September is moving quickly and the end of the third quarter is a couple of weeks away. Ahead of that, I wanted to share a few of my favorite reads from the past few months.

Supercommunicators: How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection by Charles Duhigg

Supercommunicators is an excellent and practical exploration into effective communication. Enjoyable to read and easy to put into practice.

“Come inside a jury room as one juror leads a starkly divided room to consensus. Join a young CIA officer as he recruits a reluctant foreign agent. And sit with an accomplished surgeon as he tries, and fails, to convince yet another cancer patient to opt for the less risky course of treatment. In Supercommunicators, Charles Duhigg blends deep research and his trademark storytelling skills to show how we can all learn to identify and leverage the hidden layers that lurk beneath every conversation.

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

This decades old book is a classic for a reason. Herriot, a small town veterinarian, in is a tremendous story teller. The book narrates his experience in rural Yorkshire (Northern England) upon completing his education and beginning his work.

Each chapter recounts a different aspect of his work, the people he interacts with, and the setting in which it all transpires. Just delightful. Also good confirmation about never wanting to be a veterinarian.

A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko

This book has been topping the charts for travel writing over the summer. The autobiographical tale of Fedarko’s attempt to make an end-to-end traverse of the Grand Canyon is full of adventure. With moments that bring to mind Bill Bryson’s classic Walk in the Woods, A Walk in the Park blends both the narrative of the journey, along with the history of the Grand Canyon.

“The ensuing ordeal, which lasted more than a year, revealed a place that was deeper, richer, and far more complex than anything the two men had imagined—and came within a hair’s breadth of killing them both. They struggled to make their way through the all but impenetrable reaches of its truest wilderness, a vertical labyrinth of thousand-foot cliffs and crumbling ledges where water is measured out by the teaspoon and every step is fraught with peril—and where, even today, there is still no trail along the length of the country’s best-known and most iconic park.”

Storyworthy by Matthew Dicks

I heard the author interviewed on Shane Parrish’s podcast and immediately stopped the interview to buy the book. It is well worth a read.

A five-time Moth GrandSLAM winner and bestselling novelist shows how to tell a great story — and why doing so matters. In this compelling book, storyteller extraordinaire Matthew Dicks presents wonderfully straightforward and engaging tips and techniques for constructing, telling, and polishing stories that will hold the attention of your audience (no matter how big or small).