Shawn M. Finch, DVM

The self-assigned Read Every Single Book on the Veterinary Economics 25 Books List Project was so fun that I read the last two books really slowly because I did not want the project to end.  Then I realized that between friends and family loaning, giving and suggesting books, books the authors of the books on the lists recommended, and books I found in hunting down all twenty five books, I have an ENDLESS list of books to read this year!  Yay!

I wanted to list as many as possible in one place.  Now they are in a combination of on-my-shelf, on-my-nightstand, in-my-head, in-my-notebook, in-the-reference-section-of-the-books-I-have-read and in-cyberspace.  Very unorganized and overwhelming.  AND…when I am overwhelmed, I write a list!

So, you have seen the list of Books I Have Recently Read and Loved.

Here is the list of Books I Would Like to Read.  Anytime I try to put What’s In My Head into a list, things can get a little crazy, which makes sense, considering the contents of my head.  You’ve been warned. : )

What books would you add that you have read or would like to read?  Thank you for all of your recommendations this past year and In The Future!  This has been so fun!

What Clients Love by Harry Beckwith (Thanks Phil!)

The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino (Thanks Dad!)

Soar with your Strengths by Donald O. Clifton and Paula Nelson (Thanks Dad!)

Where Have All the Leaders Gone? By Lee Iacocca (Thanks Dad!)

SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner

The Future Books by Malcolm Gladwell

Every Book Published by “Twelve”

The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem Van Loon (Thanks Brendan!)

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie (the original edition)

Public Speaking and Influencing Men In Business by Dale Carnegie

Public Speaking for Success by Dale Carnegie

Lincoln the Unknown by Dale Carnegie

Five Minute Biographies by Dale Carnegie

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie

The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough

The Great Bridge by David McCullough

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough

Mornings on Horseback by David McCullough

Brave Companions by David McCullough

John Adams by David McCullough

1776 by David McCullough (Thanks Cathy-Friend!)

In the Dark Streets Shineth: A 1941 Christmas Eve Story by David McCullough

The Greater Journey by David McCullough (comes out May 24, 2011)

The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt

Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

Built to Last by Jim Collins

Teaching and Learning Communication Skills in Medicine by Dr. Suzanne Kurtz, Dr. Jonathan Silverman and Dr. Juliet Draper

1812 by David Nevin (Thanks Cathy-Friend!)

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell (Thanks Bryan!)

So Long, Insecurity by Beth Moore (Thanks Mom-Karen!)

Heaven by Lisa Miller (Thanks Karen-Friend!)

Chicken Soup for the Soul - Power Moms

The Divine Life of Animals by Ptolemy Tompkins (Thanks Mom-Karen!)

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs (Thanks Cara-I-Love!)

Don’t Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor (Thanks Cara-I-Love!)

Son of Hamas by Mosab Hassan Yousef (Thanks Sara-I-Love!)

The Dental Radiography book at work

The Five Minute Veterinary Something by Someone and Dr. Tilley - I will write it down and fix this entry!  (I have always loved this book, but I have never read it from cover to cover)

The Hill’s Veterinary Nutrition Book

The rest of the Marvin, The Golf Caddy Dog series by Harold R. Mann (This was to be an entire Marvin series, but I am not entirely sure the rest of the series yet exists in Real Life - I hope so or that it will exist soon as it was a fun book!)

Your Dog, The Owner’s Manual by Dr. Marty Becker

um.

This may be a longer reading project than the previous one.

Also, I need more suggestions from you.

I have always loved to read.  So has Russ.  It has been fun to see this trait passed down to both of our daughters.  Our oldest has been told at least once every school year that recess is not for reading, it is for playing.

Once at a party I picked up my friend’s JAVMA (Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association), and he said “Seriously?  It’s Friday night!”  I said something super cool along the lines of “Um, I hadn’t gotten my mail yet…I didn’t know this issue was out…I…um…” and then joined the party like a Normal Person.  I love reading. : )

In the July 2010 edition of Veterinary Economics, Tom McFerson wrote an AWESOME article called 25 Books for Your Summer Reading List.  I have finished the list!  Woo!  What a fun project.

