Business Reads 

Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You by Ali Abdaal 

According to former doctor, entrepreneur and one of the world’s most-followed productivity experts, Ali Abdaal, the secret to productivity isn’t discipline, it’s finding the joy in the doing! 

Drawing on decades of psychological research, Abdaal explains the three hidden "energizers" that result in enjoyable productivity, as well as the three "blockers" we must overcome to stop procrastinating, and the three "sustainers" that will help us to avoid burnout and achieve lasting fulfillment. He also sets out some simple actions you can take, starting today, to achieve a more enjoyable and productive life! 

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith 

In her debut book, the popular clinical psychologist turned TikTok star, Dr Julie Smith, shares a range of powerful coping tips to help people struggling with anxiety, self-doubt and depression. The book is structured in bite-sized snippets, so you can easily skip to the section that most applies to you, depending on the particular challenge you’re facing. From managing anxiety and battling low mood to dealing with criticism and lack of motivation, this book provides practical tips on how to handle the kind of everyday issues we all face that, while small, can really put a dent in our mental health.   

Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention by Johann Hari 

Is our increasing dependency on screens (mobiles, tablets, TVs) leading us to miss out on real life and causing us to lose focus on what really matters? This is what Hari argues in this brilliant book on the art of concentration… and how it’s been stolen from us. The book is the result of a three-year journey Hari undertook to better understand the reasons behind our growing inability to stay focused. From Silicon Valley, to a favela in Rio, to an office in New Zealand that has found a remarkable way to restore attention, Hari uses his research to set out 12 deep causes that lie behind our stolen focus – and explains what we can do to take it back. 

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear 

World-renowned habits expert James Clear argues that too often people try to break bad habits by making big changes, but that, actually, it’s the tiny changes that are really transformative. Doing two push-ups a day, for example, or waking up five minutes early – Clear argues that it’s these small things that can grow into life-altering outcomes. He also provides some simple life hacks and delves into the neuroscience of habit changing, backing up his findings with some inspirational stories from Olympic gold medalists and leading CEOs who have used this science to stay productive, happy and motivated.  

The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin 

From the hit producer behind acts like the Beastie Boys, Jay-Z and Neil Young, "The Creative Act" shines a light on the creative process and shows us how we can all be creative, if only we allow ourselves to be. Rubin reflects on his decades-long career helping musical artists to break free of self-imposed expectations and create something different, new and unexpected. And he argues that being an artist isn’t about your output, but about your relationship with the world.  

Impromptu: Amplifying Our Humanity Through AI by Reid Hoffman with GPT-4 

From the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn, Impromptu explores how AI, and large language models like GPT-4, can elevate humanity across key areas such as education, business and creativity. But this isn’t just a book – it’s a conversation. In it, Hoffman writes about GPT-4, but also interacts and writes with it, to help readers understand the technology’s limitations and its capabilities. His conversation with AI takes us on a journey into the future, where AI is not a threat but a partner – one that we can work with to boost human progress.  

Non-fiction 

The Future of Geography: How Power and Politics in Space Will Change Our World by Tim Marshall 

"Our view of space is changing. It is now, more than ever, becoming an extension of the geography of Earth… " 

In this follow-up to his previous book on Earth’s geography, "The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future," Marshall turns his attention to the skies and traces the history of our relationship to the stars – from how the Babylonians used them to create the seven-day week, to Copernicus and Galileo’s discovery that the Earth orbited the sun, to Georges Lemaitre’s Big Bang theory and the Space Race of the 1960s. Marshall argues we are now in a new space race era, one that’s being led by the U.S., Russia and China, and explores how this trifecta of powers is affecting the geopolitics of our planet and what it might mean for our future.  

The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland 

In April 1944, 19-year-old Rudolf Vrba and fellow inmate, Fred Wetzler became two of the very first Jewish prisoners to escape Auschwitz. In this masterpiece, Freedland traces the two men’s journey, past electrified fences and guard dogs, evading thousands of SS soldiers, across marshlands, mountains and rivers, and finally, to freedom. A brilliant student of science, Vrba memorized all the atrocities he saw, risking everything to tell the world his story. This eventually formed a 32-page report that would reach Roosevelt, Churchill and the Pope, and save over 200,000 lives. Now, finally, Freedland tells the heroic story of a man whose life has been forgotten, until now. 

