Amidst the pandemic, global events, and everything else under the sun that has been thrown our way in 2020 – we wanted to compile a book list *with Amazon ratings* to help you live out a happier, more educated, positive and productive rest of your year (which most definitely will pour over into 2021). From business advice to personal development, anti-racism, and happiness – this reading list will keep you busy, and most definitely bulk up your library. Check it out:

Business:

1. Ditch the Act: Reveal the Surprising Power of the Real You for Greater Success by Leonard Kim and Ryan Foland, (4.8/5)

When you have a job interview or begin a new position at a new company, “playing the part” may not be the truest advice anymore. “Fake It till you make it”? Also, not relevant. Ditch the Act is said to share the concept behind being honest, and authentic and how to improve connections and relationships in business.

2. Can’t Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins (4.8/5) Amazon Charts

David Goggins shares his story about how he was able to persevere and transform his life. From his lowest point to a U.S. Armed Forces “icon”, to a world athlete – setting records and creating a legacy, he provides a glimpse into his experiences and “illuminates a path anyone can follow”. (Clean edition available).

3. Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life…And Maybe the World by Admiral William H. McRaven (4.7/5)

Make Your Bed offers 10 life lessons that a former Navy Seal learned during his training that helped both in the Naval base and in life in general. “A book to inspire your children and grandchildren to become everything that they can” The Wall Street Journal.

4. The Bezos Letters: 14 Principles to Grow Your Business Like Amazon by Steve Anderson (4.7/5)

Have you ever been interested in how successful businesses run their company? What their plans, goals, and communication consist of? “Bezos reveals his mysterious system in his annual letters to shareholders”. This book demonstrates how to take these practices for your own business and implement them to be successful.

5. The Proximity Principle: The Proven Strategy That Will Lead to a Career You Love by Ken Coleman and Dave Ramsey (4.6/5)

“Forget the traditional career advice you’ve heard”. This book is said to share a fresh new take on career advice. “Right now, 70% of Americans aren’t passionate about their work and are desperately longing for meaning and purpose. They’re sick of “average” and know there’s something better out there, but they just don’t know how to reach it.”

6. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport (4.6/5)

If you’re interested in learning how to reduce digital interruptions – it’s time to perform a digital “declutter” and manage your life among the madness.  “The Marie Kondo of Mobile Phones”- Evening Standard.

7. Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases, and Transform Industries by Safi Bahcall (4.6/5)

Loonshots demonstrates “why teams will suddenly change from embracing new ideas to rejecting them”. This book is said to help unleash our capability in building and cultivating the ridiculous ideas that “change the world”.

Personal Development:

1.  Everything Is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo (4.9/5)

At just shy of a 5/5 star review on Amazon, this book is said to share a basic method that makes it “42% more likely you’ll achieve your goals”. “It’s more than just a fun phrase to say”. – Marie Forleo

2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey (4.7/5)

If you’re interested in learning “universal and timeless” principles on how to become more effective, this one is for you. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is said to be the “balance of obtaining desirable results and caring what produces those results”.

3. The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller (4.7/5)

With over 500 appearances on the national bestsellers list, and the winner of 12 book awards, The ONE Thing, encourages you to switch your focus and energy to one thing at a time, so you are able to live a more fulfilling life. “You want less, and you want more. Now you can have both”.

4. The Power of Agency by Paul Napper and Anthony Rao (4.6/5)

Utilizing science and psychological research, this book provides tools to help manage stress, consistent demands, make innovative choices, and be more successful.

5. The Power of Bad: How the Negativity Effect Rules Us and How We Can Rule It by John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister (4.4/5)

The Power of Bad aka “the negativity bias” explains how as humans we are “wired to react to bad events more strongly than good ones”. This book aids in teaching you how to train your brain to get better at recognizing your own “negativity bias” and use it for constructive results.

6. The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World by Jamil Zaki (4.4/5)

“Studies show that we are less caring than we were even thirty years ago.” Why? The War for Kindness offers research and experiments on empathy and how it’s a skill in which we can build and strengthen. The War for Kindness is “an inspiring call to action”.

7. The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins (4.4/5)

Do you have trouble making decisions? Or getting started? Or find yourself not taking action when you know you should, simply because you just don’t feel like it? In the 5 Second Rule Mel Robbins teaches you how to create self-urgency, and take action before convincing yourself otherwise.

Anti-Racism

1. Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays by R. Eric Thomas (4.9/5)

“Here for It will resonate deeply and joyfully with everyone who has ever felt pushed to the margins, struggled with self-acceptance, or wished to shine more brightly in a dark world. Stay here for it—the future may surprise you.”.

2. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in The Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander (4.7/5)

The New Jim Crow discusses race-related issues and the influence of conventional mass media. How systematic racism runs deep into the “fabric of our nation” whether we are aware of it or not.

3. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo (4.7/5)

So You Want to Talk About Race, is laid out by each chapter proposing a question about race in modern-day America. The book shares the author’s opinions, as well as how to talk about each individual issue properly.

4. How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi (4.7/5) Amazon Charts

It is not enough to not be racist, this book explains how to be “anti” racist (hence the name). Providing our contemporary ideas and opinions behind our own selves, and other races, whether we intend to be racist or not.

5. Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do by Jennifer L. Eberhardt Ph.D. (4.6/5)

Similar to the previous book’s concept, Biased is a book if you’re looking to understand how our biases are formed, and how we digest these biases. With a combination of lab experiments and personal experiences, the author reveals “how we can be vulnerable to bias but not doomed to live under its grip”.

6. Me and White Supremacy by Layla F Saad (Amazon Charts) (4.4/5)

“Structured as a 28-day guide targeted at white readers, the book aims to aid readers in identifying the impact of white privilege and white supremacy over their lives.” With quotes, questions, and prompts to battle racism and make an impact this interactive book is a valuable learning tool.

7. The Blind Spot by Mahzarin R. Banaji (4.3/5)

Another book demonstrating the hidden biases we possess. Explaining the science behind our judgments – and giving us a “glimpse into what lies within the blindspot”.

Happiness:

1. The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu (4.8/5)

“How do we find joy in the face of life’s inevitable suffering?” The Book of Joy is said to “trade intimate stories among Dalai Lama, and Desmond Tutu, where they tease each other continually and share their spiritual practices.”

2. The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor (4.7/5)

The Happiness Advantage demonstrates the importance of finding happiness, not after you’ve accomplished or achieved something. Shawn Achor shares the “largest study ever that was conducted on happiness and human potential sharing the core principles of positive psychology that we can use to improve our lives”.

3. The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT by Russ Harris and Steven C. Hayes Ph.D. (4.6/5)

If you’re looking to reduce anxiety/stress, overcome doubt and fear, address troublesome feelings, and combat unsuccessful habits – then this book is for you.

LATEST READS FROM WALRATH RECRUITING:
 
SOURCES: Google Books Wikipedia Amazon