It’s no secret that we at the Next Big Idea Club love books. And while our curators Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Cain, Daniel Pink, and Adam Grant have a knack for picking the most exciting reads of the year, our staff also wanted to share their favorite books of 2020. So if you’re looking for a last-minute gift, or would like to treat yourself before the New Year, you can’t go wrong with one of these ten tremendous titles.
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
By Maria Konnikova (View on Amazon)
“As someone who has gone all in with many a hobby, I appreciate Maria diving into a world she has no prior experience with—and coming out a winner.” – Chris Chaput, VP of Product & User Experience
Enemy of All Mankind: A True Story of Piracy, Power, and History’s First Global Manhunt
By Steven Johnson (View on Amazon)
“This gripping tale of the misadventures of seventeenth-century pirate Henry Every sugarcoats revelations about the birth of the multinational corporation, the rise of tabloid media, and the surprising origins of democracy. Johnson’s writing is lyrical and lucid, and his multidisciplinary curiosity is infectious.” – Rufus Griscom, CEO & Next Big Idea podcast host
Home Body
By Rupi Kaur (View on Amazon)
“Kaur is a young, strong, and straightforward female poet, and her livestream poetry slams during the height of the pandemic were one of the things that helped me hang on to my sanity.” – Ellie Hong, Member Happiness Specialist
Humankind: A Hopeful History
By Rutger Bregman (View on Amazon)
“While the book’s premise—that people are essentially decent—sounds banal, Bregman uses his remarkable gifts as a journalist to tease out the surprising implications of his thesis. Drawing from science, history, and old-fashioned investigative reporting, Bregman proposes the radical social changes that could flow from simply accepting human goodness.” – Michael Kovnat, VP of Production & Development
Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor
By Layla F. Saad (View on Amazon)
“I read this book with a group of friends over the summer, and it was such a valuable experience. It can be challenging to have productive conversations around this topic, but this book provides a great framework for identifying and reflecting on our biases, plus the tools to be part of the solution.” – Emily Pinto, Director of Member Happiness
The Midnight Library: A Novel
By Matt Haig (View on Amazon)
“If you’ve ever wondered what your life would be like now if you’d made other choices—i.e. if you’re a human being—then this story of a woman given the chance to experience alternative versions of her life will hit the spot. Hidden inside this super-readable escapist fiction is a moving meditation on the senselessness of regret.” – Panio Gianopoulos, Editorial Director & VP of Finance
Piranesi
By Susanna Clarke (View on Amazon)
“Equal parts cerebral and sublime, this page-turner follows a young man living inside a labyrinth filled with mysterious statues. Clarke constructs a world that feels both deeply strange and utterly real; long after the final page, its sense of wonder and possibility will continue to shimmer in your mind.” – Jeremy Price, Senior Editor
Sigh, Gone: A Misfit’s Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In
By Phuc Tran (View on Amazon)
“Phuc Tran writes an excellent memoir about immigrants, assimilation, skinheads, and racism against a backdrop of 80s synthesizers and punk rock cassette tapes.” – Marquina Iliev, Digital Marketing Director
Tomboy: The Surprising History of Girls Who Dare to Be Different
By Lisa Selin Davis (View on Amazon)
“I fully believe that understanding—and ultimately doing away with—gender socialization is an important step toward equality and happiness in the world. By exploring the use of the word ‘tomboy’ in our cultural history and those dubbed with the moniker, Lisa Selin Davis makes a worthwhile contribution to that important conversation, and illuminates how today’s notions of what is masculine or feminine came to be.” – Eric Ramirez, Director of Community Engagement & Audience Development
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir
By Anna Wiener (View on Amazon)
“As I stood in line at a bookstore in Oregon, clutching a copy of Uncanny Valley, a woman came over, tapped me on the shoulder, and said, ‘My niece wrote that book you’re holding.’ The startling strangeness of that encounter is of a piece with Wiener’s startlingly good memoir. In chronicling her surreal dalliance with the tech industry, Wiener lays bare the greed, artifice, and sexism that blanket Silicon Valley like smoke from a nearby fire.” – Caleb Bissinger, Senior Director of Audio
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