I read more this year than I have in the last five combined. Not because I suddenly had more time. I didn’t.
What changed was realizing that most marketing advice on LinkedIn is just recycled takes from the same three frameworks everyone already knows. My feed became more of an echo chamber earlier in the year and it wasn’t sparking the same inspo…so back to books I went. Books force you to sit with an idea long enough to actually understand it. And I think that was the main switch up I was really needing.
So I started blocking 30 minutes every morning. Before client calls, before Slack, before the daily fire drill of fractional work. Typically curled up in a chair in my office, my Kindle, and some coffee. I found myself returning to marketing classics from years ago, and a few new ones that I left lots of highlights in.
👋 Hi, it’s Kaylee Edmondson and welcome to Looped In, my newsletter covering demand gen and growth in B2B SaaS. Subscribe to join 2k+ readers who get Looped In delivered to their inbox every Sunday.
I read 30+ business books in 2025, but to save you from another comprehensive list of titles, these are the ones I either found myself re-reading or reading for the first time but loving. The ones with the most highlights logged in my Kindle. The ones I kept coming back to when I was stuck on a positioning problem or trying to explain why a client's demand gen strategy wasn’t working.
The Marketing Fundamentals Revisited
🔗 Storynomics by Robert McKee & Thomas Gerace
Every CMO I work with thinks they need better content. But really they need a better story. This book breaks down why facts don’t persuade but stories do. McKee’s framework for narrative structure applies directly to B2B messaging. I started using his “inciting incident” concept in client positioning work and it’s been a total shift in how we talk about the problem our product solves.
🔗 Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
I’ve recommended this book to probably 15 clients. Dunford’s positioning framework is the most practical thing I’ve found for startups who know their product is good but can’t explain why someone should buy it. Her five-component framework (competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value, target market, market category) is now the first thing I walk through in discovery calls. If you can’t answer these five questions clearly, your demand gen strategy won’t matter.
🔗 How Brands Grow by Byron Sharp
This book makes me question everything I thought I knew about B2B marketing. Sharp’s research proving that brand growth comes from reaching more buyers, not from increasing loyalty in existing customers, goes against every ABM playbook out there. His data on mental and physical availability explains why companies with massive tier 1 account lists and zero brand awareness struggle to hit pipeline. I now start every client engagement by asking how many people in their TAM have even heard of them. Usually the answer is depressing. That’s the real problem to solve.
The Books That Made Me Better at the Craft
🔗 Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan
This is technically an advertising book but it’s the best thing I’ve read on creative strategy. Sullivan’s chapter on how to write a headline applies directly to email subject lines, LinkedIn posts, and landing page copy. His rule about never using puns unless they make the idea clearer has saved me from a lot of bad campaign names. The section on testing your idea by explaining it to someone outside marketing is something I do before every campaign launch now.
🔗 Very Good Copy by Eddie Shleyner
What I love about this book is how Shleyner deconstructs actual marketing copy line by line. He shows you the before and after. He explains the exact word choices that make something click. I actually keep a physical copy of this one on my desk so that I can flip to whatever technique I’m struggling with in the moment. The chapter on writing subject lines that get opened without being clickbait has probably saved me from a dozen terrible A/B tests.
🔗 Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon
This book is about creativity but the principles apply to marketing as much as anything else. Kleon’s idea that you should steal from multiple sources and remix them into something new is exactly what good marketers do. I started keeping a swipe file of competitor campaigns, customer stories, and successful plays from other industries. When I’m stuck on campaign strategy, I pull patterns from what’s working elsewhere and adapt them. Creative theft beats staring at a blank page.
The Ones About Working With People
🔗 Likeable Badass by Alison Fragale
I picked this up based on a glowing recommendation from a friend. Fragale’s framework for combining warmth with competence is something I now think about in every stakeholder meeting. Her research on how women especially get penalized for being too assertive but also for being too nice is something every woman in B2B marketing should read. Changed how I structure difficult conversations.
🔗 Busting Silos by Hillary Carpio and Travis Henry
Most marketing teams I work with are accidentally working against each other. Demand gen optimizes for SQLs, product marketing optimizes for launches, brand optimizes for awareness. Carpio and Henry break down how Snowflake built a marketing function where every team pulls in the same direction. Their framework for anticipating customer needs across the entire journey, not just your team's slice of it, is something I reference in every org design conversation now. Also a brilliant look into designing a “one-team” ABM program.
The Guides Worth Reading
🔗 Perplexity at Work: A Guide to Getting More Done
I was skeptical about another AI productivity guide but this one is different. It’s not about prompt engineering or trying to get AI to write your emails. It’s about using AI for research, data analysis, and exploration. The section on how to validate AI-generated insights before using them in client work is something I reference weekly. Made me way better at market research and competitive analysis.
If you’re still writing prompts from scratch every time, maybe try this prompt library instead. Anthropic’s prompt library has templates for everything from data extraction to content analysis. I adapted their “entity extraction” prompt for pulling signals from CRM data. Their “meeting transcript analysis” template saves me hours after client calls. These aren’t magic, but moreso just well-structured starting points that you can customize.
I started using Lovable for quick prototypes and MVPs this year. Their best practices guide is surprisingly good at explaining how to think about building with AI. The section on when to use no-code versus traditional development changed how I scope projects. Their tips on testing and iteration apply beyond just their platform. Honestly just an insane tool for changing the pace from ideation to shipping.
This Year Felt Different
I stopped reading to finish books and started reading to solve problems.
When I hit a positioning challenge with a client, I’d grab Obviously Awesome. When I needed to explain why their brand awareness budget mattered, I’d revisit How Brands Grow. When I was stuck on campaign copy, I’d flip through Very Good Copy for examples.
Books became tools instead of trophies. I highlighted more Kindle notes, I dog-eared pages, wrote in margins, referenced them in client presentations. Some of these I read cover to cover. Others I skimmed for the one framework I needed right then.
What I’m Reading Next
I’ve got a stack for 2026 that’s already too ambitious.
Some at the top of the stack include:
- Exit Path by Touraj Parang (to better understand valuations)
- The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick (customer research is still my weakest skill)
- Play Bigger by Al, Dave, Christopher, Kevin (category design has always been an interesting debate and I want to read their take)
But I’m also giving myself permission to abandon books that aren’t useful. Life’s too short to finish something just because you started it.
What were your best reads this year? Anything I should add to the 2026 stack? Hit reply and let me know.
Here’s to growth!
See ya next week,
Kaylee ✌
My TBR pile just got bigger! 📚