Welcome to the R+R Book Club! We are constantly reading a wide range of books, from non-fiction to fiction. We took an Instagram poll and a lot of you bad-ass Ravers said you’d be interested in book recommendations, so here we are! This is a fun and informal community where we encourage your feedback as well as your recommendations. So let’s read some stuff shall we?

Side-note: The first book we recommended was The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster by Darren Hardy. A must-read for all of you entre- and solo-preneurs out there!

Alright, let’s get to it. I’ve been hearing about How to Win Friends and Influence People for many years now. Friends and mentors have told me that it not only changed how they communicate, but it significantly helped their roles in leadership as well. On a personal note, I built Rantze + Raves from the ground up on my own, it is only recently that we have branched out and begun hiring other employees. Since I am so used to working on my own, I learned pretty quickly that my communication skills could definitely use some polishing. What a perfect time to pick up this book!

We are reading it with you guys (we are about a quarter of the way in), but here’s what you need to know. Author Dale Carnegie first published this book in 1937, and it’s concepts are SO accurate that it is still applicable today. You may notice a few dated references, but push through. The lessons still make perfect sense. Some concepts he covers are: “Fundamental Techniques in Handling People,” ” Six Ways to Make People Like You,” ” How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking,”  and, “How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment.”

As I said, I’m about a quarter of the way in and I’m finding it EXTREMELY helpful. The concepts are very easy to put into practice although some do require creativity and a battle between your knee jerk reactions and your new ones! Be patient!

Check it out here.

What do you think? Could you find this useful?