McKinsey’s annual book recommendations are back and updated for 2024.

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2022 summer reading guide

McKinsey’s annual book list from leaders, authors, and editors is back—with something for everyone.

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The year 2022 is shaping up to be yet another of extraordinary change and uncertainty, but also one of resilience. Despite the ongoing effects of war and inflation, we’re seeing a renewed drive toward sustainable and inclusive growth around the world. So, when it came time for our annual summer reading guide, it didn’t surprise us that CEOs and other leaders seemed to be gravitating toward genres that offered not just possible answers, but also historical context and lessons—with plenty of poetry, psychology, and fiction thrown in to provide much-needed respite.

McKinsey Global Publishing’s Raju Narisetti asked a range of leaders around the world (some of them pictured here)—CEOs, founders, Nobel Prize winners, editors-in-chief, economists, and government leaders to share what they are reading—and hope to read—in what is a traditional rite of passage, at least in large parts of the world: the annual summer reading guide. This year, we also reached out to authors of some of our favorite books who were featured in McKinsey’s own Author Talks series, to also tell us what they were reading. And, weighing in with their picks, are several of our own leaders from McKinsey.

Contributors

Indra Nooyi
Reid Hoffman
Jen L. Wong
Esther Duflo
Janeen Uzzell
Kevin Merida
Leslie Maasdorp
Marc Rosen
Matt Murray
Mina Al-Oraibi
Abhijit Banerjee
Bob Sternfels
Børge Brende
Christi Shaw
Daisy Veerasingham
Óscar García Maceiras
Paul Hudson
Radhika Jones
François-Philippe Champagne
Tracy Francis

The bookshelves of our contributors did not disappoint—in a sign of the times, they selected books in genres including politics and government, history, science and technology, business and economics, workplace culture, and more. And the most talked about books of the year center on paving the path to a better future.

Biography & memoir

Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind

Andy Dunn

Penguin Random House, May 2022

Reshma Saujani

Founder, Girls Who Code; CEO, Marshall Plan for Moms

Considered one of the most anticipated books of the year, [this book] documents Dunn’s journey building Bonobos—the groundbreaking menswear line—while also grappling with a hidden mental illness, and how ignoring his diagnosis was nearly his undoing.

Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History

Lea Ypi

W. W. Norton & Company, January 2022

Azeem Azhar

Creator, Exponential View

Ypi experienced Albania as a hermetic, communist state and witnessed its dramatic shift into a shaky capitalist democracy. An eye-opening memoir that reminds us of the richness of the individual spirit and the hard choices that some have to make.

Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law

Haben Girma

Hachette Book Group, August 2019

Sinéad Burke

CEO, Tilting the Lens

I recently interviewed Haben Girma, who told me about her experiences as a Deafblind, Black woman studying law at the prestigious institution: ‘Harvard had to overcome years of sexism, racism, and ableism—and they have more work to do.’ In this memoir, she shares her life story so far.

Healing: When a Nurse Becomes a Patient

Theresa Brown

Workman Publishing, April 2022

Christi Shaw

CEO, Kite Pharma

As a former caregiver to my sister when she was battling cancer, I understand firsthand the complexities of navigating the healthcare system. This book deeply resonates in capturing the difficulties patients and caregivers face from the moment of diagnosis onward.

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

J. D. Vance

HarperCollins Publishers, June 2016

Chris Bradley

Senior partner, McKinsey

A compelling portrait of those left behind.

His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice

Toluse Olorunnipa and Robert Samuels

Penguin Random House, May 2022

Kevin Merida

Executive editor, Los Angeles Times

George Floyd’s murder accelerated the conversations in America about racial injustice, the fight for equity, the nature of policing, the quality of our workplaces, how we talk to and live with each other, and much more. I was happy to see this book, by two writers whose journalism I admire, because of the singular impact Floyd’s killing had on the world in 2020. Now, we get to learn more deeply who George Floyd actually was and to put his martyrdom in context—thanks to Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa. I am eager to read it.

In the Shadow of the Mountain: A Memoir of Courage

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado

Macmillan, February 2022

Lloyd B. Minor

Dean, Stanford University School of Medicine

I found Silvia Vasquez-Lavado’s life story so illuminating and inspiring. This Silicon Valley executive and conqueror of the world’s tallest peaks eloquently shares a meaningful lesson learned from her success in these male-dominated spaces: ‘Strong is not the opposite of soft.’

It Was All a Dream: Biggie and the World That Made Him

Justin Tinsley

Abrams, May 2022

Kevin Merida

Executive editor, Los Angeles Times

I am halfway through Justin Tinsley’s compelling biography of the Notorious B.I.G., and I’m appreciating how he carefully unspools the journey of Christopher Wallace, who went from hustling on Brooklyn’s corners to becoming one of rap’s biggest stars until he was killed at age 24. Justin presents Biggie’s short life and unfulfilled promise brilliantly, with an original voice that has made him one of our finest cultural storytellers.

My Life in Full: Work, Family, and Our Future

Indra Nooyi

Penguin Random House, September 2021

Sylvana Quader Sinha

Founder and CEO, Praava Health

As a South Asian American woman business executive and founder, it was extraordinarily inspirational and invigorating to hear in first person the journey of the first woman of color and US immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company. I listened to this one on Audible, narrated by Ms. Nooyi herself.

Never Enough: A Navy SEAL Commander on Living a Life of Excellence, Agility, and Meaning

Mike Hayes

Macmillan, February 2021

Eric Kutcher

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book is about learning to lead, with lessons from a national hero who lived every day with ambiguity and adversity.

Out of Thin Air: Running Wisdom and Magic from above the Clouds in Ethiopia

Michael Crawley

Bloomsbury Publishing, January 2021

Bob Sternfels

Global managing partner, McKinsey

I love Ethiopia and the <i>sisu</i> throughout the book.

Personal History

Katharine Graham

Penguin Random House, February 1998

Óscar García Maceiras

CEO, Inditex

I am passionate about journalism—a profession I admire and, had I ended up doing it, I suspect I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. On the 50th anniversary of the Watergate scandal, I really want to start my summer by reading the memoirs of the great Katharine Graham, a woman whose career as publisher of the <i>Washington Post</i> fascinates me, and I’m looking forward to learning more about the personal experiences that she describes in the book.

Phil: The Rip-Roaring (and Unauthorized!) Biography of Golf’s Most Colorful Superstar

Alan Shipnuck

Simon & Schuster, May 2022

Eric Kutcher

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book is about following passions, learning work ethic, and the challenges of a Hall of Fame golfer.

Shine Bright: A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop

Danyel Smith

Penguin Random House, April 2022

Kevin Merida

Executive editor, Los Angeles Times

I will literally read anything Danyel Smith writes. Her depth and insight on the meaning of music and the culture at large are hard to beat. She writes with feeling and grace and authority—with special sauce. So, of course, I can’t wait to read what Danyel has to say about Aretha, Gladys, Dionne, Janet, Mariah, Whitney, and all the other iconic Black women of pop music. I also want to read Danyel on Danyel, who deserves to be, to quote a passage in her intro, ‘known and understood.’

Ten Steps to Nanette: A Memoir Situation

Hannah Gadsby

Penguin Random House, March 2022

Tracy Francis

Senior partner, McKinsey

I laughed and wept, sometimes simultaneously, as I watched the Netflix show in April or May of 2020, far from home. Gadsby’s Australian childhood was different from mine—I wanted to understand hers and hear her distinctive voice more.

Terms & Conditions: Life in Girls’ Boarding Schools, 1939–1979

Ysenda Maxtone Graham

Slightly Foxed, November 2016

Radhika Jones

Editor in chief, Vanity Fair

I recently discovered this charming UK imprint called Slightly Foxed at one of my favorite bookstores, Savoy Bookshop in Westerly, Rhode Island. They do reissues of classic, under-the-radar memoirs. This one is about life in girls’ boarding schools in mid-20th-century England, and it is hilarious from the first page.

The Argonauts

Maggie Nelson

Gray Wolf Press, January 2016

Albert Wenger

Managing partner, Union Square Ventures

Gender has become a fulcrum of the culture wars. The combination of theory with lived experience provides an important perspective.

The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel

Kati Marton

Simon & Schuster, October 2021

Indra Nooyi

Former CEO, PepsiCo

This is a compelling chronicle of an extraordinary leader. Marton makes a reader feel as though she’s walking alongside Merkel through each pivotal point in her journey. It’s a captivating portrait that I found hard to put down.

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

Edmund de Waal

Macmillan, August 2011

Pierre M. Gentin

Senior partner, McKinsey

I recently visited the historic and beautiful villa of the art collector Baroness Ephrussi de Rothschild in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in France. Following that visit, a number of friends recommended Edmund de Waal’s well-regarded book about the Ephrussi banking family and its dramatic story.

This Will All Be Over Soon: A Memoir

Cecily Strong

Simon & Schuster, August 2021

Christi Shaw

CEO, Kite Pharma

After losing my mother and sister to cancer and now leading a team driven to help those impacted by the disease, I empathize with Cecily Strong, who lost her cousin to glioblastoma shortly before the pandemic struck. Strong’s book details the valuable lessons she learned, and I look forward to reading how they may overlap with my own.

Toast: The Story of a Boy’s Hunger

Nigel Slater

Penguin Random House, September 2011

Abhijit Banerjee

Nobel Prize laureate; economist; author, Cooking to Save Your Life

I would like to munch through Nigel Slater’s much-praised <i>Toast</i>, partly—but only partly—with the goal of gauging what it would take to write a food memoir, which is one of my secret ambitions. I suspect, based on previously having enjoyed Mr. Slater’s wonderful prose, that it will stop me from trying.

Xi: A Study in Power

Kerry Brown

Icon Books, May 2022

Leslie Maasdorp

Vice president and CFO, New Development Bank

Professor Brown, a leading scholar on China, dissects the essence of who Xi Jinping is, his vision for China, and what it means for the world. Most outsiders in the West don’t know much about the man at the helm of modern China even though he leads the second-largest political and economic powerhouse.

Business & economics

21st Century Monetary Policy: The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19

Ben S. Bernanke

W. W. Norton & Company, May 2022

Matt Murray

Editor in chief, Wall Street Journal

A must-read on current events and business—a new book on central banking.

Build for Tomorrow: An Action Plan for Embracing Change, Adapting Fast, and Future-Proofing Your Career

Jason Feifer

Penguin Random House, September 2022

Neil Hoyne

Chief measurement strategist, Google

Jason [Feifer], who serves as the editor in chief of <i>Entrepreneur</i> magazine, distills down lessons from the world’s most successful change makers. Conversations we all wish we could have personally but are fortunate enough to share in through his wonderful storytelling.

Build the Damn Thing: How to Start a Successful Business If You’re Not a Rich White Guy

Kathryn Finney

Penguin Random House, June 2022

Kiersten Saunders

Cocreator, rich & REGULAR

I haven’t cracked the spine on this one yet, but I am so eager to. As a fellow rule breaker, Kathryn has been a mentor in my head for a while. I’ve watched her navigate spaces as ‘the only,’ and I’m in awe of what she’s accomplished. I can’t wait to benefit from her wisdom.

Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Thomas Piketty (translated by Arthur Goldhammer)

Harvard University Press, August 2017

Amy Webb

Founder and CEO, Future Today Institute

Given the current soul-crushing amount of deep economic uncertainty and our widening wealth gap, I decided to reread <i>Capital</i>. COVID-19’s enduring influence, combined with Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine, will have long-range aftershocks. I’m using this book to help me imagine different plausible scenarios for the future of free market capitalism in America. If we stay on our current path, what might the future evolution of income distribution look like? (I’m not feeling optimistic.)

Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose

Tony Hsieh

Hachette Book Group, June 2010

Sylvana Quader Sinha

Founder and CEO, Praava Health

This is a book I read when I first started my company in 2014. Reading it again now, after Zappos’s founder Tony Hsieh’s premature death at the age of 47 in 2020, and eight years into my own entrepreneurial journey, was both poignant and also revealed new lessons on how to build and scale an employee-driven culture and a company obsessed with customer service.

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done

Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan

Penguin Random House, June 2002

Jen L. Wong

COO, Reddit

A highly practical and digestible book for managers on how to execute effectively and move from being good to great in terms of getting things done. A great book to give to a team.

