When I was six years old, I was just beginning to explore what would eventually become an obsession with literature. As I excitedly described Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone to my Aunt, she told me that one day, I would read a book that would change my life.

Ask any successful person in the world. Each one of them would have developed the habit of reading books.

David Imonitie is a success trainer, investor and serial entrepreneur. After several years of failure in the network marketing industry, he decided to shift how he viewed money and achievement. By applying proven success principles, he earned his first $1,000,000 by the age of 27. David Imonitie is a success trainer, investor and serial entrepreneur. David Imonitie is most known for his iconic leadership in the network marketing industry. He has helped build organizations exceeding 150K in his career and has earned over 18 million dollars in personal income. David currently sits as the #1 African American income earner in the direct sales industry. In addition, out of 150 million people within that industry, he comes in today as the 7th highest income earner worldwide. Yet ask him about those stats and it’s not important to him.

ACT LIKE A LADY THINK LIKE A MAN

Lily Cole is perhaps known more for her work on screen than in literature. A model, an actress and a filmmaker, Lily Cole has explored a wide range of her talents throughout the media industry and continues to expand to this day. Her book “Who Cares Wins” is all about our own problems today but, different to other books of its kind it does not depict it as an apocalyptic nightmare to bring down the reader into a deep hole of eco-depression. Instead, Lily Cole’s book seeks to show us that there are interesting and vast ways to solve these problems if we care enough and if we concentrate on what really matters. Her skills at showing us massive problems with our own world and then telling us that we have the solution to them at our fingertips if we work together is something that I find incredibly interesting about this text. The optimism and the clarity in writing style really make you want to stick through the book and read what she has to say. Why? Well, it is the only real book you’ll find about the environment that does not lead to the end of the world.

Competition is easier to understand and run, while cooperation is more complex and fragile. Cooperation is difficult to establish but easy to destroy; it is a form of harmonious relationships which people and the government need to comprehend. Unfortunately, business and education systems continue to encourage competition, almost ignoring the power of collaboration and maintaining the cherished belief that competition is the way to success. However, cooperative businesses have higher incomes, cooperative students have higher grades, and hiring managers, who are able to work together, have fewer vacant jobs. Scientists, who consider themselves cooperative, have more published papers than their competitive colleagues. It is not surprising that cooperation enhances creativity. This book report aims to discuss whether competition described in The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a better form of governance than collaboration depicted in Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach.

Man, oh man. Turn on your vintage John Mayer albums (yes, he's now vintage), and let's talk about these books that will help you survive your quarter-life crisis.

August's Virtual Book Club Choice

Burn Zones by Jorge P. Newbery is a brilliantly written story about the author himself. He wrote this autobiography about his financial and business endeavors. It includes how he received all of his gains as well as his losses. The title is based on the term "burn zones" which is where you either reach your biggest gain or loss. In order to reach those gains and losses one has to be willing to take risks and learn from those risks whether they result in a negative outcome or a positive one.

As most children growing up, I never had to worry about the affairs involving money. All I knew was that I was well taken care of and happy. Now that I have entered into the realm of adulthood, I have begun to experience some of the financial stress of having to provide for myself. There have been times in my life when I find myself desiring more money, in hopes of gaining the respect and acceptance of others. In The Rocking-Horse Winner, D. H. Lawrence explores the futile attempt of the pursuit of wealth as a desperate means of obtaining love and acceptance.

When some people hear the term “self-help,” they roll their eyes with the thought of yet another person with over-inflated self-worth who believes they know something no one else does about life. However, when it comes to self-help, there really are some books that are worth reading and that can give anyone a new perspective on challenging situations.