Weekly Non-Fiction Reading List 10.30.23
We have three books this week from some amazing authors. The first book on the list is about success, luck and the myth of meritocracy. Then, we have an incredible book on hate and what we can do about it. Finally, we have the brand new Adam Grant book, which is an absolute banger. Enjoy!
Each of the links to the books are affiliate links, so if you use my link to purchase any of these books, some comes back to support what I do (and it also helps fund my reading habit).
Success and Luck: Good Fortune and the Myth of Meritocracy by Robert Frank
I’ve read this book multiple times, and it’s still fantastic. This was the first book I read on the myth of meritocracy, and it helped me not feel so crazy. I knew something was going on but didn’t know how to put it into words. Robert Frank breaks this topic down very well explaining how skill is definitely a factor for success, but there are many ways luck plays a major role, and this is even more true when you have more competition of highly skilled people.
This most recent read, I read the book with my 14-year-old son, and he loved it. I’m glad he’s learning this lesson early. Not just for himself for when he doesn’t get “chosen”, but so he understands that sometimes successful people are lucky and unsuccessful people just had bad luck.
The Opposite of Hate: A Field Guide to Repairing Our Humanity by Sally Kohn
This is easily a must-read book. I was totally unfamiliar with Sally Kohn’s work, but she has a great head on her shoulders. In short, Sally wanted to understand why we hate other groups of people, and it mainly started with online trolls and political polarization. Although I knew a lot of what she talks about in this book, it was great reading about her going on this journey, and I did learn about a few studies I hadn’t heard of before.
This book stretches far beyond polarization and touches on genocides and other atrocities. Sally interviews online trolls and gets interesting answers as to why they attack her. She also dives into racial biases, and although I’ve read about this topic extensively, I have never seen a white person become so introspective about the topic. It wasn’t the “I’m a terrible white person”, stuff either. She catches her thoughts and lays them out there, and if more people did that, this world would be a much better place.
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant
When I heard Adam was writing a new book, I was super excited. I grabbed this one on release day and binged it pretty quick. Adam is a phenomenal writer, and this book didn’t disappoint at all. The book is all about finding your hidden potential as well as how to spot hidden potential in others. When he starts writing about how hiring decisions or selecting applicants are typically made up of flawed processes, it is spot on. I really hope a lot of leaders read this book to better understand how to find hidden potential rather than just looking for the typical stuff on an application or resumé.
My only criticism is that I listened to the audiobook, and sometimes, books decide to put in music and clips from interviews. For some reason, the quality is always poor, and I have no clue why. It goes from perfect quality narration to grainy interviews or low-quality music.
But overall, this is a must-read and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.
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