Editor's note:

In a way, books are like mirrors. What we read helps us understand who we are. At GlobalAtlanta, we know our readers reflect an interest in Atlanta's role in the global economy, but we also know that no one - especially among those who brave the world of international business - is one-dimensional.


For our upcoming year-end report and to help launch the new Bookshelf section of our website, we invited a cross section of readers and newsmakers to reveal their favorite reads of 2010.

The responses from diplomats, educators and executives gave us a glimpse of the diverse influences and interests that make our readers tick.

Some were expected, like the cross-cultural trainers who consulted books to deepen their understanding of the countries in which they work. Others - like the German CEO who enjoyed a novel of romance and nostalgia - reminded us that business, at its core, is about people's hopes and dreams.

We asked respondents to name their favorite book this year and explain why they chose it, how it changed them and whether they would recommend it to our other readers. We believe their responses provide insight and inspiration useful for both work and life.

The titles highlighted in this two-part series will also be listed in the Reader Picks section of the new GlobalAtlanta Bookshelf. Click here to view Part 1.

Jeffrey Rosensweig - Professor, international business, Emory University's Goizueta Business School

"Walk in My Shoes: Conversations Between a Civil Rights Legend and His Godson on the Journey Ahead" by Ambassador Andrew Young and Kabir Sehgal.

 

Ambassador Andrew Young has been such a great asset to human and civil rights progress. His leadership and actions have improved Atlanta, the nation and the global community. Also, I have met Kabir Sehgal and I find him to be a young professional of very fine and diverse talents. He is an engaging, clear writer, and I thought combining that and his inquisitive mind with the seasoned wisdom of Andrew Young would be an interesting book to read. It turned out to be engaging and also useful.

I have two primary roles within teaching-a major part of my vocation as a professor of international business at Emory's Goizueta Business School. One is to share insights into the global environment for business. Ambassador Young's insights enhance and add to my own. The second role is as a mentor to talented graduate students and young professionals, and the mentoring of Ambassador Young informs my own attempts.

In life, the book gives me ideas and inspiration to try to make a positive impact on people both globally and in the U.S., as well as on my mentees and the various communities of which I am a member.

I think any person who reads GlobalAtlanta, specifically, should read this book. Such readers have shown themselves interested in global politics and diplomacy, business, culture and leadership. They will enhance their own wisdom in these areas by reading the work of co-authors steeped in these fields. Further, one thing I like about GlobalAtlanta is that its readers range from higher-level executives and other leaders to young professionals and graduate students interested in global matters. The book's unique and successful format, where a distinguished leader answers questions from his mentee, yields lessons for the vast majority of readers who are mentors or mentees.

Diane Alleva Caceres - Managing Director, Market Access International

I re-read a book that I purchased about fifteen years ago, "Creative People at Work" by Doris B. Wallace and Howard E. Gruber.

I liked the title as it reflected my own interests in trying to understand the process of creativity. Much has been written about this subject, but this book is accessible and uses the case-study method toward understanding the individual and his or her creative processes within different fields - physics, literature, poetry, biology. In fact, the authors' "evolving systems approach to creative work" piqued my interest, especially in today's context, where rapid change creates both uncertainty and opportunity to create new ideas and new products. I'm always interested in multidisciplinary approaches to understanding concepts and problems, so this book was attractive since the contributors are cognitive scientists, psychologists, historians, linguists, art historians and educators.

It helped me to understand the uniqueness and power of the individual in society, but also how we evolve over time as a result of our own efforts and in response to changes in society. The book has heightened my awareness of this creative process and how I might deepen it in my work at MAI as well as in my intellectual pursuits (I am currently working on a Ph.D. at Georgia Tech). In fact, it has reminded me of how the process of searching and learning has been so critical, satisfying and rewarding both in my work and life. I see this insatiable appetite for learning in my 6-year-old daughter as well, which was another reason I wanted to revisit this book!