Maverick: The Success Story behind the World’s Most Unusual Workplace

Ricardo Semler

Hachette Book Group, April 1995

Noel Quinn

CEO, HSBC

I first read this book many years ago and plan to read it again. I wouldn’t advise adopting everything that Semler did after he took over the family business. But understanding his approach stretches your thinking on both the art of the possible and the art of leadership.

No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention

Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer

Penguin Random House, September 2020

Daisy Veerasingham

President and CEO, the Associated Press

As a new leader, [I found] this book fascinating as it challenges traditional thinking on leadership—how you can inspire employees rather than manage, for example. It explores why a global company needs a global culture and how to drive change by focusing on the customer.

Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo

PublicAffairs, March 2012

Shankar Vedantam

Creator and host, Hidden Brain

Most of us have opinions on how to fix poverty. In [this book, the authors] share new ways of thinking about the issue. Better yet, they offer research-backed solutions for fixing it.

The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking

Saifedean Ammous

Wiley, April 2018

David Vélez

Cofounder and CEO, Nubank

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

The Key Man: The True Story of How the Global Elite Was Duped by a Capitalist Fairy Tale

Simon Clark and Will Louch

HarperCollins Publishers, July 2021

Katherine Garrett-Cox

CEO, Gulf International Bank (UK)

The book sheds light on the rise and fall of [UAE-based private-equity firm] Abraaj—a salutary tale of how power can corrupt and capitalism can fail those who need it most.

The Next Age of Uncertainty: How the World Can Adapt to a Riskier Future

Stephen Poloz

Penguin Random House, February 2022

François-Philippe Champagne

Minister of innovation, science, and industry, Government of Canada

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

The Voltage Effect: How to Make Good Ideas Great and Great Ideas Scale

John A. List

Penguin Random House, February 2022

Neil Hoyne

Chief measurement strategist, Google

The idea of scaling a business is a misunderstood idea, frequently distilled down into metrics of sheer size and volume. A leading economist shares his approach—grounded in real-world examples—to the opportunity.

The World for Sale: Money, Power, and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources

Javier Blas and Jack Farchy

Oxford University Press, March 2021

Leslie Maasdorp

Vice president and CFO, New Development Bank

Blas and Farchy’s corporate thriller is about the political and economic influence of modern-day traders of leading commodities. Over the decades, these traders who barter the world’s oil, metals, and food have not been renowned for transparency. The book illuminates the role of these power brokers in shaping the world as we know it.

The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk

Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber

Simon & Schuster, June 2022

Lisa Witter

CEO, Apolitical Foundation; cofounder, Apolitical

For all the data, stories, and ideas in one place, I’m reading Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber’s vision of a new paradigm of gender-focused investing where more women are placed in decision-making roles and able to optimize their skills across all capital markets.

Fiction, poetry & essays

Bluebird, Bluebird

Attica Locke

Hachette Book Group, August 2018

Abhijit Banerjee

Nobel Prize laureate; economist; author, Cooking to Save Your Life

I would like to work through the entire set of novels by Attica Locke. Attica Locke is an African American from Texas who writes <i>roman policiers</i> about race, violence, and society in rural Texas, with a lushness and intimacy that is very distinctive.

Brown Girls

Daphne Palasi Andreades

Penguin Random House, January 2022

S. Mitra Kalita

CEO, URL Media; publisher, Epicenter NYC

This is a debut novel by Daphne Palasi Andreades, and the premise—a group of diverse young women and their families growing up in Queens—feels too close to home to not love it. I am reading with an eye toward suggesting the book for Epicenter NYC’s inaugural book club, too.

Complete Tales & Poems of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

Penguin Random House, September 1975

Ozgur Tanrikulu

Senior partner, McKinsey

Somehow, nowadays, I am thinking a lot about my childhood. Edgar Allen Poe’s stories, which I really loved back then, bring back many memories.

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Alice Wong

Penguin Random House, June 2020

Sinéad Burke

CEO, Tilting the Lens

Fifteen percent of the global population are disabled—yet they continue to be underrepresented in media and culture at large. Alice Wong has assembled this impressive collection of personal essays by Disabled people, celebrating the richness, diversity, and complexity of the community.

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

Rebecca Wells

HarperCollins Publishers, December 2004

S. Mitra Kalita

CEO, URL Media; publisher, Epicenter NYC

I confess I spent my first full beach day of the summer immersed in this book. I know, I know. Everyone has already read Rebecca Wells’ novel [originally published in 1996], which went on to become a movie. As my eldest heads off to college, I am reading this classic about mother–daughter relationships and tight-knit circles of ride-or-die friendships with an entirely new lens.

Dogs of Summer

Andrea Abreu

Penguin Random House, August 2022

Óscar García Maceiras

CEO, Inditex

This novel has been on my to-read list since the summer of 2020, when it became a true literary phenomenon in Spain. The book has received tremendous praise. Andrea Abreu is seen as having invented a new literary language based on the Canary Islands dialect, and her story of friendship between two girls is said to generate excitement on every page. At the age of just 27, the author has recently been included on the list of the best young writers in Spanish, which the British magazine <i>Granta</i> compiles every ten years.

Just by Looking at Him

Ryan O’Connell

Simon & Schuster, June 2022

Sinéad Burke

CEO, Tilting the Lens

Sharp and hilarious at the same time, just like the author himself. This novel by Ryan O’Connell is a tale about belonging and navigating multiple identities—including queerness and disability—while finding oneself.

Klara and the Sun

Kazuo Ishiguro

Penguin Random House, March 2021

Laxman Narasimhan

CEO, Reckitt Benckiser

Kazuo Ishiguro explores faith and rationality in a dystopian world where children have companions with artificial intelligence.

Middlemarch

George Eliot (foreword by Rebecca Mead)

Penguin Random House, November 2015

Tracy Francis

Senior partner, McKinsey

Summer is a good time for some classic fiction!

On Photography

Susan Sontag

Macmillan, August 2001

Abhijit Banerjee

Nobel Prize laureate; economist; author, Cooking to Save Your Life

I would like to reread Susan Sontag’s wonderful <i>On Photography</i>. Pithy, opinionated, and full of surprising insights, this essay parses the reasons that make photography an art, as well as the challenges it inherently faces from the high—and growing—power of the technology.

Perhaps the Stars

Ada Palmer

Macmillan, November 2021

Albert Wenger

Managing partner, Union Square Ventures

This is the fourth book in the Terra Ignota series. Consider starting with the first book, <i>Too Like the Lightning</i>, in this extraordinary exploration of a post-nation-state Earth that is plagued by resurgent conflict and visited by powerful beings.

Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved

Rumi (translated by Maryam Mafi and Azima Melita Kolin)

HarperCollins Publishers, December 1999

Ozgur Tanrikulu

Senior partner, McKinsey

There is something in the Rumi poems that takes me to places nothing else can.

Summer

Ali Smith

Penguin Random House, August 2020

Esther Duflo

Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Prize laureate

This is the finale of the Season Quartet, and although it was published some time ago, I did not have time to read it yet, and I have started savoring it in time for summer. In her piercing prose, Ali Smith covers all the central topics of our hard times; in fiction, that’s deeper and more enlightening than most nonfiction.

The Lincoln Highway

Amor Towles

Penguin Random House, October 2021

Mina Al-Oraibi

Editor in chief, the National

Amor Towles has an incredible way with words. His previous two novels, <i>Rules of Civility</i> and <i>A Gentleman in Moscow</i>, are works of art. His latest novel is set in the America of 1954 and tackles adulthood and beliefs about good and evil.

The Magician

Colm Tóibín

Simon & Schuster, September 2021

Radhika Jones

Editor in chief, Vanity Fair

<i>The Magician</i> is Tóibín’s latest novel, a fictionalized biography of the German novelist Thomas Mann. I absolutely loved Tóibín’s novel about Henry James, <i>The Master</i>. I don’t know enough about Mann, so I’m hoping this book will be my gateway into his life and work.

The Maid

Nita Prose

Penguin Random House, January 2022

Marc Rosen

CEO, JCPenney

There is nothing like the escape of a good mystery for a summer day by the pool.

The Nabaṭī Poetry of the United Arab Emirates: Selected Poems, Annotated and Translated into English

Edited by Said Salman Abu Athera and Clives Holes

Garnet Publishing, June 2011

Manuel Rabaté

Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi

I have lived in the United Arab Emirates for eight years and have always been fascinated by the country’s cultures and traditions. Nabaṭī poetry is the traditional poetry of the Arab tribes of Arabia and neighboring areas. I included this book in my summer reading list because I am eager to discover even further the world of the traditional narrative practiced in the United Arab Emirates. The book is a collection of English verse translations of 53 poems by 25 different poets covering the last half century.

The Paris Bookseller

Kerri Maher

Penguin Random House, January 2022

Paul Hudson

CEO, Sanofi

Leading a French company, I enjoy learning about France’s culture and history. I’ve always loved this iconic bookstore and have been countless times with my family, wandered the labyrinth of bookshelves, and sat reading a few pages before buying a new discovery. I’m looking forward to learning more about the bookstore itself and the legend of its role in this beautiful city.

The Wonderful Things You Will Be

Emily Winfield Martin

Penguin Random House, August 2015

Neil Hoyne

Chief measurement strategist, Google

An appreciated reminder that sometimes the best experiences are less about the story and more about those we share them with—in this case, my two- and five-year-old children.

Ulvene fra evighetens skog (The wolves from the forest of eternity)

Karl Ove Knausgård

Forlaget Oktober, October 2021

Magnus Tyreman

Senior partner, McKinsey

I’m looking forward to the second installment of the trilogy kicked off with <i>The Morning Star</i>. Knausgård is a true master.

Upgrade

Blake Crouch

Penguin Random House, July 2022

Amy Webb

Founder and CEO, Future Today Institute

I’ve been looking forward to Crouch’s latest sci-fi novel about the farther-futures of human evolution. In a world where human upgrades are now possible, a prominent scientist’s genome is hacked—but in an unexpected way. The biological malware actually makes him smarter, more focused, better able to concentrate. He needs less sleep, and his productivity spikes. At first, the attack seems as if it’s created just for him, but soon we realize that there’s a bigger plan already in motion, intended to supercharge human evolution. What fascinates me about the premise is that we’ve already seen bio malware cyberattacks in the real world, and biological upgrades are now within the realm of plausibility.

History

A Brief History of Equality

Thomas Piketty (translated by Steven Rendall)

Harvard University Press, April 2022

Esther Duflo

Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Prize laureate

A profound and optimistic call to action and reflection. For Piketty, the arc of history is long, but it does bend toward equality. There is nothing automatic about it, however: as citizens, we must be ready to fight for it and constantly reinvent the myriad of institutions that will bring it about. This book is here to help. I am planning to study it closely.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Activism in Postwar Britain, 1945–1977

Tom Buchanan

Cambridge University Press, April 2020

Anjhula Mya Singh Bais

Chair, international board, Amnesty International

To lead a global organization as diverse as Amnesty—with its all-powerful mandate in human rights, its historical antecedents, how it contributed to what is now known as ‘human rights activists,’ and its future trajectory in a world that needs to respect human rights more than ever—is all important. Buchanan’s book analyzes how movements like anti-apartheid, anti-fascism, and civil liberties coalesced under the umbrella of human rights and provided models that have helped shape current attitudes, both political and public, toward human rights.

Art contemporain africain: Histoire(s) d’une notion par celles et ceux qui l’ont faite

Cédric Vincent

Fondation Antoine de Galbert and JRP Ringier, March 2021

Manuel Rabaté

Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi

This book came to mind as it is published by Antoine de Galbert—a great collector and art connoisseur. As someone who works at a museum with the mission of showcasing the shared stories of humanity and as a French person living in Abu Dhabi, I have a firm grasp of cultures from all parts of the world. This book particularly will be a gateway for me to understand African culture in more depth. I’m interested in understanding the different aspects of African culture and how the tradition shares similarities with other parts of the world.

Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin

Timothy Snyder

Hachette Book Group, April 2022

Magnus Tyreman

Senior partner, McKinsey

Today, it feels more important than ever to understand what has shaped the psyche of Europe and individual nations. To navigate the future, a grasp of how we got here is critical.

Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War

Howard W. French

W. W. Norton & Company, October 2022

Mimi Alemayehou

Senior vice president, Mastercard

Ralph Ellison wrote of a fictional account of the invisibility of Black people. Now comes Howard French with a bold, magisterial history that compellingly reframes our understanding of Africa’s place in the modern world. Amid book-banning and hysteria over critical race theory, this should be an essential element for any required reading list.

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty

Patrick Radden Keefe

Penguin Random House, April 2021

Alan Murray

CEO, Fortune Media

This is not new, but I belatedly read <i>Empire of Pain</i> and found it a powerful indictment of the potential corruption of profit. It was also reaffirming that the Sacklers’ pursuit of short-term profit, without regard for the effects on society, was their downfall. Great book.

HBR at 100: The Most Influential and Innovative Articles from Harvard Business Review’s First Century

Harvard Business Review et al.

Harvard Business Review Press, June 2022

Mimi Alemayehou

Senior vice president, Mastercard

Edited volumes are famously doorstop adjacent. Not this time. Find here a fascinating canvas of C-suite strategies, conflicts, norms, and creeds. Wise CEOs distinguish between inflection points and fads. This is an illuminating look into how that is done and to what effect.

How Civil Wars Start: And How to Stop Them

Barbara F. Walter

Penguin Random House, January 2022

Marc Rosen

CEO, JCPenney

We must focus on meeting in the middle and engaging in tough conversations to strengthen our democracy.

How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery across America

Clint Smith

Hachette Book Group, June 2021

Laxman Narasimhan

CEO, Reckitt Benckiser

A remarkable book on how a better appreciation of what hides in plain sight in historical monuments and landmarks helps us appreciate contemporary race relations.

Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West

William Cronon

W. W. Norton & Company, March 1991

Benedict Evans

Independent analyst

A famous and important book about Chicago’s role in funneling and reshaping railways, lumber, grain, ice, and beef, including a very topical argument about network neutrality, self-preferencing, and nonfungible assets.

Oil Shock: The 1973 Crisis and Its Economic Legacy

Edited by Elisabetta Bini, Giuliano Garavini, and Federico Romero

Bloomsbury Publishing, May 2016

Sven Smit

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book describes the events leading up to and throughout the 1972–82 high-inflation period. I believe it is crucial to understand this period—to put where we are now in perspective and to understand the degree to which we can be at a turning point in history.

Portrait of a Novel: Henry James and the Making of an American Masterpiece

Michael Gorra

W. W. Norton & Company, August 2012

Radhika Jones

Editor in chief, Vanity Fair

I happened to reread <i>Portrait of a Lady</i> this spring, and Gorra’s book tells the story of its making, extending from literary criticism into intellectual history, biography, and even travelogue. It’s a means to going deeper into a novel I dearly love.

Recollections of a Picture Dealer

Ambroise Vollard (translated by Violet M. MacDonald)

Dover Publications, 2011 (originally 1936)

Benedict Evans

Independent analyst

Vollard was an art dealer who was a key figure in contemporary art at the beginning of the 20th century. His memoir is full of insights into entrepreneurship, signaling, perception, and some hilarious sharp practice in a market not that different to tech.

The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld

Herbert Asbury

Hachette Book Group, October 2002

Bob Sternfels

Global managing partner, McKinsey

I love history—and San Francisco.

The Civil War: A Narrative (Volume 1, Fort Sumter to Perryville)

Shelby Foote

Penguin Random House, November 1986

Matt Murray

Editor in chief, Wall Street Journal

This summer, I’m tackling one of my longtime bucket list projects, slowly working through Shelby Foote’s Civil War trilogy and savoring every bit of detail and color in his expansive narrative. It’s like a summerlong (possibly into autumn, if I’m being honest) feast.

The Collapse of Complex Societies

Joseph A. Tainter

Cambridge University Press, March 1990

Albert Wenger

Managing partner, Union Square Ventures

With signs of societal dysfunction all around us, understanding why complex societies have collapsed in the past and what could be done to avoid collapse is of paramount importance.

The Greeks: A Global History

Roderick Beaton

Hachette Book Group, November 2021

Enric Sala

Explorer in residence, National Geographic Society

This book is an epic history of how our modern society is based upon everything the ancient Greeks invented.

The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017

Rashid Khalidi

Macmillan, January 2020

Mina Al-Oraibi

Editor in chief, the National

Palestine remains a central issue for the Arab world and the wider Middle East. Khalidi is a deeply thoughtful and respected historian, and this book on Palestine and colonialism puts a spotlight on an oft-ignored history that can help illuminate a way forward.

The Lessons of History

Ariel Durant and Will Durant

Simon & Schuster, February 2010

Jen L. Wong

COO, Reddit

The book is a summary of historical periods and trends from all the authors’ work over multiple decades, captured in the ten-volume set <i>The Story of Civilization</i>. I found it especially informative for thinking about what the future might hold. It covers a gamut of topics (including geography, biography, character, race, morality, and economics) about the human experience over the past 5,000 years.

The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America—and How to Undo His Legacy

David Gelles

Simon & Schuster, May 2022

Alan Murray

CEO, Fortune Media

While I don’t fully agree with David Gelles’s thesis that Jack Welch is the man who destroyed capitalism—I think Welch was less cause than effect—the book is an effective reminder of how much business leadership has changed since Jack Welch’s day.

The Monster’s Bones: The Discovery of T. rex and How It Shook Our World

David K. Randall

W. W. Norton & Company, June 2022

Tessa West

Associate professor, NYU

Nothing can bring out the best and worst of humanity quite like a horse race to the top. <i>The Monster’s Bones</i> tells the story of the discovery of the <i>T. rex</i>, with a cast of characters so diverse and colorful that you couldn’t make this stuff up. This book is a candy-coated intellectual adventure, full of page-turning thrills that teach you something new in the process.

You Don’t Belong Here: How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War

Elizabeth Becker

Hachette Book Group, February 2022

Daisy Veerasingham

President and CEO, the Associated Press

This account of three trailblazing women war reporters not only illuminates the transformative role women played in shaping the nature of war reporting but reminds us of the importance of female representation in journalism, especially today in Ukraine.

Personal development

Black Faces in High Places: 10 Strategic Actions for Black Professionals to Reach the Top and Stay There

Randal D. Pinkett and Jeffrey A. Robinson

HarperCollins Publishers, February 2022

Janeen Uzzell

CEO, the National Society of Black Engineers

This is the quintessential guide for Black professionals who want to reach the top of their game and stay there. Written by members of the National Society of Black Engineers, the authors take you from successful to significant.

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.

Brené Brown

Penguin Random House, October 2018

Christi Shaw

CEO, Kite Pharma

Staying curious and asking the right questions are two skills that have helped me throughout my career in the pharmaceutical industry, but I’m always looking for more ways to learn. I’m excited to read Brené Brown’s book about leadership skills and fostering a culture of authenticity and purpose.

Don’t Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life

Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

HarperCollins Publishers, May 2022

Alan Murray

CEO, Fortune Media

I’m planning to read [this book] because I think Seth [Stephens-Davidowitz] is one of the most creative miners of public data out there today.

From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life

Arthur C. Brooks

Penguin Random House, February 2022

Gautam Kumra

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book aims to help us find purpose, meaning, and success in the second innings of our lives. Brooks draws on his own experiences of transforming his future, while deftly combining insights from social sciences, philosophy, and theology with everyday wisdom to create a practical road map to help us find happiness in our sunset years.

Grief Is Love: Living with Loss

Marisa Renee Lee

Hachette Book Group, April 2022

Reshma Saujani

Founder, Girls Who Code; CEO, Marshall Plan for Moms

A beautiful treatise on love, loss, and healing. [The author] offers hard-won wisdom on grief through the lens of her own losses—and the transformative power of healing.

How to Get Your Act Together: A Judgement-Free Guide to Diversity and Inclusion for Straight White Men

Felicity Hassan and Suki Sandhu

Penguin Random House, March 2022

Paul Hudson

CEO, Sanofi

At Sanofi, we are committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace, and as the CEO of Sanofi, I recognize that this requires continuous learning for the organization and for myself. I have to confess, I am already halfway through this relatively quick read. I’m excited not only for what this book will teach me as a leader but also for the actionable steps that I can incorporate into my everyday interactions with my team to empower people at Sanofi to bring their best selves to work.

Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well

Sheila Heen and Douglas Stone

Penguin Random House, March 2015

Tsedal Neeley

Senior associate dean, Harvard Business School

Getting people aligned requires regularly sharpening our feedback approaches. This book captures everything we want to know about the triggers and opportunities of feedback.

The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing

John Perry

Workman Publishing, August 2012

Manuel Rabaté

Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi

This book is at the top of my reading list this summer. John Perry is a compelling philosopher, and I appreciate the wittiness and humor in this book. I believe that since the start of the pandemic, everyone has felt an immense pressure to keep up with time. I’m looking forward to reading this quick little guide to understand how one can be a structured procrastinator and horizontal organizer; all while understanding the art of procrastination and its benefits in the long run.

The Longevity Solution: Rediscovering Centuries-Old Secrets to a Healthy, Long Life

Dr. James DiNicolantonio and Dr. Jason Fung

Penguin Random House, February 2019

Sven Smit

Senior partner, McKinsey

I guess this one comes with age.

The Lost Art of Connecting: The Gather, Ask, Do Method for Building Meaningful Business Relationships

Susan McPherson

McGraw-Hill Education, March 2021

Lisa Witter

CEO, Apolitical Foundation; cofounder, Apolitical

I don’t know about you, but with the pandemic, I’ve gotten a bit rusty with meeting and deeply connecting with new people—and I’m an extrovert! I plan on learning from the best. Susan McPherson is the expert on authentic connection. The book promises to be practical, heartfelt, and fun. My idea of a beach read with purpose!

The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life

David Brooks

Penguin Random House, May 2020

Gautam Kumra

Senior partner, McKinsey

What does it mean to lead a life of meaning and purpose? Brooks explores the four commitments that define such a life—commitment to a spouse and family, a vocation, a philosophy or faith, and a community—and illustrates this through lived experiences of people who have lived joyous, committed lives and have embraced the necessity of dependence. It’s relevant reading for the turbulent times we live in.

Politics & government

China Unbound: A New World Disorder

Joanna Chiu

Hurst Publishers, November 2021

François-Philippe Champagne

Minister of innovation, science, and industry, Government of Canada

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK

Simon Kuper

Profile Books, April 2022

Leslie Maasdorp

Vice president and CFO, New Development Bank

In this book, Kuper analyzes the incestuous network of Oxford-trained politicians and their role and disproportionate influence in modern British politics. It is truly astounding how narrow the talent pool is from which the leaders of Britain are drawn.

Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know

Erica Chenoweth

Oxford University Press, March 2021

Shankar Vedantam

Creator and host, Hidden Brain

Erica Chenoweth proves that nonviolent resistance is more powerful than violence when it comes to enacting change. In doing so, [Chenoweth] offers something we all need right now: hope for the future.

Divided We Stand: The 2020 Elections and American Politics

Andrew E. Busch and John J. Pitney Jr.

Rowman & Littlefield, February 2021

Daisy Veerasingham

President and CEO, the Associated Press

I’m looking forward to reading this account of the 2020 US election, in which AP played a critical role in counting the vote and declaring the winners. As we gear up for midterms, it’s important to understand the complex US political climate.

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot

Mikki Kendall

Penguin Random House, February 2020

Janeen Uzzell

CEO, the National Society of Black Engineers

Black women have been overlooked, unseen, and misunderstood in the feminist movement. This book is an urgent read. My hope is that White women will read this and that the wounds exposed in the stories will spark a more inclusive movement.

How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community

Mia Birdsong

Hachette Book Group, June 2020

Kiersten Saunders

Cocreator, rich & REGULAR

This is a book I return to over and over again. Whenever I am feeling inadequate or lonely, I reach for it as a reminder of the human connectedness that exists beyond institutions. It inspires me to reimagine what it means to build community with people.

