Turning the tassel flips the pages of life to a whole new chapter—one unlike any before. Graduation is a time of excitement and possibility, but it can also be overwhelming. Navigating adulthood beyond college requires mastering unfamiliar skills and making big choices about how to design new habits and pursue goals.
These 10 books help set new graduates up for a powerful start to the rest of their lives. Consider handing the young professional in your life one of these helpful guides when you give them your congratulations.
How to Be a Grown Up: The 14 Essential Skills You Didn’t Know You Needed (Until Just Now)
By Raffi Grinberg
A practical guide to adult life’s greatest mysteries that were never taught in school but should have been—including how to launch your career, find your purposes (for right now), invest your money, and much more. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Raffi Grinberg, or view on Amazon.
The Twentysomething Treatment: A Revolutionary Remedy for an Uncertain Age
By Meg Jay
A developmental clinical psychologist explains why the twenties are the most challenging time of life and reveals essential skills for handling the uncertainties surrounding work, love, friendship, mental health, and more during that decade and beyond. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Meg Jay, or view on Amazon.
Dedicated: The Case for Commitment in an Age of Infinite Browsing
By Pete Davis
A profoundly inspiring and transformative argument that purposeful commitment and civic engagement can be a powerful force in today’s age of restlessness and indecision. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Pete Davis, or view on Amazon.
Reverse the Search: How to Turn Job Seeking into Job Shopping
By Madeline Mann
From the creator of top career YouTube channel Self Made Millennial, a new guide on how to go beyond the antiquated—and exhausting—job search. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Madeline Mann, or view on Amazon.
Never Play It Safe: A Practical Guide to Freedom, Creativity, and a Life You Love
By Chase Jarvis
Award-winning photographer Chase Jarvis argues that we don’t need gimmicky new life hacks or “productivity” gadgets; we already have what what’s necessary—all we need is to learn to leverage it. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Chase Jarvis, or view on Amazon.
Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work
By Daryl Fairweather
Expert advice on navigating the earliest economic inflection points of adult life: whether to go to college and for how long; partnering, having kids, both, or neither; getting, keeping, and changing jobs; and where to live and how to pay for it. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Daryl Fairweather, or view on Amazon.
Don’t Say Um: How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life
By Michael Chad Hoeppner
Learn the fastest, most effective way to improve your public speaking and communication skills by focusing on delivery—because how you say something matters more than what you say—with exercises that can boost confidence and influence. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Michael Chad Hoeppner, or view on Amazon.
New Happy: Getting Happiness Right in a World That’s Got It Wrong
By Stephanie Harrison
Counterintuitive secrets to happiness and provides a practical guide to help us all learn how to live a happy life. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Stephanie Harrison, or view on Amazon.
Think Remarkable: 9 Paths to Transform Your Life and Make a Difference
By Guy Kawasaki with Madisun Nuismer
Learn how to make a difference to just one life, or the world, by embracing what makes people remarkable. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Guy Kawasaki, or view on Amazon.
Meditations for Mortals: Four Weeks to Embrace Your Limitations and Make Time for What Counts
By Oliver Burkeman
Looking beyond the challenges of time management to the most fundamental questions about how to live, Burkeman offers a powerful new way to take action on what counts: a guiding philosophy of life that he calls “imperfectionism.” Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Oliver Burkeman, or view on Amazon.
The Key Ideas in 15 Minutes
“If you are going to get anywhere in life, you have to read a lot of books,” Roald Dahl once famously said. The only trouble is, reading even one book from cover to cover takes hours—and you may not have many hours to spare.
But imagine for a moment: What if you could read a groundbreaking new book every day? Or even better, what if you could invite a world-renowned thinker into your earbuds, where they personally describe the 5 key takeaways from their work in just 15 minutes?
With the Next Big Idea App, we’ve turned this fantasy into a reality. We partnered with hundreds of acclaimed authors to create “Book Bites,” short audio summaries of the latest nonfiction that are prepared and read aloud by the authors themselves. Discover cutting-edge leadership skills, productivity hacks, the science of happiness and well-being, and much more—all in the time it takes to drive to work or walk the dog.
Go Deeper with a Next Big Idea Club Membership
The Next Big Idea App is free for anyone to try—and if you love it, we invite you to become an official member of the Next Big Idea Club. Membership grants you unlimited access to Book Bites and unlocks early-release, ad-free episodes of our LinkedIn-partnered podcast. You also gain entry to our private online discussion group, where you can talk big ideas with fellow club members and join exclusive live Q&A sessions with featured authors.
For a more focused learning experience, we recommend a Hardcover or eBook Membership. Every few months, legendary authors and club curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Adam Grant, and Daniel Pink select two new nonfiction books as the must-reads of the season. We then send hardcover copies straight to your doorstep, or eBook versions to your favorite digital device. We also collaborate with the authors of selected books to produce original reading guides and premium video e-courses, 50-minute master classes that take you step by step through their most life-changing ideas. And yes, it’s all available through the Next Big Idea App.
Learn Faster, from the World’s Leading Thinkers
Whether you prefer to read, listen, or watch, the Next Big Idea is here to help you work smarter and live better. Wake up with an always-fresh Idea of the Day, the perfect shot of inspiration to go with your morning coffee. Then dive into one of our Challenges, hand-picked collections of Book Bites that form crash courses in subjects like communication, motivation, and career acceleration. Later, watch the playback of an interview with U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt, or philosopher John Kaag. And be sure to check the “Events” tab in the app, so that you can join an upcoming live Q&A and personally chat with the next featured thought leader.
If you’re hoping to grow as a person or as a professional, we hope you’ll join us and tens of thousands of others who enjoy the Next Big Idea. Get started by downloading the app today!
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