These five nonfiction books suggest a lighter, more humane approach to self improvement. One that embraces pleasure, humor, creativity, mortality, and self-forgiveness as guides to living well.
Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life
By Ezekiel Emanuel
Most wellness advice misses the point. Live longer and better by avoiding dumb risks, staying connected to people, keeping your mind and body engaged, and ignoring the fads that promise miracles while stealing your time. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ezekiel Emanuel, or view on Amazon.
Humor Me: How Laughing More Can Make You Present, Creative, Connected, and Happy
By Chris Duffy
Humor isn’t just about being funny. When we notice, share, and even save the small absurdities of everyday life, laughter can make us more relatable, more curious, and better able to connect, think, and work together. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Chris Duffy, or view on Amazon.
Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Save Lives
By Daisy Fancourt
The arts are not a luxury; they are essential. Everyone can fine tune their arts experiences to target specific aspects of health and wellbeing. Art, alongside diet, sleep, exercise, and nature, is the forgotten fifth pillar of health. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Daisy Fancourt, or view on Amazon.
99 Ways to Die: And How to Avoid Them
By Ashley Alker
Staying alive often comes down to knowing the right things at the right time. 99 Ways to Die uses storytelling to cut through medical jargon and misinformation, revealing the everyday dangers we miss and the science that can save us. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Ashley Alker, or view on Amazon.
Guilt Free: Reclaiming Your Life from Unreasonable Expectations
By Jennifer Reid
Women are socialized to feel constant guilt—not because they are doing something wrong, but because they are held to impossible expectations. This guilt can be unlearned by understanding its roots and replacing self-criticism with healthier ways of caring, motivating, and relating. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Jennifer Reid, 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 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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