Liberalism and Its Discontents

Francis Fukuyama

Macmillan, May 2022

Mina Al-Oraibi

Editor in chief, the National

As liberalism goes through a turbulent time and questions arise about the liberal order in the West, Fukuyama tackles it head-on. One of the sharpest political theorists of our age, even if I sometimes disagree with his political positions, Fukuyama’s latest book is definitely timely and insightful.

Azeem Azhar

Creator, Exponential View

No one is better placed to explain why liberalism has got itself in such a mess. And why strong-man authoritarianism has won such appeal. While Fukuyama falls short of modifications for the liberal project, he does ask the most pertinent questions.

David Vélez

Cofounder and CEO, Nubank

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Plunder of the Commons: A Manifesto for Sharing Public Wealth

Guy Standing

Penguin Random House, August 2019

Azeem Azhar

Creator, Exponential View

Commons are reemerging as a way of organizing resources. But they have a long history, which Guy Standing meticulously describes up to the point of the recent plundering of these shared heritages.

Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail

Ray Dalio

Simon & Schuster, November 2021

David Vélez

Cofounder and CEO, Nubank

Here's what I’m reading this summer.

Republic

Plato

Simon & Schuster, January 2010

Sven Smit

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book is always good to reread, but it may be even more important now to go back to the foundations of democracy.

Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success

Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan

Hachette Book Group, May 2022

Esther Duflo

Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Prize laureate

Migration myths are contributing to tearing our nation apart. This book, grounded on deep original research and made lively by moving personal accounts, is an essential read. It shows that little has changed in this salad bowl that is our country, neither the migrants’ travails nor their successes nor, sadly, the prejudices they encounter.

The Age of Unpeace: How Connectivity Causes Conflict

Mark Leonard

Penguin Random House, February 2021

Børge Brende

President, World Economic Forum

Since the end of the Cold War, leaders have been working to create an even more connected world through trade, transport, communications, and the internet. Leonard argues that in doing so, the same leaders unwittingly created a formidable arsenal of weapons for new kinds of warfare. And we are in the middle of this perfect storm just now. These conflicts are so different from those in the Cold War. The new technologies are a game changer in this respect, and we are faced with an unparalleled G2 technology race, from quantum computing and machine learning to big data and AI.

The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth

Jonathan Rauch

Brookings Institution Press, June 2021

Reid Hoffman

Cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock Partners

Every leader, including and especially business leaders, needs to move our society forward toward the common goal of seeking truth and resisting any such corrosive and democracy-destroying attacks such as alternative facts.

The Power of Crisis: How Three Threats—and Our Response—Will Change the World

Ian Bremmer

Simon & Schuster, May 2022

Tracy Francis

Senior partner, McKinsey

I enjoy Bremmer’s commentary on geopolitics and the changing world order. I’m looking forward to the full-sentence version in his book.

Very Bad People: The Inside Story of the Fight against the World’s Network of Corruption

Patrick Alley

Hachette Book Group, March 2022

Katherine Garrett-Cox

CEO, Gulf International Bank (UK)

An inspiring story of how three passionate campaigners and founders of Global Witness have been fighting for justice at the nexus of human rights abuses and environmental degradation.

Visions for a Better Indian Country: One Potawatomi Editor’s Opinions

Levi Rickert

Indian Country Media, April 2022

S. Mitra Kalita

CEO, URL Media; publisher, Epicenter NYC

My copy just arrived. It’s a book of essays and columns by Levi Rickert, who is a citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and founder of <i>Native News Online</i>. I love Rickert’s work for its accessibility and uniqueness. In the decades I have been working on DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion], I have never seen Indigenous issues centered as much as they should be, and it feels like I need to start making choices in my own media consumption to better understand the community.

Psychology

How Minds Change: The Surprising Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion

David McRaney

Penguin Random House, June 2022

Mimi Alemayehou

Senior vice president, Mastercard

Worried that paranoia, irrationality, and intransigence are destroying civilization? Fear not. Beliefs on deeply held, hot-button issues can be changed, often with astonishing speed. McRaney’s deft storytelling explains how. Spoiler: barrages of facts are rarely the answer.

Tessa West

Associate professor, NYU

Most of us, at some point, have given up on trying to change the minds of the people around us. It’s an exhausting and often fruitless endeavor. </i>How Minds Change</i> will make you rethink your apathy. Through vivid firsthand storytelling, matched with fresh scientific research, McRaney’s approach isn’t just for the intellectual elite: it’s for everyone. Read this book, and you will walk away feeling like you can embrace the impossible and once again find common ground with those long-lost relatives and high school friends you blocked from social media ages ago.

The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness

Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga

Simon & Schuster, May 2018

Chris Bradley

Senior partner, McKinsey

Profound. This book completely changed how I was trying to parent a teenager going through a difficult patch. A highly countercultural view of personal autonomy and accountability.

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know

Adam Grant

Penguin Random House, February 2021

Børge Brende

President, World Economic Forum

As Wharton’s top-rated professor, Adam Grant is, in <i>Think Again</i>, able to challenge readers to rethink their own conventional wisdom. In a fast-changing world, the skill of rethinking and unlearning is critical. Too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. As Grant writes, we too often surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions—when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The brighter we are, the blinder to our own limitations we can become. It’s really about the power of knowing what you don’t know.

Gautam Kumra

Senior partner, McKinsey

While there are plenty of books on effective thinking, I have yet to come across one on the critical art of rethinking, which made this such an intriguing read. Adam Grant deftly weaves together research and storytelling to illustrate the importance of making space for other people’s opinions and embracing the joy of being wrong.

Why We’re Polarized

Ezra Klein

Simon & Schuster, June 2021

Tsedal Neeley

Senior associate dean, Harvard Business School

There is no doubt that we’re polarized in significant ways. Klein’s evidence-based perspective about psychological identities might offer keys that can ultimately unite us.

You Have More Influence Than You Think: How We Underestimate Our Power of Persuasion, and Why It Matters

Vanessa Bohns

W. W. Norton & Company, September 2021

Tessa West

Associate professor, NYU

Influencing people is a tricky business. Most of us think that real influence requires natural charisma and a communication style that leaves people thinking, ‘I’ll take whatever they’re selling.’ Bohns’s book dispels this notion and takes you on a science-based journey of how to best answer the questions, ‘What is influence, exactly, and how do I know when I have it?’ The answers are different from what you’d think.

Public health

Citizens: Why the Key to Fixing Everything Is All of Us

Jon Alexander

Canbury Press, March 2022

Lisa Witter

CEO, Apolitical Foundation; cofounder, Apolitical

Need hope? We’re it. The headlines of our time are enough to make anyone feel helpless. But when we start to think and act like ‘citizens,’ not ‘consumers,’ everything changes. I don’t know about you, but I need some new stories to tell and a shot of practical inspiration.

Katherine Garrett-Cox

CEO, Gulf International Bank (UK)

Alexander plots the much-needed shift from ‘consumer’ to ‘citizen,’ the need to be more human, as the answer to many of the global challenges we face today.

Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change

Angela Garbes

HarperCollins Publishers, May 2022

Kiersten Saunders

Cocreator, rich & REGULAR

I just started this book, and it’s a radical view of motherhood at a welcomed time in my life. I used to consider cashing out of my corporate job before I turned 40 as my biggest ‘act of rebellion,’ but this book is challenging me to see caregiving in a similar light.

How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need

Bill Gates

Penguin Random House, August 2022

Magnus Tyreman

Senior partner, McKinsey

Despite the short-term challenges we are living through, this is the fundamental question of our time.

Noel Quinn

CEO, HSBC

Bill Gates brilliantly decodes complex scientific and economic principles into language that can be understood by nonscientists and laypeople like myself. In so doing, he offers an insight into the future in a way that can be easily understood and should therefore have a wide audience.

Moonshot: Inside Pfizer’s Nine-Month Race to Make the Impossible Possible

Dr. Albert Bourla

HarperCollins Publishers, March 2022

Indra Nooyi

Former CEO, PepsiCo

I loved this book because it gave me a glimpse into history in the making—how Dr. Bourla and his team raced against time itself to make ‘the impossible possible.’ It’s a story that will make you marvel at modern technology and the people at its vanguard.

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future

Elizabeth Kolbert

Penguin Random House, February 2021

Lloyd B. Minor

Dean, Stanford University School of Medicine

From rising temperatures and sea levels to pervasive droughts and wildfires, humanity’s reckoning with climate change is a public-health crisis. I appreciate how Elizabeth Kolbert not only outlines urgent challenges but also examines how innovation may provide a path to resilience.

Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation

Linda Villarosa

Penguin Random House, June 2022

Lloyd B. Minor

Dean, Stanford University School of Medicine

I chose Linda Villarosa’s book for how it dispels the widespread fallacy that health inequities experienced by Black Americans are simply tied to socioeconomics. Her reporting illuminates a stark reality of US healthcare and serves as another wake-up call to address racial disparities.

Science & technology

Dædalus: AI & Society

Edited by James M. Manyika

Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Spring 2022

Reid Hoffman

Cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock Partners

This isn’t a book per se, but this issue is fantastic and important because AI is going to affect every industry and create amazing things in human society.

Dignity in a Digital Age: Making Tech Work for All of Us

Ro Khanna

Simon & Schuster, February 2022

Indra Nooyi

Former CEO, PepsiCo

In this book, Rep. Khanna uniquely centers humanity in the conversation about technology. In a space where pessimism often dominates the discourse, I appreciated his optimistic vision of what tech can do for our society when we have the right road map in hand.

Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest

Suzanne Simard

Penguin Random House, June 2022

Enric Sala

Explorer in residence, National Geographic Society

The personal story of the discovery of how trees communicate and help each other. The internet of plants!

How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future

Vaclav Smil

Penguin Random House, January 2022

François-Philippe Champagne

Minister of innovation, science, and industry, Government of Canada

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy

David J. Chalmers

W. W. Norton & Company, January 2022

Amy Webb

Founder and CEO, Future Today Institute

We’re transitioning into a new era of technology, where our physical and virtual worlds will begin to collide. While I’m researching blockchain protocols, extended reality, and all the tech that will create our future, I also want to think about the unintended effects tech could have on society. Ten years from now, how will we define what is real versus what is virtual? How could new digital realities challenge—or maybe even improve—the ways we relate to each other?

Scale: The Universal Laws of Life, Growth, and Death in Organisms, Cities, and Companies

Geoffrey West

Penguin Random House, May 2018

Jen L. Wong

COO, Reddit

When a physicist and a biologist meet and study living organisms, companies, and cities, they determine that living organisms and companies have limited life spans because they scale sublinearly while cities do not, and can therefore be eternal.

The Age of AI: And Our Human Future

Daniel Huttenlocher, Henry A. Kissinger, and Eric Schmidt

Hachette Book Group, November 2021

Paul Hudson

CEO, Sanofi

Artificial intelligence is opening new doors in healthcare and is an integral part of our strategy at Sanofi. There are many books on this subject, but I recently had the chance to spend the day in a session with Eric and Daniel at MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. They inspired me with their vision and practicality—not an easy balance. As I read this book, I’m hoping to glean insights that I can directly apply to our AI-driven work.

The Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology Is Transforming Business, Politics and Society

Azeem Azhar

Diversion Books, September 2021

Tsedal Neeley

Senior associate dean, Harvard Business School

I can’t think of a more important book to bring into sharp relief the rate of technological change we are currently living in. It is no longer a matter of linear change over time. It is a matter of transformative and exponential shifts in all matters of life.

The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts, updated edition

Daniel Susskind and Richard Susskind

Oxford University Press, June 2022

Óscar García Maceiras

CEO, Inditex

In 2020, I had the opportunity to introduce the Spanish translation of <i>Online Courts and the Future of Justice</i>—a book by Richard Susskind, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing well throughout my legal career—to an audience in Madrid. At that time, I had not read this book, which he had written with his son, the equally brilliant Oxford University professor Daniel Susskind. I am going to do it now, taking advantage of the fact that the updated edition has just been published.

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt’s New World

Andrea Wulf

Penguin Random House, October 2016

Enric Sala

Explorer in residence, National Geographic Society

An inspiring book about Alexander von Humboldt’s unbelievable explorations that inspired him to invent modern ecological science.

