This post is part of the Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Thanks to Gwen Bell I will be looking back at 2009 for the next month and highlighting the best experiences from the past 12 months.

Something that will be in my list of things-to-do in 2010 is going to be to read more books. I’ve got some on my Christmas list, so having them in my possession will be half the battle.

That said, my choice is a book that I’m currently reading, and have read once before. My pick for Best Book of 2009 is the classic by Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends & Influence People. I read this book for my Intro to Sales class back in college, and really enjoyed it then, but wasn’t quite sure how to translate what I read into action. Reading it now, it’s kind of amazing noticing the parallels that exist between Carnegie’s advice and top ‘social media practices’ today. Truth is, people have always wanted to be treated with genuine interest and respect, but businesses have really gotten away from caring about customers over the decades.

The way people wanted to be treated back in the 20s and 30s is no different than today. The only thing that has changed is the method of communication available to both consumers and companies.

People talk about Chris Brogan’s Trust Agents being the leading book available now re:social media, but I challenge people to read this book and not get just as much out of it.