100 Best Current Affairs Books of All Time

"Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting by Klan intimidation; his father was barred by poll taxes and literacy tests. Today, Cotton cannot vote because he, like many black men in the United States, has been labeled a felon and is currently o

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg and Peter Temin.

Founder/Facebook

I read The New Jim Crow, a study of how the U.S. justice system disproportionately criminalizes and jails blacks and Latinos. Making our criminal justice system fairer and more effective is a huge challenge for our country. I’m going to keep learning about this topic, but some things are already clear: We can’t jail our way to a just society, and our current system isn’t working (adapted with permission from Facebook’s A Year of Books project). [source]

Peter Temin

The new Jim Crow that Michelle Alexander is talking about is mass incarceration. [source]

3

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Hans Rosling

4.8

Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts.

When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently o

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Aidan Connolly, and 6 others.

Former USA President

As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list. [source]

CEO/Microsoft

This was a breakthrough to me. The framework Hans enunciates is one that took me decades of working in global development to create for myself, and I could have never expressed it in such a clear way. I’m going to try to use this model moving forward. [source]

Aidan Connolly

I would suggest Hans Rosling’s Factfulness on the real world of statistics. [source]

4

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Steven D. Levitt

4.8

Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? Freakonomics will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven

Recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Daymond John, Ev Williams, and 12 others.

Malcolm Gladwell

Writer & Journalist

I don’t need to say much here. This book invented an entire genre. Economics was never supposed to be this entertaining. [source]

Daymond John

Founder/FUBU

I love newer books like this book. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

James Altucher recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

5

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

J. D. Vance

4.8

From a former marine and Yale Law School graduate, a powerful account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town that offers a broader, probing look at the struggles of America’s white working class

Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The decline of this group, a demographic of our country that has been slowly disintegratin

Recommended by Bill Gates, Ryan Holiday, Ben Shapiro, and 2 others.

CEO/Microsoft

The disadvantaged world of poor white Appalachia described in this terrific, heartbreaking book is one that I know only vicariously. Vance was raised largely by his loving but volatile grandparents, who stepped in after his father abandoned him and his mother showed little interest in parenting her son. Against all odds, he survived his chaotic, impoverished childhood only to land at Yale Law School. While the book offers insights into some of the complex cultural and family issues behind poverty, the real magic lies in the story itself and Vance’s bravery in telling it. [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

In terms of other surprising memoirs, I found JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy to be another well-written gem. [source]

Ben Shapiro

A very well-written book. … The whole thing is a critique of individual decisions. [source]

6

Between the World and Me

Ta-Nehisi Coates

4.8

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER [[ LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD [[ Hailed by Toni Morrison as "required reading," a bold and personal literary exploration of America's racial history by "the single best writer on the subject of race in the United States" (The New York Observer)

"This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of

Recommended by Barack Obama, Jack Dorsey, Doug McMillon, and 5 others.

Former USA President

The president also released a list of his summer favorites back in 2015: All That Is, James Salter The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr [source]

Jack Dorsey

Co-Founder/Twitter

Q: What are the books that had a major influence on you? Or simply the ones you like the most. : Tao te Ching, score takes care of itself, between the world and me, the four agreements, the old man and the sea...I love reading! [source]

Doug McMillon

CEO/Walmart

Here are some of my favorite reads from 2017. Lots of friends and colleagues send me book suggestions and it's impossible to squeeze them all in. I continue to be super curious about how digital and tech are enabling people to transform our lives but I try to read a good mix of books that apply to a variety of areas and stretch my thinking more broadly. [source]

7

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

John Carreyrou

4.8

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of a multibillion-dollar startup, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end in the face of pressure and threats from the CEO and her lawyers.

In 2014, Theranos founder and CEO Elizabeth Holmes was widely seen as the female Steve Jobs: a brilliant Stanford dropout whose startup "unicorn" pr

Recommended by Bill Gates, Andrew Chen, Brad Feld, and 12 others.

CEO/Microsoft

A bunch of my friends recommended this one to me. Carreyrou gives you the definitive insider’s look at the rise and fall of Theranos. The story is even crazier than I expected, and I found myself unable to put it down once I started. This book has everything: elaborate scams, corporate intrigue, magazine cover stories, ruined family relationships, and the demise of a company once valued at nearly $10 billion. [source]

Andrew Chen

General Partner/Andreessen Horowitz

Finished “bad blood” on the Theranos scandal. Wow. Just wow. It’s a must read for everyone in tech and startups. Just 1-click buy it :) Amazing how far charisma and social proof got them. Here’s the NYT review of the book https://t.co/PyMGxfoG2R [source]

Brad Feld

Co-Founder/Foundry Group

Every entrepreneur and VC should read this book. John Carreyrou has done something important here. Maybe this book will finally put a nail in the phrase “fake it till you make it”, but I doubt it. The amount of lying, disingenuousness, blatant and unjustified self-promotion, and downright deceit that exists in entrepreneurship right now is at a local maximum. This always happens when entrepreneurship gets trendy. Carreyrou just wrote a long warning for entrepreneurs and VCs. [source]

8

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell

4.8

An alternate cover edition exists here.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller,

Recommended by Ev Williams, Kevin Rose, Simon Sinek, and 21 others.

Kevin Rose

Co-founder/Digg

Bunch of really good information in here on how to make ideas go viral. This could be good to apply to any kind of products or ideas you may have. Definitely, check out The Tipping Point, which is one of my favorites. [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough insight was to focus on the micro-relationships between individuals, which helped organizations realize that it's not about the big ads and the huge charity balls... it's about setting the stage for the buzz to start. [source]

Andy Stern

I think that when we talk about making change, it is much more about macro change, like in policy. This book reminds you that at times when you're building big movements, or trying to elect significant decision-makers in politics, sometimes it's the little things that make a difference. Ever since the book was written, we've become very used to the idea of things going viral unexpectedly and then having massive impact. The Tipping Point, to me, is really an appreciation that very small things can rearrange thinking in ways – like infectious diseases – that have huge implications. While we're always searching for the big policy changes – and we think we have to do that in very traditional ways of building coalitions against constituencies, movements and the media – sometimes it's the little things that actually tip the situation. Like the story of a person and their unique set of circumstances that really captures an issue about health care or housing. So it's trying to remember, while you're thinking about the grand and the glorious, that thinking about the small things can equally bring about change. [source]

9

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

Ronan Farrow

4.6

In a dramatic account of violence and espionage, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow exposes serial abusers and a cabal of powerful interests hell-bent on covering up the truth, at any cost.

In 2017, a routine network television investigation led Ronan Farrow to a story only whispered about: one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealt

Recommended by Reese Witherspoon, Bastian Obermayer, Julie K. Brown, and 4 others.

Reese Witherspoon

Actress, Author, Founder/Hello Sunshine

Congrats @RonanFarrow on your incredible book #CatchandKill. Amazing investigative reporting and A real thrill ride of a read. 📚 [source]

Bastian Obermayer

I know I’m very late to this party, but: „Catch And Kill“ from the unrelenting @RonanFarrow is a hell of a read!! Need inspiration for how to hold the powerful accountable - or only looking for great entertainment? Get this book. https://t.co/y3xWkUTWhh [source]

Julie K. Brown

The parallels to the Jeffrey Epstein case are amazing in @RonanFarrow’s new book. Imagine this same predatory behavior and coverup among powerful men — not at a TV-media network — but at the highest levels of our government. #perversionofjustice https://t.co/wh2EJlg7iW [source]

10

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

4.6

100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens.

How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism?

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, and 34 others.

Former USA President

Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads. [source]

CEO/Microsoft

Both Melinda and I read this one, and it has sparked lots of great conversations at our dinner table. Harari takes on a daunting challenge: to tell the entire history of the human race in just 400 pages. He also writes about our species today and how artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and other technologies will change us in the future. Although I found things to disagree with—especially Harari’s claim that humans were better off before we started farming—I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species. [source]

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

A grand theory of humanity. [source]

11

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

Eric Schlosser

4.6

Fast food has hastened the malling of our landscape, widened the chasm between rich and poor, fueled an epidemic of obesity, and propelled American cultural imperialism abroad. That's a lengthy list of charges, but here Eric Schlosser makes them stick with an artful mix of first-rate reportage, wry wit, and careful reasoning.

Schlosser's myth-shattering survey stretches from California's subdivisio

Recommended by Richard Branson, Antonio Eram, Barry Estabrook, and 1 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Antonio Eram

This book was recommended by Antonio when asked for titles he would recommend to young people interested in his career path. [source]

Barry Estabrook

Eric Schlosser takes apart a single fast-food meal and shows not only how it affects our health but also how the people who serve it to you are treated. He also looks at how the people in the slaughterhouses working with the cattle are treated, and so it shows you the true picture of the all-American meal – burgers and fries. [source]

12

The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11

Lawrence Wright

4.5

A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany

Recommended by Audrey Kurth Cronin, Bryan Callen, Lloyd Gardner, and 5 others.

Audrey Kurth Cronin

Reading this one book gives you an excellent grasp of the human story and the context from which al-Qaeda emerged. [source]

Bryan Callen

I love this author. [source]

Lloyd Gardner

Wright looks at the linkage between the Egyptian Jihad and Al-Qaeda. It is a worthwhile book to read to try to understand the whole problem. [source]

13

The Fifth Risk

Michael Lewis

4.5

What are the consequences if the people given control over our government have no idea how it works?

