Below is a list of books I have found useful. Some of these are affiliate links, which means I or my business receive a small commission if you buy something through the link. I have added a note to those that are affiliate links.

I will add to the list as time goes on, so please do check back and see what’s new!

One of the first books I read about different ways of working was the book F**k Work Let’s Play: Do What You Love and Get Paid for It by John Spencer Williams. In it he talks about setting up short ‘play projects’ as a way to establish whether you enjoy a particular type of work or working with particular types of clients. I’ve also joined some of John’s programmes and free workshops over the years and can highly recommend signing up to his mailing list to find out more about what he’s currently up to. Click here to buy a copy (Amazon affiliate link).

Another of my favourite books, which I currently seem to be recommending to everyone I speak to, is Marianne Cantwell’s book Be a Free Range Human: Escape the 9-5, Create a Life You Love and Still Pay the Bills. Some of the content shows a similar approach to John’s book, but with different examples. The part I particularly love is where she talks about attraction styles (in the second edition of the book not the original), which is really eye-opening, especially for those of us who struggle with promoting ourselves online. I have joined a number of Marianne’s group programmes over the years and have learned a lot from her unique approach. Click here to buy a copy (Amazon affiliate link.)

And as I talk about multi-passionate business owners a lot, I definitely need to mention the late Barbara Sher and her work. She talked about the concept of ‘scanners’ – people who love to do lots of things – and in her book Refuse to Choose!: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams, offers suggestions on ways to make the most of all of those different interests. You can buy a copy of that one here (Amazon affiliate link.)

Katie Tucker has written a really interesting book about market research for small business owners, called Do Penguins Eat Peaches? We discussed it in the Being Freelance book club recently and agreed it has a lot of useful information in. Click here to buy a copy (Amazon affiliate link).

In another Being Freelance book club chat we discussed The Best 90 Days Ever by Hannah Isted. It’s a marketing book with bite-sized activities that you can do, many in 10 minutes a day, to get your marketing more consistent and strategic. Lots of good tips and information in this one! Click here to buy a copy (Amazon affiliate link).

One of the subjects I have become passionate about over the last 10 years is people using their strengths. It ties in with thinking about who you work best with – because the best partnerships, collaborations and working relationships are between people who have different strengths and are using those strengths in the work they are doing together. My favourite book on this topic is by Marcus Buckingham, called Love + Work: How to Find What You Love, Love What You Do, and Do It for the Rest of Your Life. (I wrote about this book in a blog post last year. Click here to buy a copy (Amazon affiliate link.)

There are a couple of other books I recommend on this topic: Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath (which you can buy here)* and Now, discover your strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton (which you can buy here*, although this version is an older one and there may be a more recent one). (*Amazon affiliate links.)

Below is a photo of me some months ago attempting to take a photo with a stack of some of my favourite books. It was tricky. 😀