I decided to take the project one step further and review the books I loved.  It is much easier to criticize a book than invest several months or years into actually writing one, so that is why I decided to only review the ones I loved and could give…

Five Stars!

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Here are links to the reviews of my favorites…

Freakonomics

Blink

Start-Up Nation

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Truman

Switch

Good to Great

Management Lessons from Mayo Clinic

Skills for Communicating with Patients, Second Edition

And some “update posts” about the project…

What I am Reading This Week:  Veterinary Economics

What I am Reading This Week:  Big Important Books

What I am Reading This Week:  The Same Big Important Books

Coming Soon on Riley and James

And some other books my daughter Abby and I reviewed during the year of the book-reading-and-reviewing kick…

Houdini Was…

Speaking for Spot

Marvin the Golf Caddy Dog

Anesthesia for the Pet Practitioner, Third Edition

The Complete Cat’s Meow

And HERE is a super-cool book shelf graphic from Shelfari.  I had seen it on friends’ websites, and NEEDED it for this post!  How cool is this book shelf??

So now I need a new project!

I have been keeping track of the books YOU have recommended this year and plan on reading all of them!  The ones you have recommended and I have read, I have loved.  What other books would you recommend?  I like almost everything!

Next Up on Riley and James…

Book Project Bunny Trails

Skills for Communicating with Patients, Second Edition

by

Dr. Jonathan Silverman

Dr. Suzanne Kurtz

Dr. Juliet Draper

Five Stars!

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This has been the most helpful book I have read from the Veterinary Economics 25 Books List.  It is an excellent communication book written for MD’s, though the authors have worked with veterinarians too, which I thought was cool.

It is a medical school textbook, and it took me FOREVER to read!  SO worth it though.  And I am pretty sure I drug my heels a bit in finishing it, because now that it is over, my project is over.  *sniff*  I am not ready for that!  My next two posts will be a SUMMARY of the project and “Bunny Trails” that is, books I have decided to read during this reading project.  So maybe it is not over…maybe it is the beginning of a whole new chapter of reading awesomeness…

Anyways, this book, Skills for Communicating with Patients, was SO good.  It is directed towards medical doctors, but was not even a stretch to apply to my own veterinary practice.  In fact, while I was reading the book, I found myself applying what I was learning and communicating even more clearly with clients.  That is when reading really gets exciting, people!

I am an extreme introvert, so it is sometimes assumed that I suck at communicating, but I think my introversion is, in fact, an asset in my practice.  Listening and empathy come naturally to me, and though I am awkward in all sorts of unfamiliar social situations,* I really, really enjoy and feel confident going over medical information with clients…so it feels good to read about and improve at something I already love to do.

The book goes way beyond the “active listening” I learned in college communications classes, and covers in great detail the entire medical interview, with wonderful examples and exhaustive research to support the authors’ recommendations.

I feel as though the more I can grasp of what is taught in this book, the better communicator I can become.  Very important, of course, when the lives and well-being of pets are at stake, but important for us all in any situation.  So even if you are in a non-medical career, you may very well enjoy this book!

The Cover: I love the cover of the second edition - very pretty…blue and yellow with a neat splotchy pattern.

I am already a fourth of the way through the book a second time, this time with a very bright yellow Sharpie highlighter.  It really does feel like I am back in school!  In a good way…

Bunny Trails: This book is one of a two volume set.  I plan on obtaining and reading the other book,  Teaching and Learning Communication Skills in Medicine, as soon as possible.  Not that I ever want to teach this stuff, at least not formally, but I feel as though I am missing “half the story,” as that book was often referenced in this one, and more importantly, after reading Skills for Communicating with Patients, I do not want to miss anything any of these three authors write!

More Bunny Trails: I heard a wild rumor that there were veterinary communication classes being taught in Colorado…I would very much like to find out what that is all about.  Classes that are anything like this book sound very fun.  I don’t think they are related, or taught by the authors, but I will find out, and then you can come with me!

