Every year, right about now, with new year’s resolutions swirling around, I feel the need for some good business reading. My strategy, which has worked well in the past, is to browse the lists of “Best Business Books of 20??” and pick a few that catch my interest.

Last year, I read Driving Excellence by Mark Aesch among others. Living in Boston, you can imagine my excitement when I read about someone overhauling an almost bankrupt public transport system and turning it into a well oiled machine with one goal: giving their customers efficient public transportation service at a fair cost. The book is a must read if you are a) concerned about the decrepit state of public transport around the country, b) would like to see more people take public transport rather than drive c) would like government to operate more like a business.

This year, in my search for something good to read, I scanned the inc.com’s list of the most inspirational business books of 2013.  I’m not typically one for inspirational books, but one caught my eye: An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth by Col. Chris Hadfield.  First of all, I am an engineer by training, so puzzles like fitting a square astronaut into a round hole is the stuff that makes me tick.  Second, in my masters program I worked on some image processing and through it, took to loving astrophysics (not to be confused with rocket science as my friends referred to it), so the idea of space and being in space has always fascinated me.

I’ve already requested the book from the library. Why not buy it outright? I have set a theme for myself and Brown Couch Consulting in 2014: as green and paperless as can be. Step 1: borrow books.