A Brief History of Black Holes and Why Nearly Everything You Know About Them Is Wrong by Dr Becky Smethurst 

Did you know the concept of black holes was first theorized by a priest in the 1700s? Or that Einstein denied that black holes existed? Or that the term "black hole" didn’t come into existence until the 1970s? 

But what is a black hole, really? And how is it affecting our universe? In "A Brief History of Black Holes," Oxford researcher and popular YouTube star Dr Becky Smethurst charts our discovery of black holes, taking us through the earliest theories, to the first iconic photographs of black holes, to how they might shape the end of the universe.  

What If? 2 by Randall Munroe 

What if the solar system up to Jupiter was filled with soup? What would happen to you if you were hanging on a helicopter blade and then someone turned it on? If the universe stopped expanding, how long would it take for us to drive a car all the way to the edge? 

These are just some of the weird and wonderful hypothetical questions that cartoonist and author Randall Munroe attempts to answer in this fun and, at times, absurd, follow up to "What If?" Randall cleverly consults the most recent scientific research to try to explain everything you’ve ever pondered in his original, creative style. 

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann 

On January 28, 1742, a ramshackle raft put together from wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. On it were 30 emaciated men, barely alive. They were survivors of HMS Wager, a British vessel that left England in 1740 on a secret mission during the imperial war with Spain. During its voyage, the ship had been wrecked on a desolate island off the coast of Patagonia. The 30 survivors were greeted as heroes. That is, until six months later, when another raft landed, this time on the coast of Chile. The boat contained just three castaways, who told a very different story – that the 30 sailors who’d arrived in Brazil weren’t heroes but mutineers. 

"The Wager" is a grand tale of mutiny, murder and the limits of human behavior under extreme pressure. One of the greatest non-fiction writers of our time, Grann brings to life this wild tale of treachery, survival and betrayal. 

Scatter Brain by Shaparak Khorsandi  

During her 40s, popular comedian Shaparak Khorsandi was diagnosed with ADHD. Now, she looks back through her life following her diagnosis in this wonderful book about self-discovery. From reveling in the joys of shoplifting to finally understanding her attraction to toxic men, "Scatter Brain" will have you laughing and crying as you find out what it’s really like to live a life that can, at times, feel out of control.  

Fiction 

The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett 

"You have a key that opens a safe deposit box. Inside is a bundle of documents… You must read it all and make a decision. Either: replace the documents and the box, then throw the key where it will never be found or take everything to the police." 

Presented as a dossier of evidence, including transcripts, texts and emails, Hallett’s new novel focuses on the mysterious case of the Alperton Angels – a cult who brainwashed a teenage girl and convinced her that her newborn baby was the Antichrist. Discovered by the police, the cult eventually committed suicide, while the girl and baby disappeared into the care system. Nearly two decades later, crime writer Amanda Bailey is on the case to discover what happened to the mother and child. But not everything is what it seems and the truth may be far darker than she’d ever imagined. 

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor 

3 a.m., New Delhi. A Mercedes owned by a playboy heir jumps the curb, killing five people. What follows is a page-turning crime thriller that delves into the murky underworld of the wealthy Wadia family – loved by some, loathed by others, but feared by all. Deftly shifting through time and perspective, we are introduced to Ajay, the watchful servant, born into poverty; Sunny, the playboy heir who dreams of outshining his father; and Neda, the curious journalist caught between morality and desire. Branded the "new Godfather," "Age of Vice" is a tale of gangsters and lovers, and the consequences of corruption. 

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano 

"For the first six days of William Waters' life, he was not an only child." This is the tragedy that shapes William Waters' life, growing up in a house filled with grief and parents who can barely look at him, much less love him. So, when he meets Julia Padavano in his freshman year of college, his world suddenly lights up. She and her three sisters give William the family he’s always dreamed of. But darkness from William’s past resurfaces, and it’s not long before his and Julia’s carefully orchestrated plans for the future are shaken, resulting in a catastrophic family rift that changes their lives for generations. 

