May was quite a month for Berrett-Koehler. We went to ATD, where employee engagement legend Beverly Kaye won the Lifetime Achievement Award and so many of our authors were speakers. We also released some great new books, including The Magic of Tiny Business, Our Search for Belonging, and Building Resilience with Appreciative Inquiry. Read on for our top ten bestselling books!
1. The Arbinger Suite
The Arbinger Institue is once again heading up our bestseller list this month with three incredible books. Stay tuned for the new edition of Leadership and Self-Deception, out this fall. Amazon reviewers describe this book as "powerful," "life-changing," an "amazing journey of reflection, introspection and self discovery." Focusing in on conflict-resolution, The Anatomy of Peace explores how we often misunderstand the causes of our conflicts and shows the paths to achieving true reconciliation. The Outward Mindset shows how learning to see beyond ourselves can improve performance, spark collaboration, and accelerate innovation.
All three books are available on Audible!
Leadership and Self-Deception | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
The Anatomy of Peace | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
The Outward Mindset | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
2. The Shift
"Never in my wildest dreams," Kimberly White writes in CEOWorld, "did I imagine I’d discover the secret to employee happiness in a nondescript and unassuming place: a nursing home."
When she began researching how The Arbinger Institute's ideas were being implemented in nursing homes, Kimberly White was astonished to discover that those who choose to care for the elderly and ill—earning low pay in a maligned industry—were nevertheless full of satisfaction, compassion and love. The reason? Their ability to truly see their patients as real people . . . In a world where many of us see people as objects, solely in terms of their usefulness to us, White's research became a personal exploration of how to see the people in her own life as people in that same profound way. When she did, her entire world changed—and so will the reader's.
The Shift | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
3. The Magic of Tiny Business
A new May release, Eco-Bags Products founder Sharon Rowe's new book The Magic of Tiny Business is, according to author Seth Godin, "Precisely what we need to hear."
Recently featured in Forbes, the book "distills a step-by-step process for building a profitable, sensibly scaled, sustainable venture that doesn't compromise your values or take over your life." Indeed, in a recent BK blog post, author Sharon Rowe shares how the most important meeting is one you take with yourself.
Here's what one small business owner said of the book:
What a tiny treasure to come upon as an owner of an independent bookshop and Patagonia retail store! It's a constant dance wanting to do good in the world thru business as well as have a life filled full of experiences with family and friends. We recently used Rowe's "Need to Do" and "Nice to Do" designation as the driving force in time management at the Bookshop.
A great reminder that it all doesn’t need to happen right now!
—Lisa Lamberson, Owner, Brightside Bookstore & President, Mountain Sports
The Magic of Tiny Business | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
4. Eat That Frog! and Goals!
With a vast wealth of expertise spanning time management, self-development, personal wealth, business, and leadership, bestselling author Brian Tracy lands at number four this month with two of his classics, Eat That Frog! and Goals!. Together, these books have collectively sold over 2.6 million copies.
In Eat That Frog! Tracy cuts to the core of what is vital for effective time management: decision, discipline, and determination. In Goals!, Tracy presents a simple, powerful, and effective system for setting and achieving goals—a method that has been used by more than one million people to achieve extraordinary things.
Eat That Frog! | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
Goals! | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
5. Trauma Stewardship
"This book is a gift," says bestselling author Jack Kornfield, "a wise and compassionate guide for those who undertake the difficult work of caring for the traumas of this world."
Trauma Stewardship is for people who work to make the world a better place, and in doing so must constantly confront pain, suffering, crisis, and trauma head-on. Author Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, a pioneer in the field of trauma exposure, shows how to respond to suffering not by hardening our hearts or by internalizing others’ struggles as our own, but by developing a quality of compassionate presence. Keep an eye out for van Dernoot Lipsky's next book, The Age of Overwhelm, available later this month!
Trauma Stewardship | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
6. The Body Is Not an Apology
Making its third appearance on our bestseller list, Sonya Renee Taylor's book The Body Is Not An Apology calls for a movement of radical self-love to create a more just, equitable, and compassionate world. Hailed by Bustle as one of the 11 feminist books that could totally change your year, by Bitch Media as one of February's must-reads, and by Girlboss as one of 6 Kinda-Self-Help Books By Women of Color That Everyone Needs To Read, Stat, this is not your average body-positivity book.
Available on Audible—narrated by Sonya Renee Taylor herself!
The Body Is Not an Apology | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore
7. Our Search For Belonging
This book has something to help all people where they are," says Target's Chief Diversity Officer Caroline A. Wanga"There’s not a person out there who wouldn’t benefit from the guidance this book provides.
Recently featured in SHRM, Howard Ross' new book Our Search for Belonging explores the increasingly tribal nature of society in a social media echo chamber in which our beliefs are reinforced and others' beliefs demonized. He also offers practices to help us overcome our tendencies to bond with those who are like us, such as opening safe and honest dialogue in the workplace. A long-time social justice advocate and diversity and inclusion expert, Ross recently commented on the racially motivated arrests in April at a Philadelphia Starbucks for the BK blog.
Our Search For Belonging | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
8. Servant Leadership in Action
Just last week, the staff of Berrett-Koehler were lucky enough to participate in a servant leadership workshop by possibly the world's best authority on servant leadership right now, Ken Blanchard.
Hailed by INC Magazine as "one of the most anticipated leadership books ever published," Blanchard's edited collection of essays on servant leadership is on our bestseller list for the third month in a row. With contributions from the likes of Brené Brown, Stephen Covey, Liz Wiseman, Raj Sisodia, Cheryl Bachelder, Michael Bush, Jim Kouzes, and more, Servant Leadership in Action teaches readers how to cultivate a practice of servant leadership to build better relationships, achieve better results, and ultimately contribute to a better world.
Servant Leadership in Action | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
9. Conversations Worth Having
Recently featured by Fast Company, Conversations Worth Having shows us how to use Appreciative Inquiry, one of the most effective and widely used approaches for fostering positive change, to dramatically improve the outcomes of our conversations. By focusing on what we want to happen instead of what we want to avoid, and asking questions to deepen understanding and increase possibilities, we expand creativity, improve productivity, and unleash potential, at work and home.
This book is for everyone, from managers striving to lead more effectively, to parents trying to cultivate better conversations with children.”
—Lindsey Godwin, Director, David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry
Conversations Worth Having | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
10. The New Confessions of an Economic Hitman
Thirteen years ago, John Perkins published the first edition of his New York Times bestselling book, Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. In it, he revealed the shocking tale of the years he spent as an economic hit man (EHM), in which he essentially acted as an American loanshark to developing countries. Nowadays, Perkins told Yes! Magazine, "Things have just gotten so much worse.” In The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, published in 2016, he reveals how the deadly EHM cancer he helped create has spread far more widely and deeply than ever in the US and everywhere else—to become the dominant system of business, government, and society today.
The New Confessions of an Economic Hit Man | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indiebound | BK Bookstore | Audible
