We recently asked our Members to recommend a single summer read, and why, and thought we might share some of their recommendations with you. Here are their choices and their reasoning:
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Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd
“I would add Different to the list – unique insight into marketing and strategy tactics that have worked in highly competitive industries.”
“I’m currently madly in love with Alain De Botton’s newest book, The Course of Love. It’s a novel with interludes of philosophy that have really helped me to understand relationships (of all kinds) and nurse a little more empathy for others.”
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All I Want to Know is Where I’m Going to Die So I’ll Never Go There
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Paper Promises: Debt, Money, and the New World Order / The Last Vote: The Threats to Western Democracy
“I find two books from Philip Coggan who writes the Buttonwood column at The Economist very interesting and very topical in these days.”
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
“My choice would be Peak. Because it is by far the best book covering deliberate practice. Could be life changing to anyone new to the field.”
Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Make a Difference
“It’s not the ‘best’ book out there (though it’s very far from the worst). It’s not the most enjoyable read. It’s not the top of the ‘page for page most full of wisdom’ list. But it *is* the one that, were everyone to read it, would have the best chance of making the world a better place (and quite possibly the collective lives of the individuals that read it too).”
“A German classic not so well known in the english-speaking world about an engineer who is exposed to a number of freak events “fooled by randomness”-style which completely changes his intuition about probability.”
Peripheral Visions: Learning along the Way
“A really fantastic book based on Mary Catherine Bateson’s work in foreign cultures. Tough to describe in a nutshell, but the title comes from her encouragement to seek more answers from the periphery, versus what we often find in front of us.
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Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
“I would recommend Seven Brief Lessons on Physics. A bit on the side of science/physics but a nice small read that simplifies the broad concepts in physics.”
The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future
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Want More? Try 5 books that just might change your life, or the list of books that have changed ours.