Indiespring Business Book Club: 3 books to pick up now

This isn’t just another book club, this is the Indiespring Business Book Club… that’s actually not just for business 😏

As a team there are many things our Indiespringer’s are passionate about. Music, movies, board games, video games, outdoor walks, climbing… we could go on and on. We’d love to invite you along to all our group activities, but that’s not always feasible. One of our passions we can invite you to be part of,  is our love for reading!

Every month we’ll share a new business book club recommendation that has been read and enjoyed by our team and helped us learn more about the way we work, the culture we create and also share the titles of books that have helped our business grow. We’ll also share a couple of recommendations from individuals, books that may be a tad more niche if you’re a budding developer or wanting to up-skill, alongside a good old novel that you could easily curl up with on an evening to relax and switch off.

If you’re an avid reader and want to share your recommendations, or your thoughts on the books we’ve suggested, feel free to connect with us on social – LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.

Business Book of the month:

Eat That Frog
Brian Tracy

‘Eat that frog’ is not a new concept, it’s a metaphor that is widely known and encourages you to tackle the most challenging tasks in your day rather than continuously push them aside. We’re starting a new year and I’m sure many of us have big plans of what we’d like to achieve, so for anyone who struggles with maintaining focus or needs some guidance into how best to tackle that growing todo list, then this is a great place to start.

Tracy’s book does more than try to convince you to simply eat that frog. Instead he takes you through a series of practical steps that are designed to help drive you to get the most important and sometimes daunting tasks done. The tasks that will ultimately have the greatest positive impact on your day.

A nice easy read, and designed to be a useful guide, that you could keep referring back to. Or perhaps once you’ve mastered the art, you can do what every book club member does, and pass on your copy and share the knowledge.

Techie Book of the Month:

Casual Game Design
Designing Play for the Gamer in ALL of Us
Gregory Trefry

One of our Senior Developers, Chris B, recommended this book, alongside two others – The Art of Game Design: A book of lenses by Jesse Schell and Challenges for Game Designers by Brenda Brathwaite – for anyone looking to learn the fundamentals of game design, or even to brush up their current knowledge.

Casual gaming has skyrocketed over the years, as is evident with recent news of free game ‘wordle’ being snapped up by the New York Times for an undisclosed six figure sum. The interest in casual games started rising as the pandemic left many with more time to kill, but it doesn’t look to decrease anytime soon. So if you’re a developer, or aspiring one, looking to get in on the action, this could be the book for you. Casual Game Design examines a number of games out in the market, and shares insight into the necessary game design elements you need to hook gamers in.

Fiction Book of the Month:

The Discworld
Terry Pratchett

Ok so it’s not new, and it’s not just one book. But it’s too hard to choose one! The Discworld is Terry Pratchett’s fictional setting from his most iconic series of books. Head of Client Engagement Arran has been re-reading the whole series as he slowly works his way up to owning the entire collection. Not a bad idea, and a great challenge to take on if you’ve not yet delved into the Discworld novels. There are 41 novels in the series, but interestingly enough, they do not need to be read in order. They cover a multitude of human issues, all of which take place in a flat, circular world which rests on the back of four elephants… who are standing on the back of a giant star turtle.

Don’t be alarmed, Sir Terry Pratchett is one of the UK’s finest writers and his books have been read and loved by millions across the world. So if you’ve not delved into his works yet, then now is as good a time as any to get reading. With such a large portfolio of books in his repertoire, there’s a handy book generator tool on his website to help you find the perfect read for you.

That’s our top books for this month! Happy reading, and to keep up to date with our business book club recommendations, make sure you sign up for our newsletter: Click here to sign up.