--- title: "CEO Q&A: What Are the Last Two Books You've Read?" url: https://burnaze.com/article/7d935d4e-678a-4e62-bcb0-27246fd99bc7 source: "Franchising.com" original_url: https://www.franchising.com/articles/ceo_qa_what_are_the_last_two_books_youve_read.html author: "Eddy Goldberg" category: "Franchise Industry" industry: "Franchise Industry" topics: ["Emerging brands","People"] published: 2019-09-29T07:00:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:34:10.993Z image: https://imgs.franchising.com/art/articles/4857_plate.jpg --- # CEO Q&A: What Are the Last Two Books You've Read? **TL;DR:** Nine franchise CEOs share the last two books they've read, with only one book, 'Grit' by Angela Duckworth, being named twice. The CEOs discuss their favorite books and authors, including Elizabeth Gilbert, Melanie Benjamin, and Paulo Coelho. *By Eddy Goldberg, originally published in Franchising.com on 2019-09-29. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/articles/ceo_qa_what_are_the_last_two_books_youve_read.html).* ## Story In each issue of *Franchise Update* magazine, we profile franchise CEOs and presidents, asking each the same set of questions. Throughout the year, we'll be selecting one of those questions - and providing answers from those profiles. If you want to learn more about these franchise leaders and their thoughts on other topics, click the links with their responses to read their full profile. This week we asked them: What are the last two books you've read? Interestingly, among 9 CEOs, only one book was named twice: *Grit* by Angela Duckworth. **Bette Fetter, CEO and Founder, Young Rembrandts** *Big Magic* by Elizabeth Gilbert, and *The Aviator's Wife* by Melanie Benjamin. Read the full profile here. **Rob Price, CEO and President, School of Rock** *The Undoing Project* by Michael Lewis, and *Man's Search for Meaning* by Viktor Frankl. Read the full profile here. **Tammy Whitworth, Chair and CEO, Window World** *Leading Women* by Nancy D. O'Reilly that a co-worker lent to me, which I'm really enjoying. Three of my favorite authors are Paulo Coelho, John C. **Brian Petranick, CEO and President, RiseMark Brands** *Grit* by Angela Duckworth, and currently re-reading *Thriving on Chaos* by Tom Peters. Read the full profile here. **Jon Nobis, CEO, Two Men and a Truck** *The Way of the Shepherd* by Kevin Leman and William Pentak, and *Crucial Conversations* by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. Read the full profile here. **Shannon Hudson, CEO and Co-Founder, 9Round Franchising** *The 1-Page Marketing Plan* by Allan Dib, and a biography of Bruce Lee. I'm a big Bruce Lee fan. Read the full profile here. **Nicole Ossenfort, CEO and President, Liberty Tax** *iCompete: How My Extraordinary Strategy for Winning Can Be Yours* by John T. Hewitt. Read the full profile here. **Larry Oberly, CEO and President, SpeedPro Imaging** I really connect with Simon Sinek. He's my hero from a leadership perspective. I like that he's young too. That adds to the difference in how he and I look at business, which I think is very healthy. I mix reading books with reading periodicals, listening to podcasts, and watching inspiring YouTube videos. My favorite magazines are Entrepreneur and Success. I listen to "Freakonomics" and TED podcasts when I run or am waiting for a flight. They've been educational and entertaining. I always get interesting new ideas from those and would recommend them to any economists or entrepreneurs. Several of the books I read come from listening to TED speakers. For pure entertainment, I listen to the "Stuff You Should Know" podcasts. Monday through Friday I watch a video series called "Daily Mentoring" by Darren Hardy, who usually has some excellent ideas and tips in a compact 2- to 6-minute format. Books that have helped me be who I am include *Think and Grow Rich* by Napoleon Hill, the Steve Jobs biography, a few biographies of Walt Disney, John Wooden's *Wooden on Leadership*, and *Grit* by Angela Duckworth. For fun, I've really enjoyed *Traffic* by Tom Vanderbilt and *Ten Men You Meet in the Huddle* by former NFL lineman Bill Curry. My new favorite topic of study is behavioral economics, which I was introduced to by the TED podcasts. I really enjoyed the book *Predictably Irrational* by Dan Ariely. Read the full profile here. ## Entities - Franchising.com (publication) - Franchise Industry (sector) - Entrepreneur (publication) - Eddy Goldberg (person) - School of Rock (company) - Rob Price (person) - 9Round (company) - Shannon Hudson (person) - Window World (company) - ceo interview (topic) - franchise leaders (topic) - book recommendations (topic) --- Originally reported by Eddy Goldberg, Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/articles/ceo_qa_what_are_the_last_two_books_youve_read.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/7d935d4e-678a-4e62-bcb0-27246fd99bc7).