Five New Books To Read In October 2020
9 min read
1. Trust: America's Best Chance - Pete Buttigieg
What is it about?
“Interweaving history, political philosophy, and affecting passages of memoir, Buttigieg explores the strong relationship between measures of prosperity and levels of social trust. He provides an impassioned account of a threefold crisis of trust: in our institutions, in each other, and in the American project itself. Today, these perilous patterns of distrust have wreaked havoc on nearly every sector of society, as Americans increasingly resent the very government that needs to be part of the solution. With the internet and partisan television networks acting as accelerants, Americans jettison any sense of shared reality, lose confidence in experts and scientists, and cope with the grim national tragedy of a pandemic that has only further exemplified the lethality of distrust. Buttigieg contends that our success, or failure, at confronting the greatest challenges of the decade―racial and economic justice, pandemic resilience, and climate action―will rest on whether we can effectively cultivate, deepen, and, where necessary, repair the networks of trust that are now endangered, or for so many, have never even existed.”
Taken from the product description on Amazon.
Why I want to read it
I have been following the 2020 American presidential election race since the primaries. Former candidate Pete Buttigieg was not somebody I had previously heard of but I was intrigued by his story: a thirty-something, openly gay war veteran with political experience as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
The more I heard him speak, the more impressed I became with his ideas and competence, so I am looking forward to getting a deeper insight into his life and his ambitions to be part of a positive change in his country’s society. Still only 38, I expect we’re going to be hearing about Buttigieg for decades to come.
Release Date
October 6th, 2020
Where to get it
2. How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices - Annie Duke
What is it about?
“What if there was a better way to make quality decisions so you can think clearly, feel more confident, second-guess yourself less, and ultimately be more decisive and be more productive?
Making good decisions doesn't have to be a series of endless guesswork. Rather, it's a teachable skill that anyone can sharpen. In How to Decide, bestselling author Annie Duke and former professional poker player lays out a series of tools anyone can use to make better decisions. You'll learn: • To identify and dismantle hidden biases. • To extract the highest quality feedback from those whose advice you seek. • To more accurately identify the influence of luck in the outcome of your decisions. • When to decide fast, when to decide slow, and when to decide in advance. • To make decisions that more effectively help you to realize your goals and live your values.
Through interactive exercises and engaging thought experiments, this book helps you analyze key decisions you've made in the past and troubleshoot those you're making in the future. Whether you're picking investments, evaluating a job offer, or trying to figure out your romantic life, How to Decide is the key to happier outcomes and fewer regrets.”
Taken from the product description on Amazon.
Why I want to read it
The impact of decision-making has become progressively clearer to me with age. Decisions I made very quickly or on gut instinct when I was younger have had life-changing long-term consequences. Moving abroad after university, taking and leaving specific jobs, spending time learning specific skills rather than others.
So the idea of taking a more structured approach to decision-making appeals to me (better late than never!). That’s not to say that gut instinct is always right or wrong, but I look forward to reading How to Decide to arm myself with a better set of tools for approaching important decisions in the future. - James
Release Date
October 13th 2020
Where to get it
3. A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and a Vision for the Future - Sir David Attenborough
What is it about?
“I am 94. I've had an extraordinary life. It's only now that I appreciate how extraordinary.
As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day - the loss of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity.
I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. It is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake - and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right.
We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited.'
All we need is the will to do so.”
Taken from the product description on Amazon.
Why I want to read it
Sir David Attenborough is beloved in Britain. His voice is known to millions who have grown up to his narrations on television shows exploring exotic and faraway parts of the world most of us could only dream about visiting. Now 93, Attenborough really has lived an extraordinary life and I’m really looking forward to learning more about it in his own words. - James
Release Date
October 6th, 2020
Where to get it
4. Total Meditation: Practices in Living the Awakened Life - Deepak Chopra
What is it about?
For the past thirty years, Deepak Chopra has been at the forefront of the meditation revolution in the West. Total Meditation offers a complete exploration and reinterpretation of the physical, mental, emotional, relational, and spiritual benefits that this practice can bring. Deepak guides readers on how to wake up to new levels of awareness that will ultimately cultivate a clear vision, heal suffering in your mind and body, and help recover who you really are. Readers will undergo a transformative process, which will result in an awakening of the body, mind, and spirit that will allow you to live in a state of open, free, creative, and blissful awareness twenty-four hours a day.
With this book, Deepak elevates the practice of meditation to a life-changing quest for higher consciousness and a more fulfilling existence. He also incorporates new research on meditation and its benefits, provides practical awareness exercises, and concludes with a 52-week program of meditations to help revolutionize every aspect of your life.
Taken from the product description on Amazon.
Why I want to read it
Anything to do with meditation fascinates me and I am always wanting to understand more about the ancient practise. Deepak is bringing up to date research on the benefits of meditation which I am also really interested in. It also seems this book will be filled with practical content too. The more people that practise meditation the more at peace the world will be and I am in complete favour of that. - Adam
Release Date
October 1st, 2020
Where to get it
5. Tomorrow, the World: The Birth of U.S. Global Supremacy - Stephen Wertheim
What is it about?
For most of its history, the United States avoided making political and military commitments that would entangle it in European-style power politics. Then, suddenly, it conceived a new role for itself as the world’s armed superpower―and never looked back. In Tomorrow, the World, Stephen Wertheim traces America’s transformation to the crucible of World War II, especially in the months prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. As the Nazis conquered France, the architects of the nation’s new foreign policy came to believe that the United States ought to achieve primacy in international affairs forevermore.
Scholars have struggled to explain the decision to pursue global supremacy. Some deny that American elites made a willing choice, casting the United States as a reluctant power that sloughed off “isolationism” only after all potential competitors lay in ruins. Others contend that the United States had always coveted global dominance and realized its ambition at the first opportunity. Both views are wrong. As late as 1940, the small coterie of officials and experts who composed the U.S. foreign policy class either wanted British preeminence in global affairs to continue or hoped that no power would dominate. The war, however, swept away their assumptions, leading them to conclude that the United States should extend its form of law and order across the globe and back it at gunpoint. Wertheim argues that no one favored “isolationism”―a term introduced by advocates of armed supremacy in order to turn their own cause into the definition of a new “internationalism.”
We now live, Wertheim warns, in the world that these men created. A sophisticated and impassioned narrative that questions the wisdom of U.S. supremacy, Tomorrow, the World reveals the intellectual path that brought us to today’s global entanglements and endless wars.
Taken from the product description on Amazon.
Why I want to read it
America is a country of extremes. They produce some of the world’s most intelligent and innovative people, contribute massively to the global economy and have had a massive influence on the entertainment industry around the world. At the same time they lead the world in obesity rates, many millions are illiterate and around 40,000,000 people live in poverty. I am so intrigued by this country so when I see a book about how America became a global supremacy I am going to read it. - Adam
Release Date
October 30th, 2020
Where to get it
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