"My new favorite book of all time"
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"...stands out as one of the most important books I’ve read—not just this year, but ever."
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"The best business book I’ve ever read"
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"Educated is even better than you’ve heard"
Educated by Tara Westover
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"Factfulness is one of the most educational books I’ve ever read."
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"Eddie Izzard is a comic genius"
Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard *
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“Ray Dalio has provided me with invaluable guidance and insights that are now available to you in Principles.”
—Bill Gates
Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
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"A literary master serves up a winner"
String Theory: David Foster Wallace on Tennis: A Library of America Special Publication by David Foster Wallace *
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"The novel that rekindled my love for sci-fi."
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“I found the book to be quite compelling. . . . Studwell’s book does a better job than anything else I’ve read of articulating the key role of agriculture in development. . . . A good read for anyone who wants to understand what actually determines whether a developing economy will succeed.”
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"If you’re going to read one book about modern China in the period after Mao, then this is the book you should read."
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China by Ezra F. Vogel *
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"Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world."
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb *
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"How Teddy Roosevelt and William Taft changed America."
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin *
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"I loved Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, about President Lincoln"
Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
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"I got a kick out of Randall Munroe’s brilliant, offbeat science lessons."
What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions by Randall Munroe *
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"... is filled with cool basic knowledge about how the world work"
Thing Explainer: Complicated Stuff in Simple Words by Randall Munroe *
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"... a great introduction to a crucial topic."
How to Lie with Statistics by Darrell Huff, Irving Geis *
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"Randall Munroe’s twisted comic takes on science and technology."
xkcd: volume 0 by Randall Munroe
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The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World by Daniel Yergin
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"... helped me see microorganisms in a whole new light."
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“An amazing inquiry into the origins of life.”
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“A refreshingly honest reminder of what the path to business success really looks like. It’s a messy, perilous, and chaotic journey riddled with mistakes, endless struggles, and sacrifice. Here Knight opens up in a way few CEOs are willing to do. I don’t think Knight sets out to teach the reader anything. Instead, he accomplishes something better. He tells his story as honestly as he can. It’s an amazing tale.”—Bill Gates
Shoe Dog: A Memoir by Phil Knight *
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"Most people think strength is a positive quality in a leader, but this book proves them wrong."
The Myth of the Strong Leader by Archie Brown *
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"I loved reading this science book for young adults."
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"An Auschwitz survivor’s guide to healing"
The Choice by Dr. Edith Eva Eger
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"A business book I’d actually recommend"
The Ride of a Lifetime by Bob Iger
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"This book taught me a lot about the Spanish Flu"
The Great Influenza by John M. Barry *
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Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo. B
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Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer
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The Martian by Andy Weir
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"A funny, brutally honest memoir"
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"Shipping containers are way more interesting than you might think."
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Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky
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Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education by Terry M. Moe, John E. Chubb
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"Provides surprising insights for anyone involved in addressing the world’s 'wicked problems.' Most of all, it gave me new perspective on why so many big challenges get bogged down in political battles rather than being focused on problem-solving."—Bill Gates
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"If you want to learn about why human welfare overall has gone up so much over time, you should read The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality."–Bill Gates
The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality by Angus Deaton
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“I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history…you’ll have a hard time putting it down.”
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
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"What if people run out of things to do?"
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari *
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"A guide to worrying in the 21st century"
21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
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On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss
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Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
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Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond
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"I'm a big fan of everything Jared Diamond has written, and his latest is no exception. He shows that there's a path through crisis, and that we can choose to take it."
Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis by Jared Diamond
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Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
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Einstein — His Life And Universe by Walter Isaacson
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"Walter Isaacson’s terrific new biography sheds light on every facet of the artist’s life."
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The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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"A talented writer and doctor guides us through the past, present, and future of genome science."
The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee *
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"I really liked Freakonomics..."
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner *
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"... and I think SuperFreakonomics is even better."
Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitts, Stephen J. Dubner *
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"An eye-opening history of the United States."
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore *
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“Rosen has a facility for the telling anecdote and the quirky aside. Open nearly any page of the book and you’ll learn tidbits like that Abraham Lincoln had a love of things mechanical and is the only American president to be awarded a patent (for air chambers that add buoyancy to steam ships and other boats). . . . The Most Powerful Idea in the World is enjoyable reading, although it does go into a lot of detail about steam engines, and you will learn more about how they work than you might expect.”
The Most Powerful Idea in the World by William Rosen (Best Books of 2013)
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"One of my favorite authors explains how energy drives human history."
Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil *
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“Vaclav Smil keeps turning out amazing books. Making the Modern World, I just finished, and it’s pretty fantastic.”
Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization by Vaclav Smil
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“there is no author whose books I look forward to more than Vaclav Smil."
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"Vaclav Smil’s latest masterpiece."
