Task #17: A business book

[Linnea]

Would this Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.qualify?

[Emilia]

I am planning on reading Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Maybe it's a stretch, but "a business book" is vague and it's about the food industry.

[Karen]

Emilia wrote: "I am planning on reading Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. Maybe it's a stretch, but "a business book" is vague and it's about the food industry."

That’s what I’m reading.

[Adna]

Does Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist count for this challenge? What does the wise read harder crowd think?

[Doni]

Adna, I loved this book!

[Carolina]

Would this count? It's personal finance. Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping by and Get Your Financial Life Together

[Elizabeth]

I'm halfway through The Dressmaker of Khair Khana. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...
Highly recommend for people who wouldn't normally pick up a business book. Yes, it's kind of a biography, but it also focuses a lot on the business concepts like marketing, management, investment, etc. that shaped the lives of the people in the story. It's really inspiring, and there's no impenetrable business speak or pop philosophy/psychology.

[Tammy]

Karin wrote: "Tammy wrote: "I'm wondering what you all think about a NON-PROFIT business book? I think I might be more interested in something like that, but don't know of many. One that comes to mind, that I pa..."

Thanks, Karin. Probably not that far, but it does look like an interesting book, nevertheless. And I really like the cover. :)

[Octavia]

This was the task I was dreading most this year, but I've come across something really excellent that qualifies. I read This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein - essentially how Big Business is both fuelling climate change through their dodgy practices and deliberately sabotaging any attempts to fix it in case, you know, preventing apocalyptic level disaster costs them so much as a buck. The book's politics and economics and science as much as business, but it's also listed under Business on Amazon, so I'm counting it as such.

It's horrifying reading, but one of those books that everyone should read nonetheless I think.

[Melody]

Oh boy. I am not excited about this prompt at all. I guess I might pick up a Malcolm Gladwell book in a pinch, but do we have any workarounds or variations for this? Would a novel about a business work, maybe? A micro-history? Dilbert?

[Karen]

Melody wrote: "Oh boy. I am not excited about this prompt at all. I guess I might pick up a Malcolm Gladwell book in a pinch, but do we have any workarounds or variations for this? Would a novel abo..."

Dilbert!!! I love that idea!

[Kerri]

Linnea wrote: "Would this Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts.qualify?"

Absolutely!

[Kerri]

Tammy wrote: "Karin wrote: "Tammy wrote: "I'm wondering what you all think about a NON-PROFIT business book? I think I might be more interested in something like that, but don't know of many. One that comes to m..."

Take Command: Lessons in Leadership: How to Be a First Responder in Business is a good book by Jake Wood, founder of Team Rubicon. Charlie Mike: A True Story of Heroes Who Brought Their Mission Home is another one that highlights The Mission Continues (ignore the Eric Greitens scandal and focus on the story of TMC) and Team Rubicon. Both are very good, but I think Take Command is more business related.

[Lavanya]

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari has been on my TBR list. Does it count?

[Bonnie G.]

High recommendations for The Vanishing American Corporation: Navigating the Hazards of a New Economy for anyone interested in and trying to navigate the new US economy.

[Bonnie G.]

Kate wrote: "Thank to Bonnie for the list. I’m excited about That’s what she said and The person you mean to be"

Those look like great choices!

[Stephanie]

Octavia wrote: "This was the task I was dreading most this year, but I've come across something really excellent that qualifies. I read This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi ..."

Thanks for the recommendation--this sounds like necessary reading! I will add to my TBR but I was already planning on Power of Habit and Bad Blood.

[Lauren]

I'm trying out It's Your Universe by Ashley Eckstein. She talks about how she launched Her Universe in it, so....I think it counts?

[bermudianabroad]

I think this is my chance to finally get up the courage to read Capital in the Twentieth First Century by Thomas Piketty.

It was doing the rounds a few years back but it’s a 600+ page monster.

No excuses now.

[Bryce]

I just started listening to the audiobook of Capital in the 21st Century, I didn't even think about it as a business book but of course it is, as it's about economics. Sweet, well, once I've got through it that's one more category down :D

[Megan]

Lavanya wrote: "Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari has been on my TBR list. Does it count?"

No--that's not really a business book.

[Book Riot]

Hey everyone! Our list of recommendations for this task is now up: https://bookriot.com/2019/02/26/read-...

[Kristi]

Anyone have thoughts about ? I kind of like the idea of fiction here...

[April]

I'm reading No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work. It's light with lots of illustrations. As a new manager, this is also super useful to me! I'm also planning on reading The Librarian's Guide to Homelessness: An Empathy-Driven Approach to Solving Problems, Preventing Conflict, and Serving Everyone. It's not business per se, but it's my business!

