In part 1 and part 2, the books really did change my life. That was me looking back on several years with proof. I could point to any one of those and say “you changed me, book!”

Now we’re on part 3 and I’m really just writing to share the best books I’ve read since the last post. A lot of the books in part 1 and part 2 I read when I was younger, and I’m not as malleable anymore so I don’t know if these truly will change my life. And even if they do it’ll be a while before I know it. That said, these were recommended at least several times each, so I was fairly certain by the time I picked them up that they’d be worth it.

In the first half of 2014, I felt curious to read about Power, Connection, and Leadership.

Here are some of the best:

Power

-Power, by Jeffrey Pfeffer

-Unlabel: Sell Yourself without Selling Out, by Marc Ecko

-The Startup Game, by Bill Draper

-Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy Seal Team Six Operator Adam Brown, by Eric Blehm

-Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success, by Phil Jackson

-Open: An Autobiography, by Andre Agassi

-The Perspiration Principles, by Howard Tullman

Connection

-Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, by Douglas Stone

-Postulate One: Two Years Discovering Asia by Bicycle, by Morgan Hartley and Chris Walker

-Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, by Michael Hyatt

-What Every BODY Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People, by Joe Navarro

-Spy the Lie: Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception, by Philip Houston

-The Connection Agency, by Sarah Bishop

Leadership

-The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumphs, by Ryan Holiday

-The Hard Thing about Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz

-Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American, by B.H. Liddel Hart

-Remote: Office Not Required, by Jason Fried

-The Quarter Life Breakthrough, by Adam Poswolsky

-The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life, by Twyla Tharp

Ted Gonder is a social entrepreneur on a mission to even the odds for future generations. Click here to subscribe to quarterly updates, useful links, and lessons learned.