The new year is officially upon us. And like many this year, you’ve probably vowed to read more books.
JP Morgan recently released their annual reading list – the company’s end-of-year roster of book suggestions for entrepreneurs and managers.
For 10 years, the firm has maintained this tradition. And while the reading list came with upgrades this time (this year, JP Morgan added broadway shows and music recommendations), we are most excited about the books.
We imagine you’d be too, seeing as you planned to read more books this year anyway. So we give you a roundup of these books. We also added suggestions from Bill Gates and top picks from our editors here.
Onward.
1. Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice
…show more content…
He believes now, after years of research, that customers don’t buy products or services; they “hire” them to do a job.
We love this book because it breaks down Christensen’s edgy framework along with a comprehensive guide on how to apply it in real life.
Christensen is the author of the popular title, The Innovators Dilemma, and the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School.
2. Atlas Obscura: An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders – Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras, and Ella Morton
“Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, Atlas Obscura celebrates over 700 of the strangest and most curious places in the world.”
Sometimes, it’s healthy to take a break from serious business books and simply let your mind wander.
3. Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One – Jenny Blake
Jenny Blake’s Pivot is a fantastic book if you find yourself constantly having an internal conversation around “what’s next?”
In this book, Jenny Blake, a former career development program manager at Google, reveals “how to methodically make your next career move by doubling down on what is already
“Industry has come. Industry had gone. It lasted 1/267th s long as the indian village.” Duncan criticizes how human nature strives to attain bigger and better things. This, however, never leaves one satisfied.
The case study implies that the craft beer industry is doing well, but the industry is not reaching all the customers that it needs to. However, by the product New Belgium produces, it separates itself from other companies and provides a unique product that cannot be found just anywhere within the US creating the company to have a competitive advantage. Another pro to consider it that the customers love the product and in the beginning that is how New Belgium advertised was by word of mouth via their satisfied customers. Without a product that is appealing and satisfying to customers, a company simply could not succeed. A study conducted showed that a strong correlation exists between customer satisfaction and the willingness of the customer to promote the product by word of mouth in the end helping the company sell their products more successfully (Confente and Russo, 2015).
Overall I really liked Feed by M.T Anderson I thought it gave me a new outlook on our world and how technology has played a huge role in our society and who we have become. In feed I was given a very realistic view on what technology may become in the future and how probable it is that we will become more and more dependent on technology for our most basic needs. I would recommend that you use this book again next year because i found it enjoyable and entertaining. After reading this book i want to be less reliant on my phone and technology because it scares me how far technology has gone in feed. Also i want to have everyone appreciate nature more and respect it because if all of nature is destroyed that would be devastating.
Firstly, many of S.E. Hinton’s books, especially
In Beyond Lucky by Sarah Aronson, the theme of ‘violence and arguments don’t solve problems’ is developed through the main character Ari being lied to and betrayed by his friends. At the beginning of the story, the book says how Ari wants a rare All-star Soccer trading card that has Ari’s hero on it: Wayne Timcoe. One day when Ari and his best friend, Mac were opening one of the card packs, Ari actually got the card! Ever since Ari obtained the card, he kept on getting lucky.
How to Read Literature like a Professor Analysis This was a very informative book that pointed out a lot of aspects of literature I had never really paid attention to. It really showed me how important it is to find similarities between works of literature. It especially made me realize how while all three of my summer readings were drastically different, they shared common themes, plots and even sometimes character developments.
Chance was born and raised in Mars, Pennsylvania in 1840 where he was known amongst his peers to be the fittest of the bunch; all of his friends new that he 'd one day make a great leader or so they thought. With the onset of the Civil War Chance enlisted in the Union Army to fight the Confederacy, but with his entry into basic training at Fort Hamilton came the onset of unexplainable weakness in his legs. Under the constant ridicule by his fellow recruits and Sergeants, Chance slipped away from the fort in the dead of night and stowed away on a train heading west; Chance wished to get as far away as possible so that he could establish a new identity. Chance new that he would never again enjoy the comforts of his own bed or his mother 's
Upon reviewing the reading choices for this assignment, I came across Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell which immediately struck me as a nice book. After reading the description, I felt as though I would agree with the overall message that Gladwell is relaying and that it would relate to real life situations the best. I found that my first impression and feelings towards this book are some of the key items that Gladwell presents as evidence to support his message. From the examples and stories given to the key concepts and definitions, his points in this book are both relevant and relatable to the business world.
As the nature of this letter implies, I have finished Thomas Foster’s book, How to Read Literature like a Professor. It was intriguing and helped me to see things that otherwise I wouldn’t have noticed. Even some of the topics that seemed common sense were given greater significance after he explained them. For example, the chapter on the seasons the concepts/meanings are commonly known yet seeing how they fall into play in an actual story is fascinating. I never considered that the seasons could be incorporated in such complex ways short of plot, theme, mood, and setting.
Everyone has to overcome adversity in their life. In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” the main character, Rainsford, fell of his boat at night time On the Island, Rainsford finds a home where General Zaroff lives. The problem is that the only way he can leave the island is if he survives a “game”. Where General Zaroff is hunting him. So Rainsford has to survive for three days.
The short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson is about a small town that conducts an annual lottery. The entire town gathers to participate in the sacrificial stoning of the so-called winner. Jackson’s aim for this story was to show the general evil of human nature and the unnecessary violence in the world. Jackson uses the third person point of view and a lot of characters to help convey the purpose of the story by distancing the reader from the characters. This shocks the reader at the ending and allows them to view the story from an outside perspective and see the reality of the situation.
Nobody chose them for me,” Press says with pride. “Wow so its sort of hand curated…” I reply. He nods appreciatively — the way one can only act when you feel a deep sense of accomplishment — before adding, “So much of a bookshop is about the personality of the owner.” Sitting inside his shop, there’s no denying that Press has got a point here.
The required readings that I enjoyed during the past year were The Great Gatsby, The Taming of the Shrew and Frankenstein. These novels had lessons to express. In The Great Gatsby, I learned that people change and if you live in the past you 're in for a rude awakening. Taming a woman is foolish and you 're never tamed its compromise you succumb to in the Taming of the Shrew. In Frankenstein, your passion can drive you to accomplish a multitude of endeavors for ethical or unethical reasoning, yet it will come with consequences.
Arcadia (play)- Tom Stoppard: A play about the second law of thermodynamics going from enlightenment order to romantic disorder, from logic to love, and from past to present. This story explores the importance of both STEM and the humanities, which helped me bridge the schism between the two fields. The math and science infused with a story about romance made it one of my favorite plays. Naive Set Theory (book)- Paul R. Halmos: A book about set theory, covering the Axiom of Choice, Ordinal Numbers, and Cardinal Numbers.
Jane Eyre, obviously, is still on that list. Emma by Jane Austen is as well- even though the first couple of chapters were like pulling teeth- because I owe it to my two favorite web series of all time (YouTube web series based on modern interpretations of Jane Austen’s Emma and Pride and Prejudice may sound nerdy to marathon over and over again, and that's because it for sure is). I also really want to finish 1984 this year because I picked it up during my reading drought a few months ago and never