In this homage to Louisa May Alcott’s classic, "Little Women," Napolitano paints a moving portrait of what is possible when we choose to love someone not in spite of who they are, but because of it. 

Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang 

Athena Liu is a literary darling on a career trajectory that would make anybody jealous. Meanwhile, her best friend June Hayward is literally a nobody. 

So, when Athena dies in a freak accident, June decides to steal her unpublished manuscript and publish it under the name Juniper Song. But, as evidence threatens to uncover June’s stolen success, we discover just how far she’ll go to keep what she thinks she deserves, with deadly consequences. 

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng 

12-year-old Bird Gardner lives a quiet existence with his father, a former linguist who now works as a university librarian. Bird knows how to blend in, not to ask too many questions or stray too far. Because for a decade they’ve been living by laws designed to protect "American culture" following years of economic instability and violence – something blamed solely on Asian people. All of this resulted in a world filled with violence, mistrust and deceit. As well as the burning of books by Asian authors – including a poetry book written by Bird’s Chinese-American mother, who he last saw when he was just nine years old. 

But, after receiving a cryptic note that he believes to be from his mother, Bird sets out on a quest to find her. His journey takes him into an underground resistance network of librarians, where he discovers the many lives of missing children, before reaching the streets of New York, where a new act of defiance is being planned that could lead to a much-needed change. 

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1990. War photographer, gambler and closet gay, Maali Almeida has woken up dead in what seems to be some kind of celestial office. He now has a choice – stay and make peace with his fate or find out who killed him. But he only has seven moons to discover the culprit. Set in a time of brutal insurrections that plagued Sri Lanka during the 80s, Karunatilaka’s Booker-prize-winning novel takes us on a journey that is at times both violent and funny, beautiful but sad, as we discover exactly what happened to Maali Almeida and why. 

About the Author:

Senior editor, Lucy has over 10 years’ experience writing, editing and commissioning content. She regularly contributes to the Mind Tools blog, heads up Mind Tools’ video learning series, and particularly enjoys exploring and experimenting with new video formats. When she’s not producing fantastic new learning content, she can be found enjoying nature with her two kids and delving into the latest book on her very long reading list!

The post Holiday Reads 2023 appeared first on Mind Tools.

And what better way to relax during the holidays than to pick up a good book? Here are some fun and thought-provoking business, nonfiction and fiction titles for you to enjoy during your time off.

Business Summer Reads

The No Club by Linda Babcock, Brenda Peyser, Lise Vesterlund, and Laurie Weingart 

Five women formed a supportive club after realizing that they all had trouble saying "no" to requests at work. Their insights led to several years of research on workplace patterns where women are expected to take on unrewarded, "non-promotable" tasks. The authors explore the reasons behind this dynamic, and suggest solutions. 

While the club started with encouragement to say "no" to excessive work tasks, it evolved into an in-depth investigation of gender and organizational dynamics. It isn’t enough for individual women to turn tasks down – that usually means that another woman will get saddled with them!

The authors investigate the implications of women taking on extra tasks at work, such as overload and imbalance, and offer methods for both individuals and organizations to address this problem.

The Long Game by Dorie Clark 

In a world that moves quickly, you can stand out by thinking long term and acting strategically.

Clark argues that long-term thinking is the best way to build meaningful and lasting success. By deliberately setting the terms for our development, we can "attain almost anything, but not right away." 

"The Long Game" teaches us how to clear time in our busy schedules for strategic thinking, focus on the things that matter for our values and goals, and move forward in the face of obstacles. Once we identify the right goals for the long-term outcomes we seek, we can make small changes that have a big impact on our future over time.

This book’s radical focus on patience and long-term gain is a wonderful antidote to a culture focused on the short term. 

Out of Office by Charlie Warzel and Anne Helen Petersen 

Here, Warzel and Peterson have literally written the book on working from home – one that’s especially relevant as more companies move to hybrid and home-based working models.

They tackle the challenges of working from home, arguing that this new way of working requires a genuinely new philosophy, rather than maintaining toxic norms of office culture in a new location. 

"Out of Office" calls on us to reconceptualize the workplace by understanding the underpinnings of current work culture, and the changes we can – and should – make.