"The election happened," remembers Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, then deputy secretary of the Department of Energy. "And then there was radio silence." Across all departments, similar stories were playing out: Trump appointees were few and far between; those that did show up were shockingly uninformed

Recommended by Malcolm Gladwell, Alvin Lindsay, Ed Miliband, and 3 others.

Malcolm Gladwell

Writer & Journalist

It's good to be reminded every now and again what genius looks like. [source]

Alvin Lindsay

ATTENTION: Do you hate your job? "HOW TO ESCAPE THE JOB YOU HATE" FREE Sunday Times Best Seller Book & DVD package will show you a simple way. https://t.co/uLzyBw429W #england #UK #Unitedkingdom shipping ONLY! #business #marketing https://t.co/InNXqxQnOY [source]

Ed Miliband

Very happy to talk this week on #CheerfulBookClub to the brilliant Michael Lewis about his long-standing interest in markets that fail from baseball to Wall Street, as well as his new book on Donald Trump and why it’s a defence of public service. Listen below https://t.co/2DGez9T8vV [source]

14

How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future

Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt

4.5

Donald Trump's presidency has raised a question that many of us never thought we'd be asking: Is our democracy in danger? Harvard professors Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt have spent more than twenty years studying the breakdown of democracies in Europe and Latin America, and they believe the answer is yes. Democracy no longer ends with a bang--in a revolution or military coup--but with a whim

Recommended by Barack Obama, Michael Mcfaul, Petra Costa, and 1 others.

Former USA President

As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list. [source]

Michael Mcfaul

Nothing more I’d rather have than a book endorsement from @SteveKerr ! And it is a great book. https://t.co/i9XCw5H9YX [source]

Petra Costa

@WeyandSabine our film "The Edge of Democracy" on Netflix was deeply inspired by this great book! [source]

15

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Naomi Klein

4.5

In her ground-breaking reporting from Iraq, Naomi Klein exposed how the trauma of invasion was being exploited to remake the country in the interest of foreign corporations. She called it "disaster capitalism." Covering Sri Lanka in the wake of the tsunami, and New Orleans post-Katrina, she witnessed something remarkably similar. People still reeling from catastrophe were being hit again, this tim

Recommended by Donna Dickenson, George Monbiot, and Mat Whitecross.

Donna Dickenson

Naomi Klein’s argument is that capitalism actually requires deliberately engineered shocks to the economic systems. [source]

George Monbiot

The Shock Doctrine explains some of the mechanisms by which patrimonial capital acquires power and enhances its wealth. It’s a brilliant piece of work, and one of those rare books that changes the way you perceive the world. [source]

Mat Whitecross

It starts with the theory that moments of crisis have been utilised by the right wing in the US and other countries to manipulate people into following their agenda. [source]

16

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

Matthew Desmond

4.5

In Evicted, Princeton sociologist and MacArthur "Genius" Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they struggle to keep a roof over their heads. Evicted transforms our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing fresh ideas for solving one of 21st-century America's most devastating problems. Its unforgettable scenes of hope and loss remind us of the centrality

Recommended by Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Noah Kagan, and 1 others.

CEO/Microsoft

If you want a good understanding of how the issues that cause poverty are intertwined, you should read this book about the eviction crisis in Milwaukee. Desmond has written a brilliant portrait of Americans living in poverty. He gave me a better sense of what it is like to be poor in this country than anything else I have read. [source]

Satya Nadella

CEO/Microsoft

Nadella is using this season to learn more in a variety of subjects. By the looks of it, he is interested in, among other things, virtual reality, the refugee crisis, and housing for the urban poor. [source]

Noah Kagan

Founder/Sumo

Surprising insights into the lives of people who were evicted. I make a lot of assumptions about these people. Turns out I was wrong WHY they get evicted. [source]

17

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

Elizabeth Kolbert

4.5

Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us.

In prose that is at once fran

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and 6 others.

Former USA President

The president also released a list of his summer favorites back in 2015: All That Is, James Salter The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr [source]

CEO/Microsoft

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert. Climate change is a big problem—one of the biggest we’ll face this century—but it’s not the only environmental concern on the horizon. Humans are putting down massive amounts of pavement, moving species around the planet, over-fishing and acidifying the oceans, changing the chemical composition of rivers, and more. Natural scientists posit that there have been five extinction events in the Earth’s history (think of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs), and Kolbert makes a compelling case that human activity is leading to the sixth. Unlike a lot of people who write about the environment, Kolbert doesn’t resort to hype. She just lays out the facts and wraps them in memorable anecdotes. It’s a sobering but engaging and informative read. [source]

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

"In his autobiography, Walmart's founder expounds on the principles of discount retailing and discusses his core values of frugality and a bias for action — a willingness to try a lot of things and make many mistakes. Bezos included both in Amazon's corporate values," Brad Stone writes. [source]

18

Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

Jane Mayer

4.5

Who are the immensely wealthy right-wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today? From the bestselling author of The Dark Side, an electrifying work of investigative journalism that uncovers the agenda of this powerful group.

In her new preface, Jane Mayer discusses the results of the most recent election and Donald Trump's victory, and how, despite much discussion to the contrary, this was a

Recommended by Brad Feld and Avi Asherschapiro.

Avi Asherschapiro

Who could forget that great book of reportage, "Dark Money," about the shadowy mechanization of the Nurses Union & the Climate Change Youth Movement. [source]

19

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Michael Pollan

4.5

What should we have for dinner? For omnivore's like ourselves, this simple question has always posed a dilemma: When you can eat just about anything nature (or the supermarket) has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the foods on offer might shorten your life. Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can

Recommended by Barry Estabrook, Gabriel Coarna, Paul Rozin, and 1 others.

Barry Estabrook

Michael Pollan looks at food production through four meals. One is a fast-food meal, the other is an industrial-scale organic meal, then there is a small-scale organic meal and finally he actually goes out and either grows or kills, in the case of the meat, the entire meal himself. That is the narrative. [source]

Gabriel Coarna

Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" --more precisely, the first 3rd of it-- was what first made me realize how badly the Earth, as an ecosystem, is out of balance. [source]

Paul Rozin

Michael Pollan is an excellent journalist who specializes in the food domain.He proposes relying more on whole foods and less on processed foods, like Oreo Cookies. He argues that unprocessed foods are more nutritious, more wholistic and better for the environment. [source]

20

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Bryan Stevenson

4.5

A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children tr

Recommended by Richard Branson, Chris Sacca, Howard Schultz, and 4 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Chris Sacca

Proud that @crystale and I could help fund the making of a film about one of our heroes, Bryan Stevenson. If you’ve read the book, then you know how powerful this film is. #JustMercy https://t.co/vNfXK4Imwr [source]

Howard Schultz

CEO/Starbucks

Perhaps one of the most powerful and important stories of our time. [source]

21

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Timothy Snyder

4.4

A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism.

On November 9th, millions of Americans woke up to the impossible: the election of Donald Trump as president. Against all predictions, one of the most-disliked presidential candidates in history had swept the electoral college, elevating a man with open contempt for democratic norms and institu

Recommended by George Saunders, Maya Wiley, and Tom Holland.

George Saunders

Please read this book. So smart, so timely. [source]

Maya Wiley

Prof. Tim Snyder, author of “In Tyranny” reminded us in that important little book that we must protect our institutions. #DOJ is one of our most important in gov’t for the rule of law. This is our collective house & #Barr should be evicted. https://t.co/PPxM9IMQUm [source]

Tom Holland

"There isn’t a page of this magnificent book that does not contain some fascinating detail and the narrative is held together with a novelist’s eye for character and theme." #Dominion https://t.co/FESSNxVDLC [source]

22

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Barbara Demick, Karen White, et al

4.4

Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the devastation of a far-ranging famine that killed one-fifth of the population.

Taking us into a landscape most of us have never before seen, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick brings to life what it means to

Recommended by Hyeonseo Lee.

Hyeonseo Lee

She includes great details that show everyday life in North Korea. [source]

23

Fascism: A Warning

Madeleine Albright and HarperAudi

4.4

A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state

A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violenc

Recommended by Brad Feld.

Brad Feld

Co-Founder/Foundry Group

Amy and I have been fortunate enough to get to know Madeleine Albright through our collective relationships at Wellesley. Amy knows her better, but I had an amazing dinner sitting next to her one night where I walked away thinking “I wish she had been born here so she could run for president.” The word “fascism” is once again being used so often as to mean nothing, so Albright spends 250 or so pages walking the reader through real fascism, how fascists behave, what they do to their countries (and societies), and what – as a citizen in a democratic country – to pay attention to. She covers the famous ones, but also some not so famous ones, especially those who came to power in the context of a theoretically democratic society. [source]

24

Becoming

Michelle Obama

4.4

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and aro

Recommended by Barack Obama, Piers Morgan, Mary Burkey, and 3 others.

