Most of these books were published in 2020 or will be published this year.
January: 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. Seems appropriate to start 2021 with this Yuval Noah Harari bestseller as Bill Gates suggests it “offers a framework for processing the news and thinking about the challenges we face.” Yep, given what’s on our plate this year, this is required reading.
February: Caste. Isabel Wilkerson’s book, with the subtitle “The Origins of our Discontents,” was my most insightful, jaw-dropping read of last year as it helped me understand race relations in the U.S. with a whole new lens. And, she’s a poignant storyteller.
March: Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life. I invited author Marie Kondo to our Airbnb Open festival in Paris in 2015 and found her a delight as we both are fascinated by the topic of Joy. Here she applies her “tidy up” point of view to our career. Sounds like she might appreciate MEA’s “Great Midlife Edit” ritual.
April: Work. My friend Adam Grant (see next month) gave this recent endorsement of James Suzman new book: “I’ve been studying work for two decades, and I can’t remember the last time I learned so much about it in one sitting. A trailblazing anthropologist reveals that for over 95% of human history, hunter-gathers led lives of abundance and leisure—and challenges us to consider whether the 15-hour work week of the past might return in our future.”
May: Think Again. Adam Grant’s books are reliable bestsellers and this one is made for our times as it explores the science of rethinking our own opinions, opening other people’s minds, and building cultures that prize humility, curiosity, and mental flexibility over foolish consistency. He writes, “If knowledge is power, knowing what we don’t know is wisdom.”
June: Drawdown. Paul Hawken’s book “Growing a Business” became my bible in creating my boutique hotel company, Joie de Vivre, and this book, “The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming,” has become our manifesto for creating MEA Regenerative Communities. Paul is on MEA’s mastery faculty and has a new book called “Regeneration” that should be coming out soon. Soil health is as important as Soul health to our future.