If you're interested in understanding how leading figures in established fields developed their own creative process over long periods of time, then I recommend this book. It covers Einstein, William Wordsworth, Anais Nin, Charles Darwin, among others. You don't have to read each individual case, but you'll find yourself wanting to. It's one of those reads that helps one to recognize the many factors that influence our efforts to produce novel ideas.

Kathy Cosgrove - Managing Director, Atlanta, GolinHarris

Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy," beginning with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Why did you choose this book?

It was highly recommended by several people who promised I wouldn't be able to put it down.

How did it change your life and work?

The series opened up a world of international intrigue, with a very complex heroine.

Would you recommend it to GlobalAtlanta readers?

Absolutely. It lived up to all that I had been promised. It was one of the most compelling stories I've read in a very long time. I was sorry that it ended.

Ken Wingerter - Vice President, Investments, UBS Financial Services

I did read several interesting books this year, however my favorite has been "Raising Financially Fit Kids" by Joline Godfrey.

I read the book because we have three young children, ages 3, 5 and 7. I have a vested interest in teaching our children about the concept, benefits and responsibility of money, finances and wealth. Additionally, I do not believe that our school systems are set up to teach these concepts to our children. Regardless of one's professional career, money and finances will be more important than ever. The book does an excellent job helping the reader develop their own personal/money value systems and utilizing real-life examples.

I believe money and finances, for children and some adults, can be difficult concepts. As a financial adviser to my clients, I believe making "difficult" concepts easy to understand and discuss is a key component of my role to them. The better the questions that I can pose to my clients, and facilitate the creation of their own personal/money value system, the more beneficial I am to them and their families.

As a result of learning to "talk finances" to my young children, I am a better communicator to my clients, regardless of their level of financial wealth.

I would recommend the book. I believe the concepts, examples and discussion will prove valuable to children and also help the family unit realize that money should not be "taboo" topic. All levels of financial wealth will benefit from this book.

One of my favorite quotes is "Provide a child with a fish, they will have a meal for one day. Teach them how to fish, they will have a meal for the rest of their life."

Senour Reed - Director of Marketing, Jabian Consulting

"The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself" by John Jantsch

The referral is critical to business development, and some of Jantsch's methodologies were spot-on. I have always believed if you help others then success is sure to follow. In its simplest form, he leads with this in referral marketing. Everyone loves being helped and if you just ask one simple question the doors usually open wide for better communication. The simple ask, "What is your ideal prospect profile?" normally gets the ball rolling.

The book provided some new thinking around how you can help others in business and in life.

I strongly encourage GlobalAtlanta readers to read this and apply it to their business development and work/life approach in 2011. They probably are doing many of the suggestions provided in this book already. In addition, I would recommend it for helping develop a sustainable program around this important area in their business.

Helene Courault-Toure - Executive Director, Alliance Francaise d'Atlanta

"Bound South" by Susan Rebecca White

Why did you choose this book?

It was recommended by some friends, and the story is set in Atlanta.

How did it change or enhance the way you work and live?

It was the first time I read a book set in Atlanta. Not only was it really nice to know the different places mentioned in the book but I also learned a lot about the culture in the South. I work in a cultural center where my mission is to share my language and culture and to create a dialogue with the local culture. This book really helped me get a better picture of the Southern culture.

Would you recommend it to a GlobalAtlanta reader? If so, why?

Yes, of course. It is a great book. It's really fun and playful at times and at others very real and meaningful. There will be a lot of laugh-out-loud moments.

Bruce S. Allen - Physician; Honorary Consul General of Liechtenstein in Georgia

"A People's History of the United States 1492 - Present" by Howard Zinn

I do not know if I would say that my "favorite" is the best descriptive term for this book. Perhaps "insightful," "interesting," or even "worrisome" might better fit.

A friend of mine at Harvard recommended it to me saying, "You need to read this...You won't agree with it politically, but you will find it disturbingly thought-provoking." He was correct on all counts.

This book is very different from what I normally read, and it briefly challenged me to glimpse our great nation through a strange and different prism. Howard Zinn is a historian, playwright and social activist from Massachusetts. It is mostly in his role as social activist that he has written this book, which looks at the history of the USA through a lens focused on the poor, the oppressed and the downtrodden in society.