Former USA President

Of course, @MichelleObama’s my wife, so I’m a little biased here. But she also happens to be brilliant, funny, wise – one of a kind. This book tells her quintessentially American story. I love it because it faithfully reflects the woman I have loved for so long. [source]

Piers Morgan

Congrats to @MichelleObama on sensational sales of her new book #Becoming. I always take people as I find them & when I met her at the White House, she was a delightfully warm, friendly & genuine lady. A great First Lady & now a best-selling author. https://t.co/nlSUHI01SM [source]

Mary Burkey

This is a case where you have to hear Michelle Obama read her story. It’s her story and she puts her whole emotional self into it. [source]

25

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

Thomas L. Friedman

4.4

One mark of a great book is that it makes you see things in a new way, and Mr Friedman certainly succeeds in that goal," the Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in the New York Times reviewing The World is Flat in 2005. In this new edition, Thomas L. Friedman includes fresh stories and insights to help us understand the flattening of the world. Weaving new information into his overall thesis,

Recommended by Bill Gates, Jamie Dimon, John Doerr, and 2 others.

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Jamie Dimon

CEO/JPMorgan Chase

CEO recommends this book (along with The Intelligent Investor) in his suggestion to JP Morgan summer interns. [source]

Erik Rostad

I read this book in 2003 or 2004. I was out of college and working in my first job. Friedman convincingly showed that the world was rapidly changing and that I would soon be competing for jobs with people from around the world. I decided to go to graduate school as a direct result of being convinced of his argument in this book. What's interesting is that I don't think these two books would have the same impact on me now than they did at the time I read them. Certain books are meant for certain seasons of life. Also, the Friedman one is probably quite outdated by now. In other words, these wouldn't necessarily be the books I recommend to people now, but they shaped the direction of my life. [source]

26

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Mark Manson

4.4

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "Fk positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is fked and w

Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Alex Blackwell, Aunty Ada, and 21 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

I loved Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck. There’s a reason this book is blowing up. It’s that good. [source]

Alex Blackwell

@whitbywonder Great book [source]

Aunty Ada

Finally done! Amazing book, I recommend😊 https://t.co/IDTawuWn8f [source]

27

Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

Daron Acemoglu

4.4

Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?

Is it culture, the weather, geography? Perhaps ignorance of what the right policies are?

Simply, no. None of these factors is either definitive or destiny. Otherwise, how t

Recommended by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Daron Acemoglu, and 5 others.

CEO/Microsoft

"I read two books that raise big, interesting questions about social change and technological progress. I’m planning to write longer reviews of each of these books, but let me flag them for you now. One is Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson.The topic of this book is why some countries have prospered and created great living conditions for their citizens while others have not. This is an important topic, which I care a lot about. The book makes an appealing argument that economic development depends on political institutions that protect individual rights. It is well written and very easy to read with lots of interesting historical stories about different countries. But it is a major disappointment. Its analysis is vague and simplistic. I’ll explain more in a longer review." [source]

Founder/Facebook

My next book for A Year of Books is Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoğlu and James A. Robinson. This book explores the different kinds of social institutions and incentives that nations have applied to encourage prosperity, economic development and elimination of poverty. This is a good complement to our last book, Portfolios of the Poor, which focused on how people live in poverty. This one discusses why poverty exists and how to reduce it. [source]

Daron Acemoglu

In terms of understanding this top inequality, I mentioned the possibility that it might be about politics. How should we think about politics? What are the levers of politics? For that we need a conceptual framework and that’s what this book tries to provide. It’s co-authored with my long-term collaborator and friend Jim Robinson – and it’s not about US or UK or Canadian inequality. It runs through several thousand years of history, and tries to explain how societies work and why, often, they fail to generate prosperity for their citizens. It’s a very political story. [source]

28

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

4.4

Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all He

Recommended by A.J. Jacobs and Carl Zimmer.

A.J. Jacobs

Great writer. [source]

Carl Zimmer

Yes. This is a fascinating book on so many different levels. It is really compelling as the story of the author trying to uncover the history of the woman from whom all these cells came. [source]

29

A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership

James Comey

4.3

Former FBI Director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.

Mr.

Recommended by Marc Andreessen, Joanna Peñabickley, and Seb Eckersleymaslin.

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Certainly the story is well known, but given author's propensity to post photos of himself wearing running shoes in Iowa, potentially relevant again starting next year? [source]

Joanna Peñabickley

Silence is complicity — @Comey ; For the last 4 days I have been glued to #AHigherLoyalty. I sincerely hope all of you read this book about truth, integrity and ethical leadership. Best 📖 on leadership I’ve read in a while #ThankYou for your leadership and service. [source]

Seb Eckersleymaslin

@shandsaker @ScottKilmartin @Hsuen Agreed. It’s tabloid. Read James Comey’s new book, it is much better. Some great lessons on true leadership in there. [source]

30

Fear: Trump in the White House

Bob Woodward

4.3

With authoritative reporting honed through eight presidencies from Nixon to Obama, author Bob Woodward reveals in unprecedented detail the harrowing life inside President Donald Trump’s White House and precisely how he makes decisions on major foreign and domestic policies. Woodward draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand sources, meeting notes, personal diaries, files and docume

31

Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice

Bill Browder

4.3

A real-life political thriller about an American financier in the Wild East of Russia, the murder of his principled young tax attorney, and his dangerous mission to expose the Kremlin's corruption.

Bill Browder's journey started on the South Side of Chicago and moved through Stanford Business School to the dog-eat-dog world of hedge fund investing in the 1990s. It continued in Moscow, where Browder

Recommended by Eric Ries, Anand Sanwal, Ben Saunders, and 8 others.

Eric Ries

Founder/Long-Term Stock Exchange

This reads like a thriller, but is an urgent and important story about the dangers of Putin’s Russia and the events leading to the Magnitsky Act. [source]

Anand Sanwal

@geoffreysbatt @patrick_oshag 2/ Reminded a bit of the story of @Billbrowder as told in the remarkable book Red Notice which chronicles his investments in Russia very early before everyone saw the opportunity [source]

Ben Saunders

Just finished @Billbrowder's extraordinary book Red Notice. Inspiring, alarming, unsettling and illuminating in equal measure. I thought I knew a few things about ambition and endeavour in challenging environments, but this is something else. Highly recommended. https://t.co/m4wxR4qesa [source]

32

Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House

Michael Wolff

4.3

With extraordinary access to the West Wing, Michael Wolff reveals what happened behind-the-scenes in the first nine months of the most controversial presidency of our time in Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

Since Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States, the country―and the world―has witnessed a stormy, outrageous, and absolutely mesmerizing presidential ter

Recommended by Seb Eckersleymaslin and Tony Schwartz.

Seb Eckersleymaslin

@shandsaker @ScottKilmartin @Hsuen Agreed. It’s tabloid. Read James Comey’s new book, it is much better. Some great lessons on true leadership in there. [source]

Tony Schwartz

From my experience of Trump, this is the most deeply accurate book that’s been written about him—the chaos he creates and which has enveloped all of us since he took office. Michael Wolff has a remarkable capacity to get inside the heads of people. He does it in this book just as he did it in his book about Rupert Murdoch. [source]

33

Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World

Tim Marshall

4.3

In the bestselling tradition of Why Nations Fail and The Revenge of Geography, an award-winning journalist uses ten maps of crucial regions to explain the geo-political strategies of the world powers.

All leaders of nations are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas, and concrete. To understand world events, news organizations and other authorities often focu

Recommended by Lee Mckenzie, Lucas Morales, and Sunil Chhetri.

Lee Mckenzie

This is a great book and by far the best thing I have read for a while. If you are curious about the world in which we live, geopolitics or just fancy something a little different, you couldn’t do much better than this. Coffee optional! @Itwitius 👏🏻 #prisonersofgeography https://t.co/Gd3G2tDVyT [source]

Lucas Morales

Depending on your interest and goals, if you are like me and always looking for the trends in the big picture then I highly recommend being an active contrarian reader. Read what no one else is reading. Your goal is to think outside the box. To look at the world and ask “why hasn’t this been solved?” And that gives you a roadmap as to what opportunities may exist for your entrepreneurial efforts. So to that, here’s a snapshot, in no particular order, of what might help you push your intellectual boundaries: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future by Paul Mason Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty Who Gets What--And Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design by Alvin E. Roth The Political Economy of Participatory Economics by Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism by Jeremy Rifkin Why America Misunderstands the World by Paul R. Pillar A Theory of Justice by John Rawls Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall [source]

Sunil Chhetri

@TaranaRaja The cover got me and I'm sure the book is very, very interesting! [source]

34

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Jonathan Haidt

4.3

Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding.

His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all ha

Recommended by A.J. Jacobs, Akin Oyebode, Andrew M. Mwenda, and 3 others.

A.J. Jacobs

All about trying to figure out the gap between the red and blue states – Republican and Democrat – and it’s really interesting. [source]

Akin Oyebode

@eggheader @OnemuVictor1 @JonHaidt Abeg order two. I read Righteous Mind which he also wrote, and that was a very fascinating book. [source]

Andrew M. Mwenda

The best work on this is a book by Jonathan Haidt “The Righteous Mind: Why good People are Divided by Religion and Politics.” He argues that human beings have deeply entrenched moral intuitions which guide their assessment of reality. Facts matter very little if at all. [source]

35

The Post-American World

Fareed Zakaria

4.3

"This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everyone else." So begins Fareed Zakaria's important new work on the era we are now entering.

