respected business book imprint of Grand Central Publishing. Since being founded in 2000, Business Plus has had close to 50 major books land on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, or Business Week bestseller lists.

Career Press: The Best in Career, Business and Reference Guides for More than 20 Years

Crown Business: An imprint of The Crown Publishing Group, publishes some of today’s most forward-thinking business writers, in categories ranging from management and leadership to business narrative, career advice, and personal finance.

Entrepreneur Press: Business and small business books for entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses.

FT Press: Expert authors deliver timely and authoritative content in the areas of business, finance, investing, management, sales, marketing, and science.

Harvard Business Review: Library of business books about common business challenges including people management, leadership, communication, and more.

Jossey-Bass: Books, periodicals, and other media to inform and inspire personal, organizational, and community development. Publications featuring well-known authors in leadership, business, education, religion and spirituality, parenting, nonprofit, public health and health administration, conflict resolution and relationships.

McGraw-Hill Professional: Recognized for publishing some of the most respected and well-known works in a wide range of fields.

Portfolio: Founded by Adrian Zackheim in 2001, as a dedicated business book imprint within Penguin Group (USA) Inc. It publishes distinctive books in the fields of management, leadership, marketing, business narrative, investing, personal finance, economics, technology, and career advice.

Wiley Business: Leading Business & Management books and other products of John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Anyone missing? Just leave a comment and we’ll amend the list.