You Look Like a Thing and I Love You: How Artificial Intelligence Works and Why It’s Making the World a Weirder Place

Janelle Shane

Hachette Book Group, March 2021

Ozgur Tanrikulu

Senior partner, McKinsey

Despite all the ups and downs, AI will change the world. I am eager to learn about its impact on society as much as on science.

Workplace culture

CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest

Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, and Vikram Malhotra

Scribner, March 2022

Eric Kutcher

Senior partner, McKinsey

Valuable lessons for every leader from some of the world’s greatest chief executives.

Inclusion Revolution: The Essential Guide to Dismantling Racial Inequity in the Workplace

Daisy Auger-Domínguez

Hachette Book Group, March 2022

Reshma Saujani

Founder, Girls Who Code; CEO, Marshall Plan for Moms

Diversity expert Daisy Auger-Domínguez defines the problem with ‘colorblind’ workplace culture and provides a step-by-step road map to revolution.

Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy

Henry Kissinger

Penguin Random House, July 2022

Laxman Narasimhan

CEO, Reckitt Benckiser

Henry Kissinger brings a unique combination of wisdom, personal experience, and historical perspectives to frame his reflections on the world order and leadership.

Anjhula Mya Singh Bais

Chair, international board, Amnesty International

Master statesman Kissinger writes about six case studies in which world leaders employed one of six strategies: excellence, transcendence, will, humility, equilibrium, and conviction. The book is a unique combination of public, personal, and historical perception and offers indispensable leadership lessons.

Mastering Civility: A Manifesto for the Workplace

Christine Porath

Hachette Book Group, December 2016

Shankar Vedantam

Creator and host, Hidden Brain

Christine Porath explores the subtle ways incivility affects our lives. It’s a reminder that kindness isn’t just a ‘nice to have.’ It’s crucial for the well-being of others—and ourselves.

Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing Up

Jerry Colonna

HarperCollins Publishers, June 2019

Marc Rosen

CEO, JCPenney

A reminder that we all need to cleanse our lives of any baggage that is holding us back, set our intent, and dive into leadership with our whole selves to be the most effective leaders we can be.

Talent: How to Identify Energizers, Creatives, and Winners around the World

Tyler Cowen and Daniel Gross

Macmillan, May 2022

Reid Hoffman

Cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock Partners

One of the major reasons I founded LinkedIn, and a central tenet of my philanthropy, is to understand how we can enable great talent to accomplish amazing work. Deploying science to understand and magnify talent identification is important in every human endeavor.

Contributors

Indra Nooyi
Reid Hoffman
Jen L. Wong
Esther Duflo
Janeen Uzzell
Kevin Merida
Leslie Maasdorp
Marc Rosen
Matt Murray
Mina Al-Oraibi
Abhijit Banerjee
Bob Sternfels
Børge Brende
Christi Shaw
Daisy Veerasingham
Óscar García Maceiras
Paul Hudson
Radhika Jones
François-Philippe Champagne
Tracy Francis
Reshma Saujani

Reshma Saujani Jump to all Reshma Saujani's selections

Founder, Girls Who Code; CEO, Marshall Plan for Moms

Considered one of the most anticipated books of the year, [this book] documents Dunn’s journey building Bonobos—the groundbreaking menswear line—while also grappling with a hidden mental illness, and how ignoring his diagnosis was nearly his undoing.

Azeem Azhar

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Creator, Exponential View

Ypi experienced Albania as a hermetic, communist state and witnessed its dramatic shift into a shaky capitalist democracy. An eye-opening memoir that reminds us of the richness of the individual spirit and the hard choices that some have to make.

Sinéad Burke

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CEO, Tilting the Lens

I recently interviewed Haben Girma, who told me about her experiences as a Deafblind, Black woman studying law at the prestigious institution: ‘Harvard had to overcome years of sexism, racism, and ableism—and they have more work to do.’ In this memoir, she shares her life story so far.

Christi Shaw

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CEO, Kite Pharma

As a former caregiver to my sister when she was battling cancer, I understand firsthand the complexities of navigating the healthcare system. This book deeply resonates in capturing the difficulties patients and caregivers face from the moment of diagnosis onward.

Chris Bradley

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Senior partner, McKinsey

A compelling portrait of those left behind.

Kevin Merida

Kevin Merida Jump to all Kevin Merida's selections

Executive editor, Los Angeles Times

George Floyd’s murder accelerated the conversations in America about racial injustice, the fight for equity, the nature of policing, the quality of our workplaces, how we talk to and live with each other, and much more. I was happy to see this book, by two writers whose journalism I admire, because of the singular impact Floyd’s killing had on the world in 2020. Now, we get to learn more deeply who George Floyd actually was and to put his martyrdom in context—thanks to Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa. I am eager to read it.

Lloyd B. Minor

Lloyd B. Minor Jump to all Lloyd B. Minor's selections

Dean, Stanford University School of Medicine

I found Silvia Vasquez-Lavado’s life story so illuminating and inspiring. This Silicon Valley executive and conqueror of the world’s tallest peaks eloquently shares a meaningful lesson learned from her success in these male-dominated spaces: ‘Strong is not the opposite of soft.’

Kevin Merida

Kevin Merida Jump to all Kevin Merida's selections

Executive editor, Los Angeles Times

I am halfway through Justin Tinsley’s compelling biography of the Notorious B.I.G., and I’m appreciating how he carefully unspools the journey of Christopher Wallace, who went from hustling on Brooklyn’s corners to becoming one of rap’s biggest stars until he was killed at age 24. Justin presents Biggie’s short life and unfulfilled promise brilliantly, with an original voice that has made him one of our finest cultural storytellers.

Sylvana Quader Sinha

Sylvana Quader Sinha Jump to all Sylvana Quader Sinha's selections

Founder and CEO, Praava Health

As a South Asian American woman business executive and founder, it was extraordinarily inspirational and invigorating to hear in first person the journey of the first woman of color and US immigrant to run a Fortune 50 company. I listened to this one on Audible, narrated by Ms. Nooyi herself.

Eric Kutcher

Eric Kutcher Jump to all Eric Kutcher's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book is about learning to lead, with lessons from a national hero who lived every day with ambiguity and adversity.

Bob Sternfels

Bob Sternfels Jump to all Bob Sternfels's selections

Global managing partner, McKinsey

I love Ethiopia and the sisu throughout the book.

Óscar García Maceiras

Óscar García Maceiras Jump to all Óscar García Maceiras's selections

CEO, Inditex

I am passionate about journalism—a profession I admire and, had I ended up doing it, I suspect I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. On the 50th anniversary of the Watergate scandal, I really want to start my summer by reading the memoirs of the great Katharine Graham, a woman whose career as publisher of the Washington Post fascinates me, and I’m looking forward to learning more about the personal experiences that she describes in the book.

Eric Kutcher

Eric Kutcher Jump to all Eric Kutcher's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book is about following passions, learning work ethic, and the challenges of a Hall of Fame golfer.

Kevin Merida

Kevin Merida Jump to all Kevin Merida's selections

Executive editor, Los Angeles Times

I will literally read anything Danyel Smith writes. Her depth and insight on the meaning of music and the culture at large are hard to beat. She writes with feeling and grace and authority—with special sauce. So, of course, I can’t wait to read what Danyel has to say about Aretha, Gladys, Dionne, Janet, Mariah, Whitney, and all the other iconic Black women of pop music. I also want to read Danyel on Danyel, who deserves to be, to quote a passage in her intro, ‘known and understood.’

Tracy Francis

Tracy Francis Jump to all Tracy Francis's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

I laughed and wept, sometimes simultaneously, as I watched the Netflix show in April or May of 2020, far from home. Gadsby’s Australian childhood was different from mine—I wanted to understand hers and hear her distinctive voice more.

Radhika Jones

Radhika Jones Jump to all Radhika Jones's selections

Editor in chief, Vanity Fair

I recently discovered this charming UK imprint called Slightly Foxed at one of my favorite bookstores, Savoy Bookshop in Westerly, Rhode Island. They do reissues of classic, under-the-radar memoirs. This one is about life in girls’ boarding schools in mid-20th-century England, and it is hilarious from the first page.

Albert Wenger

Albert Wenger Jump to all Albert Wenger's selections

Managing partner, Union Square Ventures

Gender has become a fulcrum of the culture wars. The combination of theory with lived experience provides an important perspective.

Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi Jump to all Indra Nooyi's selections

Former CEO, PepsiCo

This is a compelling chronicle of an extraordinary leader. Marton makes a reader feel as though she’s walking alongside Merkel through each pivotal point in her journey. It’s a captivating portrait that I found hard to put down.

Pierre M. Gentin

Pierre M. Gentin Jump to all Pierre M. Gentin's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

I recently visited the historic and beautiful villa of the art collector Baroness Ephrussi de Rothschild in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in France. Following that visit, a number of friends recommended Edmund de Waal’s well-regarded book about the Ephrussi banking family and its dramatic story.

Christi Shaw

Christi Shaw Jump to all Christi Shaw's selections

CEO, Kite Pharma

After losing my mother and sister to cancer and now leading a team driven to help those impacted by the disease, I empathize with Cecily Strong, who lost her cousin to glioblastoma shortly before the pandemic struck. Strong’s book details the valuable lessons she learned, and I look forward to reading how they may overlap with my own.

Abhijit Banerjee

Abhijit Banerjee Jump to all Abhijit Banerjee's selections

Nobel Prize laureate; economist; author, Cooking to Save Your Life

I would like to munch through Nigel Slater’s much-praised Toast, partly—but only partly—with the goal of gauging what it would take to write a food memoir, which is one of my secret ambitions. I suspect, based on previously having enjoyed Mr. Slater’s wonderful prose, that it will stop me from trying.

Leslie Maasdorp

Leslie Maasdorp Jump to all Leslie Maasdorp's selections

Vice president and CFO, New Development Bank

Professor Brown, a leading scholar on China, dissects the essence of who Xi Jinping is, his vision for China, and what it means for the world. Most outsiders in the West don’t know much about the man at the helm of modern China even though he leads the second-largest political and economic powerhouse.

Matt Murray

Matt Murray Jump to all Matt Murray's selections

Editor in chief, Wall Street Journal

A must-read on current events and business—a new book on central banking.

Neil Hoyne

Neil Hoyne Jump to all Neil Hoyne's selections

Chief measurement strategist, Google

Jason [Feifer], who serves as the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine, distills down lessons from the world’s most successful change makers. Conversations we all wish we could have personally but are fortunate enough to share in through his wonderful storytelling.

Kiersten Saunders

Kiersten Saunders Jump to all Kiersten Saunders's selections

Cocreator, rich & REGULAR

I haven’t cracked the spine on this one yet, but I am so eager to. As a fellow rule breaker, Kathryn has been a mentor in my head for a while. I’ve watched her navigate spaces as ‘the only,’ and I’m in awe of what she’s accomplished. I can’t wait to benefit from her wisdom.

Amy Webb

Amy Webb Jump to all Amy Webb's selections

Founder and CEO, Future Today Institute

Given the current soul-crushing amount of deep economic uncertainty and our widening wealth gap, I decided to reread Capital. COVID-19’s enduring influence, combined with Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine, will have long-range aftershocks. I’m using this book to help me imagine different plausible scenarios for the future of free market capitalism in America. If we stay on our current path, what might the future evolution of income distribution look like? (I’m not feeling optimistic.)

Sylvana Quader Sinha

Sylvana Quader Sinha Jump to all Sylvana Quader Sinha's selections

Founder and CEO, Praava Health

This is a book I read when I first started my company in 2014. Reading it again now, after Zappos’s founder Tony Hsieh’s premature death at the age of 47 in 2020, and eight years into my own entrepreneurial journey, was both poignant and also revealed new lessons on how to build and scale an employee-driven culture and a company obsessed with customer service.

Jen L. Wong

Jen L. Wong Jump to all Jen L. Wong's selections

COO, Reddit

A highly practical and digestible book for managers on how to execute effectively and move from being good to great in terms of getting things done. A great book to give to a team.

Noel Quinn

Noel Quinn Jump to all Noel Quinn's selections

CEO, HSBC

I first read this book many years ago and plan to read it again. I wouldn’t advise adopting everything that Semler did after he took over the family business. But understanding his approach stretches your thinking on both the art of the possible and the art of leadership.