*That is social awkwardness, not introversion, people!  There are very cool introverts - I just do not happen to be one of them!  Also, I always throw myself into new situations anyways, because it is always worth it, and I always end up having a great time.  The first ten minutes can be a little rough!

Skills for Communicating with Patients - Five Stars! This may be the most helpful book I have read from the  Veterinary Economics 25 Books List.  It is an excellent communication book written for MD’s, though the authors have worked with veterinarians too, which I thought was cool.  It is a medical school textbook and is taking me FOREVER to read!  SO worth it though.  I will review it for you as soon as I finish it!

Summary of my Favorites from the Veterinary Economics 25 Books List - Very fun project…I am finishing the last two books.

Anesthesia for the Pet Practitioner - Five Stars! This will be a two part review, the first part here and the second part on Wagging Tail.  Anesthesia for the Pet Practitioner is a wonderful veterinary anesthesia book that I have used for years.  The third edition was recently published by Banfield Pet Hospital, and that is the one I am reviewing.  It is also the best one yet!

The Complete Cat’s Meow by Darlene Arden - Five Stars! OK, I just started this book, but it has a gorgeous Max the Cat cat on the cover and is written by one of my Very Favorite People AND Darlene mentioned me in the acknowledgements.  (Thank you Darlene!!)  What’s not to love??  Even though I am only a few pages in, I can tell it is also an EXCELLENT resource for cat lovers.  See, I can be objective! : )

Love Wins by Rob Bell - Just kidding!  Different blog!  I do love it though.  The topics covered in this book are ones I have been struggling with and studying Scripture about for the past few years.  Just reading the intro sitting with Abby in the bookstore allowed me to breathe a deep cosmic sigh of relief.  Not that Rob Bell is the end-all authority on truth, or even claims to be.  He IS, however, very good at making a person think, and tackling Ideas That Shall Not Be Mentioned head on.  At least one Christian leader has been fired over saying he liked the book.  But I am a vet.  I like the book.  And now…back to pets!

Why all the book reviews?

Life is still sad.  I miss Ebony Dog and Wuzzy Rat terribly.  I also miss Fuzzy Rat, Piggy Pig and Princess Gerbil.

Max the Cat is in the beginning stages of Chronic Kidney Disease.  Not always a big deal for an old cat, actually.  (You know, unless he or she is your cat, or…unless it is.)

But then, when Ebony first got sick, I was hoping that if and when we found the underlying cause of her Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia it would not be awful, but it was.  So I am still in a pretty rough season and having a sick cat is freaking me out a bit.  I am writing about all that, but trying hard to keep it upbeat here.

Even so, a Princess Gerbil Memorial is in the works.  She deserves one as much as the other four!  It is not her fault she passed away when I was too exhausted to write One More.  And she was super cute and kind of quirky, so I think you will like it!

And finally…

Happy Heartworm-Free May!

And then…

I dunno!  A happier season maybe?  Just an idea…

“My grandfather said that if you read too many books, your head would fall off.”  -Peppermint Patty

Five more books to read from the 2010 Veterinary Economics Summer Reading List!  I have three on my nightstand, one ordered and one on the way through interlibrary loan with Omaha Public Libraries.  Woo!  Can you think of ANYTHING more exciting?  Um…well, I am very excited.  Here is a review of the latest one I finished…

Good to Great

Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t

by

Jim Collins

Five Stars!

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First I will cover…the cover. It is beautiful - red with black and white text, and the faintest upward-trending graph in light red, not pink, more of a contrasting-the-background shiny red that you can see if you shift the book in the light.  I carried Good to Great with me everywhere I went, and it looked lovely with my purple tennies and red mittens.

On to content…well, not yet.  On to context. This book has TONS of research behind it.  A research team of twenty people spent an estimated fifteen thousand hours gathering and analyzing data for the book.  Who am I to say Phillip Morris is not a great company?  By the very rigid, exacting and well-studied parameters of the Good to Great Research Team and the definition they agreed upon in order to study greatness from a common vantage point, it is.  And we all have much to learn from the companies, the book, and the team behind it.

And now the book itself… When I finished arguing with the book about the definition of greatness, I settled in and learned things that have been integrated as permanent components of my own definition of greatness.  The concepts that are stuck in my head and going onto my vision board today are the Hedgehog Concept and the Flywheel.

The Hedgehog Concept: Hedgehogs are focused on what is important to them.  (Here is my veterinary summary:  Danger!  Roll!)  If we are similarly focused, we will invest our energy into what we are passionate about, what we can be best at, and what drives our economic engine - the Hedgehog Concept.  I love it.

The Flywheel: The Flywheel is a visual picture of the process of continuing forward, making the right decisions, doing the right things, until you have built momentum, and you are successful.  Awesome.  Explained much better in the book.

The book is extremely detailed and profiles several companies that have successfully moved from “good to great” over many years.  It has many other concepts that are relevant to veterinary medicine and life in general.  I honestly can not think of a color of mitten that would not look nice with this book, so now would be a great time to start it.

Bunny Trails: Before Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote Built to Last, which I have often heard is worth reading.  In Good to Great, the author says that after finishing both books, he actually thinks Built to Last works better as a sequel to Good to Great.  Awesome!  I am right on track!  I will definitely be reading Built to Last soon.

Mr. Bean, my constant reminder of the Hedgehog Concept

If you need a reminder too, his handmade friends are available from Artists for Hope, and bonus, you would be helping kids in Haiti!

Coming Soon to Riley and James!

“The Farmer, A True (Short) Story”

“Happy Heartworm Free February”

“You Say It’s Your Birthday…”

Switch:  How to Change Things When Change is Hard

by

Chip Heath and Dan Heath

I loved it!  Five Stars!

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I have had friends AND coworkers make fun of me for reading every single word of every book I read, starting with the table of contents.  I need context people!  I started this book with a search for the relationship between the authors.  In case you are not as neurotic as I am (or in case you are), the last sentence of the “about the authors” synopsis on the back cover reveals that they are brothers.  Now I was ready to begin.

I often say I do not like change.  In the middle of change, I moan about it.  After change, I gripe about it.  A year later, I look around and realize that change was the best thing for me.  As a new change comes up, I complain about it…

The authors challenged that attitude almost right from the beginning (p.4).  I liked getting married…that was change.  I liked having both kids enter our life…that was change.  I liked moving home to Omaha…that was change.  In response to their challenge to rethink our attitudes towards change, I have decided never to say “I just don’t like change” again.  There.  That will not change.  Ha!

They explained how to motivate others or even ourselves by breaking down the components of change into our rationality (rider), our emotions (elephant) and the path to change.  While I was reading, I kept coming back to some of my own “What if” big change dreams…

What if kids in Haiti were not hungry?

What if puppy mills were gone?

I already obsess about this and other stuff, of course.  We all have our “What if” dreams, I guess.  This book made me think “What if…I could have something to do with the changes?”  And that is huge.

Also, this book made me cry, which of course, even given my overly sappy nature, leadership books are not supposed to do.  The story that got me was the story about the transformation of an underachieving high school to a very successful high school brought about by the incoming principal (p. 173-175). She changed the entire school’s outlook on learning by changing the school’s grading system from A, B, C, D, F to A, B, C and NY (not yet).

(Side note:  Comments in parenthesis - Five Stars!  ✩✩✩✩✩  If the authors write a book containing everything they say in parenthesis in this book, and add some equally smart alec material, I will pay anything for it.  I found myself flipping ahead to read their usually related, always hilarious, smarty-pants side comments.)

One more “This Book is Awesome” point, then I will just let you read the book for yourself.  Anyone who mentions FlyLady and Dave Ramsey, two of my favorite leaders and authors, in the same sentence (p. 134), gets five stars just for that.

Bunny Trails: The images of an elephant and his rider as a person’s sometimes dueling emotions and mind are borrowed from The Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt.  I have a feeling if these authors like a book, I will too.  So that’s on my “What’s Next” list.  Chip Heath and Dan Heath also wrote a book before Switch called Made to Stick which I assume is equally awesome.

Pile it on!  I’ve got plenty of bookmarks!  I’ve had bigger stacks on my nightstand!

This is number…something…of the twenty-five books I am reading in Veterinary Economics Leadership Series. As of this past weekend, I have all of the 25 books tracked down, and only seven more of them to get my hands on.  Thank you for all of your help with this fun project!

taking care not to dangle participles, to the point of creating awkward blog titles in order to avoid it

Movies…

While You Were Sleeping

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

August Rush

Juno

Shows…

Scrubs (Season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and back to 1…)

Projects…

Articles - Not being able to obsess about each posting for a few weeks before I write it and at least a week afterwards has been VERY hard for me tonight!  But it is probably good for me.  Even so, I will probably monkey with all of my Blogathon posts this next week…

Lists

My vision board - a bulletin board above my art table where I keep goals on index cards (written in Sharpie-I love Sharpies!)

current obsessive kick - finishing the Veterinary Economics Recommended Reading List

Health

of my husband

and kids

and pets

and patients

Surgical Procedures - Every Step from Start to Finish

spays (I’ve done hundreds)

gastric dilatation-volvulus surgery (I’ve yet to do one)

“Other”

toe nail polish

Music

“God of This City” by Bluetree

“Sometimes by Step” by Rich Mullins

Clicking here will bring you to the webpage with information about Bradyn and an opportunity to donate towards the training of his service dog from 4 Paws for Ability. ♥

You know those super obnoxious restaurant contests where you get your dinner free and your picture on the wall if you finish a gigantic steak that ought to be cut into ten servings??  Well, I feel like someone owes me a giant free book.  Oh wait, never mind!  (Thank you Omaha Public Library!)

Truman

by

David McCullough

Five Stars!

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I loved this book!  I did not think I would.  I am not a history buff.  (I mean I was not a history buff, now I am.)  I thought I preferred lighter reading.  Ha!  I honestly strained my finger (LF digit #4 if I were a dog) picking this book up off my nightstand and putting it down over the past several weeks.  I learned quickly to pick it up with two hands!

From the first chapter, I was caught up in learning about the life of President Truman.  He was a great man and a great leader.  For all of the major world decisions he was called on to make, he was, at heart, a midwestern farmer with solid values, making every decision seemingly from that perspective.

The author spent ten years researching, interviewing and writing.  That alone is enough reason to investigate the book - what kind of person could keep a biographer’s attention for ten years??  I do not know how to explain what a great job David McCullough did at making this a fascinating read - it contains mainly facts and dates, which ought to be a recipe for a dry portrayal of American history, but it is quite the opposite.

This morning I finished the book at two o’clock am, glad to have accomplished another twenty-fifth of my reading project, but sad to come to the end of the life story of Harry S. Truman.  When a book keeps me up till all hours even to the very end, it is one I will highly recommend!

Bunny Trails: I would like to read all of the books written by David McCullough.  He is an amazing story teller.  I would also like to read more history books in general.  I will focus on this project for now though!  Eleven books left to read!

I have not yet found eight of the twenty-five books on the reading list.  Omaha Public Library has been awesome at tracking down books and sending them my way!  All the bookstores in Papillion and Omaha are used to me rummaging through all their shelves.  (I already did that before I started this project!)  If you have any of the books on the Veterinary Economics Summer Reading List that you would be willing to loan out, please let me know!  I would also like a congratulatory picture on your bulletin board when I finish it.

I am reading through Veterinary Economic’s Summer Reading List.  Ha, very funny Veterinary Economics!  This is not summer reading!  This pile of books is taller than Wuzzy Rat!  At least the Bible in a Year gives me, you know, a year.  From the “summer” list, I am currently reading Collapse, by Jared Diamond, and Truman, by David McCullough.  I expect to be here for quite some time!  So, no reviews for a while!  I am loving Truman, which surprised me.  I am not usually a big history buff, but it is a great book.

Wuzzy Rat and Phil discuss whether I can actually finish this project, while Bunny tries to jump from the lamp to the Bible.