Following on the success of his best-selling The Future of Freedom, Zakaria describes with equal prescience a world in which the United States will no longer dominate the global economy, orchestrate geopolitics, or overwhelm cu

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, David Marquand, and 2 others.

Former USA President

Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads: Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Evan Osnos Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman Moral Man And Immoral Society, Reinhold Niebuhr A Kind And Just Parent, William Ayers The Post-American World, Fareed Zakaria Lessons in Disaster, Gordon Goldstein Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin Andy Grove: The Life and Times of an American, Richard S Tedlow Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity, Katherine Boo [source]

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

David Marquand

Zakaria is Indian by origin and he went to America in his youth. He is now a very prominent journalist in America. His thesis is that America, while still being a superpower, has got to contend with the rise of other countries. It can no longer call the shots in the new world that is developing. This is not a new thesis, but he puts it forward very powerfully and very well. He also looks at the question of whether America can continue to succeed in a world where other countries are catching up in terms of markets and economic progress. Because other countries are rising, America is falling relatively. [source]

36

Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves

Andrew Ross Sorkin

4.3

Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami. From inside the corner office at Lehman Brothers to secret meetings in South Korea, and the corridors of Washington, Too Big to Fail is the definitive story of the most powerful men and women in finance and politics

Recommended by Bill Gates, Max Levchin, John Lanchester, and 1 others.

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?" [source]

John Lanchester

This is a minute-by-minute account of how the whole financial system nearly went over the brink in 2008, and the astonishing sense of tension and danger involved. [source]

37

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Katherine Boo

4.3

From Pulitzer Prize-winner Katherine Boo, a landmark work of narrative nonfiction that tells the dramatic and sometimes heartbreaking story of families striving toward a better life in one of the twenty-first century's great, unequal cities.

In this brilliantly written, fast-paced book, based on three years of uncompromising reporting, a bewildering age of global change and inequality is made human

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Adam Minter, and 1 others.

Former USA President

Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads [source]

CEO/Microsoft

Katherine Boo spent three years getting to know the people of Annawadi, a slum of about 3,000 people on the edge of a sewage-filled lake in India’s largest city. Her book is a poignant reminder of how much more work needs to be done to address the inequities in the world. But it’s also an uplifting story of people striving to make a life for themselves, sacrificing for their families, and in their own way, being innovative and entrepreneurial in creating a vibrant local economy. [source]

Adam Minter

Vivid scenes of walking down Mumbai’s Airport Road, lined by shacks and trash pickers, and behind them are walls, and behind them are the finest five star hotels in India. [source]

38

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Jared Diamond

4.3

Explaining what William McNeill called The Rise of the West has become the central problem in the study of global history. In Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond presents the biologist's answer: geography, demography, and ecological happenstance. Diamond evenhandedly reviews human history on every continent since the Ice Age at a rate that emphasizes only the broadest movements of peoples and ide

Recommended by Bill Gates, Charles T. Munger, Charlie Munger, and 12 others.

CEO/Microsoft

Fascinating.... Lays a foundation for understanding human history. [source]

Daniel Ek

A brilliant Pulitzer Prize-winning book about how the modern world was formed, analyzing how societies developed differently on different continents. [source]

Simon Sinek

Author

I’m a fan of books that challenge our assumptions, and Diamond offers us a new and remarkably simple way of looking at our world. Learning to challenge existing assumptions is core to effective leadership for it trains us to keep an open mind. [source]

39

Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

Steven Pinker

4.3

If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ideal of using reason and science.

Is the world really falling apart? Is the ideal of progress obsolete? In this elegant assessment of the human condition in the third millennium, cognitive scientist and

Recommended by Bill Gates, Sam Harris, Yuval Noah Harari, and 8 others.

CEO/Microsoft

Pinker is at his best when he analyzes historic trends and uses data to put the past into context. I was already familiar with a lot of the information he shares—especially about health and energy—but he understands each subject so deeply that he’s able to articulate his case in a way that feels fresh and new. I love how he’s willing to dive deep into primary data sources and pull out unexpected signs of progress. I tend to point to things like dramatic reductions in poverty and childhood deaths, because I think they’re such a good measure of how we’re doing as a society. Pinker covers those areas, but he also looks at more obscure topics. Here are five of my favorite facts from the book that show how the world is improving: 1. You’re 37 times less likely to be killed by a bolt of lightning than you were at the turn of the century—and that’s not because there are fewer thunderstorms today. It’s because we have better weather prediction capabilities, improved safety education, and more people living in cities. 2. Time spent doing laundry fell from 11.5 hours a week in 1920 to an hour and a half in 2014. This might sound trivial in the grand scheme of progress. But the rise of the washing machine has improved quality of life by freeing up time for people—mostly women—to enjoy other pursuits. That time represents nearly half a day every week that could be used for everything from binge-watching Ozark or reading a book to starting a new business. 3. You’re way less likely to die on the job. Every year, 5,000 people die from occupational accidents in the U.S. But in 1929—when our population was less than two-fifths the size it is today—20,000 people died on the job. People back then viewed deadly workplace accidents as part of the cost of doing business. Today, we know better, and we’ve engineered ways to build things without putting nearly as many lives at risk. 4. The global average IQ score is rising by about 3 IQ points every decade. Kids’ brains are developing more fully thanks to improved nutrition and a cleaner environment. Pinker also credits more analytical thinking in and out of the classroom. Think about how many symbols you interpret every time you check your phone’s home screen or look at a subway map. Our world today encourages abstract thought from a young age, and it’s making us smarter. 5. War is illegal. This idea seems obvious. But before the creation of the United Nations in 1945, no institution had the power to stop countries from going to war with each other. Although there have been some exceptions, the threat of international sanctions and intervention has proven to be an effective deterrent to wars between nations. [source]

Sam Harris

Sam Harris picked this book as the first book in his Book Club. [source]

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian

There is of course much to argue about, but that’s what makes this book so interesting.

40

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

Steven D. Levitt

4.3

The New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.

Four years in the making, SuperFre

Recommended by Bill Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, Daymond John, and 2 others.

CEO/Microsoft

I recommend this book to anyone who reads nonfiction. It is very well written and full of great insights. [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

Keith Slotter

These two gentlemen wrote the first book several years ago and SuperFreakonomics just came out. The books are very interesting on crime theory. Their theories are controversial. For example, they link a decrease in crime to the legalisation of abortion. In a nutshell they say that abortion stopped a whole new generation of criminals from being born. And that is because they say abortion is most prominent among the lowest class people. That is, of course, not a politically correct statement to make, but when you go through their numbers and what they have done, sadly there rings a strong sound of truth in their argument. So, I would encourage anyone with an open mind to read these books and give it some thought. Read 4 The Cell by John Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell Read [source]

41

The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order

Samuel P. Huntington

4.3

"Sam Huntington, one of the West's most eminent political scientists, presents a challenging framework for understanding the realities of global politics in the next century. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is one of the most important books to have emerged since the end of the Cold War." --HENRY A. KISSINGER

Based on the author's seminal article in Foreign Affairs, Samue

Recommended by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Bogdan Savonea.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali

This is a very important book on the post-1989 context, and what the new world order would look like after the fall of the Soviet Union. It was written almost 20 years ago now, and it seems as if Huntington’s hypothesis is getting more and more credit than Francis Fukuyama’s (The End of History) about what the world will look like. [source]

Bogdan Savonea

Kissinger's "Diplomacy", Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" and Machiavelli's "The Prince". They pretty much shaped the first part of my life, defined my University choice and career path up until my late 20s. [source]

42

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

Steve Coll

4.3

The news-breaking book that has sent shockwaves through the Bush White House, Ghost Wars is the most accurate and revealing account yet of the CIA's secret involvement in al-Qaeda's evolution. It won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.

Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll has spent years reporting from the Middle East, accessed previously classified government files and interviewed senior US officials and f

43

Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

Arlie Russell Hochschild

4.3

In Strangers in Their Own Land, the renowned sociologist Arlie Russell Hochschild embarks on a thought-provoking journey from her liberal hometown of Berkeley, California, deep into Louisiana bayou country – a stronghold of the conservative right. As she gets to know people who strongly oppose many of the ideas she famously champions, Russell Hochschild nevertheless finds common ground and quickly

Recommended by Clara Jeffery, Kate Marvel, and Tony Schwartz.

Clara Jeffery

@jwpetersNYT Anywho, Arlie spent 5 years embedded in Tea Party culture. Her book was an NYT best-seller and a National Book Award finalist. And she was hardly the only one that did deep reporting on the Tea Party before and after the 2016 election. [source]

Kate Marvel

Hochschild argues that all social groups have a ‘deep story’: a narrative that makes the complicated world make sense. [source]

Tony Schwartz

Arlie Hochschild is a brilliant writer and a sociologist of great empathy and insight. Although the book was written before Trump was elected president, it goes a long way toward explaining him, and more specifically toward explaining why people embraced him. [source]

44

Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power

Rachel Maddow

4.2

"One of my favorite ideas is, never to keep an unnecessary soldier," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1792. Neither Jefferson nor the other Founders could ever have envisioned the modern national security state, with its tens of thousands of "privateers"; its bloated Department of Homeland Security; its rusting nuclear weapons, ill-maintained and difficult to dismantle; and its strange fascination with a

45

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Yuval Noah Harari

4.2

Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods.

Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war. This may seem hard to acce

Recommended by Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Naval Ravikant, and 15 others.

CEO/Microsoft

Harari’s new book is as challenging and readable as Sapiens. Rather than looking back, as Sapiens does, it looks to the future. I don’t agree with everything the author has to say, but he has written a thoughtful look at what may be in store for humanity. [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a big reader of paleontology or anthropology – not good words for us dyslexics! – but I enjoy learning about how society has unfolded and history has developed in an exciting, easy to read way. The sequel, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, is a fascinating look into the future too. While these aren’t traditional business or leadership books, they are all about people – and learning how to work with, live with, interact with people and get the best out of them is what leadership is all about. [source]

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

Not that I agree with all of it, but it is still mind-bending speculation about our future as a follow-up to a previous favorite, Sapiens. It’s directionally right. [source]

46

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America

Barbara Ehrenreich

4.2

Barbara Ehrenreich, our sharpest and most original social critic, goes "undercover" in Nickel and Dmined as an unskilled worker to reveal the dark side of American prosperity.

Millions of Americans work full time, year round, for poverty-level wages. In 1998, Barbara Ehrenreich decided to join them. She was inspired in part by the rhetoric surrounding welfare reform, which promised that a job -- an

Recommended by Angela Pham, Jim Edwards, Leah Lizarondo, and 1 others.

Angela Pham

Another form of non-fiction heartbreak. This is a timeless look at how most of America survives. You cannot be an empathetic business leader without this lens. [source]

Jim Edwards

@Astrologic007 @ainecain @businessinsider @B_Ehrenreich @AndrewYang @carolhunter @esaagar @EmmaVigeland @kthalps @ErinBurnett @mviser Nickel and Dimed is a great book and everyone should read it. @B_Ehrenreich [source]

Leah Lizarondo

These books propelled me to want to work on a social enterprise and underscored my passion for making a difference in food policy. I believe we can build an innovative company that has deep social impact. That we can use the same mindsets that single bottom-line companies have to build successful triple and quadruple bottom-line companies. It is the holy grail -- for your work to present the challenge to be creative, innovative, quick on a daily basis but also at the end of the day, the knowledge that you are making a real difference in people's lives. I feel extremely fortunate to be in this position right now. [source]

47

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

4.2

Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a bo

Recommended by Ev Williams, Mike Shinoda, Marillyn Hewson, and 4 others.

Mike Shinoda

I know most of the guys in the band read this book. [source]

Marillyn Hewson

CEO/Lockheed Martin

CEO Marilyn Hewson recommends this book because it helped her to trust her instincts in business. [source]

Antonio Eram

When asked to name some books that had a big impact on him, Antonio mentioned Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. [source]

48

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Thomas Piketty

4.2

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piket

Recommended by Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, David Heinemeier Hansson, and 4 others.

CEO/Microsoft

Capital sparked a fantastic global discussion this year about inequality. Piketty kindly spent an hour discussing his work with me before I finished my review. As I told him, although I have concerns about some of his secondary points and policy prescriptions, I agree with his most important conclusions: inequality is a growing problem and that governments should play a role in reducing it. I admire his work and hope it draws in more smart people to study the causes of, and cures for, inequality. [source]

David Heinemeier Hansson

This is the book that was catapulted by its conclusion: r > g. That the rate of return on capital is greater than the growth rate of the economy. Which means that capital, and the people who own it, will end up with a larger and larger share of all wealth and income in the economy as time goes on. It’s a dense dive into the historical data on wealth, income, and economic growth from the optic of inequality. It’s fascinating to realize just how little economic growth there was before the industrial revolution (<0.1% at times). Centuries would pass where societies got almost no more productive, and thus saw no per-capita growth. In the past few decades, we’ve moved closer to the historical norm. Real growth through productivity improvements is down a lot since that former golden period, most western societies aren’t growing their population as rapidly as they were, and thus hereditary wealth and privileges are coming back as prime determinants of inequality. Despite the dense approach, the book isn’t in anyway unapproachable. It’s well told and easily read. And it’s about as timely as it gets. Highly recommend it so far. [source]

George Monbiot

Piketty explains the economic crisis that we face in ways that also explain the political crisis. He does this by talking about the rise of what he calls ‘patrimonial capital’: wealth arising from inheritance, rent, and interest payments which greatly outweighs any wealth arising from hard work and enterprise. [source]

49

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

Barack Obama

4.2

The Audacity of Hope is Barack Obama's call for a new kind of politics—a politics that builds upon those shared understandings that pull us together as Americans. Lucid in his vision of America's place in the world, refreshingly candid about his family life and his time in the Senate, Obama here sets out his political convictions and inspires us to trust in the dogged optimism that has long define

50

The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined

Steven Pinker

4.2

Believe it or not, today we may be living in the most peaceful moment in our species' existence. In his gripping and controversial new work, New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows that despite the ceaseless news about war, crime, and terrorism, violence has actually been in decline over long stretches of history. Exploding myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of m

Recommended by Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, Mark Zuckerberg, and 12 others.

CEO/Microsoft

Yong succeeds in his intention to give us a 'grander view of life' and does so without falling prey to grand, unifying explanations that are far too simplistic. He presents our inner ecosystems in all their wondrous messiness and complexity. And he offers realistic optimism that our growing knowledge of the human microbiome will lead to great new opportunities for enhancing our health. [source]

Eric Schmidt

CEO/Google

When you finish this book, which takes a long time, you conclude that the world is in a much, much better place than it has been in the past. [source]

Founder/Facebook

My second book of the year is The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker. It's a timely book about how and why violence has steadily decreased throughout our history, and how we can continue this trend. Recent events might make it seem like violence and terrorism are more common than ever, so it's worth understanding that all violence -- even terrorism -- is actually decreasing over time. If we understand how we are achieving this, we can continue our path towards peace. A few people I trust have told me this is the best book they've ever read. It's a long book, so I plan on taking a month to read it rather than two weeks. I'll add a third book in two weeks that will be a shorter read to complement this. If you want to follow along with the books I'm reading and participate in conversations with the authors, you can like the page A Year of Books. [source]

51

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt

4.2

A timely investigation into the campus assault on free speech and what it means for students, education, and our democracy.

The generation now coming of age has been taught three Great Untruths: their feelings are always right; they should avoid pain and discomfort; and they should look for faults in others and not themselves. These three Great Untruths are part of a larger philosophy that sees you

Recommended by Mark Manson, Max Levchin, Bryan Johnson, and 3 others.

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

The kids aren’t alright. No, really—I know every generation says that, but this time it’s true. Kids who grew up with smartphones (and have begun to enter the university system) are emotionally stunted, overly fragile, and exhibiting mental health issues at alarming rates. I expected this book to be another, “Let’s all shit on social media together,” party, but it’s not. Social media, of course, does get its own chapter. But most of the book is focused on cultural shifts that have happened over the past couple generations. [source]

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

Highlights the need to continue to have such discussions about sensitive topics instead of ignoring them for the sake of comfort. [source]

Bryan Johnson

Excited to read this new book by my friends. [source]

52

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

4.2

From two of our most fiercely moral voices, a passionate call to arms against our era’s most pervasive human rights violation: the oppression of women and girls in the developing world.

With Pulitzer Prize winners Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn as our guides, we undertake an odyssey through Africa and Asia to meet the extraordinary women struggling there, among them a Cambodian teenager sold

Recommended by Emma Watson, Julia Enthoven, Mia Farrow, and 2 others.

Julia Enthoven

As for non-fiction, Half the Sky (about crimes against women, especially in the developing world) and Whatever it Takes (about the Harlem Children’s Zone and the work of Geoffrey Canada) both changed my world-view enormously, and I thought they were both super compelling. [source]

Mia Farrow

Women in so much of the world are doing so much of the labour without having any of the rights or reaping their share of the profits. [source]

Pierre Ferrari

One of the most powerful books I've ever read on #GenderEquality is Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide by @NickKristof & @WuDunn: https://t.co/uj5rfxlmZm. Let's do more to support women in our daily lives! #WomenWednesday #SDGs [source]

Cover unavailable

53

A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump's Testing of America

Philip Rucker, Carol Leonnig

4.2

Rucker and Leonnig have deep and unmatched sources throughout Washington, D.C., and for the past three years have chronicled in depth the ways President Donald Trump has reinvented the presidency in his own image, shaken foreign alliances and tested American institutions. It would be all too easy to mistake Trump's first term for pure chaos. But Leonnig and Rucker show that in fact there is a patt

Recommended by Mark Hamill, Andrew Feinberg, Barry R Mccaffrey, and 3 others.