Daisy Veerasingham

Daisy Veerasingham Jump to all Daisy Veerasingham's selections

President and CEO, the Associated Press

As a new leader, [I found] this book fascinating as it challenges traditional thinking on leadership—how you can inspire employees rather than manage, for example. It explores why a global company needs a global culture and how to drive change by focusing on the customer.

Shankar Vedantam

Shankar Vedantam Jump to all Shankar Vedantam's selections

Creator and host, Hidden Brain

Most of us have opinions on how to fix poverty. In [this book, the authors] share new ways of thinking about the issue. Better yet, they offer research-backed solutions for fixing it.

David Vélez

David Vélez Jump to all David Vélez's selections

Cofounder and CEO, Nubank

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Katherine Garrett-Cox

Katherine Garrett-Cox Jump to all Katherine Garrett-Cox's selections

CEO, Gulf International Bank (UK)

The book sheds light on the rise and fall of [UAE-based private-equity firm] Abraaj—a salutary tale of how power can corrupt and capitalism can fail those who need it most.

François-Philippe Champagne

François-Philippe Champagne Jump to all François-Philippe Champagne's selections

Minister of innovation, science, and industry, Government of Canada

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Neil Hoyne

Neil Hoyne Jump to all Neil Hoyne's selections

Chief measurement strategist, Google

The idea of scaling a business is a misunderstood idea, frequently distilled down into metrics of sheer size and volume. A leading economist shares his approach—grounded in real-world examples—to the opportunity.

Leslie Maasdorp

Leslie Maasdorp Jump to all Leslie Maasdorp's selections

Vice president and CFO, New Development Bank

Blas and Farchy’s corporate thriller is about the political and economic influence of modern-day traders of leading commodities. Over the decades, these traders who barter the world’s oil, metals, and food have not been renowned for transparency. The book illuminates the role of these power brokers in shaping the world as we know it.

Lisa Witter

Lisa Witter Jump to all Lisa Witter's selections

CEO, Apolitical Foundation; cofounder, Apolitical

For all the data, stories, and ideas in one place, I’m reading Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber’s vision of a new paradigm of gender-focused investing where more women are placed in decision-making roles and able to optimize their skills across all capital markets.

Abhijit Banerjee

Abhijit Banerjee Jump to all Abhijit Banerjee's selections

Nobel Prize laureate; economist; author, Cooking to Save Your Life

I would like to work through the entire set of novels by Attica Locke. Attica Locke is an African American from Texas who writes roman policiers about race, violence, and society in rural Texas, with a lushness and intimacy that is very distinctive.

S. Mitra Kalita

S. Mitra Kalita Jump to all S. Mitra Kalita's selections

CEO, URL Media; publisher, Epicenter NYC

This is a debut novel by Daphne Palasi Andreades, and the premise—a group of diverse young women and their families growing up in Queens—feels too close to home to not love it. I am reading with an eye toward suggesting the book for Epicenter NYC’s inaugural book club, too.

Ozgur Tanrikulu

Ozgur Tanrikulu Jump to all Ozgur Tanrikulu's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

Somehow, nowadays, I am thinking a lot about my childhood. Edgar Allen Poe’s stories, which I really loved back then, bring back many memories.

Sinéad Burke

Sinéad Burke Jump to all Sinéad Burke's selections

CEO, Tilting the Lens

Fifteen percent of the global population are disabled—yet they continue to be underrepresented in media and culture at large. Alice Wong has assembled this impressive collection of personal essays by Disabled people, celebrating the richness, diversity, and complexity of the community.

S. Mitra Kalita

S. Mitra Kalita Jump to all S. Mitra Kalita's selections

CEO, URL Media; publisher, Epicenter NYC

I confess I spent my first full beach day of the summer immersed in this book. I know, I know. Everyone has already read Rebecca Wells’ novel [originally published in 1996], which went on to become a movie. As my eldest heads off to college, I am reading this classic about mother–daughter relationships and tight-knit circles of ride-or-die friendships with an entirely new lens.

Óscar García Maceiras

Óscar García Maceiras Jump to all Óscar García Maceiras's selections

CEO, Inditex

This novel has been on my to-read list since the summer of 2020, when it became a true literary phenomenon in Spain. The book has received tremendous praise. Andrea Abreu is seen as having invented a new literary language based on the Canary Islands dialect, and her story of friendship between two girls is said to generate excitement on every page. At the age of just 27, the author has recently been included on the list of the best young writers in Spanish, which the British magazine Granta compiles every ten years.

Sinéad Burke

Sinéad Burke Jump to all Sinéad Burke's selections

CEO, Tilting the Lens

Sharp and hilarious at the same time, just like the author himself. This novel by Ryan O’Connell is a tale about belonging and navigating multiple identities—including queerness and disability—while finding oneself.

Laxman Narasimhan

Laxman Narasimhan Jump to all Laxman Narasimhan's selections

CEO, Reckitt Benckiser

Kazuo Ishiguro explores faith and rationality in a dystopian world where children have companions with artificial intelligence.

Tracy Francis

Tracy Francis Jump to all Tracy Francis's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

Summer is a good time for some classic fiction!

Abhijit Banerjee

Abhijit Banerjee Jump to all Abhijit Banerjee's selections

Nobel Prize laureate; economist; author, Cooking to Save Your Life

I would like to reread Susan Sontag’s wonderful On Photography. Pithy, opinionated, and full of surprising insights, this essay parses the reasons that make photography an art, as well as the challenges it inherently faces from the high—and growing—power of the technology.

Albert Wenger

Albert Wenger Jump to all Albert Wenger's selections

Managing partner, Union Square Ventures

This is the fourth book in the Terra Ignota series. Consider starting with the first book, Too Like the Lightning, in this extraordinary exploration of a post-nation-state Earth that is plagued by resurgent conflict and visited by powerful beings.

Ozgur Tanrikulu

Ozgur Tanrikulu Jump to all Ozgur Tanrikulu's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

There is something in the Rumi poems that takes me to places nothing else can.

Esther Duflo

Esther Duflo Jump to all Esther Duflo's selections

Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Prize laureate

This is the finale of the Season Quartet, and although it was published some time ago, I did not have time to read it yet, and I have started savoring it in time for summer. In her piercing prose, Ali Smith covers all the central topics of our hard times; in fiction, that’s deeper and more enlightening than most nonfiction.

Mina Al-Oraibi

Mina Al-Oraibi Jump to all Mina Al-Oraibi's selections

Editor in chief, the National

Amor Towles has an incredible way with words. His previous two novels, Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow, are works of art. His latest novel is set in the America of 1954 and tackles adulthood and beliefs about good and evil.

Radhika Jones

Radhika Jones Jump to all Radhika Jones's selections

Editor in chief, Vanity Fair

The Magician is Tóibín’s latest novel, a fictionalized biography of the German novelist Thomas Mann. I absolutely loved Tóibín’s novel about Henry James, The Master. I don’t know enough about Mann, so I’m hoping this book will be my gateway into his life and work.

Marc Rosen

Marc Rosen Jump to all Marc Rosen's selections

CEO, JCPenney

There is nothing like the escape of a good mystery for a summer day by the pool.

Manuel Rabaté

Manuel Rabaté Jump to all Manuel Rabaté's selections

Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi

I have lived in the United Arab Emirates for eight years and have always been fascinated by the country’s cultures and traditions. Nabaṭī poetry is the traditional poetry of the Arab tribes of Arabia and neighboring areas. I included this book in my summer reading list because I am eager to discover even further the world of the traditional narrative practiced in the United Arab Emirates. The book is a collection of English verse translations of 53 poems by 25 different poets covering the last half century.

Paul Hudson

Paul Hudson Jump to all Paul Hudson's selections

CEO, Sanofi

Leading a French company, I enjoy learning about France’s culture and history. I’ve always loved this iconic bookstore and have been countless times with my family, wandered the labyrinth of bookshelves, and sat reading a few pages before buying a new discovery. I’m looking forward to learning more about the bookstore itself and the legend of its role in this beautiful city.

Neil Hoyne

Neil Hoyne Jump to all Neil Hoyne's selections

Chief measurement strategist, Google

An appreciated reminder that sometimes the best experiences are less about the story and more about those we share them with—in this case, my two- and five-year-old children.

Magnus Tyreman

Magnus Tyreman Jump to all Magnus Tyreman's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

I’m looking forward to the second installment of the trilogy kicked off with The Morning Star. Knausgård is a true master.

Amy Webb

Amy Webb Jump to all Amy Webb's selections

Founder and CEO, Future Today Institute

I’ve been looking forward to Crouch’s latest sci-fi novel about the farther-futures of human evolution. In a world where human upgrades are now possible, a prominent scientist’s genome is hacked—but in an unexpected way. The biological malware actually makes him smarter, more focused, better able to concentrate. He needs less sleep, and his productivity spikes. At first, the attack seems as if it’s created just for him, but soon we realize that there’s a bigger plan already in motion, intended to supercharge human evolution. What fascinates me about the premise is that we’ve already seen bio malware cyberattacks in the real world, and biological upgrades are now within the realm of plausibility.

Esther Duflo

Esther Duflo Jump to all Esther Duflo's selections

Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Prize laureate

A profound and optimistic call to action and reflection. For Piketty, the arc of history is long, but it does bend toward equality. There is nothing automatic about it, however: as citizens, we must be ready to fight for it and constantly reinvent the myriad of institutions that will bring it about. This book is here to help. I am planning to study it closely.

Anjhula Mya Singh Bais

Anjhula Mya Singh Bais Jump to all Anjhula Mya Singh Bais's selections

Chair, international board, Amnesty International

To lead a global organization as diverse as Amnesty—with its all-powerful mandate in human rights, its historical antecedents, how it contributed to what is now known as ‘human rights activists,’ and its future trajectory in a world that needs to respect human rights more than ever—is all important. Buchanan’s book analyzes how movements like anti-apartheid, anti-fascism, and civil liberties coalesced under the umbrella of human rights and provided models that have helped shape current attitudes, both political and public, toward human rights.

Manuel Rabaté

Manuel Rabaté Jump to all Manuel Rabaté's selections

Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi

This book came to mind as it is published by Antoine de Galbert—a great collector and art connoisseur. As someone who works at a museum with the mission of showcasing the shared stories of humanity and as a French person living in Abu Dhabi, I have a firm grasp of cultures from all parts of the world. This book particularly will be a gateway for me to understand African culture in more depth. I’m interested in understanding the different aspects of African culture and how the tradition shares similarities with other parts of the world.

Magnus Tyreman

Magnus Tyreman Jump to all Magnus Tyreman's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

Today, it feels more important than ever to understand what has shaped the psyche of Europe and individual nations. To navigate the future, a grasp of how we got here is critical.

Mimi Alemayehou

Mimi Alemayehou Jump to all Mimi Alemayehou's selections

Senior vice president, Mastercard

Ralph Ellison wrote of a fictional account of the invisibility of Black people. Now comes Howard French with a bold, magisterial history that compellingly reframes our understanding of Africa’s place in the modern world. Amid book-banning and hysteria over critical race theory, this should be an essential element for any required reading list.

Alan Murray

Alan Murray Jump to all Alan Murray's selections

CEO, Fortune Media

This is not new, but I belatedly read Empire of Pain and found it a powerful indictment of the potential corruption of profit. It was also reaffirming that the Sacklers’ pursuit of short-term profit, without regard for the effects on society, was their downfall. Great book.

Mimi Alemayehou

Mimi Alemayehou Jump to all Mimi Alemayehou's selections

Senior vice president, Mastercard

Edited volumes are famously doorstop adjacent. Not this time. Find here a fascinating canvas of C-suite strategies, conflicts, norms, and creeds. Wise CEOs distinguish between inflection points and fads. This is an illuminating look into how that is done and to what effect.

Marc Rosen

Marc Rosen Jump to all Marc Rosen's selections

CEO, JCPenney

We must focus on meeting in the middle and engaging in tough conversations to strengthen our democracy.

Laxman Narasimhan

Laxman Narasimhan Jump to all Laxman Narasimhan's selections

CEO, Reckitt Benckiser

A remarkable book on how a better appreciation of what hides in plain sight in historical monuments and landmarks helps us appreciate contemporary race relations.

