A Top 5 Reading List for the 2011 Holidays by Oliver DeMille

Published: Tue, 11/29/11

"Empowering Ordinary Citizens to Make an Extraordinary Difference"

A Top 5 Reading List for the 2011 Holidays

By Oliver DeMille

I DON'T REMEMBER most of the Christmas gifts I got as a kid, but I remember the copy of Aesop's Fables my dad gave me around age 13 or 14.

As I sat with a mound of gifts from the day, he fished the book out of the pile, held it up, and said, "This will change your life if you let it."

I believed him - and it did.

A quality book is a gift that keeps teaching long after the holidays are gone.

If a great book isn't part of your family's holiday traditions, start a new tradition this year. Somehow a great book takes the holidays to a whole new level.

Thomas Jefferson said he "couldn't live without books," and the truth is that reading is one of the most engaging and enjoyable forms of entertainment and also among the most interactive and interesting ways to learn.

Leaders are readers, and a nation of readers is a nation of leaders.

Every year I share a top reading list just before the holidays.

This year each title is a recent 2011 book I think every American should read. Each would be a great Christmas or New Year's present to yourself and others.

I don't know about you, but for me it just doesn't seem like Christmas unless I receive two things under the tree: a new Nerf football and a book that I just can't wait to read! I guess that goes back to childhood for me.

Here are the best books of the year:

The Top 5

1. Resolved: 13 Resolutions for Life by Orrin Woodward

If you are going to get one book for the holidays, this is it. I have never read a better book on leadership than this one.

It outlines 13 resolutions every person should make in our modern world, and gives specific helps on how to turn them into habits.

Indeed, this book could be titled The 13 Habits of Success and Happiness for Everyone. The stories and examples from great leaders of history and current events are moving and uplifting.

It is on par with the great leadership works like Good to Great, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Acres of Diamonds, A Message to Garcia, Theory of Constraints,The E-Myth, Cash Flow Quadrant, Leadership and Self-Deception, The Radical Leap,One Minute Manager, Rascal, and Emotional Intelligence.

It is truly a revolution in leadership books, and is a great gift for adults and teens alike.

In fact, this book is like a full leadership education for every young (and less young) person. It's a must-read for every leader--and the potential leader in all of us.

2. That Used to Be Us by Thomas L. Friedman & Michael Mandelbaum

The authors outline the coming decline of America that will occur unless we make significant changes soon.

Above all, we need a return to the values of innovation and entrepreneurialism.

The government has an important role to play in all this, since many Americans are already trying to make the changes only to run up against government roadblocks.

This is an excellent and important book, and a good gift for anyone who thinks deeply and cares about America's future.

3. Out of Our Minds by Ken Robinson

This is an excellent book on what American education must do to prepare our youth for the realities of the 21st Century.

It blends the best idealism of great educators with the pragmatic realism of business and societal needs, and presents an effective vision of what education can and should be in our time.

Beautifully written, it will be an enjoyable read for all. This is a fabulous gift for anyone who wants--or needs--to know more about the ideals ofLeadership Education.

4. The Social Animal by David Brooks

This book gives the reader a bird's eye view of our modern society--our strengths, weaknesses and the challenges ahead.

This is a must read for concerned Americans.

The research and details in this book are vital knowledge for all modern people who care about the future of freedom, culture, family and business.

Don't miss this book. Readers will never see the world the same again, and they'll understand what is really going on at a whole new level.

5. On China by Henry Kissinger

China is a growing major concern for nearly all Americans, and the topic of China and its impact on our future will only increase in the years and decades ahead.

Kissinger shows a China that certainly is a potential threat, and suggests wise guidelines for dealing with such a powerful potential enemy in ways that are firm, respectful and intelligent.

Ultimately, Kissinger argues, the reality of China as friend or enemy will depend on America's own integrity in being a strong, wise and effective world leader.

If we are weak, undisciplined or unwise, the China threat will only grow.

The topic and reality of China will only increase in the years ahead, and all American citizens should educate themselves on this rising trend. This book is a great place to start.

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So that's my five top recommendations for the holidays.

An excellent new year's resolution would be to read all of them--starting with Woodward's Resolved, since it will help the reader keep the other resolutions.

An Extra Book to Stretch Your Thinking

I have another book to recommend, because one of our biggest modern challenges is that more and more people are walling themselves into groups of like-minded thinking and banding together to reject outside ideas.

We see such cliques in Washington politics, Hollywood values and especially the many online communities that most people participate in almost daily.

But we can't have the kind of real societal progress we all seek unless more of us think more broadly.

In short, as a nation we need to genuinely listen to the views of those who disagree with us and more humbly learn from the truths other views have to offer.

To help with this, I suggest that each person choose one additional book that will stretch their thinking.

The key is to read a book from a view beyond your normal circle of thinking, and to read it in a special way: looking past everything you disagree with and instead putting your attention to finding anything you do agree with and truly seeking to understand a different viewpoint.

This is a hard exercise for many modern Americans, which is further evidence of how entrenched we tend to be in our clique thinking.

For conservatives I recommend Back to Work by Bill Clinton, and for liberals I suggest The Thomas Sowell Reader by Thomas Sowell.

Both were published in 2011. Moderates can read either or both.

Whichever you chose to read, enjoy the process of reading outside your comfort zone and focusing on finding the things you can agree with even from a different viewpoint.

So there's a list of books for everyone this festive season.

Again, I recommend starting with Woodward's book and then proceeding to the others as they interest you.

And don't forget to give books as gifts for the holidays. Everyone should get an important book for Christmas or Hannukah.

Finally, why not give Aesop's Fables a try? Even if you've already read it, it is worth studying over and over.

Happy holidays, and enjoy your reading!

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Oliver DeMille is the founder and former president of George Wythe University, a co-founder of the Center for Social Leadership, and a co-creator of TJEd.

He is the author of A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the 21st Century, The Coming Aristocracy: Education & the Future of Freedom, and FreedomShift: 3 Choices to Reclaim America's Destiny.

Oliver is dedicated to promoting freedom through leadership education. He and his wife Rachel are raising their eight children in Cedar City, Utah.