21 Book Gift Ideas for Your Coworkers this Holiday Season
With the holiday season around the corner, it's time to start thinking about gifts for your coworkers. And what better present than a book that will transport them to a different world, teach them something new, or simply give them a moment of relaxation and escape? That's why we've put together a list of 21 book gift ideas that are perfect for any reader. Plus, giving a book is a thoughtful gesture that shows you care about someone's interests and well-being. So why not spread the joy of reading this holiday season and gift your coworkers with a good read?
Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe
by Jeezy Jeezy
To Jeezy's legion of fans, his name is synonymous with hustle, grit, and the integrity to go out there and achieve your dreams. In his first book, Adversity for Sale: Ya Gotta Believe, Jeezy shares never heard stories of what it took for him to beat the odds and get out of the streets, his mindset he carefully honed to get an edge, and the lessons that changed his life and business.
Born into poverty and raised in a small town in the middle of South Georgia's so-called "Black belt," Jeezy realized at an early age that nothing was going to come easy, there were no handouts headed his way, and if he ever wanted anything in life, he was going to have to get out there and get it on his own. So that's what he did.
All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive's Journey to Living and Leading Authentically
by Jim Fielding
An inspiring and personal roadmap to servant leadership
In All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive's Journey to Living and Leading Authentically, celebrated corporate leader James Fielding delivers an inspirational leadership story told from the perspective of an out and proud LGBTQ+ executive. In the book, you'll explore a call-to-action for authentic servant leadership that encourages people to own their truth and bring out the best in themselves and their communities.
The Bad Bitch Business Bible: 10 Commandments to Break Free of Good Girl Brainwashing and Take Charge of Your Body, Boundaries, and Bank Account
by Lisa Carmen Wang
Lisa Carmen Wang was raised to be a good girl, praised for her obedience, politeness, modesty--traits that became the bedrock of her personality. But as she grew up, the never-ending pursuit of being the perfect good girl left her feeling hollow, despite her achievements as a champion gymnast, straight-A student, and Ivy League graduate. Her fears of failure and rejection and her worries about other peoples' opinions held her back from embracing her most authentic and powerful self at work and in life.
But all that changed when Lisa realized she was capable of so much more; that deep inside a Bad Bitch was waiting to be unleashed.
The culmination of decades of training as an elite athlete, business leader, serial entrepreneur, and certified executive coach, The Bad Bitch Business Bible is Lisa's no-holds-barred guide for women who want to break free of Good Girl Brainwashing and take charge of their bodies, boundaries, and bank accounts. Interweaving intimate personal stories with large life lessons, Lisa shows you how to transform from insecure good girl to unapologetic Bad Bitch so you can start earning the money, power, and respect you deserve.
Boss Bitch: A Simple 12-Step Plan to Take Charge of Your Career
by Nicole Lapin
You don't need dozens or hundreds of employees to be a boss, says financial expert and serial entrepreneur Nicole Lapin. Hell, you don't even need one. You just need to be confident, savvy, and ready to get out there and make your success happen. You need to find your inner Boss Bitch -- your most confident, savvy, ambitious self--and own it.
A Boss Bitch is the she-ro of her own story. She is someone who takes charge of herself and her future and embraces being a "boss" in all senses of the word: whether as the boss of her own life, a boss at work, or the literal boss of her own company (or all three). Whichever she chooses, being a Boss Bitch isn't something to apologize for--it's something to be proud of!
Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History
by Ben Mezrich
From New York Times bestselling author Ben Mezrich: the book Elon Musk doesn't want you to read.
BREAKING TWITTER takes readers inside the darkly comic battle between one of the most intriguing, polarizing, influential men of our time--Elon Musk--and the company that represents our culture's dearest hope for a shared global conversation. From employee accounts within Twitter headquarters to the mission-driven team Musk surrounded himself with, this is the full story from all sides. Can Musk miraculously succeed or will he spectacularly fail? What will that mean to the global town hall that is Twitter? What, really, is Elon's end goal? The whole world is watching. BREAKING TWITTER will provide ringside seats.
Choose Your Enemies Wisely: Business Planning for the Audacious Few
by Patrick Bet-David - Greg Dinkin
What's the difference between your competitor and your enemy?
You know who your competitors are. You keep tabs on them regularly, and can list them calmly, along with their strengths and weaknesses.
But your enemies are a whole other matter. They're the haters and the doubters who said you'd never make it, the ones who stomped on your dreams. When you think about your enemies, you get emotional. You feel like you won't let anything--or anyone--stop you.
Collaborating with the Enemy: How to Work with People You Don't Agree with or Like or Trust
by Adam Kahane
Collaboration is increasingly difficult and increasingly necessary
Often, to get something done that really matters to us, we need to work with people we don't agree with or like or trust. Adam Kahane has faced this challenge many times, working on big issues like democracy and jobs and climate change and on everyday issues in organizations and families. He has learned that our conventional understanding of collaboration--that it requires a harmonious team that agrees on where it's going, how it's going to get there, and who needs to do what--is wrong. Instead, we need a new approach to collaboration that embraces discord, experimentation, and genuine cocreation--which is exactly what Kahane provides in this groundbreaking and timely book.
