Here are 92 books that I Never Thought of It That Way fans have personally recommended if you like
I Never Thought of It That Way.
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Since a young age, I’ve been focused on how we can build a more just economy that restores and repairs versus extracts from our communities. My expertise is in the micro-economies of alternative, emerging economic solutions—in other words, how businesses and organizations can transform how they work to become pieces of an economy that works for all.
I adore this book because it offers such practical, grounded strategies for navigating and facilitating change, drawing deep inspiration from the natural world.
Its insights feel both wise and usable, and they speak to a worldview and way of being that are profoundly dear to my heart.
It’s a touchstone for me—so much so that it permanently lives on my office bookshelf.
In the tradition of Octavia Butler, radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help to shape the futures we want.
Inspired by Octavia Butler's explorations of our human relationship to change, Emergent Strategy is radical self-help, society-help, and planet-help designed to shape the futures we want to live. Change is constant. The world is in a continual state of flux. It is a stream of ever-mutating, emergent patterns. Rather than steel ourselves against such change, this book invites us to feel, map, assess, and learn from the swirling patterns around us in order to better understand and influence them as they happen. This…
How Contempt Destroys Democracy
by
Zachary Elwood,
After Trump's 2024 election, many liberal Americans have seen that previous ways of combatting Trump haven't worked—and that some approaches may have even created more support for Trump. If they want to be more effective in their activism, anti-Trump Americans must be willing to consider new ways of thinking about…
I’m a serial adventurer and entrepreneur who loves to read, teach, and encounter our world in as many different ways as I can. I am an innately curious programmer and a goal-oriented completionist at heart. I’ve cruised around America’s Great Loop, run a marathon, written more than fifteen books, and been involved with many small businesses. I also love to work with new programming languages. I was around for the early days of the Java, Ruby, and Elixir programming languages. I built teams to build products using each one of them. My passion is to help programmers break through their blockers with fresh insights.
Adoption and change often lead to the kind of conflict that regularly breaks people.
I find that creators are often equipped to deal with technical creation, but are rarely equipped to deal with conflict. In this book, Amanda Ripley walks through how several skilled professionals found themselves in conflict.
Then she walks through how those conflicts started, who the players are, how they interact, how to engage in healthy conflict, and eventually how to get back out again.
Many of my peers in open-source technology, especially creators of languages and frameworks, find themselves in conflict and don’t have the tools to deal with it.
This book helped me think of conflict in a systematic way, and how to plot a course back out again.
When we are baffled by the insanity of the "other side"-in our politics, at work, or at home-it's because we aren't seeing how the conflict itself has taken over.
That's what "high conflict" does. It's the invisible hand of our time. And it's different from the useful friction of healthy conflict. That's good conflict, and it's a necessary force that pushes us to be better people.
High conflict, by contrast, is what happens when discord distills into a good-versus-evil kind of feud, the kind with an us and a them. In this state, the normal rules of engagement no…
I have spent my career in rooms where the better answer lost because it had no tribe. Skype, Microsoft, Google, and now the work I do on quantitative models. The pattern does not change. Biology, language, then the incentive to keep the story intact. I got obsessed with that stack because I am tired of watching honest people get trained out of honesty. The leader I care about is a polymath orchestrator: someone who can hold science, people, and a P&L without turning the room into politics. These books are how I built that frame.
So much of what we were told as settled truth about human nature turns out, with the right context, to be an exaggeration at best and a fraud at worst. Bregman forced me to reopen cases I had accepted as closed.
I love it because it argues with the cheap cynicism that treats cruelty as realism. It does not make me naive. It makes me demand better evidence before I write people off.
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A Guardian, Daily Telegraph, New Statesman and Daily Express Book of the Year
'Hugely, highly and happily recommended' Stephen Fry 'You should read Humankind. You'll learn a lot (I did) and you'll have good reason to feel better about the human race' Tim Harford 'Made me see humanity from a fresh perspective' Yuval Noah Harari
It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have…
How Contempt Destroys Democracy
by
Zachary Elwood,
After Trump's 2024 election, many liberal Americans have seen that previous ways of combatting Trump haven't worked—and that some approaches may have even created more support for Trump. If they want to be more effective in their activism, anti-Trump Americans must be willing to consider new ways of thinking about…
As a child, I often wondered why people behave as they do, think and believe in certain ways, and/or rationalize away their behavior, ranging from the criminal to the bizarre. I have researched and studied the mind for nearly fifty years now. I have written or co-authored more than twenty books on the subject.
