Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
Susan Wojcicki, YouTube CEO: Born a Crime is a story of resilience told with Trevor Noah’s signature comedic style. As we’ve adjusted to the changes of the past few months, I’ve enjoyed watching Noah transition his late night show to a completely virtual version on YouTube. Born a Crime gives insights into life in South Africa under apartheid and helps readers understand Noah’s path. Right now, it feels more important than ever to seek out books that show life from different perspectives.
The Power of Positive Leadership by Jon Gordon
Evan Spiegel, SnapChat Founder and CEO: Jon has taught me that remaining calm and staying positive is critical for leadership success, especially during uncertain times.
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Antonio Lucio, Facebook CMO: Narrating his observations of concentration camp behavior (he was captive in one), Frankl confirms that humans have choice even when stripped of everything in life. We choose the way we live and even the way we die: “It is as important to know what we want out of life as to understand what life wants of us.” We are facing uncertain times. We are where we chose to be. Now it is our time to prove our worth to life by bringing back ourselves, our families, our companies, and our communities to meaningful life from this crisis.
The Great Influenza by John M. Barry
Margo Georgiadis, Ancestry.com president and CEO: This book tells the story of the impact on the world from the Spanish Flu. We learn so much from history and the lessons are incredible – so many parallels to all we are experiencing now. It shows deeply the importance of collaboration and working across boundaries to get to solutions.
Together: The Healing Power of Human Connection in a Sometimes Lonely World by Vivek Murthy
Ben Silbermann, Pinterest founder and CEO: The purpose of this book was to shed light on loneliness as a public health crisis. As fate would have it, the book is being released when the topic of loneliness has never been more important, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos
David Kenny, CEO and CDO, Nielsen: It is an accessible book on Artificial Intelligence, with practical and non-hyped examples. We will need AI to adapt faster to the New Normal we are moving into.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Arianna Huffington, Thrive Global founder and CEO: One of my favorite books — one I keep on my nightstand and reach for all the time — is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, published over 1,100 years ago. It still has wisdom on every page about how to live a meaningful life in our modern age. “People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills,” he writes. “There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind… So constantly give yourself this retreat, and renew yourself.”