Growth: From Microorganisms to Megacities by Vaclav Smil *
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"Towles’s novel is technically historical fiction, but you’d be just as accurate calling it a thriller or a love story."
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles *
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"What wars tell you about U.S. presidents"
Presidents of War by Michael Beschloss *
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Nine Pints by Rose George
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" An amazing guidebook for raising and educating our kids"
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"A wonderful, mind-bending novel"
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
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"The Rosie Project is one of the best novels I’ve read in a long time."
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"The novel I gave to 50 friends"
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion *
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The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
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"An American Marriage is a moving look at how incarceration changes relationships."
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"An expert explains the benefits of a good night’s rest."
Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker *
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"This book left me in tears"
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New Power by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms
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Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
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"The inside story of the Theranos scandal is almost too wild to believe."
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"A poetic novel about grief"
The Heart by Maylis de Kerangal *
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Thirst by Scott Harrison
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"Management tips from a brilliant business leader"
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Capitalism Without Capital by Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake
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"Lincoln in the Bardo gave me a new perspective on America’s 16th president."
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders *
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"Lifelong learners will appreciate this book about the history of everything"
Origin Story: A Big History of Everything by David Christian *
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"Why I’m into meditation"
The Headspace Guide to Meditation and Mindfulness by Andy Puddicombe
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"This book educated me about the pros and cons of autonomous weapons."
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Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
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Social Value Investing by Howard W. Buffett and William B. Eimicke
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"Trevor Noah’s funny and moving account of growing up in South Africa."
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah *
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Alice and Bob Meet the Wall of Fire by Thomas Lin, Quanta Magazine
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"A wise and funny memoir from a young woman facing her own mortality."
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"I thought this thrilling story about a double agent lived up to the hype."
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen *
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"A searing portrait of American poverty"
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond *
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"Hillbilly Elegy gave me new insights into poverty in America."
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"This powerful graphic novel explores parenthood and life during wartime."
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui *
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"Why inequality matters"
Capital in the Twenty First Century by Thomas Piketty *
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"What does a virtuous life look like? David Brooks suggests an intriguing idea."
The Road to Character by David Brooks *
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"A balanced biography"
Being Nixon: A Man Divided by Evan Thomas *
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"What you believe affects what you achieve"
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck *
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"Nancy Leys Stepan has written a useful history of efforts to eliminate diseases."
Eradication: Ridding the World of Diseases Forever? by Nancy Leys Stepan *
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"A vivid depiction of the daily challenges millions face in urban slums."
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Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think by Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler (Summer Reading 2012)
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Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update by Donella H. Meadows, Jorgen Randers, Dennis L. Meadows (Summer Reading 2012)
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"A quick retelling of the former president’s fascinating story."
A Full Life by Jimmy Carter *
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Why Does College Cost So Much? by Robert B. Archibald, David H. Feldma
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"Knowing and admiring Peter as we do, LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT captures his spirit, passion, and values beautifully. As parents, it’s the kind of dialogue about our life’s purpose and opportunity we’re having with our children. We will have everyone in our family read and discuss LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT ."
Life Is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment by Peter Buffett
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The Cost of Hope: A Memoir by Amanda Bennett
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Thirteen Books on Science and Innovation
Smallpox: The Death of a Disease — The Inside Story of Eradicating a Worldwide Killer by D. A. Henderson, Richard Preston