My new book, Mind Training, co-authored with my wife and student of over thirty years, is the culmination of everything we’ve learned. In reality, it's a story that crosses over many disciplines, cites over 200 studies, offers multiple tools for empowerment in every chapter, and does so in the personable and friendly manner that my co-author is so very good at doing.
Most people hold somewhat delusional views about how and why they believe what they believe, and they are unaware of the various manipulation techniques and strategies influencers use to persuade and maneuver our opinions.
McRaney shows us how our beliefs are formed, why it can be so hard to change them, how they can be manipulated, he does so in a wonderfully insightful manner, making the science of human psychology relatable through practical stories and examples.
Moreover, the writing style is warm, not dogmatic or smug.
Genes create brains, brains create beliefs, beliefs create attitudes, attitudes create group-identities, group identities create norms, norms create values, and values create cultures. The most effective persuasion techniques work backwards.
Ideas sweep across cultures in waves, beginning with early adopters who reduce uncertainty for the rest of the population. It's rarely because the innovation is amazing in and of itself, but because early adopters signal to the group that it's safe to think again.
This book explains how minds change - and how to change them - not over hundreds of years, but in less than a generation,…
I’ve spent the past ten years reporting and writing true crime narratives about teenagers and hate, first in The 57 Bus and now in Accountable. My research has led me into some fascinating places and has left me convinced that we cannot prevent what we don’t understand. In both books I found that the young people who harmed others weren’t the stereotypical grimacing loners I’d always associated with hate and extremism. Instead, they were imitating behaviors that we see all around us. Being young, with brains that aren’t fully developed in important ways, and lacking the life experience that teaches us a more nuanced understanding of the world, they are ripe for radicalization.
Saslow tells the true story of a white nationalist’s journey out of extremism with the help of some very unlikely allies, one of whom is Jewish.
It’s both a compelling page-turner and an ethical conundrum. What is the best way to respond to the scion of one of the nation’s most influential white nationalist and neo-Nazi families? I found it riveting, revealing, and disturbing, but also moving and uplifting.
From a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, the powerful story of how a prominent white supremacist changed his heart and mind. This is a book to help us understand the American moment and to help us better understand one another.
“Rising Out of Hatred proclaims if the successor to the white nationalist movement can forsake his ideological upbringing, can rebirth himself in antiracism, then we can too no matter the personal cost. This book is an inspiration.” —Ibram X. Kendi, bestselling author of How to Be An Antiracist
Derek Black grew up at the epicenter of white nationalism. His father founded Stormfront,…
I was introduced to small business when I was six years old—my parents purchased a drug store to run (that drug store, after being sold forty years ago, is still in business). When I started my agency, there were few books on how to start, grow, and stay in business that didn’t tout traditional thinking. I think outside the triangle. I never thought I would be an author, and I am writing book #6! I write books today that I wish were available when I started my business journey: unique strategies coupled with actionable steps to grow. I hope these books provide inspiration and ideas!
I had to add a second book that I refer to often to keep my mind focused on what I have accomplished instead of what I still want to do with my business.
I love this book as it helps me to reframe business growth (and setbacks) in a way to keep my energy and focus going. I also like the summaries in the back that I can refer to when I just want a reminder of technique to get back into the gain.
Dan Sullivan shares his simple yet profound teaching that, until now, has only been known to his Strategic Coach clients: unsuccessful people focus on 'The Gap', but successful people focus on 'The Gain'.
Most people, especially highly ambitious people, are unhappy because of how they measure their progress. We all have an 'ideal', a moving target that is always out of reach. When we measure ourselves against that ideal, we're in 'the GAP'. However, when we measure ourselves against our previous selves, we're in 'the GAIN'.
That is where The GAP and The GAIN concept comes in. It was developed…
I’m a former philosophy professor who fled academia when I realized that the Ivy Tower is where Big Ideas go to die. I started my business, The Pocket PhD because I wanted to help experts become thought leaders and translate their expertise for a lay audience. As a business book ghostwriter and developmental editor, I get to collaborate with my clients to help them find the ideas that will increase their credibility, authority, and visibility. I’m always scouting for great business books like the ones on this list (occupational hazard). I hope these books give your business a boost!
There’s nothing I like better than an underdog story, especially one about business. This book deconstructs several underdog stories. In it, Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square, shares what he believes is the key to building a resilient, world-changing company: a strategy he calls the Innovation Stack.
From a glassblower who lost a sale because he couldn’t accept American Express to taking on the credit card industry (and Amazon), it’s a thrilling story told brilliantly, and I found it to be bursting with business lessons. I loved the irreverent first-person look inside Square, but the narrative is so much bigger than the story of Square. Thank you, Tim McKelvey, for reminding me to listen to the entrepreneur inside.
