Michele Wucker's Blog - Posts Tagged "2015-books"
Michele's Bookshelf: An Eclectic List of Books Worth Your While
Several years ago, Nancy Ancowitz interviewed me and wrote in her fantastic book Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead about an annual tradition I kept: at the beginning of the holiday season, sending out a list of books (and sometimes movies and music) by friends, colleagues, and acquaintances.
As social media provided more and more opportunities to give shout outs to some of the amazing people I’m lucky enough to meet, the list of books grew as my circle of contacts widened, and demands on my time became overwhelming, I ruefully let the annual list fall by the wayside.
This is a perfect place to revive the practice in a slightly different form. So, herewith (in no particular order): a list of recently published books by friends, colleagues and acquaintances, ranging from business, politics, and policy to history, psychology and true crime.
Where the Bodies Were Buried: Whitey Bulger and the World that Made Him by T.J. English, an account of the exploits of gangster Whitey Bulger. TJ is a great reporter and story teller who has delved deep into the underworld of gangs and gangsters.
The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry by Ned Sublette and Constance Sublette is a sobering look at the clash between American importers of slaves and those who made money by forcing slave women to have children. Ned’s earlier books on Cuban music and New Orleans are worth a read as well.
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy. I was lucky enough to be in a class that Amy Cuddy taught at the Harvard Kennedy School in March 2012, not long before her famous TED talk that made power-posing a household word.
The Lion Awakes: Adventures in Africa's Economic Miracle by Ashish Thakkar is a refreshing first hand account by an African entrepreneur of doing business in Africa and a clear-eyed vision of the continent's future that breaks wide open any stereotypes you might have held.
If you’re interested in the intersection of policy and entrepreneurship and inspired by the stories of intrepid and innovative entrepreneurs around the world, you’ll love From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Unlikely Places by Elmira Bayrasli, who was one of the senior fellows I recruited to the World Policy Institute during my time there.
Pristine Seas: Journeys to the Ocean's Last Wild Places by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala (and another guy you may have heard of, Leonardo something or other….) offers a rare glimpse into underwater Edens.
Lera Auerbach’s Excess of Being is an exuberant and inspiring book of aphorisms and art. Lera is a world-class composer, poet, and performer.
Investing with Impact: Why Finance Is a Force for Good by Jeremy Balkin, “the anti-Wolf of Wall Street,” who argues that when used properly, finance provides tools that can help solve the world’s problems, in sharp contrast with the way it has been misused (case in point: the recent global financial crisis).
Peter Lacy, the co-author of Waste to Wealth: The Circular Economy Advantage, shows how the growth of the circular economy can create competitive advantage while protecting themselves –and the world- from the impact of environmental degradation and resource shocks.
Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World, by Ian Bremmer, offers three paths that America could take in its foreign policy and engages readers in weighing the choices.
Speaking of politics and policy, Joanne Cronrath Bamberger has edited an important collection of essays about the paradoxical reactions to the career of Hillary Clinton: Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox. It’s helped me think through some of my thoughts, and those of my friends, in a world that too often punishes women for ambition and achievement.
Unfinished Business: Women Men Work FamilyUnfinished Business, by Anne-Marie Slaughter, offers a thoughtful and thought-provoking vision of how to re-think work and family in order to achieve equality between men and women.
Soul in a Bottle: A Journey in Haiti is a memoir of Madison Smartt Bell's visits to Haiti over the years.
Finally, hot off the presses are four early 2016 books:
The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated by Helaine OlenHelaine Olen and Harold Pollack is a no-nonsense, simple list of tips for keeping your finances in order.
Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency by David Greenberg shows how the spin-meisters behind today’s political campaigns grew out of a long history of American presidencies shaped by image making and message craft
Edward Paulino’s Dividing Hispaniola: The Dominican Republic's Border Campaign against Haiti, 1930-1961 is an important new history of the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo’s project to create hostility toward Haiti; a subject that many of you know is near and dear to my heart.
Alec Ross’s The Industries of the Future draws on his experience traveling to 41 countries and witnessing innovations that will shape the economy and workplace of the future.
I know I’ve probably missed a few, so please drop me a note if you’re a friend who’s had a book published recently. Also let me know if you’ve got a book coming out in 2016, since I’ll be back soon with a list of forthcoming books by people in my community.
