January & February 2025 Book Club: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

[PessoAlumni]

Hey Square Readers,

You voted and chose Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara as our Square Readers Book Club book for January & February 2025!

We’re so excited to kick off the new year with this book focusing on the core of our businesses: our customers. This book was also featured in Season 2 of the hit show, The Bear, in an episode all about giving service and taking pride in one’s work, and I can’t wait to dive in. 

Here’s a quick summary:

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect

“Essential lessons in hospitality for every business: Radical reinvention, a true partnership between the kitchen and the dining room—and memorable, over-the-top, bespoke hospitality. The answer to some of the most pernicious business dilemmas is to give more; and the magic that can happen when a busser starts thinking like an owner. Today, every business can choose to be a hospitality business— we can all transform ordinary transactions into extraordinary experiences. Find the magic in what we do—for ourselves, the people we work with, and the people we serve.”

We’ll start reading on Monday, January 6th, so get ready and pick up a copy at a local library, bookstore, Amazon, or anywhere else! We’ll have discussion threads and conversations all throughout the two months, so keep checking back to the Square Readers Book Club. 

We will once again have @DinaLRosenberg, co-owner of Amityville Apothecary in NY, co-hosting for this round of our book club. With an MBA, a ton of small business experience, and an absolute expertise in customer service, she is the perfect person to help guide us through this book. 

Tell us in the comments:

• Are you excited about this book? 
• What do you hope to learn?

Here are the next books we’ll read together:

• March & April 2025: Obviously Awesome by April Dunford
• May & June 2025: Atomic Habits by James Clear
  
• July & August 2025: Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
• September & October 2025: Company of One by Paul Jarvis 

Don’t forget to:

• View and Subscribe to all threads about this book

We can’t wait to read with you!

Pesso

[PessoAlumni]

Thanks for the update, @EMstudioWA ! That works too. We do read each book for 2 months, so you have plenty of time to jump in, even if it's late!

Also our first opening discussion thread that I posted this week is more general questions about receiving and providing exceptional hospitality experiences, and made so you can jump in without having started reading this book yet. Hope to see your thoughts there-

Great call on getting on the wait list for the next ones too!

[CareyJo]

Don't ever worry about being late to the party, I've had to do that a couple of times.  And don't feel like you can't participate without reading the book!  Comments are always welcome!!

[ChickenRacer]

Looking forward to this one, my first Square Readers Club!

[PessoAlumni]

So great to have you join us, @ChickenRacer !

[thecedar]

I also was waiting on the library list but not seeing any movement so far - just ordered my own copy yesterday and planning to share with my team after I get through it! 🙂

[PessoAlumni]

That's such a great plan, @thecedar -- thanks for joining us for this! 

Our first opening discussion thread is more general questions about receiving and providing amazing experiences, so you can jump in without having started reading this book yet.

Hope to see you there-