Looking back on 2009, it appears that it was the “year of indulgent reading” for me. After spending years giving up most of my reading time to kids books and books about affiliate marketing and SEO, I spent almost all of this year reading what made me happy. Here’s a list of what I read this year, as close as I can remember. I know I read a few others that I gave away in our book night swap and a few that I checked out from the library and don’t  remember anymore. But this should be most of them.

Obviously my tendencies this year were toward chick lit, young adult, and supernatural. Prior to this year, I read mainly legal thrillers and chick lit. I can’t believe that the only business book that I read this year was Trust Agents! And more than business, Trust Agents was about life and connections. So I don’t think it even counts as totally a business book.

46 books total. That’s about a book a week! I think 4 of them were actually over Spring Break alone. And the Harry Potter books took more than a week each. There was only 1 book that I didn’t finish completely (I really, really tried but just couldn’t get more than halfway). I’m in the middle of 2 right now but won’t finish either by tomorrow. I guess they will be the start of my 2010 list!

Walt Disney: An American Original (Bob Thomas)
*Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
The Tales of Beetle the Bard (J.K. Rowling)
A Walk to Remember (Nicholas Sparks)
Message in a Bottle (Nicholas Sparks)
-Losing It (Valerie Bertinelli)
Change of Heart (Jodi Picoult)
There’s No Place Like Here (Cecelia Ahern)
Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination (Helen Fielding)
Julie & Julie (Julie Powell)
-Tale of Edward Sawtelle (until I gave up)
*Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris)
*Living Dead in Dallas (Charlaine Harris)
*Club Dead (Charlaine Harris)
*Dead to the World (Charlaine Harris)
*Dead as a Doornail (Charlaine Harris)
*Definitely Dead (Charlaine Harris)
*All Together Dead (Charlaine Harris)
*From Dead to Worse (Charlaine Harris)
*Dead and Gone (Charlaine Harris)
The Undomestic Goddess (Sophie Kinsella)
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married (Marian Keyes)
-A Minor Indiscretion (Carole Matthews)
A Touch of Dead (Charlaine Harris)
Trust Agents (Chris Brogan and Julien Smith)
Remember Me? (Sophie Kinsella)
The Kingdom Keepers (Ridley Pearson)
*Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
*Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)
*Marked (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Betrayed (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Chosen (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Untamed (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Hunted (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Tempted (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Burned (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
Vampire Diaries I (L.J. Smith)
Vampire Diaries II (L.J. Smith)
The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
*Beautiful Creatures (Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl)

Stars denote the books that you couldn’t pry out of my hands while I was reading them. I would recommend pretty much everything else that I read this year as well except for the ones with minus signs. If you are a fan of  books similar to the ones I read this year, I would be anxious to hear what else you recommend for me.

Now that almost 24 hours has passed since I left New York City, I am finally getting around to decompressing and reflecting on Affiliate Summit East. When I tell people that I have been to 7 Affiliate Summits, they always ask me if it is still worth it every time. “Don’t you just see the same people and hear the same things over and over?” Yes, and no. I see the people that I like to network with again to touch base and find out what is new with them. But I also meet new people each time and learn more than I can every imagine.

I could blog about all of the great friends I met with, the merchants that I now want to add to my site, and the swag I brought back for my members. I could drop in a few digital pictures (even video!) or complain about my feet hurting. But I would rather step back and give you the big picture that I ended up with.

Every Affiliate Summit turns out to be a different experience depending upon where I am in my career and what my goals for the conference are. In the beginning, I learned about affiliate marketing in general. Then I started making connections. After a few more, I started working on getting out the name of my business. Last time, I worked on getting out my personal brand.

For ASE09, my biggest takeaway way in getting up the courage to introduce myself to more of the “heavy hitters” and learning by their examples. For the first time ever, I introduced myself to the keynote speakers. I actually met and chatted with Chris Brogan, Julien Smith, and Peter Shankman (HARO). I even introduced myself to Ted Murphy (CEO of IZEA) at an after party and managed to get a couple of pictures with him. Each of them was engaging and conversational and made me feel like he was pleased to meet ME.

As I clean up my email and start sorting through business cards, I can’t help but keep peeking at Trust Agents (by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith). It really sums up my experience at Affiliate Summit this year. I trust some industry professionals because of the way that they act and the information that they provide. I do NOT trust some of the people in my industry because I see how they act when they think no one is looking (at least not the people who are important to them). I want to build a business that people trust because I treat people right and give them something of value in some way. Thanks to ASE09, I’ve got more tools to accomplish just that.