Benedict Evans

Benedict Evans Jump to all Benedict Evans's selections

Independent analyst

A famous and important book about Chicago’s role in funneling and reshaping railways, lumber, grain, ice, and beef, including a very topical argument about network neutrality, self-preferencing, and nonfungible assets.

Sven Smit

Sven Smit Jump to all Sven Smit's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book describes the events leading up to and throughout the 1972–82 high-inflation period. I believe it is crucial to understand this period—to put where we are now in perspective and to understand the degree to which we can be at a turning point in history.

Radhika Jones

Radhika Jones Jump to all Radhika Jones's selections

Editor in chief, Vanity Fair

I happened to reread Portrait of a Lady this spring, and Gorra’s book tells the story of its making, extending from literary criticism into intellectual history, biography, and even travelogue. It’s a means to going deeper into a novel I dearly love.

Benedict Evans

Benedict Evans Jump to all Benedict Evans's selections

Independent analyst

Vollard was an art dealer who was a key figure in contemporary art at the beginning of the 20th century. His memoir is full of insights into entrepreneurship, signaling, perception, and some hilarious sharp practice in a market not that different to tech.

Bob Sternfels

Bob Sternfels Jump to all Bob Sternfels's selections

Global managing partner, McKinsey

I love history—and San Francisco.

Matt Murray

Matt Murray Jump to all Matt Murray's selections

Editor in chief, Wall Street Journal

This summer, I’m tackling one of my longtime bucket list projects, slowly working through Shelby Foote’s Civil War trilogy and savoring every bit of detail and color in his expansive narrative. It’s like a summerlong (possibly into autumn, if I’m being honest) feast.

Albert Wenger

Albert Wenger Jump to all Albert Wenger's selections

Managing partner, Union Square Ventures

With signs of societal dysfunction all around us, understanding why complex societies have collapsed in the past and what could be done to avoid collapse is of paramount importance.

Enric Sala

Enric Sala Jump to all Enric Sala's selections

Explorer in residence, National Geographic Society

This book is an epic history of how our modern society is based upon everything the ancient Greeks invented.

Mina Al-Oraibi

Mina Al-Oraibi Jump to all Mina Al-Oraibi's selections

Editor in chief, the National

Palestine remains a central issue for the Arab world and the wider Middle East. Khalidi is a deeply thoughtful and respected historian, and this book on Palestine and colonialism puts a spotlight on an oft-ignored history that can help illuminate a way forward.

Jen L. Wong

Jen L. Wong Jump to all Jen L. Wong's selections

COO, Reddit

The book is a summary of historical periods and trends from all the authors’ work over multiple decades, captured in the ten-volume set The Story of Civilization. I found it especially informative for thinking about what the future might hold. It covers a gamut of topics (including geography, biography, character, race, morality, and economics) about the human experience over the past 5,000 years.

Alan Murray

Alan Murray Jump to all Alan Murray's selections

CEO, Fortune Media

While I don’t fully agree with David Gelles’s thesis that Jack Welch is the man who destroyed capitalism—I think Welch was less cause than effect—the book is an effective reminder of how much business leadership has changed since Jack Welch’s day.

Tessa West

Tessa West Jump to all Tessa West's selections

Associate professor, NYU

Nothing can bring out the best and worst of humanity quite like a horse race to the top. The Monster’s Bones tells the story of the discovery of the T. rex, with a cast of characters so diverse and colorful that you couldn’t make this stuff up. This book is a candy-coated intellectual adventure, full of page-turning thrills that teach you something new in the process.

Daisy Veerasingham

Daisy Veerasingham Jump to all Daisy Veerasingham's selections

President and CEO, the Associated Press

This account of three trailblazing women war reporters not only illuminates the transformative role women played in shaping the nature of war reporting but reminds us of the importance of female representation in journalism, especially today in Ukraine.

Janeen Uzzell

Janeen Uzzell Jump to all Janeen Uzzell's selections

CEO, the National Society of Black Engineers

This is the quintessential guide for Black professionals who want to reach the top of their game and stay there. Written by members of the National Society of Black Engineers, the authors take you from successful to significant.

Christi Shaw

Christi Shaw Jump to all Christi Shaw's selections

CEO, Kite Pharma

Staying curious and asking the right questions are two skills that have helped me throughout my career in the pharmaceutical industry, but I’m always looking for more ways to learn. I’m excited to read Brené Brown’s book about leadership skills and fostering a culture of authenticity and purpose.

Alan Murray

Alan Murray Jump to all Alan Murray's selections

CEO, Fortune Media

I’m planning to read [this book] because I think Seth [Stephens-Davidowitz] is one of the most creative miners of public data out there today.

Gautam Kumra

Gautam Kumra Jump to all Gautam Kumra's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book aims to help us find purpose, meaning, and success in the second innings of our lives. Brooks draws on his own experiences of transforming his future, while deftly combining insights from social sciences, philosophy, and theology with everyday wisdom to create a practical road map to help us find happiness in our sunset years.

Reshma Saujani

Reshma Saujani Jump to all Reshma Saujani's selections

Founder, Girls Who Code; CEO, Marshall Plan for Moms

A beautiful treatise on love, loss, and healing. [The author] offers hard-won wisdom on grief through the lens of her own losses—and the transformative power of healing.

Paul Hudson

Paul Hudson Jump to all Paul Hudson's selections

CEO, Sanofi

At Sanofi, we are committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive workplace, and as the CEO of Sanofi, I recognize that this requires continuous learning for the organization and for myself. I have to confess, I am already halfway through this relatively quick read. I’m excited not only for what this book will teach me as a leader but also for the actionable steps that I can incorporate into my everyday interactions with my team to empower people at Sanofi to bring their best selves to work.

Tsedal Neeley

Tsedal Neeley Jump to all Tsedal Neeley's selections

Senior associate dean, Harvard Business School

Getting people aligned requires regularly sharpening our feedback approaches. This book captures everything we want to know about the triggers and opportunities of feedback.

Manuel Rabaté

Manuel Rabaté Jump to all Manuel Rabaté's selections

Director, Louvre Abu Dhabi

This book is at the top of my reading list this summer. John Perry is a compelling philosopher, and I appreciate the wittiness and humor in this book. I believe that since the start of the pandemic, everyone has felt an immense pressure to keep up with time. I’m looking forward to reading this quick little guide to understand how one can be a structured procrastinator and horizontal organizer; all while understanding the art of procrastination and its benefits in the long run.

Sven Smit

Sven Smit Jump to all Sven Smit's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

I guess this one comes with age.

Lisa Witter

Lisa Witter Jump to all Lisa Witter's selections

CEO, Apolitical Foundation; cofounder, Apolitical

I don’t know about you, but with the pandemic, I’ve gotten a bit rusty with meeting and deeply connecting with new people—and I’m an extrovert! I plan on learning from the best. Susan McPherson is the expert on authentic connection. The book promises to be practical, heartfelt, and fun. My idea of a beach read with purpose!

Gautam Kumra

Gautam Kumra Jump to all Gautam Kumra's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

What does it mean to lead a life of meaning and purpose? Brooks explores the four commitments that define such a life—commitment to a spouse and family, a vocation, a philosophy or faith, and a community—and illustrates this through lived experiences of people who have lived joyous, committed lives and have embraced the necessity of dependence. It’s relevant reading for the turbulent times we live in.

François-Philippe Champagne

François-Philippe Champagne Jump to all François-Philippe Champagne's selections

Minister of innovation, science, and industry, Government of Canada

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Leslie Maasdorp

Leslie Maasdorp Jump to all Leslie Maasdorp's selections

Vice president and CFO, New Development Bank

In this book, Kuper analyzes the incestuous network of Oxford-trained politicians and their role and disproportionate influence in modern British politics. It is truly astounding how narrow the talent pool is from which the leaders of Britain are drawn.

Shankar Vedantam

Shankar Vedantam Jump to all Shankar Vedantam's selections

Creator and host, Hidden Brain

Erica Chenoweth proves that nonviolent resistance is more powerful than violence when it comes to enacting change. In doing so, [Chenoweth] offers something we all need right now: hope for the future.

Daisy Veerasingham

Daisy Veerasingham Jump to all Daisy Veerasingham's selections

President and CEO, the Associated Press

I’m looking forward to reading this account of the 2020 US election, in which AP played a critical role in counting the vote and declaring the winners. As we gear up for midterms, it’s important to understand the complex US political climate.

Janeen Uzzell

Janeen Uzzell Jump to all Janeen Uzzell's selections

CEO, the National Society of Black Engineers

Black women have been overlooked, unseen, and misunderstood in the feminist movement. This book is an urgent read. My hope is that White women will read this and that the wounds exposed in the stories will spark a more inclusive movement.

Kiersten Saunders

Kiersten Saunders Jump to all Kiersten Saunders's selections

Cocreator, rich & REGULAR

This is a book I return to over and over again. Whenever I am feeling inadequate or lonely, I reach for it as a reminder of the human connectedness that exists beyond institutions. It inspires me to reimagine what it means to build community with people.

Mina Al-Oraibi

Mina Al-Oraibi Jump to all Mina Al-Oraibi's selections

Editor in chief, the National

As liberalism goes through a turbulent time and questions arise about the liberal order in the West, Fukuyama tackles it head-on. One of the sharpest political theorists of our age, even if I sometimes disagree with his political positions, Fukuyama’s latest book is definitely timely and insightful.

Azeem Azhar

Azeem Azhar Jump to all Azeem Azhar's selections

Creator, Exponential View

No one is better placed to explain why liberalism has got itself in such a mess. And why strong-man authoritarianism has won such appeal. While Fukuyama falls short of modifications for the liberal project, he does ask the most pertinent questions.

David Vélez

David Vélez Jump to all David Vélez's selections

Cofounder and CEO, Nubank

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Azeem Azhar

Azeem Azhar Jump to all Azeem Azhar's selections

Creator, Exponential View

Commons are reemerging as a way of organizing resources. But they have a long history, which Guy Standing meticulously describes up to the point of the recent plundering of these shared heritages.

David Vélez

David Vélez Jump to all David Vélez's selections

Cofounder and CEO, Nubank

Here's what I’m reading this summer.

Sven Smit

Sven Smit Jump to all Sven Smit's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

This book is always good to reread, but it may be even more important now to go back to the foundations of democracy.

Esther Duflo

Esther Duflo Jump to all Esther Duflo's selections

Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Prize laureate

Migration myths are contributing to tearing our nation apart. This book, grounded on deep original research and made lively by moving personal accounts, is an essential read. It shows that little has changed in this salad bowl that is our country, neither the migrants’ travails nor their successes nor, sadly, the prejudices they encounter.

Børge Brende

Børge Brende Jump to all Børge Brende's selections

President, World Economic Forum

Since the end of the Cold War, leaders have been working to create an even more connected world through trade, transport, communications, and the internet. Leonard argues that in doing so, the same leaders unwittingly created a formidable arsenal of weapons for new kinds of warfare. And we are in the middle of this perfect storm just now. These conflicts are so different from those in the Cold War. The new technologies are a game changer in this respect, and we are faced with an unparalleled G2 technology race, from quantum computing and machine learning to big data and AI.

Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman Jump to all Reid Hoffman's selections

Cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock Partners

Every leader, including and especially business leaders, needs to move our society forward toward the common goal of seeking truth and resisting any such corrosive and democracy-destroying attacks such as alternative facts.

Tracy Francis

Tracy Francis Jump to all Tracy Francis's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

I enjoy Bremmer’s commentary on geopolitics and the changing world order. I’m looking forward to the full-sentence version in his book.

Katherine Garrett-Cox

Katherine Garrett-Cox Jump to all Katherine Garrett-Cox's selections

CEO, Gulf International Bank (UK)

An inspiring story of how three passionate campaigners and founders of Global Witness have been fighting for justice at the nexus of human rights abuses and environmental degradation.

