Have you ever gotten the feeling that someone has it out for you, but you don’t know why?

That’s happened to me a couple of times in my career. The first time happened eight years ago. One of my colleagues who was very well-liked in the department seemed to hold a vendetta against me from nearly my first week on the team.

“Kara” was smart, tenured, and quick-witted — all traits that you don’t want in an enemy.

During meetings, Kara would occasionally throw out comments like, “Do you even know what you’re doing?” or “How do you not know…

I’ve read over 700 books in the past ten years. If that doesn’t grant me nerd status, I don’t know what would.

Books are a really big deal in my life, and one of my greatest joys is helping others develop a deeper passion for reading. What I’ve found is that many people aspire to read more, but they fall short of their own goals for one reason or another: too busy, not a priority, unsure what to read, don’t get much from what they read, etc.

My goal with this article is to help you overcome those objections. If…

I’ve seen a lot of reading lists out there labeled “Books to Read Before You Die.” (I’ve even been working my way through my own list like that.)

Even though it’s interesting to consider which books you should read before you die, I think it’s more practical to seek out books that will tangibly improve your life while you are living it. For truly life-changing books, the earlier you read them, the longer they can positively impact your life.

This past decade, I’ve had the chance to read over 700 books. I’ve read a lot of great books during that…

This year, I had the chance to read 80 books comprised of 25,723 pages. Four of those books were re-reads from past years. You can find my full read list here if you’re interested.

For the past several years, I’ve concluded the year by sharing some of my favorite reads in Q&A format, adapted from a set of questions created by the blog Perpetual Page Turner.

Here were my favorite books that I read in 2020.

ProTips

Few authors can create a protagonist who is compelling enough to sell a full series of books rather than just a standalone novel. Even fewer can pull that off numerous times with different characters. David Baldacci is one of those people.

Baldacci introduced the world to characters like combat veteran John Puller, detective Amos Decker, and a motley crew of four friends known as the “Camel Club.”

He’s sold over 130 million books, and he recently recorded a MasterClass on writing. Although the MasterClass is geared toward mystery and thriller writing, Baldacci shares many tips that cross over multiple genres.

…

This is the story I never thought I would write. I normally write about business, leadership, and personal development. Religion — although very important to me — has never been in my writing wheelhouse. And unfortunately, religion now seems to intersect so closely with politics that by covering one taboo topic, a writer must cover them both.

C.S. Lewis was the one who finally spurred me to action. Tonight I was reading a passage in his book The Four Loves, in which Lewis talks about Christianity’s “specific contribution to the sum of human cruelty and treachery.”

How sad it is…

ProTips

Millions of Americans read Elizabeth Gilbert’s blockbuster memoir Eat Pray Love. I was not one of them.

In fact, I grew a little sick of seeing it on bookstore shelves everywhere I went for three years. (It was on The New York Times bestseller list for a remarkable 187 weeks.) In the rarefied manner of a book snob, I assumed that Gilbert’s work must be meant for casual beach readers — not me.

And I was completely wrong. This year, I’ve become a huge Elizabeth Gilbert fan. I’ve watched her TED talks and just finished reading her book about creativity…

I thought I knew how to ask good questions until I met a guy named James.

As I began to work with James, I watched in awe as I compared his questions to my own. He used questions as a sharp-edged knife to cut through mental clutter, uncertainty, and decision paralysis. Whether we were in an all-hands meeting, a team meeting, or a 1-on-1, James knew when to broaden a discussion to include more viewpoints and when to narrow it to drive toward a decision.

For years, I had known in my gut that asking better questions was the secret…