Mark Hamill

Another Highly Anticipated Book by two Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporters, has already proven to be a best-seller, to their great delight, all for the purpose of exposing a "President" who is demeaning and belittling our Country, at a record clip. You're welcome! https://t.co/kDG9rwpr9p [source]

Andrew Feinberg

The book is real. The title comes from @realDonaldTrump's own words. @PhilipRucker and @CarolLeonnig are first-rate journalists & two of the best on the White House beat. If the past 3 years prove anything, it's that him calling reporting fake is as good as a confirmation. https://t.co/N0pVdVdEz3 [source]

Barry R Mccaffrey

A must read book by objective and professional journalists. Just picked up my copy. Did radio interview this morning on the RICK UNGAR SHOW about the scene in which Trump berates the JCS Generals in his first meeting calling them DOPES AND BABIES. Unreal. https://t.co/cinOBSBTbp [source]

54

I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban

Malala Yousafzai

4.2

I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while ri

Recommended by Adrienne Kisner.

Adrienne Kisner

Malala’s story of triumph is a battle cry for girls (and boys) everywhere. Education can set you free. [source]

55

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

Robin J. DiAngelo

4.2

The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.

Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors including argumentation and

Recommended by Elizabeth C. Mclaughlin, Marshall Kirkpatrick, and Todd Nesloney.

Elizabeth C. Mclaughlin

I've recommended the book White Fragility on here many times, and this interview is a great place to start. If you're a white person who believes you're not racist, please read this article. And then go read the book. https://t.co/S5plH3wS5m [source]

Marshall Kirkpatrick

@jhagel This is a great book btw! [source]

Todd Nesloney

@SarahSuggs13 I love that book, have spoken with the author, and did an entire staff book study. Again, had you even tried to see my work that I do, you'd have learned that. You seek to divide and that is it. Great lesson for our students. [source]

56

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

Naomi Klein

4.2

Forget everything you think you know about global warming. It's not about carbon – it's about capitalism. The good news is that we can seize this crisis to transform our failed economic system and build something radically better.

In her most provocative book yet, Naomi Klein, author of the global bestsellers The Shock Doctrine and No Logo, exposes the myths that are clouding climate debate.

You ha

57

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

Jared Diamond

4.2

In Jared Diamond’s follow-up to the Pulitzer-Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel, the author explores how climate change, the population explosion and political discord create the conditions for the collapse of civilization

Environmental damage, climate change, globalization, rapid population growth, and unwise political choices were all factors in the demise of societies around the world, but some

Recommended by Bill Gates, Daniel Headrick, David Pilling, and 3 others.

CEO/Microsoft

I found this to be an interesting follow-up to the excellent Guns, Germs, and Steel. It examines the downfall of some of history's greatest civilizations. [source]

Daniel Headrick

I found Jared Diamond’s book Collapse more valuable in influencing my own thinking, because it shows the importance of culture in determining how humans deal with environmental threats. …….The author investigates the successes and failures of a number of civilisations which had reached a crisis point, and looks at why some succeeded and others hadn’t. [source]

David Pilling

This is a warning that societies can do this. We, as a human society, could do this if we’re not careful. If we stretch the earth beyond its planetary limits, we could ruin the soil, we could ruin the ocean, we could ruin the air, and we could drain the ocean of fish. He sees evidence all around that we’re doing precisely that. He sees a limit to technology to solve our problems. [source]

58

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari

4.2

In Sapiens, he explored our past. In Homo Deus, he looked to our future. Now, one of the most innovative thinkers on the planet turns to the present to make sense of today's most pressing issues.

How do computers and robots change the meaning of being human? How do we deal with the epidemic of fake news? Are nations and religions still relevant? What should we teach our children?

Yuval Noah Harari's

Recommended by Bill Gates, Brajesh Kumar Singh, Eh Bee Family, and 2 others.

CEO/Microsoft

Harari is such a stimulating writer that even when I disagreed, I wanted to keep reading and thinking. All three of his books wrestle with some version of the same question: What will give our lives meaning in the decades and centuries ahead? So far, human history has been driven by a desire to live longer, healthier, happier lives. If science is eventually able to give that dream to most people, and large numbers of people no longer need to work in order to feed and clothe everyone, what reason will we have to get up in the morning? It’s no criticism to say that Harari hasn’t produced a satisfying answer yet. Neither has anyone else. So I hope he turns more fully to this question in the future. In the meantime, he has teed up a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the 21st century. [source]

Brajesh Kumar Singh

Harari, currently, the world's best historian and future analyst, is a gay! He is a Jew and writes his books in Hebrew! Got universal acclaim for his first book Sapiens, followed by Homo Deus and now the latest, 21 lessons for the 21st century! Salute to this genius, keep it up! https://t.co/s7R6oEbwiN [source]

Eh Bee Family

@harari_yuval This book is amazing. After every chapter...I pause...then freak out...then gather myself and keep reading. [source]

59

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy

Ta-Nehisi Coates

4.2

"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. Now Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coat

60

Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth

Rachel Maddow

4.2

Blowout: Corrupted Democracy, Rogue State Russia, and the Richest, Most Destructive Industry on Earth

Big Oil and Gas Versus Democracy—Winner Take All

Rachel Maddow’s Blowout offers a dark, serpentine, riveting tour of the unimaginably lucrative and corrupt oil-and-gas industry. With her trademark black humor, Maddow takes us on a switchback journey around the globe—from Oklahoma City to Siberia to

Recommended by Josh Long ( ), Joy Reid, Su Mohan Winblue Demswork4usa, and 1 others.

Josh Long ( )

😂 @maddow you’re so amazing. I’m listening to the Audible version of your fantastic book “Blowout” and just got to a part where you detail a sad, lonely existence and then - as an aside - declare “aw! Sad.” in a completely different voice 😂 [source]

Joy Reid

This week I had the chance to interview my pal Rachel @Maddow about her amazing new book, Blowout!! Tune in to #amjoy at 10am ET Sunday to check it out (and find out what Equatorial Guinea, Michael Jackson's glove, black oil and Texas tea have in common...! https://t.co/mTQZKIZT2T [source]

Su Mohan Winblue Demswork4usa

.@Maddow deserves Emmy and Pulitzer.. and more.. for her work in the interview of Lev Parnas, and her book "Blowout" - she is the best reporter. True journalist. Watched 1/14 (documents) and 1/15 (Lev Parnas Interview Part-1) shows twice. I can not wait for part-2 - on 1/16/20. [source]

61

What Happened

Hillary Rodham Clinton

4.2

“In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I’ve often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net. Now I’m letting my guard down.” —Hillary Rodham Clinton, from the introduction of What Happened

For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history.

Recommended by Bobby Voicu and Brianne Miller.

Bobby Voicu

"I also have Hillary Clinton's book 'What Happened' on the go right now and love it ... although not specifically business related, it centres around female leadership and the challenges that we face. Really eye opening & inspiring!" BRIANNE MILLER (Fo… https://t.co/QztUoai6Sx [source]

Brianne Miller

I also have Hillary Clinton's book 'What Happened' on the go right now and love it ... although not specifically business related, it centres around female leadership and the challenges that we face. Really eye opening & inspiring! [source]

62

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

Malcolm Gladwell

4.1

In his #1 bestselling books The Tipping Point, Blink, and Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell has explored the ways we understand and change our world. Now he looks at the complex and surprising ways the weak can defeat the strong, the small can match up against the giant, and how our goals (often culturally determined) can make a huge difference in our ultimate sense of success. Drawing upon examples from

Recommended by Andrew Chen, Cat Williams-Treloar, Catalina Penciu, and 3 others.

Cat Williams-Treloar

The books that I've talked the most about with friends and colleagues over the years are the Malcolm Gladwell series of novels. Glorious stories that mix science, behaviours and insight. You can't go wrong with the "The Tipping Point", "Outliers", "Blink" or "David & Goliath". [source]

Catalina Penciu

Business-wise, my goal for this year is to improve my collection and my mindset, but my favorite so far has been David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell. [source]

Robert Katai

Buy Malcolm Gladwell’s book “David and Goliath” and read the interesting stories about how the Davids of that moments have defeated the Goliaths. [source]

63

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

Sebastian Junger

4.1

Sebastian Junger, the bestselling author of War and The Perfect Storm, takes a critical look at post-traumatic stress disorder and the many challenges today’s returning veterans face in modern society.

There are ancient tribal human behaviors-loyalty, inter-reliance, cooperation-that flare up in communities during times of turmoil and suffering. These are the very same behaviors that typify good so

Recommended by Emma Watson, Ryan Holiday, Andrew Youderian, and 2 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

To balance out that depressing book, I highly recommend David Brooks’ The Road To Character, Sebastian Junger’s Tribe and Chuck Klosterman’s What If We’re Wrong. [source]

Andrew Youderian

And finally, the book "Tribe" by Sebastian Junger reinforced in my the importance of relationships and in-person community, and made it something I'm trying to prioritize more in my life. [source]

Jason Kander

After years of people recommending it, I finally picked up Tribe by @SebastianJunger. I’m halfway done and it’s already the best non-fiction book I’ve read in years. [source]

64

The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America

George Packer

4.1

A riveting examination of a nation in crisis, from one of the finest political journalists of our generation

American democracy is beset by a sense of crisis. Seismic shifts during a single generation have created a country of winners and losers, allowing unprecedented freedom while rending the social contract, driving the political system to the verge of breakdown, and setting citizens adrift to f

65

The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam

Douglas Murray

4.1

A controversial and devastatingly honest depiction of the demise of Europe.