Flexibility, culture, technology, and community all come under investigation as the authors engage with workers and managers in reimagining our relationship to office life. "Remote work can change your life," the authors argue, but only if we change the paradigm. 

Bias Interrupted by Joan C. Williams 

Despite spending billions of dollars on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, many companies have had disproportionately low results in diversifying their workforces and combating bias. Williams advocates for efforts that move beyond discussion and bias training, and focus instead on evidence-based methods that create small, impactful changes to systems. 

"Bias Interrupted" presents research and evidence on what biased behavior consists of in the workplace, and metric-based strategies to address it. Learn about overlooked forms of bias, such as social class and maternal-wall bias, and discover strategies to preserve positive company values while supporting a diverse team.

Most people that Williams spoke with believe in meritocracy. Combating bias means that the best person has access to the job and is able to make their best contribution – no matter their demographic or background.

How Boards Work by Dambisa Moyo 

Whenever a company scandal hits, corporate boards come under question. Right now, boards are facing more challenges than ever, including economic, environmental and geopolitical crises – along with changes in what's expected of them. But what do they actually do?

Moyo draws on over a decade of experience as a corporate board member to educate investors, policymakers, the public, and future board members about boards’ operations, their structure, and how they strategize and make difficult decisions.

She tackles the challenges that boards will face in the coming years, and advocates for reform strategies that boards can undertake in order to adapt successfully.

Social changes and corporate decisions are closely linked, and this book is vital reading for anyone involved with a board who wants to navigate this changing landscape gracefully.

Nonfiction Summer Reads

The Power of Regret by Daniel H. Pink 

Daniel Pink begins his book with anecdotes about tattoos.

People around the world have embraced the same motto, many to the point of featuring it permanently on their bodies: "No regrets." But Pink has a bone to pick with that credo. Regrets, he argues, can be harnessed to make our lives better.

Pink draws on research that he conducted around the world to explore the regrets that we hold, and the power of this emotion to help us make better choices and build a meaningful life.

He explores four core categories of regrets: those involving boldness and taking chances; those about building solid foundations for our life; moral regrets; and regrets involving connection with others.

Our regrets, Pink concludes, show us what we value most. He offers methods to use our regrets for making changes in our lives that will bring them in line with our hopes and dreams. 

Poor Little Sick Girls by Ione Gamble 

With a rise in chronic illness during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ione Gamble’s book about illness and feminism is timely. Gamble uses her personal experiences living with Crohn’s disease as a springboard to explore what it’s like to navigate a modern world that is in many ways unsupportive of the chronically ill. 

Through the lens of living with a disability, Gamble takes an unflinching look at many of our cultural assumptions, including those prevalent in this age of social media feminism.

"Poor Little Sick Girls" questions our obsession with productivity, the importance of self-care (and the ambiguity of what self-care truly consists of), body positivity, concepts of taste, and the supposed impartiality of medical treatment. Delve into these essays for compelling critique and insight. 

Empowered by Vee Kativhu 

Vee Kativhu is an accomplished young author, speaker, and girls’ education advocate who believes in the power of finding your purpose.

In "Empowered," she shares stories of her childhood in Zimbabwe, the adversities she faced, and her journey toward Oxford and Harvard education, and a life aligned with her values. 

Kativhu seeks to "empower, educate and fight for those whose voices are so often silenced," and she acts as an experienced guide to the reader in finding and following their own personal mission.

Readers will find practical advice and illuminating examples of how to maintain motivation, take chances and find their power. 

Spring Tides by Fiona Gell 

This reflective and eloquent book details the personal and professional journey of a marine conservationist on the Isle of Man.

Gell grew up with strong ties to her island’s unique culture and the ocean that surrounds it. As a marine biologist, she traveled and studied oceans around the world, then returned twelve years later to the island she came from. 

Gell describes Manx culture and traditions, and explores in depth the uniqueness and beauty of the island’s marine environment, from close encounters with basking sharks to the surprising beauty of molluscs. She chronicles the failures and successes of marine-conservation initiatives that she worked with, and describes the challenges our oceans face today.

"Spring Tides" invites us to connect with our own environments and become participants in the fight for ocean conservation. 