S. Mitra Kalita

S. Mitra Kalita Jump to all S. Mitra Kalita's selections

CEO, URL Media; publisher, Epicenter NYC

My copy just arrived. It’s a book of essays and columns by Levi Rickert, who is a citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and founder of Native News Online. I love Rickert’s work for its accessibility and uniqueness. In the decades I have been working on DEI [diversity, equity, and inclusion], I have never seen Indigenous issues centered as much as they should be, and it feels like I need to start making choices in my own media consumption to better understand the community.

Mimi Alemayehou

Mimi Alemayehou Jump to all Mimi Alemayehou's selections

Senior vice president, Mastercard

Worried that paranoia, irrationality, and intransigence are destroying civilization? Fear not. Beliefs on deeply held, hot-button issues can be changed, often with astonishing speed. McRaney’s deft storytelling explains how. Spoiler: barrages of facts are rarely the answer.

Tessa West

Tessa West Jump to all Tessa West's selections

Associate professor, NYU

Most of us, at some point, have given up on trying to change the minds of the people around us. It’s an exhausting and often fruitless endeavor. How Minds Change will make you rethink your apathy. Through vivid firsthand storytelling, matched with fresh scientific research, McRaney’s approach isn’t just for the intellectual elite: it’s for everyone. Read this book, and you will walk away feeling like you can embrace the impossible and once again find common ground with those long-lost relatives and high school friends you blocked from social media ages ago.

Chris Bradley

Chris Bradley Jump to all Chris Bradley's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

Profound. This book completely changed how I was trying to parent a teenager going through a difficult patch. A highly countercultural view of personal autonomy and accountability.

Børge Brende

Børge Brende Jump to all Børge Brende's selections

President, World Economic Forum

As Wharton’s top-rated professor, Adam Grant is, in Think Again, able to challenge readers to rethink their own conventional wisdom. In a fast-changing world, the skill of rethinking and unlearning is critical. Too many of us favor the comfort of conviction over the discomfort of doubt. We listen to opinions that make us feel good, instead of ideas that make us think hard. As Grant writes, we too often surround ourselves with people who agree with our conclusions—when we should be gravitating toward those who challenge our thought process. The brighter we are, the blinder to our own limitations we can become. It’s really about the power of knowing what you don’t know.

Gautam Kumra

Gautam Kumra Jump to all Gautam Kumra's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

While there are plenty of books on effective thinking, I have yet to come across one on the critical art of rethinking, which made this such an intriguing read. Adam Grant deftly weaves together research and storytelling to illustrate the importance of making space for other people’s opinions and embracing the joy of being wrong.

Tsedal Neeley

Tsedal Neeley Jump to all Tsedal Neeley's selections

Senior associate dean, Harvard Business School

There is no doubt that we’re polarized in significant ways. Klein’s evidence-based perspective about psychological identities might offer keys that can ultimately unite us.

Tessa West

Tessa West Jump to all Tessa West's selections

Associate professor, NYU

Influencing people is a tricky business. Most of us think that real influence requires natural charisma and a communication style that leaves people thinking, ‘I’ll take whatever they’re selling.’ Bohns’s book dispels this notion and takes you on a science-based journey of how to best answer the questions, ‘What is influence, exactly, and how do I know when I have it?’ The answers are different from what you’d think.

Lisa Witter

Lisa Witter Jump to all Lisa Witter's selections

CEO, Apolitical Foundation; cofounder, Apolitical

Need hope? We’re it. The headlines of our time are enough to make anyone feel helpless. But when we start to think and act like ‘citizens,’ not ‘consumers,’ everything changes. I don’t know about you, but I need some new stories to tell and a shot of practical inspiration.

Katherine Garrett-Cox

Katherine Garrett-Cox Jump to all Katherine Garrett-Cox's selections

CEO, Gulf International Bank (UK)

Alexander plots the much-needed shift from ‘consumer’ to ‘citizen,’ the need to be more human, as the answer to many of the global challenges we face today.

Kiersten Saunders

Kiersten Saunders Jump to all Kiersten Saunders's selections

Cocreator, rich & REGULAR

I just started this book, and it’s a radical view of motherhood at a welcomed time in my life. I used to consider cashing out of my corporate job before I turned 40 as my biggest ‘act of rebellion,’ but this book is challenging me to see caregiving in a similar light.

Magnus Tyreman

Magnus Tyreman Jump to all Magnus Tyreman's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

Despite the short-term challenges we are living through, this is the fundamental question of our time.

Noel Quinn

Noel Quinn Jump to all Noel Quinn's selections

CEO, HSBC

Bill Gates brilliantly decodes complex scientific and economic principles into language that can be understood by nonscientists and laypeople like myself. In so doing, he offers an insight into the future in a way that can be easily understood and should therefore have a wide audience.

Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi Jump to all Indra Nooyi's selections

Former CEO, PepsiCo

I loved this book because it gave me a glimpse into history in the making—how Dr. Bourla and his team raced against time itself to make ‘the impossible possible.’ It’s a story that will make you marvel at modern technology and the people at its vanguard.

Lloyd B. Minor

Lloyd B. Minor Jump to all Lloyd B. Minor's selections

Dean, Stanford University School of Medicine

From rising temperatures and sea levels to pervasive droughts and wildfires, humanity’s reckoning with climate change is a public-health crisis. I appreciate how Elizabeth Kolbert not only outlines urgent challenges but also examines how innovation may provide a path to resilience.

Lloyd B. Minor

Lloyd B. Minor Jump to all Lloyd B. Minor's selections

Dean, Stanford University School of Medicine

I chose Linda Villarosa’s book for how it dispels the widespread fallacy that health inequities experienced by Black Americans are simply tied to socioeconomics. Her reporting illuminates a stark reality of US healthcare and serves as another wake-up call to address racial disparities.

Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman Jump to all Reid Hoffman's selections

Cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock Partners

This isn’t a book per se, but this issue is fantastic and important because AI is going to affect every industry and create amazing things in human society.

Indra Nooyi

Indra Nooyi Jump to all Indra Nooyi's selections

Former CEO, PepsiCo

In this book, Rep. Khanna uniquely centers humanity in the conversation about technology. In a space where pessimism often dominates the discourse, I appreciated his optimistic vision of what tech can do for our society when we have the right road map in hand.

Enric Sala

Enric Sala Jump to all Enric Sala's selections

Explorer in residence, National Geographic Society

The personal story of the discovery of how trees communicate and help each other. The internet of plants!

François-Philippe Champagne

François-Philippe Champagne Jump to all François-Philippe Champagne's selections

Minister of innovation, science, and industry, Government of Canada

Here’s what I’m reading this summer.

Amy Webb

Amy Webb Jump to all Amy Webb's selections

Founder and CEO, Future Today Institute

We’re transitioning into a new era of technology, where our physical and virtual worlds will begin to collide. While I’m researching blockchain protocols, extended reality, and all the tech that will create our future, I also want to think about the unintended effects tech could have on society. Ten years from now, how will we define what is real versus what is virtual? How could new digital realities challenge—or maybe even improve—the ways we relate to each other?

Jen L. Wong

Jen L. Wong Jump to all Jen L. Wong's selections

COO, Reddit

When a physicist and a biologist meet and study living organisms, companies, and cities, they determine that living organisms and companies have limited life spans because they scale sublinearly while cities do not, and can therefore be eternal.

Paul Hudson

Paul Hudson Jump to all Paul Hudson's selections

CEO, Sanofi

Artificial intelligence is opening new doors in healthcare and is an integral part of our strategy at Sanofi. There are many books on this subject, but I recently had the chance to spend the day in a session with Eric and Daniel at MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology]. They inspired me with their vision and practicality—not an easy balance. As I read this book, I’m hoping to glean insights that I can directly apply to our AI-driven work.

Tsedal Neeley

Tsedal Neeley Jump to all Tsedal Neeley's selections

Senior associate dean, Harvard Business School

I can’t think of a more important book to bring into sharp relief the rate of technological change we are currently living in. It is no longer a matter of linear change over time. It is a matter of transformative and exponential shifts in all matters of life.

Óscar García Maceiras

Óscar García Maceiras Jump to all Óscar García Maceiras's selections

CEO, Inditex

In 2020, I had the opportunity to introduce the Spanish translation of Online Courts and the Future of Justice—a book by Richard Susskind, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing well throughout my legal career—to an audience in Madrid. At that time, I had not read this book, which he had written with his son, the equally brilliant Oxford University professor Daniel Susskind. I am going to do it now, taking advantage of the fact that the updated edition has just been published.

Enric Sala

Enric Sala Jump to all Enric Sala's selections

Explorer in residence, National Geographic Society

An inspiring book about Alexander von Humboldt’s unbelievable explorations that inspired him to invent modern ecological science.

Ozgur Tanrikulu

Ozgur Tanrikulu Jump to all Ozgur Tanrikulu's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

Despite all the ups and downs, AI will change the world. I am eager to learn about its impact on society as much as on science.

Eric Kutcher

Eric Kutcher Jump to all Eric Kutcher's selections

Senior partner, McKinsey

Valuable lessons for every leader from some of the world’s greatest chief executives.

Reshma Saujani

Reshma Saujani Jump to all Reshma Saujani's selections

Founder, Girls Who Code; CEO, Marshall Plan for Moms

Diversity expert Daisy Auger-Domínguez defines the problem with ‘colorblind’ workplace culture and provides a step-by-step road map to revolution.

Laxman Narasimhan

Laxman Narasimhan Jump to all Laxman Narasimhan's selections

CEO, Reckitt Benckiser

Henry Kissinger brings a unique combination of wisdom, personal experience, and historical perspectives to frame his reflections on the world order and leadership.

Anjhula Mya Singh Bais

Anjhula Mya Singh Bais Jump to all Anjhula Mya Singh Bais's selections

Chair, international board, Amnesty International

Master statesman Kissinger writes about six case studies in which world leaders employed one of six strategies: excellence, transcendence, will, humility, equilibrium, and conviction. The book is a unique combination of public, personal, and historical perception and offers indispensable leadership lessons.

Shankar Vedantam

Shankar Vedantam Jump to all Shankar Vedantam's selections

Creator and host, Hidden Brain

Christine Porath explores the subtle ways incivility affects our lives. It’s a reminder that kindness isn’t just a ‘nice to have.’ It’s crucial for the well-being of others—and ourselves.

Marc Rosen

Marc Rosen Jump to all Marc Rosen's selections

CEO, JCPenney

A reminder that we all need to cleanse our lives of any baggage that is holding us back, set our intent, and dive into leadership with our whole selves to be the most effective leaders we can be.

Reid Hoffman

Reid Hoffman Jump to all Reid Hoffman's selections

Cofounder, LinkedIn; partner, Greylock Partners

One of the major reasons I founded LinkedIn, and a central tenet of my philanthropy, is to understand how we can enable great talent to accomplish amazing work. Deploying science to understand and magnify talent identification is important in every human endeavor.

Business Leaders

Albert Wenger
Albert Wenger
Managing partner, Union Square Ventures

OTHER LEADERS

Abhijit Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee
Nobel Prize laureate; economist; author, Cooking to Save Your Life
Esther Duflo
Esther Duflo
Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Nobel Prize laureate

MEDIA

Author Talks Authors

MCKINSEY LEADERS

 

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Dive into insightful conversations with authors on crucial management topics including leading through a crisis, unleashing innovation, coping with organizational culture shifts, and more.

Acknowledgments

It takes a village to curate amazing lists from this rather busy group of leaders from all over the world. We would like to thank Kathy Bloomgarden, Robert Christie, Rimjhim Dey, Aria Finger, Steve John, Adrian Monck, Jayne Rosefield, Michelle O Sing, and Vinay Sridhar for their help.

Within McKinsey Global Publishing, special thanks to Mike Borruso, Elana Brown, Vanessa Burke, Sean Conrad, Pablo Corzo, Zachary Enco, Drew Holzfeind, Eleni Kostopoulos, Molly Liebergall, LaShon Malone, Philip Mathew, Pamela Norton, Kanika Punwani, Diane Rice, Shirley Shum, Amanda Soto, Sarah Thuerk, and Nathan Wilson for making this list come alive.

And thank you to our contributors and their organizations for providing McKinsey Global Publishing with their photographs and permission to use them.

We hope you have enjoyed our annual reading list. Please let us know your feedback and how we could have made it even more enjoyable and useful for you. Drop us a note at newideas@mckinsey.com.