We all have a list a mile long for the books we want to read. Reading is a great escape from deadlines and work, and can help us fine-tune and adjust our business skills or individual needs. Check out what the staff at Evergreen Media are currently reading or what’s next on their list!
Badass Affirmations: The Wit and Wisdom of Wild Women, Becca Anderson
Genre: personal development
Alix Schaeffer, Business Development Specialist
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“It’s a great book to encourage self love and self forgiveness while reminding you of your potential greatness. I am currently flipping through it, learning about women throughout history, and what they accomplished,” Alix explains.
Reading Badass Affirmations will help you learn the habit of affirming yourself daily; open you up to experiencing a life filled with love, joy, fulfillment and satisfaction; teach you to take control of your destiny; and strengthen your self-esteem.
The Essential Sheehan: A Lifetime of Running Wisdom from the Legendary Dr. George Sheehan
Genre: leisure
Chris Valencia, Senior Designer
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The Essential Sheehan is a collection of the best running pieces George Sheehan wrote in his lifetime, many of which ran in Runner’s World when Sheehan was a columnist there. This collection illuminates Sheehan’s lasting influence on running culture and is a reintroduction of George Sheehan to a new generation of runners and readers.
“Even if you are not a runner, you will benefit from the inspiration and the deeply personal stories as told by the late author. He was truly a gem, and this book is a collection of his finest works,” Chris shares.
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Simon Sinek
Genre: business
Jay Eining, Digital Director
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Jay describes the book as, “A great read about ‘understanding the why’ behind success and how to better leverage your talents with others around you. It also spends time diving into the “why” of when people buy, which is something that gets overlooked a lot, or gets assumed too often.”
Why We Sleep – Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, Matthew Walker, PhD
Genre: personal development
Jesse Brown Nelson, Photographer
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Leading scientific expert Professor Matthew Walker, Director of UC Berkeley’s Sleep and Neuroimaging Lab, reveals his groundbreaking exploration of sleep, explaining how we can harness its transformative power to change our lives for the better. Sleep is one of the most important but least understood aspects of our life, wellness, and longevity. Walker answers important questions about sleep and explains how we can harness sleep to improve learning, mood, and energy levels; prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s, and diabetes; slow the effects of aging; increase longevity; boost the efficiency, success, and productivity of our businesses and more.
“I used to be the type of person that took pride in how little I slept and would often brag about my lack of sleep,” photographer Jesse shares. “This book changed all that and showed me how important it is to get a full night’s sleep!”
Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person, Shonda Rhimes
Genre: personal development
Jen Johnson, Social Media Manager
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“It’s at the top of my list to read,” Jen says. “It’s about how you can change your life for the better with one word—yes. She talks about her personal experience of how it changed and saved her life and she encourages others to do it too.”
Shonda Rhimes was the creator and producer of some of the most groundbreaking and audacious shows on television today. Her iconic characters live boldly and speak their minds. So who would suspect that she is an introvert? With three children at home and three hit television shows, it was easy for Shonda to say she was simply too busy. But in truth, she was also afraid. And then, over Thanksgiving dinner, her sister muttered something that was both a wake-up and a call to arms: You never say yes to anything. Shonda knew she had to embrace the challenge: for one year, she would say YES to everything that scared her.
To Hell with the Hustle, Jefferson Bethke
Genre: personal development
Jenna Carda, Managing Director
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Jenna describes this book as a faith-based book about setting boundaries on work from life. “I haven’t finished it, but it brings up good points. It reads almost like a blog/opinion column with fact-based support. I think we get so caught up with constantly improving, so this is an eye-opening read against it.”
Are you feeling overwhelmed with the demands of work and family or community obligations? Are you tired of being anxious, lonely or burned-out? This is your wake-up call to resist the Hustle culture and embrace the slowness of Jesus. Jefferson Bethke, New York Times bestselling author and popular YouTuber, has lived the hustle and knows we need to stop doing and start becoming. The very things the world teaches us to avoid at all costs (silence, obscurity, solitude, and vulnerability) are the same things that can give us the meaning and the richness we are truly looking for.
The Ultimate Art of War: A Step-by-Step Illustrated Guide to Sun Tzu’s Teachings, translated by Antony Cummins
Genre: leisure
John Edwards, Creative Director
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John says the commentary and insight by Antony Cummins is stunning. “He continues to lead the way with his amazing team–to show how to analyze and bring a contemporary perspective to a classic, and if nothing else it’s a beautiful piece of publishing, cleverly put together, with just delightful illustrations, calligraphy and typography.”