How the World Really Works by Vaclav Smil 

Scientist Vaclav Smil’s most accessible book delves into seven fundamentals of the modern world and its workings. Recommended by Bill Gates, this broad yet detailed survey covers energy, food production, the material world, globalization, risks, the environment, and the future.

While many thinkers focus on digital innovation as they look to the future, key to Smil’s interdisciplinary insights are the vast physical changes that have transformed the way we live.

You’ll learn, for example, what energy consists of and why we’re becoming more, not less, reliant on fossil fuels, as well as how we can feed the world’s growing population and where manufacturing’s dominant materials come from.

Data backs up Smil’s insights on climate change, pandemics, and realistic views of future trends. If you’ve ever wondered about the underpinnings of our modern, complex reality, this book should answer some of your questions. 

Fiction Summer Reads

Nevada by Imogen Binnie

Binnie’s groundbreaking novel follows a disaffected punk trans woman, Maria, who embarks on a road trip from New York to Nevada and meets a young person she aspires to mentor.

Maria is a fascinating and memorable protagonist, one of the first trans characters written as a messy, complicated human rather than the conclusion of a tidy, palatable narrative – "I transitioned and now my life is better."

Maria’s situation is complicated, her emotions heartfelt. Her attempts to live by her values and connect with another (possibly trans) person who reminds her of her younger self do not go as planned. Originally published in 2013, "Nevada" has now been reissued for a new generation of readers –especially fans of "Detransition, Baby" – to enjoy and relate to. 

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi 

Scalzi’s latest novel is notable for being both a fun science fiction romp and one of the first novels to describe the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s 2020 and Jamie Gray has been laid off from a tech start-up job. While delivering food, Jamie runs into an old classmate and is offered a better opportunity, doing manual labor for an organization that works with "large animals."

Turns out that’s an understatement. The "animals" are kaiju (think giant movie monsters), nuclear-generating creatures that live on an alternate earth. Jamie’s new company is tasked with studying and preserving them. But things go awry when an enemy from Jamie’s past shows up. The character dynamics and the monsters are portrayed with equal delight. 

Book Lovers by Emily Henry 

You know that city girlfriend in romantic comedies, the one who gets dumped by a man who goes to the country to demolish or take over a small business, but meets a laid-back woman who shows him the real meaning of life? "Book Lovers" is that city girlfriend’s story.

Nora is a driven New York literary agent who loves her work and her younger sister. After yet another breakup, she agrees to holiday with her sister in a small town, where she runs into none other than her work nemesis, editor Charlie Lastra. 

Henry’s latest romance blends a snarky and tender love story and an insider look at publishing, with insights about the stories we tell ourselves and the importance of being true to who we are.

Nora may believe herself to be the villain in someone else’s story (and it doesn’t help that her client’s new novel features an unflattering caricature of her), but she – and her grumpy counterpart Charlie – can write a new one. 

People Person by Candice Carty-Williams 

Carty-Williams follows up her bestseller "Queenie" with the story of five half-siblings united by a mostly absent father.

Cyril Pennington is a jovial Jamaican-British commitment-phobe who cares more about his jeep than the children he left four separate women to raise alone. One day he decides that his children should meet and takes them to the park. 

While the oldest sister promises to be there if the others need her, they don’t see each other again until adulthood, when Dimple, "the sensitive one," finds herself in a situation she needs help with, and these siblings who barely know each other suddenly become vitally intertwined.

A compelling read that touches on themes of crime, racism, identity in the social media age, belonging, and family. 

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho 

19-year-old Ivy League graduate Jess has a lot on her plate. Her family just moved back to Malaysia from the U.S., she’s hiding her girlfriend and her sexuality from them, she doesn’t have a job, and on top of all that, she’s suddenly being haunted by her dead grandmother!

Soon Jess is knee-deep in gang rivalries and the affairs of gods she's never previously believed in. Her new life’s trials require reserves of strength she didn’t know she had. "Black Water Sister" is a compelling, well-paced ghost story about family, vengeance and finding yourself. 

We hope you find time to relax and read some good books this season. What’s on your holiday reading list? Let us know in the comments below! 

© Original artwork from Anna Montgomery.

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