From the cofounder of Square, an inspiring and entertaining account of what it means to be a true entrepreneur and what it takes to build a resilient, world-changing company
In 2009, a St. Louis glassblowing artist and recovering computer scientist named Jim McKelvey lost a sale because he couldn't accept American Express cards. Frustrated by the high costs and difficulty of accepting credit card payments, McKelvey joined his friend Jack Dorsey (the cofounder of Twitter) to launch Square, a startup that would enable small merchants to accept credit card payments on their mobile phones. With no expertise or experience in…
I’m a former philosophy professor who fled academia when I realized that the Ivy Tower is where Big Ideas go to die. I started my business, The Pocket PhD because I wanted to help experts become thought leaders and translate their expertise for a lay audience. As a business book ghostwriter and developmental editor, I get to collaborate with my clients to help them find the ideas that will increase their credibility, authority, and visibility. I’m always scouting for great business books like the ones on this list (occupational hazard). I hope these books give your business a boost!
This was the antidote to “hustle culture” I didn’t realize I needed. Every page drips with passion from Tiffany Dufu. She has the courage not only to do what many women are afraid to do but also to turn her life’s lessons into a guide for the rest of us.
As a business owner, it’s easy for me to lose sight of what truly matters. Sometimes, that means chasing a social media algorithm when I should be building relationships in real life. Sometimes, that means putting my client's work ahead of my own joy. This is the book I pick up when I need permission to be a little less perfect.
An inspirational and insightful guide for those who want to get it all by doing less
For women, a glass ceiling at work is not the only barrier to success - it's also the increasing number of obligations they face once they leave the office. Women have become accustomed to delegating, advocating and negotiating for themselves in the workplace, but when it comes to managing home life, they are still juggling too many balls. A simple solution is staring them in the face: use these skills to negotiate in their personal lives.
Growing up as a fat kid, I hardly ever saw myself reflected in the media I consumed. If I did, it was by someone relegated to the side character status as the funny fat friend or the cautionary tale. Now, it’s my great joy to spread the word about books that put fat people in the spotlight—living our best lives, falling in love, and just having our much-deserved Main Character Moments.
I’m an author by day, but by night, I’m a library worker, and as a library worker, I absolutely love a good anthology. They’re the perfect place to try a lot of authors on for size and find your next fave, and Every Body Shine has some gems on offer. I found two of my new favorite fat authors, Sheena Boekweg and Kelly deVos, thanks to this anthology.
I love how easy this book is to pick up and put down—nice little one-sitting packages of fat girls (and folks of all genders!) being fantastic for any genre or mood craving I have.
An intersectional, feminist YA anthology from some of today's most exciting voices across a span of genres, all celebrating body diversity and fat acceptance through short stories. A Junior Library Guild Selection Fat girls and boys and nonbinary teens are: friends who lift each other up, heroes who rescue themselves, big bodies in space, intellects taking up space, and bodies looking and feeling beautiful. They express themselves through fashion, sports and other physical pursuits, through food, and music, and art. They are flirting and falling in love. They are loving to themselves and one another. With stories that feature fat…
As a former middle school language arts teacher, I’ve witnessed firsthand the struggles some students face trying to be accepted and the heartbreak they experience when they are not. Every child deserves to be seen and appreciated for who they are and not be excluded or ostracized due to factors over which they have little control. I write and promote picture books about friendship, acceptance, and inclusion because everyone deserves to be included…always.
As a middle school teacher, I knew a lot of Janines. Janine has her own style and isn’t afraid to be herself even if the “cool” kids think she’s odd. However, add in invites to a “cool” kids’ party and Janine has a problem. To attend, the “cool” kids want her to change. How far will Janine go to be included? To be included is a powerful desire but at what cost? Unfortunately, scenarios like this occur every day in classrooms across the country, but this book shines a light on the importance of looking at each person’s uniqueness through the lenses of kindness, compassion, and empathy.
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ILA 2016 Teachers' Choices Reading List
Meet Janine. She is one of a kind! Janine dresses a little different, remembers random facts, reads the dictionary for fun, and has her own style of cheering. Nobody does things the way Janine does things! One girl in Janine's class is throwing a party and all the COOL kids are invited. But Janine is not cool. Some kids think she is strange and want her to change. Will Janine try to be different or just be her spectacular self? In this charming story, Maryann Cocca-Leffler uses her own daughter as inspiration for a…