The End of Reality: How Four Billionaires Are Selling a Fantasy Future of the Metaverse, Mars, and Crypto
by Jonathan Taplin
At a time when the crises of income inequality, climate, and democracy are compounding to create epic wealth disparity and the prospect of a second American civil war, four billionaires are hyping schemes that are designed to divert our attention away from issues that really matter. Each scheme--the metaverse, cryptocurrency, space travel, and transhumanism--is an existential threat in moral, political, and economic terms.
In The End of Reality, Jonathan Taplin provides perceptive insight into the personal backgrounds and cultural power of these billionaires--Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and Marc Andreesen ("The Four") --and shows how their tech monopolies have brought middle-class wage stagnation, the hollowing out of many American towns, a radical increase in income inequality, and unbounded public acrimony. Meanwhile, the enormous amount of taxpayer money to be funneled into the dystopian ventures of "The Four," the benefits of which will accrue to billionaires, exacerbate these disturbing trends.
The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization
by Peter Zeihan
For generations, everything has been getting faster, better, and cheaper. Finally, we reached the point that almost anything you could ever want could be sent to your home within days - even hours - of when you decided you wanted it.
America made that happen, but now America has lost interest in keeping it going.
Globe-spanning supply chains are only possible with the protection of the U.S. Navy. The American dollar underpins internationalized energy and financial markets. Complex, innovative industries were created to satisfy American consumers. American security policy forced warring nations to lay down their arms. Billions of people have been fed and educated as the American-led trade system spread across the globe.
All of this was artificial. All this was temporary. All this is ending.
The Geek Way: The Radical Mindset That Drives Extraordinary Results
by Andrew McAfee
In this "handbook for disruptors" (Eric Schmidt), The Geek Way reveals a new way to get big things done. It will change the way you think about work, teams, projects, and culture, and give you the insight and tools you need to harness our human superpowers of learning and cooperation.
What is "being geeky?" It's being a perennially curious person, one who's not afraid to tackle hard problems and embrace unconventional solutions. McAfee shows how the geeks have created a new culture based around four norms: science, ownership, speed, and openness. The geek way seems odd at first. It's not deferential to experts, fond of planning and process, afraid of mistakes, or obsessed with "winning." But it explains everything from why Montessori babies turn out to be creative tinkerers to how newcomers are disrupting industry after industry (and still just getting started).
Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier
by Marisa Meltzer
Called "one of the most disruptive brands in beauty" by Forbes, Glossier revolutionized the beauty industry with its sophisticated branding and unique approach to influencer marketing, almost instantly making the company a juggernaut with rabid fans. It also taught a generation of business leaders how to talk to Millennial and Gen Z customers and build a cult following online.
At the center of the story lies Emily Weiss, the elusive former Teen Vogue "superintern" on the reality show The Hills turned Into the Gloss beauty blogger who had the vision, guts, and searing ambition needed to launch Glossier. She cannily turned every experience, every meeting into an opportunity to fuel her own personal success. Together with her expensive, signature style and singular vision for the future of consumerism, she could not be stopped. Just how did a girl from suburban Connecticut with no real job experience work her way into the bathrooms and boudoirs of the most influential names in the world and build that access into a 1.9-billion-dollar business? Is she solely responsible for its success? And why, eight years later, at the height of Glossier mania, did she step down?
Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work
by Amy Diehl - Leanne M Dzubinski
Named a Library Journal Starred Review This revealing book shines a light on workplace gender bias. Through original research, Diehl and Dzubinski uncover the six barriers still holding women back using stories of prominent and everyday women. They explain how you can shatter these barriers to eliminate bias in your workplace, whether you are a leader, an ally, or an individual woman.
Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
by Michael Lewis
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world's youngest billionaire and crypto's Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
In Going Infinite Lewis sets out to answer this question, taking readers into the mind of Bankman-Fried, whose rise and fall offers an education in high-frequency trading, cryptocurrencies, philanthropy, bankruptcy, and the justice system. Both psychological portrait and financial roller-coaster ride, Going Infinite is Michael Lewis at the top of his game, tracing the mind-bending trajectory of a character who never liked the rules and was allowed to live by his own--until it all came undone.
Gonzo Capitalism: How to Make Money in an Economy That Hates You
by Chris Guillebeau
The traditional ways of earning a living are outdated, if not outright rigged. That's why a growing number of enterprising individuals are instead turning to the growing ecosystem of decentralized, fast-moving virtual markets to pursue a host of previously unheard-of ways to pay the bills.
Gonzo Capitalism is your field guide to the new rules of money, where any and everything is for sale. In it, you'll learn how capitalize on today's technology and platforms to turn your time, talents, and creativity into income--on your own terms.
Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things
by Adam Grant
We live in a world that's obsessed with talent. We celebrate gifted students in school, natural athletes in sports, and child prodigies in music. But admiring people who start out with innate advantages leads us to overlook the distance we ourselves can travel. We underestimate the range of skills that we can learn and how good we can become. We can all improve at improving. And when opportunity doesn't knock, there are ways to build a door.