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For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin
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Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 1: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat by Richard P. Feynman
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Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol 2: Mainly Electromagnetism and Matter by Richard P. Feynman
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Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol 3: Quantum Mechanics by Richard P. Feynman
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The Hair of the Dog and Other Scientific Surprises by Karl Sabbagh
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Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson
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The New Science of Strong Materials or Why You Don’t Fall through the Floor by J. E. Gordon, Philip Ball
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Harvesting the Biosphere: What We Have Taken from Nature by Vaclav Smil
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- Liberating Learning: Technology, Politics, and the Future of American Education by Terry M. Moe, John E. Chubb
- Change.edu: Rebooting for the New Talent Economy by Andrew S Rosen
- Sustainable Energy — Without the Hot Air by David JC MacKay
- Stress Test: Reflections on Financial Crises by Timothy F. Geithner
- The Idealist: Jeffrey Sachs and the Quest to End Poverty by Nina Munk
- Educational Economics: Where Do School Funds Go? by Marguerite Roza
- Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty by Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo
- That Used to Be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back by Thomas L. Friedman, Michael Mandelbaum
- Prime Movers of Globalization: The History and Impact of Diesel Engines and Gas Turbines by Vaclav Smil
- One Billion Hungry: Can We Feed the World? by Gordon Conway, Rajiv Shah
- Getting Better: Why Global Development Is Succeeding — And How We Can Improve the World Even More by Charles Kenny
- Class Warfare: Inside the Fight to Fix America’s Schools by Steven Brill
- Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik, Sarah Scarlett
- Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses by Richard Arum, Josipa Roksa
- Jim Grant: UNICEF Visionary by United Nations (free download) ("I recently came across a book that tells the amazing story of Jim Grant, whose influence in making vaccines widely available in the developing world is credited with saving the lives of 25 million children" source)
- Stretching the School Dollar: How Schools and Districts Can Save Money While Serving Students Best by Frederick M. Hess, Eric Osberg
- Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America by Jay Mathews
- Value-Added Measures in Education: What Every Educator Needs to Know by Douglas N. Harris, Randi Weingarten
- A World-Class Education: Learning from International Models of Excellence and Innovation by Vivien Stewart
- Why America Is Not a New Rome by Vaclav Smil
- Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects by Vaclav Smil
- Tomorrow’s Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food by Pamela C. Ronald, R. W. Adamchak
- Interventions: A Life in War and Peace by Kofi Annan, Nader Mousavizadeh
- For the Love of Physics by Lewin, Walter [Hardcover] by Walter.. Lewin
- In FED We Trust: Ben Bernanke’s War on the Great Panic by David Wessel
- Epic Measures: One Doctor. Seven Billion Patients. by Jeremy N. Smith
- Modernist Cuisine at Home by Nathan Myhrvold, Maxime Bilet
- Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966–2013 by Carol J. Loomis
- The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy by David Nasaw
- Material World: A Global Family Portrait by Peter Menzel, Charles C. Mann, Paul Kennedy
- The City That Became Safe: New York’s Lessons for Urban Crime and Its Control (Studies in Crime and Public Policy) by Franklin E. Zimring
- The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War by Robert J. Gordon
- The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria (Johns Hopkins Biographies of Disease) by Randall M. Packard
- A Nation of Wusses: How America’s Leaders Lost the Guts to Make Us Great by Ed Rendell
- Reinventing American Health Care: How the Affordable Care Act will Improve our Terribly Complex, Blatantly Unjust, Outrageously Expensive, Grossly Inefficient, Error Prone System by Ezekiel J. Emanuel
- The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
- Sustainable Materials — With Both Eyes Open (Without the Hot Air) by Julian M. Allwood, Jonathan M. Cullen
- The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — But Some Don’t by Nate Silver
- The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking by Eli Broad, Michael R. Bloomberg
- Awakening Joy: 10 Steps That Will Put You on the Road to Real Happiness by James Baraz
- The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah
- Big History: From the Big Bang to the Present by Cynthia Stokes Brown
- Frank Stewart’s Bridge Club by Frank Stewart
- Unlocking Energy Innovation: How America Can Build a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Energy System (MIT Press) by Richard K. Lester, David M. Hart
- The Plundered Planet: Why We Must — and How We Can — Manage Nature for Global Prosperity by Paul Collier
- Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors (Lopez, Global Burden of Diseases and Risk Factors) by Alan D. Lopez, Colin D. Mathers, Majid Ezzati, Dean T. Jamison, Christopher J. L. Murray
- The Age of Austerity: How Scarcity Will Remake American Politics by Thomas Byrne Edsall
- Global Catastrophes and Trends: The Next Fifty Years by Vaclav Smil
- Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World by Michael Lewis
- Priorities in Health by Dean T. Jamison, Joel G. Breman, Anthony R. Measham, George Alleyne, Mariam Claeson, David B. Evans, Prabhat Jha, Anne Mills, Philip Musgrove
- The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
- Energy at the Crossroads: Global Perspectives and Uncertainties by Vaclav Smil
- The Time of Our Lives: A conversation about America by Tom Brokaw
- Titan II: A History of a Cold War Missile Program by David Stumpf
- Global Health: An Introductory Textbook by A Lindstrand, S Bergstrom, H Rosling
- The Dragon’s Gift: The Real Story of China in Africa by Deborah Brautigam