Text in this translation of the 5th century BC, Sun Tzu’s Art of War (the earliest-known treatise on military strategy) is broken down into digestible individual lessons, unique teaching illustrations to clarify the text, and step-by-step commentary that draws on the full range of recent translations and ancient commentators. It is wildly popular around the world for its perceptive tactical advice to commanders on how to win at war with minimal bloodshed and is aimed at those who want to study the text in depth.
Rattlesnake Under His Hat: The Life & Times of Earl Brockelsby, Sam Hurst
Genre: leisure
Mark Petruska, Senior Content Writer
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Mark describes the book as a biography about Earl Brockelsby, the showman and entrepreneur who founded one of the most popular tourist attractions in Rapid City, Reptile Gardens. He says, “I love Black Hills history and Earl was a larger-than-life visionary who helped revolutionize tourism in western South Dakota.”
Brockelsby was a fearless showman, an intrepid entrepreneur, an icon of western tourism and a complex man who struggled with his own demons. This remarkable biography offers a rare insight into the evolution of tourism in the years after World War II.
The Diaries of Andy Warhol, Andy Warhol
Genre: leisure
Meghan Rose, Communications Manager
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Would you ever read someone’s diary? Meghan says she would read anyone’s.
“The human brain is crazy and the thoughts we think and choose to keep to ourselves are sometimes the biggest opportunities missed,” she says. In Andy Warhol’s diaries, there are more than 20,000 pages that he dictated daily. It is the ultimate “backstage pass” to everything that went on in the world-both high and low. Warhol had something to say about everyone who crossed his path, whether it was Lou Reed or LIberace, Patti Smith or Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra or Michael Jackson.
Meghan adds, “He’s just such a strange, weird but insanely talented (probably subjective) person and it’s one thing to read a biography of someone, it gets swayed this way or that, but to read someone’s diary… that’s real. Real thoughts triggered by moments and usually written the day of, not based off memories or added emotion from time passed, maturing and reflecting back.”
The Tao of Wu, The RZA
Genre: leisure
Mike Dupre, Business Development Manager
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Catching up on some light reading during his recent flights, Mike says, “I came to scoff, but stayed to digest. It turns out that the Wu Tang Clan isn’t anything to mess with.” The Tao of Wu is a spiritual memoir the world has never seen before, and will never see again. It will enlighten, entertain, and inspire.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Jonah Berger
Genre: business
Rick Denherder, Owner
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Have you ever wondered why certain ideas or products catch on so quickly? Jonah Berger, New York Times bestseller, explains that while advertising is important, it’s listening to peers that makes ideas catch so quickly. Berger reveals the secret science behind word-of-mouth and social transmission. Discover how six basic principles drive all sorts of things to become contagious, from consumer products and policy initiatives to workplace rumors and YouTube videos.
Rick says what intrigued him with the book was “the fact that there is actually science behind ‘word-of-mouth’ and viral content.”
Everything is F*cked: A Book about Hope, Mark Manson
Genre: personal development
Ryan Hall, Developer Analyst
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A continuation from his #1 bestseller Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, in Everything Is F*cked, Manson turns his gaze from the inevitable flaws within each individual to the endless calamities taking place in the world around us. Drawing from the pool of psychological research on these topics, as well as the timeless wisdom of philosophers such as Plato, Nietzsche, and Tom Waits, he dissects religion and politics and the uncomfortable ways they have come to resemble one another. He looks at our relationships with money, entertainment and the internet, and how too much of a good thing can psychologically eat us alive. He openly defies our definitions of faith, happiness, freedom—and even of hope itself.
After reading and falling in love with his previous book, Ryan says, “I have been excited for this one since he announced that he was writing it. The Subtle Art helped to shift some perspectives for me in a lot of areas.”
The Photographer’s Guide to Posing: Techniques to Flatter Everyone, Lindsay Adler
Genre: business
Sarah Richards, Intern
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“As a young photographer, I am always finding ways to better my work and improve my skills. This book has been on my list to read for a while,” Sarah says. Lindsay Adler’s book covers the best ways to photograph people with light, great composition, the right camera angles, and posing. Posing is a crucial skill when photographing subjects. If the pose is off, the shot will not be the best it can be. The first half talks about how the camera sees and moves into posing essentials starting with the “base pose.” In the second half, Lindsay dedicates entire chapters to posing different subject matter including men, women, couples, curvy women, families/small groups and large groups. Bringing it all together, Lindsay teaches you how to analyze a pose in the final chapter so you can create endless opportunities and continuously improve your work.