[taeli]

Bullshit Jobs: A Theory by David Graeber is supposed to be good. I heard about it on the Hidden Brain podcast.

[Teresa]

Taeli, I remember that podcast. I've told a few people about it. I forgot there was a book to go with it.

[M.A.]

Ava wrote: "Eujean2 wrote: "There are quite a few lists of business books on GoodReads. This is "the 100 best business books of all time" as per Marketplace on NPR: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1......"

I loved that book, but don't remember it as having a business slant, as it spoke about many aspects of modern life. YMMV.

[M.A.]

I'm planning to read Shane Bauer's "American prison: a reporter's undercover journey into the business of punishment". Includes some history of for-profit prisons in the US. Also works for journalist/journalism challenge.

[Sheri]

I read The Beekeeper's Lament: How One Man and Half a Billion Honey Bees Help Feed America which is about the beekeeping industry and how it affects America's agricultural industry, as well as how our agriculture affects beekeeping. It was pretty interesting, if a bit dry.

[Stephanie]

M.A. wrote: "I'm planning to read Shane Bauer's "American prison: a reporter's undercover journey into the business of punishment". Includes some history of for-profit prisons in the US. Also works for journali..."

Thanks for the recommendation. I am reading what he published in Mother Jones when he went undercover--I didn't know it became a whole book eventually.

[Wellington]

I read Bad Blood by John Carreyrou for this challenge. I thought it was excellent and definitely recommend it. He does an excellent job of describing the basic science behind what Theranos was trying to do without dumbing it down so much that someone who is a scientist wouldn't still like it.

[Christy]

I am not interested in being told How to Business, so I was worried about this one. However, I do like learning about things very far outside my usual reading (thus the challenge), so I think I'm going with The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine. Apparently, Michael Lewis is very good at making the story accessible to a general audience, and I do think the financial crisis is important to understand. Horizons, let's get broadened!

[Sherri]

I finished The Monopolists: Obsession,Fury,&the Scandal Behind the Worlds Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon for this prompt.

[Tammy]

I'm thinking of reading Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit, about the tomato industry / agribusiness.

[Amanda]

I am reading Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl and wondering if it counts for this. It is about her tenure running Gourmet magazine and deals a lot with editorial and business decisions. But it is mainly a memoir. I'm torn

[Rachael]

Would Kids These Days: Human Capital and the Making of Millennials count for this category?

[Brandon]

Murder with Fried Chicken and Waffles is definitely a cozy mystery, but it has plenty of relevant advice for restaurant owners within its pages, so you could conceivably use it for this prompt, too.

[Nikki]

Serendipity wrote: "I'm offering bonus points to whoever can come up with a really short suggestion for this one. Its not something that interests me at all. Although admittedly I have been thinking more along the lin..."
I'm going to re-read "The Answer to How is Yes" by Peter Block. It's short and while it is centered on making business decisions I remember it as being more of a "philosophy of how to think through a problem" kind of book.

[AJ]

Do you guys think To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History counts as a business book

[Pam]

I tried a couple business books and quickly couldn't continue reading them. I was pleasantly surprised by Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE
by Phil Knight. I listened to the author read it as an audiobook.

[Liz]

I'm going to be reading Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Has anyone else read it??? Thoughts?

[Edie]

Serendipity wrote: "I'm offering bonus points to whoever can come up with a really short suggestion for this one. Its not something that interests me at all. Although admittedly I have been thinking more along the lin..."

Check out Who Moved My Cheese. It's less than 100 pages and a fast read.

[Salwade]

I read Grocery by Michael Ruhlman...well-written and I learned a lot about the grocery/food industry in the US.

[Chavelli]

Doughnut Economics

[Monica]

Amanda wrote: "Do you guys think To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History counts as a business book"

Yes

[Monica]

Liz wrote: "I'm going to be reading Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. Has anyone else read it??? Thoughts?"

Good book for this task. If you read a lot of business books, this is not especially informative. For an intro into the business book world, it's very good, especially if you are a working mother. Sanberg of course has resources that normal women do not; nonetheless her attempt at motivating and empathizing with working women.

[Monica]

I read Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are for this task. Interesting and a little pop cultural, point of view. IOW not the voice of experience in the world, but optimistic, youthful, full of exuberance and a little off. Probably a short window for relevance but that window is happening now. ;-)

[Milena]

I know I'm a little late to this party, but I read Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup. It was so good.

[Stephanie]

I read DisneyWar. It was a wild ride.

[Alexis]

I picked The Devil's Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers up at a used book sale for this prompt. Has anyone read it? Is it any good?