- Retiree Health Plans in the Public Sector: Is There a Funding Crisis? by Robert L. Clark, Melinda Sandler Morrill
- Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and Their Lasting Impact (Technical Revolutions and Their Lasting Impact)by Vaclav Smil
- The Earth’s Biosphere: Evolution, Dynamics and Change by Vaclav Smil
- Health Care Will Not Reform Itself: A User’s Guide to Refocusing and Reforming American Health Care by George C. Halvorson
- Physics for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines by Richard A. Muller
- Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution — and How It Can Renew America, Release 2.0 by Thomas L. Friedman
- Dirt and Disease: Polio Before FDR (Health and Medicine in American Society series) by Naomi Rogers
- Finance and the Good Society by Robert J. Shiller
- Weather For Dummies by John D. Cox
- Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries by Dean T. Jamison, Joel G. Breman, Anthony R. Measham, George Alleyne, Mariam Claeson, David B. Evans, Prabhat Jha, Anne Mills, Philip Musgrove
- Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance by Nouriel Roubini, Stephen Mihm
- The Computer and the Brain (The Silliman Memorial Lectures Series) by John von Neumann, Ray Kurzweil
- Science Business: The Promise, the Reality, and the Future of Biotech by Gary P. Pisano
- Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley, Creator of the Electronic Age (Macmillan Science) by J. Shurkin
- The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal 1870–1914by David McCullough
- 50 Physics Ideas You Really Need To Know (50 ideas) by Joanne Baker
- Tropical Infectious Diseases: Principles, Pathogens and Practice (Expert Consult — Online and Print), 3e by Richard L. Guerrant MD, David H. Walker MD, Peter F. Weller MD
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments by George Johnson
- Beyond Smoke and Mirrors: Mexican Immigration in an Era of Economic Integration by Douglas S. Massey, Jorge Durand, Nolan J. Malone
- Global Warming: The Complete Briefing by Sir John Houghton
- Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Materials in Everyday Life by John Emsley
- What Does China Think? by Mark Leonard
- Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina
- A Guide to the Elements by Albert Stwertka
- The Foundation: A Great American Secret; How Private Wealth is Changing the World by Joel L. Fleishman
- Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger by Charles T. Munger
- Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results by Michael E. Porter, Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg
- A Champion’s Mind: Lessons from a Life in Tennis by Pete Sampras, Peter Bodo
- The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman
- The Changing Body: Health, Nutrition, and Human Development in the Western World since 1700 (New Approaches to Economic and Social History) by Roderick Floud, Robert W. Fogel, Bernard Harris, Sok Chul Hong
- Unlocking the Gates: How and Why Leading Universities Are Opening Up Access to Their Courses by Taylor Walsh, William G. Bowen
- The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis
- The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner
- This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen M. Reinhart
- Giant Molecules: From nylon to nanotubes by Walter Gratzer
- How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place by Bjørn Lomborg
- Why Don’t Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom by Daniel T. Willingham
- How Not to be Wrong: The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life by Jordan Ellenberg
- Physics For Dummies by Steve Holzner
- On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins, Sandra Blakeslee
- Post-Capitalist Society by Peter F. Drucker
- The Grid: A Journey Through the Heart of Our Electrified World by Phillip F. Schewe
- Wheels, Clocks, and Rockets: A History of Technology by Donald Cardwell
- Taming the Beloved Beast: How Medical Technology Costs Are Destroying Our Health Care System by Daniel Callahan
- Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World by BISHOP MATTHEW
- The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time by Jeffrey Sachs
- Enriching the Earth: Fritz Haber, Carl Bosch, and the Transformation of World Food Production by Vaclav Smil
- Engineers of Victory: The Problem Solvers Who Turned The Tide in the Second World War by Paul Kennedy
- Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalization by Gordon Brown
- The Tobacco Atlas by Omar Shafey, Michael Eriksen, Hana Ross, Judith Mackay
- World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse by Lester R. Brown
- The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje
- Giving it All Away: The Doris Buffett Story by Michael Zitz
- A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life by J. Craig Venter
- A Separate Peace by John Knowles
- Showing Up for Life: Thoughts on the Gifts of a Lifetime by Bill Gates Sr., Mary Ann Mackin, Bill Gates
- Who’s Teaching Your Children?: Why the Teacher Crisis Is Worse Than You Think and What Can Be Done About It by Professor Vivian Troen, Professor Katherine C. Boles
- Reinventing Fire: Bold Business Solutions for the New Energy Era by Amory Lovins, Marvin Odum, John W. Rowe
- Give Smart: Philanthropy that Gets Results by Thomas J. Tierney, Joel L. Fleishman
- Manhattan Project: The Birth of the Atomic Bomb in the Words of Its Creators, Eyewitnesses, and Historians by Cynthia C. Kelly, Richard Rhodes
- Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver by Arthur Allen
- Why Capitalism? by Allan H. Meltzer
- Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
- One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War by Michael Dobbs
- Energies: An Illustrated Guide to the Biosphere and Civilization by Vaclav Smil
- The Feynman Lectures on Physics, boxed set: The New Millennium Edition by Richard P. Feynman, Robert B. Leighton, Matthew Sands
- Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- The Power to Compete: An Economist and an Entrepreneur on Revitalizing Japan in the Global Economy by Hiroshi Mikitani, Ryoichi Mikitani
- The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria
- How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance by Parag Khanna
- Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World by Liaquat Ahamed
- Mountains Beyond Mountains (Adapted for Young People): The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World by Michael French
- Memoirs: A Twentieth-Century Journey in Science and Politics by Edward Teller, Judith Shoolery