The Strange Death of Europe is the internationally bestselling account of a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide. Douglas Murray takes a step back and explores the deeper issues behind the continent's possible demise, from an atmosphere of mass terror attacks and a global refugee crisis to the steady erosion o

Recommended by Anirban Ganguly.

Anirban Ganguly

Philosopher @Roger_Scruton calls it a "vitally important book".For those of us who are from #WestBengal, #Assam &NE this should be a must read especially in the backdrop of the #NRC & infiltration debate.Unchecked infiltration gnaws away at our civilisational roots! https://t.co/kBNxKLVCpf [source]

66

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America

Thomas L. Friedman

4.1

In this brilliant, essential book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas L. Friedman speaks to America's urgent need for national renewal and explains how a green revolution can bring about both a sustainable environment and a sustainable America.

Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the expansion of the world’s middle class through globalization have produced a da

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Jonathon Porritt.

Former USA President

He may have the country’s finest experts at his fingertips, but it still doesn’t hurt to read up on environmental and economic issues. [source]

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Jonathon Porritt

Thomas Friedman is an American commentator and a bit of a business guru. This book is lively, beautifully written, full of personal anecdotes. I should say that Friedman used to piss me off more than most other writers because he never talked about resources, climate change, population growth – these were invisible issues for him. Then, a few years ago, something changed and he started to address all this. [source]

67

A Warning

Anonymous

4.1

An unprecedented behind-the-scenes portrait of the Trump presidency from the anonymous senior official whose first words of warning about the president rocked the nation’s capital.

Recommended by Judy Woodruff.

Judy Woodruff

a critical review in the @NYT of much-awaited book "Warning" by anonymous member of the Trump administration, reveals senior administration officials considered resigning en masse, but then argues Pres Trump is best removed by election https://t.co/dkIdaW22ES [source]

68

No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State

Glenn Greenwald

4.1

By Glenn Greenwald, star of Citizenfour, the Academy Award-winning documentary on Edward Snowden

In May 2013, Glenn Greenwald set out for Hong Kong to meet an anonymous source who claimed to have astonishing evidence of pervasive government spying and insisted on communicating only through heavily encrypted channels. That source turned out to be the twenty-nine-year-old NSA contractor Edward Snowde

Recommended by Gilbert Rwabigwi.

Gilbert Rwabigwi

Your book, “No Place To Hide”, was a thrilling/insightful read. Can’t wait to flip through @Snowden’s memoir. 🙏🏾 https://t.co/pZPLxDpNcM [source]

69

Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq

Thomas E. Ricks

4.1

This is the Story of The American Military Adventure in Iraq. The Heart of the story Fiasco has to tell, which has never been told before, is that of a Military occupation whose leaders failed to see a blooming insurgency for what it was and as a result lead their soldiers in such a way that the insurgency became inevitable.

Recommended by Bryan Callen, Jeremy Greenstock, and Patrick Cockburn.

Bryan Callen

Bryan Callen recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Jeremy Greenstock

Ricks writes fluently and eloquently. His book shows what the Americans thought about Iraq, and what they thought the Iraqis thought. [source]

Patrick Cockburn

When you read about Iraq, you need to know that it is a country more divided than almost anywhere else in the world. [source]

70

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

Joby Warrick

4.1

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Joby Warrick reveals how the strain of militant Islam now raising its banner across Iraq and Syria spread from a remote Jordanian prison with the unwitting aid of American military intervention.

When he succeeded his father in 1999, King Abdullah of Jordan released a batch of political prisoners in the hopes of smoothing his transition to power. Little did he know t

71

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men

Caroline Criado Perez

4.1

Imagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, where your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, where in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be seriously injured, where every week the countless hours of work you do are not recognised or valued. If any of this sounds familiar, chances are that you're a woman.

Invisible Women shows us how, in a world largely built fo

Recommended by Adam Wagner, Asher Wolf, Caitlin Moran, and 9 others.

Adam Wagner

@CCriadoPerez @MumsnetTowers I love this - the book, Poppy, the mug - it's so well composed! [source]

Asher Wolf

Tell me your best thing today. Mine was an amazing book and greeting card arrived in the post from the wonderful @MmeEmmeline https://t.co/GpEs2lg037 [source]

Caitlin Moran

@CCriadoPerez mate, I bow in admiration. it's an AMAZING, game-changing book. [source]

72

Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World

Anand Giridharadas

4.1

The New York Times bestselling, groundbreaking investigation of how the global elite's efforts to "change the world" preserve the status quo and obscure their role in causing the problems they later seek to solve. An essential read for understanding some of the egregious abuses of power that dominate today's news.

Anand Giridharadas takes us into the inner sanctums of a new gilded age, where the ri

Recommended by Bill Gates, Tim O'Reilly, Darren Walker, and 4 others.

CEO/Microsoft

In Anand’s thought-provoking book his fresh perspective on solving complex societal problems is admirable. I appreciate his commitment and dedication to spreading social justice. [source]

Tim O'Reilly

Founder/O'Reilly Media

Anand is a deeply insightful thinker, whose view of justice tempered with mercy needs to be widely shared. His forthcoming book is brilliant and important. https://t.co/QIcy3bEZMS [source]

Darren Walker

President/Ford Foundation

A landmark new book. [source]

73

Columbine

Dave Cullen

4.1

"The tragedies keep coming. As we reel from the latest horror . . . " So begins a new epilogue, illustrating how Columbine became the template for nearly two decades of "spectacle murders." It is a false script, seized upon by a generation of new killers. In the wake of Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech, the imperative to understand the crime that sparked this plague grows more urgent every year.

74

The Forever War

Dexter Filkins

4.1

From the front lines of the battle against Islamic fundamentalism, a searing, unforgettable book that captures the human essence of the greatest conflict of our time.

Through the eyes of Dexter Filkins, the prizewinning New York Times correspondent whose work was hailed by David Halberstam as “reporting of the highest quality imaginable,” we witness the remarkable chain of events that began with th

Recommended by Kanan Makiya.

Kanan Makiya

Iraq is a country with a particularly violent history of formation. In this book you capture a flavour of some of the human complexity that history left behind. [source]

75

No Logo

Naomi Klein

4.1

With a new Afterword to the 2002 edition, No Logo employs journalistic savvy and personal testament to detail the insidious practices and far-reaching effects of corporate marketing—and the powerful potential of a growing activist sect that will surely alter the course of the 21st century. First published before the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle, this is an infuriating, inspiring, a

Recommended by Bogdana Butnar and David Lammy.

Bogdana Butnar

I thought I might put my money where my mouth is. I keep whining that young people are not in touch with some essential books on advertising that have helped me shape the way I practise my trade today, but I never did anything about it. So I am starting here the ultimate books to read list. I will add to it as I get suggestions and as more good books get written. [source]

David Lammy

This is another modern classic worth revisiting. It charts how brands have become tangled up with identity – how they stopped being markers of quality and became symbols of identity and markers of status. Logos have moved from the inside label to being splashed all over products. Having a coffee in Starbucks is an experience not a product. What you wear helps signal your worth. [source]

76

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

John Perkins

4.1

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man reveals a game that, according to John Perkins, is "as old as Empire" but has taken on new and terrifying dimensions in an era of globalization. Perkins should know. For many years he worked for an international consulting firm where his main job was to convince LDCs (less developed countries) around the world to accept multibillion-dollar loans for infrastructur

Recommended by Marc Andreessen and Anurag Ramdasan.

Anurag Ramdasan

Amazing insights into the economic warfare cast over the last few decades and its implications on the world in different ways

77

From Beirut to Jerusalem

Thomas L. Friedman

4.1

This extraordinary bestseller is still the most incisive, thought-provoking book ever written about the Middle East. Thomas L. Friedman, twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting, and now the Foreign Affairs columnist on the op-ed page of the New York Times, drew on his ten years in the Middle East to write a book that The Wall Street Journal called "a sparkling intellectual g

78

Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?

Graham Allison

4.1

CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES ARE HEADING TOWARD A WAR NEITHER WANTS. The reason is Thucydides’s Trap, a deadly pattern of structural stress that results when a rising power challenges a ruling one. This phenomenon is as old as history itself. About the Peloponnesian War that devastated ancient Greece, the historian Thucydides explained: “It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in

Recommended by Fareed Zakaria, Kin Kariisa, and Will MacAskill.

Fareed Zakaria

A very smart and important book. [source]

Kin Kariisa

It was such a memorable and humbling moment meeting Prof. Allison Graham, professor of government at Harvard, on the sidelines of Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity here in Jeju Island, South Korea. His book Destined for War is a fascinating read. https://t.co/ZB3HhBHgLY [source]

Will MacAskill

The last 70 years are a fairly unusual state. We don’t really know why they’ve been so unusually peaceful. This could all change in the 21st century. [source]

79

War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence

Ronan Farrow

4.1

American diplomacy is under siege. Offices across the State Department sit empty, while abroad the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. We’re becoming a nation that shoots first and asks questions later.

In an astonishing account ranging from Washington, D.C., to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea in the years since 9/11, acclaimed journalist and form

Recommended by Greta Van Susteren.

Greta Van Susteren

I am getting this book !!! @RonanFarrow is a great journalist - one of the few w/ courage to stand up to power https://t.co/XTtsdeETAI [source]

80

Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time

Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

4.1

The inspiring account of one man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia.