Hidden Potential offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Adam Grant weaves together groundbreaking evidence, surprising insights, and vivid storytelling that takes us from the classroom to the boardroom, the playground to the Olympics, and underground to outer space. He shows that progress depends less on how hard you work than how well you learn. Growth is not about the genius you possess--it's about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the character skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities for those who have been underrated and overlooked.
Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All
by Karen Ehman
From Bible times to modern times women have struggled with their words. What to say and how to say it. What not to say. When it is best to remain silent. And what to do when you've said something you wish you could now take back. In this book a woman whose mouth has gotten her into loads of trouble shares the hows (and how-not-tos) of dealing with the tongue.
Beyond just a "how not to gossip" book, this book explores what the Bible says about the many ways we are to use our words and the times when we are to remain silent. Karen will cover using our speech to interact with friends, co-workers, family, and strangers as well as in the many places we use our words in private, in public, online, and in prayer. Even the words we say silently to ourselves. She will address unsolicited opinion-slinging, speaking the truth in love, not saying words just to people-please, and dealing with our verbal anger.
Ours Was the Shining Future: The Story of the American Dream
by David Leonhardt
Two decades into the twenty-first century, the stagnation of living standards has become the defining trend of American life. Life expectancy has declined, economic inequality has soared, and, after some progress, the Black-white wage gap is once again as large as it was in the 1950s. How did this happen in the world's most powerful country? And what happened to the "American dream"--the promise of a happier, healthier, more prosperous future--which was once such an inextricable part of our national identity?
Drawing on decades of writing about the economy for The New York Times, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer David Leonhardt examines the past century of American history, from the Great Depression to today's Great Stagnation, in search of an answer.
Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace
by Gustavo Razzetti
Hybrid and remote work is here to stay. What will it take for your company to succeed in the new normal?
While most companies have struggled to keep their culture alive remotely since the pandemic, some are successfully riding the waves of the future. To the outside observer, it seems like they were lucky. In reality, building a workplace culture strong enough to thrive at a distance doesn't happen by chance, but by design.
In this practical, meticulously researched book, top culture thought leader Gustavo Razzetti provides a roadmap to understand, adapt to, and succeed in a hybrid workplace. Razzetti has spent years investigating the leading edges of this revolution, including Amazon, Slack, GitLab, Volvo, and Microsoft, to name just a few. The lessons are simple yet stunning.
Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well
by Amy C Edmondson
We used to think of failure as the opposite of success. Now, we're often torn between two "failure cultures" one that says to avoid failure at all costs, the other that says fail fast, fail often. The trouble is that both approaches lack the crucial distinctions to help us separate good failure from bad. As a result, we miss the opportunity to fail well.
After decades of award-winning research, Amy Edmondson is here to upend our understanding of failure and make it work for us. In Right Kind of Wrong, Edmondson provides the framework to think, discuss, and practice failure wisely. Outlining the three archetypes of failure--basic, complex, and intelligent--Amy showcases how to minimize unproductive failure while maximizing what we gain from flubs of all stripes. She illustrates how we and our organizations can embrace our human fallibility, learn exactly when failure is our friend, and prevent most of it when it is not. This is the key to pursuing smart risks and preventing avoidable harm.
Think Faster, Talk Smarter: How to Speak Successfully When You're Put on the Spot
by Matt Abrahams
Many of us dread having to convey our ideas to others, often feeling ill-equipped, anxious, and awkward. Public speaking experts help by focusing on planned communication experiences such as slide presentations, pitches, or formal talks. Yet, most of our professional and personal communication occurs in spontaneous situations that creep up on us and all too often leave us flustered and stumbling for words. How can we rise to the occasion and shine when we're put on the spot?
In Think Faster, Talk Smarter, Stanford lecturer, podcast host, and communication expert Matt Abrahams provides tangible, actionable skills to help even the most anxious of speakers succeed when speaking spontaneously. Abrahams provides science-based strategies for managing anxiety, responding to the mood of the room, and making content concise, relevant, compelling, and memorable. Drawing on stories from his clients and students, he offers best practices for navigating Q&A sessions, shining in job interviews, providing effective feedback, making small talk, fixing faux pas, persuading others, and handling other impromptu speaking tasks.
The Trade Trap: How to Stop Doing Business with Dictators
by Mathias Döpfner
Freedom is on the decline around the world. Autocrats in Europe, Asia, and the Mideast are undermining our open societies, human rights, and the rule of law. The Russian invasion in Ukraine was a wake-up call for the West, but the biggest threat remains China. For two generations, Americans and Europeans have believed that change will come through trade, but instead of dictatorships becoming more like Western democracies, unfettered free trade has strengthened our enemies and undermined our countries. We are caught in a trade trap, faced with the decision to choose either opportunism and submission or opposition and emancipation.
In The Trade Trap, one of the world's most powerful business leaders traces the rise and costs of Western dependency on China and Russia. And he suggests a radical new approach to free trade: The establishment of a new values-based alliance of democracies. Membership is based on the adherence of three very simple criteria: the rule of law, human rights, and sustainability targets. Countries that comply with these criteria can engage in tariff-free trade with others. Those who don't will pay prohibitive tariffs.