For some of us, Valentine’s Day is a day of celebration, a day of roses and chocolate and wine with a beloved partner. But for the rest of us, it’s an off-putting reminder of how we haven’t yet found our special someone.
Well this year, we refuse to mope around on Valentine’s Day. We may not have a Valentine, but we do have a different source of joy, fun, and wonder: books! So treat yourself to a more personal yet equally special night by cuddling up with one of the seven fascinating reads below.
Portable Magic: A History of Books and Their Readers
By Emma Smith
Revelatory and entertaining in equal measure, Portable Magic will charm and challenge literature lovers of all kinds as it illuminates the transformative power and eternal appeal of the written word. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Emma Smith, in the Next Big Idea App
The World According to Proust
By Joshua Landy
A Stanford professor reveals Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time as a quest for purpose, enchantment, identity, connection, and belonging, examining the novel’s fascinating treatments of memory, society, art, same-sex desire, knowledge, self-understanding, self-fashioning, and the unconscious mind. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Joshua Landy, in the Next Big Idea App
Dinner in Rome: A History of the World in One Meal
By Andreas Viestad
From the table of a classic Roman restaurant, a celebrated food writer takes the reader on a fascinating culinary exploration of the Eternal City and global civilization. Food, he argues, is history’s secret driving force. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Andreas Viestad, in the Next Big Idea App
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future: What Yesterday’s Science and Science Fiction Tell Us About the World of Tomorrow
By Steven Novella, with Bob Novella and Jay Novella
From the bestselling authors and hosts of The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe comes a high-tech roadmap of the future in their beloved voice, cracking open the follies of futurists past and how technology will profoundly change our world, redefining what it means to be human. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-authors Steven, Bob, and Jay, in the Next Big Idea App
Lighter: Let Go of the Past, Connect with the Present, and Expand the Future
By Yung Pueblo
A radically compassionate plan for turning inward and lifting the heaviness that prevents us from healing ourselves and the world, from the New York Times bestselling author of Clarity & Connection. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Yung Pueblo, in the Next Big Idea App
Taxi from Another Planet: Conversations with Drivers About Life in the Universe
By Charles S. Cockell
Insightful, good-humored essays on the possibilities of alien life and the uses of space exploration, based on an astrobiologist’s everyday conversations with his fellow humans―taxi drivers, to be precise. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by author Charles S. Cockell, in the Next Big Idea App
This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You
By Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas
A sound engineer turned cognitive neuroscientist guides readers to recognize their musical personality, and offers language to describe one’s own unique taste. This is a journey into the science and soul of music that reveals the secrets of why your favorite songs move you. Listen to our Book Bite summary, read by co-author Susan Rogers, in the Next Big Idea App
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!