In April 2011, the CBS documentary "60 Minutes" called into question Greg Mortenson's work. The program alleged several inaccuracies in Three Cups of Tea, and its sequel, Stones into Schools, as well as financial improprieties in the operation of Mortenson's Central Asia In

Recommended by Gretchen Peters, Jennifer Steil, and Nicholas Kristof.

Gretchen Peters

I went to a refugee camp after 9/11 where people were living in tents and boiling grass to make tea and at least one family offered to let me sleep in their tent. [source]

Jennifer Steil

Greg Mortenson has changed literally thousands and thousands of lives. [source]

Nicholas Kristof

I think Greg does a very good job of providing a more nuanced portrait of the Islamic world and what is possible in it. [source]

81

Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World

Michael Lewis

4.1

The tsunami of cheap credit that rolled across the planet between 2002 and 2008 was more than a simple financial phenomenon: it was temptation, offering entire societies the chance to reveal aspects of their characters they could not normally afford to indulge.

Icelanders wanted to stop fishing and become investment bankers. The Greeks wanted to turn their country into a piñata stuffed with cash an

Recommended by Chris Dixon.

82

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

4.0

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.

Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thu

Recommended by Bianca Belair.

Bianca Belair

For #BlackHistoryMonth I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 7th Book: The Hate U Give By: Angie Thomas @angiecthomas The movie was really great, but it just hits different when you read the book! https://t.co/rxMH5Uu6JN [source]

83

The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap

Matt Taibbi

4.0

NEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY "THE WASHINGTON POST "AND NPR
A scathing portrait of an urgent new American crisis
Over the last two decades, America has been falling deeper and deeper into a statistical mystery:
"Poverty goes up. Crime goes down. The prison population doubles."
"Fraud by the rich wipes out 40 percent of the world's wealth. The rich get mass

Recommended by Brent Hatley.

Brent Hatley

@mtaibbi That story in your book is maddening. The Divide is one of the best, most enlightening books I've ever read along with @radleybalko's "Rise of the Warrior Cop." [source]

84

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America

Beth Macy

4.0

Beth Macy takes us into the epicenter of America's twenty-plus year struggle with opioid addiction. From distressed small communities in Central Appalachia to wealthy suburbs; from disparate cities to once-idyllic farm towns; it's a heartbreaking trajectory that illustrates how this national crisis has persisted for so long and become so firmly entrenched.

Beginning with a single dealer who lands

85

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide

Carol Anderson

4.0

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016
A Chicago Review of Books Best Nonfiction Book of 2016

From the Civil War to our combustible present, White Rage reframes our continuing conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to blac

86

A Colony in a Nation

Chris Hayes

4.0

New York Times Bestseller

New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice

"An essential and groundbreaking text in the effort to understand how American criminal justice went so badly awry." —Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of Between the World and Me

In A Colony in a Nation, New York Times best-selling author and Emmy Award–winning news anchor Chris Hayes upends the national conversation on policing and democ

Recommended by Charles P. Pierce.

Charles P. Pierce

In case you missed it, @chrislhayes took his own bosses to task over their reaction to the Weinstein case and Ronan Farrow’s book. This took a great deal of integrity but, luckily, Chris has that to spare. [source]

87

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith

Jon Krakauer

4.0

A multilayered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, savage violence, polygamy, and unyielding faith. This is vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction that illuminates an otherwise confounding realm of human behavior.

Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. In Under The Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent

88

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race

Reni Eddo-Lodge

4.0

In 2014, award-winning journalist Reni Eddo-Lodge wrote about her frustration with the way that discussions of race and racism in Britain were being led by those who weren't affected by it. She posted a piece on her blog, entitled: 'Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race' that led to this book.

Exploring issues from eradicated black history to the political purpose of white dominance,

89

Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China

Evan Osnos

4.0

From abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy-or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don't see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes.
As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker,

Recommended by Barack Obama and Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann.

Former USA President

President Obama is spending his Hawaiian vacation playing golf, getting together with high school friends and reading a handful of dark novels set in foreign lands, according to a book list released by the White House Wednesday. The presidential reading list includes … two works of non-fiction for the trip: "Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth and Faith in the New China," by Evan Osnos … . [source]

Dr. Sue Desmond-Hellmann

CEO/Gates Foundation

A standout for me this year was Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, by Evan Osnos. Osnos spent eight years in China as a foreign correspondent, and his book helped me gain insight into today's China through stories of people, some well-known and others ordinary. [source]

Cover unavailable

90

The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels

Jon Meacham

4.0

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear.

Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have repeatedly won the day. Painting surpri

Recommended by Walter Isaacson.

Walter Isaacson

Author

This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book. [source]

91

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief

Lawrence Wright

4.0

A clear-sighted revelation, a deep penetration into the world of Scientology by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the now-classic study of al-Qaeda's 9/11 attack, the Looming Tower. Based on more than two hundred personal interviews with both current and former Scientologists--both famous and less well known--and years of archival research, Lawrence Wright uses his extraordinary investigative s

Recommended by Bryan Callen.

Bryan Callen

I love this author. [source]

92

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families

Philip Gourevitch

4.0

In April of 1994, the government of Rwanda called on everyone in the Hutu majority to kill everyone in the Tutsi minority. Over the next three months, 800,000 Tutsis were murdered in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Philip Gourevitch's haunting work is an anatomy of the killings in Rwanda, a vivid history of the genocide's background, and an unforgettable

Recommended by Mia Farrow.

Mia Farrow

The title is an actual quote from a note to his pastor from a man who knew he was going to be killed the next day. [source]

93

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

Sam Harris

4.0

In The End of Faith, Sam Harris delivers a startling analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a vivid, historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs—even when these beliefs inspire the worst human atrocities. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris draws on insights from ne

Recommended by Antonio Eram, Dr. Andrew Weil, and Evan Carmichael.

Antonio Eram

This book was recommended by Antonio when asked for titles he would recommend to young people interested in his career path. [source]

Dr. Andrew Weil

One of the books that I have commonly given out to people. [source]

Evan Carmichael

His first book, The End of Faith, spent 33 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. He's one of the most sought after speakers in the world. He's Sam Harris and here's my take on his Top 10 Rules for Success! #Believe #EvanCarmichael #SamHarris #entrepreneur #valueyourtime https://t.co/ZL0iUlqCOT [source]

94

The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America

Timothy Snyder

4.0

With the end of the Cold War, the victory of liberal democracy was thought to be absolute. Observers declared the end of history, confident in a peaceful, globalized future. But we now know this to be premature. Authoritarianism first returned in Russia, as Putin developed a political system dedicated solely to the consolidation and exercise of power. In the last six years, it has creeped from eas

Recommended by Yuval Noah Harari.

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian

A brilliant and disturbing analysis, which should be read by anyone wishing to understand the political crisis currently engulfing the world. [source]

95

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West

Blaine Harden

4.0

A New York Times bestseller, the shocking story of one of the few people born in a North Korean political prison to have escaped and survived.

North Korea is isolated and hungry, bankrupt and belligerent. It is also armed with nuclear weapons. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people are being held in its political prison camps, which have existed twice as long as Stalin's Soviet gulags and twelve times

96

World Order

Henry Kissinger

4.0

Henry Kissinger offers in World Order a deep meditation on the roots of international harmony and global disorder. Drawing on his experience as one of the foremost statesmen of the modern era—advising presidents, traveling the world, observing and shaping the central foreign policy events of recent decades—Kissinger now reveals his analysis of the ultimate challenge for the twenty-first century: h

Recommended by Mark Zuckerberg and 1 others.

Founder/Facebook

My next book for A Year of Books is Quantum Physics for Babies! Just kidding. It's actually World Order by Henry Kissinger -- about foreign relations and how we can build peaceful relationships throughout the world. This is important for creating the world we all want for our children, and that's what I'm thinking about these days. [source]

97

The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power

Shoshana Zuboff

4.0

The challenges to humanity posed by the digital future, the first detailed examination of the unprecedented form of power called "surveillance capitalism," and the quest by powerful corporations to predict and control our behavior.

In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The sta

Recommended by Clive Lewis Mp, Dilip Cherian, John Tasioulas, and 3 others.

Clive Lewis Mp

Cant make the brilliant event below? Havent had a chance to read @shoshanazuboff groundbreaking book, ‘Surveillance Capitalism’? Then listen to this brilliant interview with the author as she explains the terrifying scale&ambition of Facebook/Google et al https://t.co/DCtNlFbmE0 https://t.co/ZX0YpW5pOo [source]

Dilip Cherian

Brave New World? Thanks @shoshanazuboff for that amazing book. It's compulsory reading for those trying to make sense of our world now. https://t.co/5nBJWoLS9p [source]

John Tasioulas

2019... Best book: Shoshana Zuboff, “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power” Best political commentary: @HelenHet20 Best film @jokermovie Best restaurant: @farangLDN & @Trullo_LDN (London); Shinoki (Melbourne) [source]

98

We Should All Be Feminists

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

4.0

What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed TEDx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun.

With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one

99

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media

Edward S. Herman

4.0

In this pathbreaking work, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.

Based on a series o

Recommended by Louis Nyffenegger.

100

Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt

Michael Lewis

4.0