He starts with a very well-done look at the European migration to the New World through the eyes of the Native Americans. He looks at the American Revolution from the perspective of the common laborers - bakers, blacksmiths, tailors, slaves, and women. He writes a lot about the slaves and the lower classes who perhaps did not truly feel that "All men are created equal." He then proceeds through time to discuss the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the war with Mexico, the war in the Philippines, and so on-giving a factual description, but one that you are not likely to see in any typical, school history book. He proceeds in this manner through the years of the two World Wars, Vietnam, and up to the War on Terrorism. Like my Harvard friend predicted, I felt very out of my element reading this book, but I did find it, well, maybe even the term "uncomfortable" is not adequate.

I would recommend this book. Although I more commonly read in-depth U.S. and European histories, biographies and books dealing with the arts, global politics or diplomacy, I actually did enjoy this book, not for what I learned, but for the realization of what I did not already know. I think in this 21st century of globalization, with the rise of non-state actors, and with new and challenging world problems that the thoughtful readers of GlobalAtlanta might enjoy this very different book-well, maybe "enjoy" isn't the best term.

John Parkerson - Director of International Programs, Clayton State University

"American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House" by Jon Meacham

I am interested in that especially under-reported era of American history. We tend to remember Jackson mostly as a caricature, but he was a very complex individual who worked hard to hold the Union together at a time of growing separatist sentiment in Southern states.

I now understand better some of the origins of the political and social divisions and forces that continue to affect our lives today.

The book is not an easy read, but I recommend it as essential for developing a more comprehensive understanding of a time when Tennessee (Jackson's home state) and much of the South still was considered wilderness.

Vicki Birchfield - Director, EU Center of Excellence at Georgia Tech

"Europe's Promise" by Steven Hill

This book is another entry in the rich and extensive trans-Atlantic debate over which model of society is best suited to cope with global challenges while also putting people first.

Hill is masterful in illustrating what Europe gets right in the realm of political economy, welfare for its citizens and a progressive approach to energy and the environment.

Hill will be a guest of the EU Center early in the new year, and we hope GlobalAtlanta readers will turn out for what is sure to be a provocative and stimulating public talk.

 

Yoshi Domoto - Executive Director, Japan-America Society of Georgia

"Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S. " by Roland Kelts

Roland Kelts visited Kennesaw State University in March 2010 for a lecture event, which was organized by KSU's Dr. Edward Chan and Atsuo Nishikata, the chair of the Japan-America Society of Georgia's Young Professionals group. The JASG was a promotional partner of the event and many of our members enjoyed the lecture very much. Roland Kelts has both Japanese and American ancestry like myself, and I was particularly interested in his views of the relationship between Japanese and American pop culture.

The book gave me a better understanding of how Japanese popular culture developed to what it is today and how it has spread across the world. Although Japan is still a huge contributor to the world economy, its cultural influence, especially its pop culture, may now be more influential. Japanese pop culture has spread throughout the world and has defined what is "cool" in many countries (the theme of JapanFest 2009 in Atlanta was "Cool Japan" and attracted over 17,000 visitors). Manga and anime alone are now a multi-billion dollar industries in the U.S. Japanese pop culture is everywhere you look these days and I think it is important for The Japan-America Society to be part of this trend and use the influences of Japanese culture to bring together the Japanese and American communities here in Georgia.

I highly recommend this book. It is a very easy and fun read and it will give you a better appreciation for how popular culture has evolved and how it will continue to evolve.

 

Betty Siegel - President Emeritus, Kennesaw State University

"Let Your Life Speak " by Parker Palmer

The new year is a time of reflecting back and thinking forward. At the beginning of each new year, I find myself drawn to the work of Parker Palmer. His little book, "Let Your Life Speak," offers a meditation on life's calling. It's a timeless book. It prompts me to think seriously and intensely about what really matters. I highly recommend this book to anyone searching for deeper meaning in life.

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