10 Summer Reads for Deal Pros

Whether you’re planning on taking time off or working straight through summer, there’s no better season to get in some quality reads.

Here are 10 recommendations for books that will educate, enlighten, and help you escape under sunny skies.

Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, Adam Grant

In this new book from Wharton professor and bestselling author of Give and Take Adam Grant, learn through anecdotes and experience how today’s leaders can take the leap and introduce original ideas in new ways without risking it all. Seth Godin calls it “an urgent must-read”; J.J. Abrams calls it “wildly entertaining”; Sheryl Sandberg says it “is one of the most important and captivating books I have ever read… and it could very well inspire you to change your world.”

Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms, David S. Evans

No longer are matchmakers unique to romantic relationships — now the world’s hottest and most valuable companies are providing matchmakers for everything from apartment rentals to taxi services to travel planning to social networking. Why do most matchmakers (or “multisided platforms” in economic terms) fail — and what sets up the successful ones apart? This book is a must-read for entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers alike.

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike, Phil Knight

In this memoir, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight tells the story of growing his business from a startup selling shoes out of a car to an iconic brand with upwards of $30 billion in annual sales. Complex Magazine says Shoe Dog “reads like pure adventure story, boys facing steeper and steeper challenges and finding ways through, often by the skin of their teeth… Shoe Dog is more like The Lord of the Rings than a typical mogul memoir.”

Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy, William Janeway

Veteran venture capital investor and economic theorist William Janeway’s 2012 book is a must-read for anyone “who wants to understand technology and how its creation will be financed for decades to come,” says Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz. Doing Capitalism in the Innovation Economy draws on Janeway’s 40 year career in the industry to explain and provide new theories on the dynamics of the innovation economy. George Soros says it’s a book that will help everyone “to see beyond shallow political dogma and move to a deeper understanding of challenges of technological advance.”

Platform Revolution: How Networked Markets Are Transforming the Economy — and How to Make Them Work For You, Sangeet Paul Choudary, Geoffrey G. Parker, Marshall W. Van Alstyne

What markets are ripe for disruption by online platforms, and how can businesses harness the power of digital networks? This new book provides a clear guide as to how multisided platforms operate and their potential impact for everyone in the world of business and economics.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, Cal Newport

Do you find yourself with dozens of tabs open on your internet browser before your day has even begun? This book is a must-read for anyone looking to think clearly and produce more valuable work in less time. Lauds The Wall Street Journal, Deep Work puts “out a wealth of concrete practices for the ambitious, without relying on gauzy cliches… Mr. Newport resists the corporate groupthink of constant connectivity without seeming like a curmudgeon.”

When Breath Becomes Air, Paul Kalanithi

For those looking to get away from business on the beach, here’s a poignant, lyrical memoir that will leave you with more questions than answers. Written by a 30-something neurosurgeon facing a terminal lung cancer diagnosis, the book confronts head-on the questions of what makes work meaningful and how one should live.

The Sympathizer, Viet Thanh Nguyen

Winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize, this is a great pick for those looking to escape into fiction — Al Woodsworth calls Nguyen’s portrayal of a spy during the Vietnam war “thrilling, rhythmic, and astonishing… The Sympathizer is a rich and hugely gratifying story that captures the complexity of the war and what it means to be of two minds.”

Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China, Evan Osnos

A Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Award winner, this 2014 breakdown of modern China from New Yorker writer Evan Osnos is a must-read. The New York Times calls it “a riveting and troubling portrait of a people in a state of extreme anxiety about their identify, values, and future.” Osnos focuses a keen lens on China and the Chinese people as their country undergoes monumental change.

Relentless, Tim Grover

What does it take to perform exceptionally at the highest level of play? Author Tim Grover was the coach of superstars like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, who calls him the “master of mental toughness.” He draws on his experience to unveil what it takes to be unstoppable, on the court and off.