As social media provided more and more opportunities to give shout outs to some of the amazing people I’m lucky enough to meet, the list of books grew as my circle of contacts widened, and demands on my time became overwhelming, I ruefully let the annual list fall by the wayside.
This is a perfect place to revive the practice in a slightly different form. So, herewith (in no particular order): a list of recently published books by friends, colleagues and acquaintances, ranging from business, politics, and policy to history, psychology and true crime.
Where the Bodies Were Buried: Whitey Bulger and the World that Made Him by T.J. English, an account of the exploits of gangster Whitey Bulger. TJ is a great reporter and story teller who has delved deep into the underworld of gangs and gangsters.
The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry by Ned Sublette and Constance Sublette is a sobering look at the clash between American importers of slaves and those who made money by forcing slave women to have children. Ned’s earlier books on Cuban music and New Orleans are worth a read as well.
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges by Amy Cuddy. I was lucky enough to be in a class that Amy Cuddy taught at the Harvard Kennedy School in March 2012, not long before her famous TED talk that made power-posing a household word.
The Lion Awakes: Adventures in Africa's Economic Miracle by Ashish Thakkar is a refreshing first hand account by an African entrepreneur of doing business in Africa and a clear-eyed vision of the continent's future that breaks wide open any stereotypes you might have held.
If you’re interested in the intersection of policy and entrepreneurship and inspired by the stories of intrepid and innovative entrepreneurs around the world, you’ll love From the Other Side of the World: Extraordinary Entrepreneurs, Unlikely Places by Elmira Bayrasli, who was one of the senior fellows I recruited to the World Policy Institute during my time there.
Pristine Seas: Journeys to the Ocean's Last Wild Places by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala (and another guy you may have heard of, Leonardo something or other….) offers a rare glimpse into underwater Edens.
Lera Auerbach’s Excess of Being is an exuberant and inspiring book of aphorisms and art. Lera is a world-class composer, poet, and performer.
Investing with Impact: Why Finance Is a Force for Good by Jeremy Balkin, “the anti-Wolf of Wall Street,” who argues that when used properly, finance provides tools that can help solve the world’s problems, in sharp contrast with the way it has been misused (case in point: the recent global financial crisis).
Peter Lacy, the co-author of Waste to Wealth: The Circular Economy Advantage, shows how the growth of the circular economy can create competitive advantage while protecting themselves –and the world- from the impact of environmental degradation and resource shocks.
Superpower: Three Choices for America's Role in the World, by Ian Bremmer, offers three paths that America could take in its foreign policy and engages readers in weighing the choices.
Speaking of politics and policy, Joanne Cronrath Bamberger has edited an important collection of essays about the paradoxical reactions to the career of Hillary Clinton: Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox. It’s helped me think through some of my thoughts, and those of my friends, in a world that too often punishes women for ambition and achievement.
Unfinished Business: Women Men Work FamilyUnfinished Business, by Anne-Marie Slaughter, offers a thoughtful and thought-provoking vision of how to re-think work and family in order to achieve equality between men and women.
Soul in a Bottle: A Journey in Haiti is a memoir of Madison Smartt Bell's visits to Haiti over the years.
Finally, hot off the presses are four early 2016 books:
The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated by Helaine OlenHelaine Olen and Harold Pollack is a no-nonsense, simple list of tips for keeping your finances in order.
Republic of Spin: An Inside History of the American Presidency by David Greenberg shows how the spin-meisters behind today’s political campaigns grew out of a long history of American presidencies shaped by image making and message craft
Edward Paulino’s Dividing Hispaniola: The Dominican Republic's Border Campaign against Haiti, 1930-1961 is an important new history of the Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo’s project to create hostility toward Haiti; a subject that many of you know is near and dear to my heart.
Alec Ross’s The Industries of the Future draws on his experience traveling to 41 countries and witnessing innovations that will shape the economy and workplace of the future.
I know I’ve probably missed a few, so please drop me a note if you’re a friend who’s had a book published recently. Also let me know if you’ve got a book coming out in 2016, since I’ll be back soon with a list of forthcoming books by people in my community.
