I’m so proud of my oldest niece – she purchased her first set of Christmas gifts this year with her own money. She KNOWS I LOVE to read so my gift was a book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (book review). I smile every time I look at it. Now, even though I said Bye-Bye to Facebook in 2015, there is one positive thing related to the social network that has been in the news lately. Here’s a recent quote from Facebook founder & CEO Mark Zuckerberg:

“My challenge for 2015 is to read a new book every other week – with an emphasis on learning about different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies. I’ve found reading books very intellectually fulfilling. Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today. I’m looking forward to shifting more of my media diet towards reading books.” (Wired).

Kind of ironic, no? That the founder and CEO of one of the world’s largest social networks is diverting his time and attention to reading 2 books a month and discussing it online? Kind of like Steve Jobs not letting his kids use iPads (NY Times). Maybe it’s all part of his plan to further infuse Facebook into our everyday lives OR win back some of the user’s they have lost. Either way, I’ll call that using social media for GOOD! (I am not rejoining Facebook)

The End of Power is an economics title by Moisés Naím, former executive director of the World Bank and Venezuela’s former minister of industry and trade. The book’s claim is that power is shifting towards the individual. “We know that power is shifting: From West to East and North to South, from presidential palaces to public squares, from once formidable corporate behemoths to nimble startups and, slowly but surely, from men to women. But power is not merely shifting and dispersing. It is also decaying. Those in power today are more constrained in what they can do with it and more at risk of losing it than ever before.” The book was first published in 2013. 

You probably recall the impact Oprah’s Book Club has on the publishing industry for years. The Zuckerberg effect may not be as big; but, it is definitely making a splash:

“We’ve seen several big spikes in ebook demand, and it was immediately out of stock [in print],” said Steinberger, whose team has worked with the digital platform Constellation to ensure it is now available in print. “It’s in five figures, the number of copies we’ve had to print in the last couple of days … All over the world people have started reading it.”

Check it out!