WINTER BOOKS A SELECTION BY EZRA EEMAN

Books under the Christmas tree! A novel after skiing! Don't

know what to read or give this holiday season? Here are some
suggestions. From strategy essays to transformative fiction,
here's everything to get you through the gloomy winter days.

STRATEGY/IDEAS

1. On Grand Strategy by John Lewis Gaddis.

John Lewis Gaddis is a professor of history at Yale University, a skilled storyteller and a master of strategy.
His latest book is a fine summary of the complex concepts of grand strategy, full of vivid examples of
leadership and strategic thinking. Zoom out and you will see how useful his ideas are in any environment.

https://amzn.to/2Rc276l

2. How to Think by Alan Jacobs

In this clever, witty book, Jacobs diagnoses the many forces that prevent thought - forces that have only
worsened in the age of social media, such as "alternative facts," and information overload. He also dispels
the many myths we hold about what it means to think well.

https://bit.ly/2QJ6Aya

SOCIETY/POLITICS

3. Identity by Francis Fukuyama

Increasingly, the demands of identity direct the world's politics. Nation, religion, sect, race, ethnicity,
gender: these categories have overtaken broader, inclusive ideas of who we are. With Identity Fukuyama
released a sharp warning that unless we forge a universal understanding of human dignity, we will doom
ourselves to continual conflict.

https://bit.ly/2NRxDSy

4. Future Politics by Jamie Susskind

Future Politics investigates one of the most important questions of our time: how will digital technology
transform politics and society? In an age where our every action can be harvested as data and used against
us, Jamie Susskind’s book makes crucial reading.

https://bit.ly/2CZIoAk

INNOVATION/BUSINESS

5. The Big Nine by Amy Webb

Not yet in the bookshop but ready for pre-order. Trend and technology analyst Amy Webb has put
together a book about the big nine corporations (Amazon, Google, Facebook, Tencent, Baidu, Alibaba,
Microsoft, IBM and Apple) who are the new gods of AI. Webb warns about the danger of letting them
proceed without oversight or regulation knowing that they are changing our futures to reap immediate
financial gain.

https://bit.ly/2ReFmyW

6. The Culture Code by Daniel Code

Culture eats strategy for breakfast so the saying goes. In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle goes inside some
of the world’s most successful organizations —and reveals what makes them tick. He demystifies the
culture-building process by identifying three key skills that generate cohesion and cooperation, and
explains how diverse groups learn to function with a single mind.

https://bit.ly/2Iy2cJa

LOOKING AT THE WORLD

7. The New Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan

While Europe and the West go through an age of crisis, the rest of the world is on the move, offering
opportunities and challenges that will shape - and are already shaping the 21st century for all of us. Peter
Frankopan looks at the present and the future and describes how a new world is forming across the spine
of Asia.

https://bit.ly/2Lw0hYP

8. Nervous States by William Davies

An excavation of our age of anxiety. William Davies convincingly argues that declining trust in the authority
of experts and the expanding mechanisms of disinformation have produced a world where emotions rule.
From the connection between populism and bodily pain to the effects of Mark Zuckerberg’s “attention
economy”, this book nimbly draws on the disparate threads of our current time.

https://bit.ly/2T7pqfc

FICTION

9. Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday

Adding some fiction, this thrilling novel about a relationship between an ageing writer and a young woman
explores the the imbalances that spark and sustain many of our most dramatic human relations and was
named one of the best books of 2018 by the New York Times and Time Magazine.

https://bit.ly/2RaqjGq

10. Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

I’m a sucker for Japan so no book list can be complete without a suggestion for a Japanese author. Sayaka
Murata, won the prestigious Akutagawa price and is an exciting young voice in Japanese literature.

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Convenience Store Woman is a bewitching portrayal of contemporary Japan through the eyes of a single
woman who fits in to the rigidity of its work culture only too well.

https://bit.ly/2yatoOr