Talking Big Ideas.
New books are exciting. Below are nine titles that I’m eager to read – all just released or being published later this year. If you dive into any of these or have other suggestions, I’d love to hear from you.
Infectious Generosity
The Ultimate Idea Worth Spreading
The author, Chris Anderson, wrote one of the best books on public speaking, TED Talks. He turned the TED conference into a global sensation, working with hundreds of brilliant thinkers to help them craft and polish their ideas into compelling presentations. The ultimate idea worth spreading, he argues in his new book, is generosity. And with modern tech we can help to make it go viral.
Knife
Meditations After an Attempted Murder
Salman Rushdie is one of the world’s great living authors and free speech advocates. Knife is “a searing, deeply personal account of enduring—and surviving—an attempt on his life thirty years after the fatwa that was ordered against him. Speaking out for the first time . . . Knife is a gripping, intimate, and ultimately life-affirming meditation on life, loss, love, art—and finding the strength to stand up again.”
Not the End of the World
How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet
Hannah Ritchie is the lead researcher at Our World in Data, the gold standard for trusted research about the state of the world. Following in the footsteps of Julian Simon and Hans Rosling, Ritchie brings science to life with storytelling, data, and pragmatic optimism. She evaluates the seven biggest environmental problems facing the planet today and explains how we can solve them. (In line with my essay, We are Problem Solvers.)
The Anxious Generation
How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness
Jon Haidt is among my favorite authors. In this upcoming book, he offers “an essential investigation into the collapse of youth mental health—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.” I expect his diagnosis will be accepted while his proposed solutions will be controversial and fought over.
Troubled
A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class
Rob Henderson is a brilliant writer with one of the best Substacks. “In this raw coming-of-age memoir . . . Henderson vividly recounts growing up in foster care, enlisting in the US Air Force, attending elite universities, and pioneering the concept of ‘luxury beliefs’—ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class while inflicting costs on the less fortunate.”
Slow Productivity
The Lost Art of Accomplishment After Burnout
Cal Newport is a guru on personal productivity. He authored the modern classics Deep Work and Digital Minimalism. His new book appears to blend productivity advice with stoic-style wisdom, akin to Oliver Burkeman’s Four Thousand Weeks: “a groundbreaking philosophy for pursuing meaningful accomplishment while avoiding overload.”
Somehow
Thoughts on Love
Anne Lamott is a national treasure. Her writing is steeped in wisdom, authenticity, and humor. My very first newsletter was centered around one of her insights (“Write shitty first drafts”). Somehow, her twentieth book, “explores the transformative power that love has in our lives: how it surprises us, forces us to confront uncomfortable truths, reminds us of our humanity, and guides us forward.”
Supercommunicators
How to Unlock the Secret Language of Connection
Charles Duhigg is the author of the uber classic The Power of Habit. His books are deep dives rich with research and stories. I will almost assuredly be sharing insights from Supercommunicators in this newsletter. It’s billed as “a fascinating exploration of what makes conversations work—and how we can all learn to be supercommunicators at work and in life.”
Until August
The highly anticipated lost novel by Gabriel García Márquez. When he died ten years ago, Márquez was celebrated as one of the most beloved authors in history. Until August was written shortly before his death and locked away in an archive. “Constantly surprising, joyously sensual . . . a profound meditation on freedom, regret, self-transformation, and the mysteries of love—an unexpected gift from one of the greatest writers the world has ever known.”
