I am currently finishing up reading the book Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds. I highly recommend the book for a number of reasons. Garr does an excellent job walking you thru why presentations suck (and they almost all do) and a better process for creating better presentations. The book is a little light on the delivery piece, however this is by design. Garr’s view on learning how to deliver a presentation is simply that practice is required. He has some pointers, but in the end, you need to get in front of people and talk to get good at presenting.

Since I am finishing Presentation Zen up, I am ready for a new book. I’m debating between Robert B. Cialdini’s Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Amazon) and Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Amazon). But I was wondering, what books are there that I am missing?

As someone in the IT field, I read a large number of technical books. We all do. However, I have been trying lately to read non technical books as well to broaden my exposure to other topics. These other books have been both enjoyable to read and given me new perspectives on business, life balance and even the way I develop. The books currently on my Amazon wish list are a mixture of technical books and non technical books. Here it is (in no particular order):

• The Four Steps to the Epiphany (Steven Gary Blank)
• The ThoughtWorks Anthology: Essays on Software Technology and Innovation (Pragmatic Programmers) (ThoughtWorks Inc.)
• Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative (Ken Robinson)
• Next Generation Java Testing: TestNG and Advanced Concepts (Cédric Beust, Hani Suleiman)
• The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Timothy Ferriss)
• Six Thinking Hats (Edward de Bono)
• Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good: The Rebirth of Silicon Valley and the Rise of Web 2.0 (Sarah Lacy)
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Robert B. Cialdini)
• The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less (Barry Schwartz)
• The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations (Ori Brafman, Rod A. Beckstrom
• Beyond Bullet Points (Cliff Atkinson)
• Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology (Neil Postman)
• Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days (Jessica Livingston)
• The Myths of Innovation (Scott Berkun)
• Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java (Pragmatic Programmers) (Scott Davis)
• Teaching As a Subversive Activity (Neil Postman, Charles Weingartner)
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (Malcolm Gladwell)
• Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner)
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die (Chip Heath, Dan Heath)
• Crossing the Chasm (Geoffrey A. Moore, Regis McKenna)
• Beyond Fear (Bruce Schneier)
• CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap! Strategies for Handling Your Fast-Paced Life (Edward Dr Hallowell)

As you can see, there isn’t anything on my list that I would consider surprising…which makes me beg the question. What books am I missing? What books, non IT books, do you recommend IT people read? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments.