Africa in My Soul by Cheryl King Duvall

Africa in My Soul by Cheryl King Duvall is a good book subtitled Memoir of a Childhood Interrupted.

Duvall was ten when her parents went to become missionaries in Africa, leaving behind in Georgia her fifteen year old sister and taking she and her two younger siblings to Nigeria. Her sister had to stay back and live with strangers, not because there wasn't a religious school she could attend in Africa, but because it wasn't the right type of religious school.

Duvall in Africa was stuck in mission boarding schools for 9 months of the year, under the care of people who forced the missionary kids to refer to them as auntie or uncle, and was the victim of an episode of sexual abuse by a doctor at the mission. Her story shows awful it is when parents think they're making sacrifices, in this case to become missionaries, but really they're making them on their children's behalf. 

The book shows the hardships Duvall faced in Africa, and also how the continent an amazing place, one full of beauty and also people who turned on one another, with there a civil war while she in Nigeria.

Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders

Love is the Killer App by Tim Sanders is a solid read from 2002 with the subtitle How to Win Business and Influence Friends. The idea put forth by Sanders is to be what he calls a lovecat, someone who gives freely to others, and the book is organized into three sections: your knowledge, your network, and your compassion. 

About your knowledge, Sanders writes that to be able to share information, you first have to acquire it. It's about books, reading lots of books, having a system to remember what you've read, and then passing on details to those it can help. 

About your network, Sanders notes to keep track of your contacts, write down details about the people you interact with so that you remember. Collect relationships and then connect people with one another, follow up and make introductions. 

About your compassion, Sanders quotes a definition of love as being the selfless promotion and growth of the other. He writes of the need to care, be human, and tell people things that matter which you may otherwise guard. Also highlighted is that compassion comes back; it refills those who give it.

Going back to the section on knowledge, Sanders notes to let reading be the thing that propels you, it doesn't require genius, and then you learn things, share them with your network, build out that network and help others. It's a good read from Sanders and some of the books he recommends are the following:

Net Gain by John Hagel and Arthur Armstrong

Information Masters by John McKean

The Brand Mindset by Duane Knapp

The Experience Economy by Joseph Pine and James Gilmore

Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

Customer Capitalism by Sandra Vandermerwe

The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen

The Anatomy of Buzz by Emanuel Rosen

Getting in Your Customer's Head by Kevin Davis

Toward a Psychology of Being by Abraham Maslow

Leading the Revolution by Gary Hamel

Building Brandwith by Sergio Zyman and Scott Miller

Race for the World by Lowell Bryan, Jeremy Oppenheim, Wilhelm Rall, and Jane Fraser

Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin

The Profit Zone by Adrian Slywotzky

Making it Happen by Mackenzie Kyle

The Circle of Innovation by Tom Peters

New Rules for the New Economy by Kevin Kelly