The Undoing Project

Books like The Undoing Project

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September 10, 2022
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#1 Disney War

James B. Stewart’s book, “DisneyWar,” is an exposé of Michael Eisner’s 20 years as chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company. The dramatic inside tale of Disney Chairman and CEO Michael Eisner’s fall from grace and the controversies that nearly tore the most well-known entertainment business in America apart.

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#2 Man’s Search For Meaning

Generations of readers have been intrigued by Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl’s memoir because of its tales of life in Nazi death camps and its teachings for spiritual survival. Frankl contends that while we cannot avoid suffering, we can choose how to deal with it, interpret information in it, and push forward with fresh purpose. He bases this claim on his own experience as well as the accounts of his patients. His logotherapy idea is based on the conviction that the quest for meaning rather than pleasure is what drives people most. One of the most well-known novels in America is Man’s Search for Meaning, which continues to motivate us all to discover meaning in life itself.

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#3 Adrift

Steven Callahan’s gripping account of maritime survival was on the New York Times bestseller list for more than 36 weeks prior to The Perfect Storm and In the Heart of the Sea. Adrift is an undisputed seafaring classic, a gripping first-person account by the lone guy known to have sustained more than a month alone at sea, trying to fight for his life in an inflatable dinghy after his small sloop overturned only six days out. In some ways, Adrift served as the model for the new wave of adventure books. Any adventure library must have Adrift.

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#4 The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks was her name, but scientists refer to her as HeLa. Her cells were stolen without her permission, and despite the fact that she was a poor tobacco farmer in the South who toiled the same land as her enslaved ancestors, they became one of the most crucial medical instruments. They were the first “immortal” human cells created in culture, and even though she has been deceased for more than 60 years, they are still functioning. HeLa cells would weigh more than 50 million metric tons—the equivalent of one hundred Empire State Buildings—if they were all piled up together and placed on a scale.

HeLa cells were essential for creating the polio vaccine, helped scientists learn more about cancer, viruses, and the consequences of the atom bomb, and aided with significant developments like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping. They have also been purchased and sold in the billions. However, Henrietta Lacks, who is interred in an unmarked grave, is still essentially unknown.

#5 No Rules Rules

There has never been a business like Netflix before. It has sparked nothing less than a revolution in the entertainment sector, bringing in billions of dollars annually and grabbing the interest of hundreds of millions of people across more than 190 nations. Netflix, which began as an online DVD rental service in 1998, had to repeatedly reinvent itself in order to achieve these impressive heights. Without the paradoxical and radical management ideas that cofounder Reed Hastings set from the early beginning, this type of extraordinary flexibility would not have been feasible.

Hastings disregarded the conventional wisdom that other businesses adhere to and defied convention to create a culture that was centered on freedom and responsibility. As a result, Netflix has been able to make adjustments and drive innovation as the necessities of its members and the wider world have changed at the same time.

#6 The Splendid And The Vile

Adolf Hitler attacked Holland and Belgium on Winston Churchill’s first day in office as prime minister. There were only two weeks left until the Dunkirk evacuation, and Poland and Czechoslovakia had already succumbed. Hitler would conduct a furious bombing campaign for the following 12 months, killing 45,000 Britons. Churchill had to keep his nation together and persuade FDR that Britain was a good ally who was prepared to fight to the bitter end.

It’s a tale of political bluffing, but it’s also a close-knit household drama, played out against the backdrops of Churchill’s wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage went when the moon was full and the bombing threat was at its height, and of course, 10 Downing Street in London. With the aid of diaries, original archival documents, and previously classified intelligence reports—some of which have only recently been made public—Larson offers a fresh perspective on London’s darkest year through the daily life of Churchill and his family, including his wife Clementine; their youngest daughter Mary, who resents her parents’ wartime protectiveness; their son Randolph and his lovely, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela’s illicit lover, a dashing American emissary.

#7 Alexander Hamilton

A groundbreaking biography of Alexander Hamilton—a Founding Father who energized, inspired, scandalized, and molded the young country—is offered by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow. Ron Chernow presents the captivating tale of a man who defied all obstacles to create, inspire, and scandalize fledgling America in the first comprehensive biography of Alexander Hamilton in decades. Alexander Hamilton is “a powerful full-length portrayal, in my view the finest ever produced, of the most intelligent, charismatic and deadly creator of them all,” according to historian Joseph Ellis. Few people in American history have sparked as much controversy or been misconstrued so egregiously as Alexander Hamilton.

The biography by Ron Chernow gives Hamilton his due and corrects the record, skillfully demonstrating that Hamilton’s numerous sacrifices to support ideas that were frequently hotly contested during his time led to the political and economic greatness of today’s America. The biography by Chernow tells the tale of America’s founding as seen through Hamilton, who serves as its key figure. Alexander Hamilton will remind readers of the goal of our institutions and our history as Americans at a time when it is crucial to reflect on our origins.

#8 The Smartest Guys In The Room

Although there were other books written about Watergate, only All the President’s Men provided readers with the complete narrative, with all the drama, complexity, and exclusive reporting. And even now, thirty years later, if you only read one book about Watergate, make it that one. Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, senior writers for Fortune, are the new Woodward and Bernstein since Enron is currently the largest corporate story of our time.

Surprisingly, Enron was seen as the perfect example of a New Economy business just two years ago due to its rapidly rising profits and stock price. But it was prior to McLean’s story, which was published in Fortune and posed the seemingly harmless question, “How exactly does Enron make money?” The house of cards that was Enron started to fall apart after that. In order to provide a definitive book about the Enron crisis and the fascinating characters behind it, McLean and Elkind have now conducted a much deeper investigation.

#9 Endurance

Ernest Shackleton, a polar explorer, boarded the Endurance in August 1914 but soon found himself trapped on an ice island. With this, Shackleton and his crew of 27 men started their fabled odyssey. They undertook a very impossible trek through 850 miles of the worst waves in the South Atlantic to the closest outpost of humanity when their ship was ultimately destroyed between two ice floes.

In Endurance, the indisputable account of Ernest Shackleton’s disastrous expedition, Alfred Lansing masterfully describes the terrifying and miraculous journey that established modern heroism.

#10 Hidden Figures

New York Times bestseller number one. The never-before-told true account of African-American female mathematicians who worked for NASA and were essential to the country’s space program is set against the backdrop of the civil rights struggle. Before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, a team of experts labored as “Human Computers,” planning the flight paths that would make it possible for these momentous accomplishments. A group of intelligent, brilliant African-American women was among them. These “colored computers,” who were separated from their white counterparts, utilized pencil and paper to create the equations that would send men and rockets into space. ‘Hidden Figures’ interweaves a rich history of mankind’s greatest adventure with the intimate stories of five brave women whose work forever changed the world, moving from World War II through NASA’s golden age, trying to touch on the civil rights era, the Space Race, the Cold War, and the women’s rights movement.

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#11 Unbroken

An Army Air Forces bomber disappeared after colliding with the Pacific Ocean on a May afternoon in 1943, leaving behind only a scattering of debris and a slick of blood, oil, and gasoline. Then a face appeared on the water’s surface. It was the struggle of a teenage lieutenant who was the bombardier of the aircraft and was pushing himself onto a life raft. In this manner, one of the most remarkable odysseys of the Second World War got underway.

Louis Zamperini was the name of the lieutenant. He had been a crafty and irredeemable criminal in his youth, breaking into homes, fighting, and running away from home to travel on trains. He discovered a great gift for running as a teenager and used it to channel his defiance, which got him to the Berlin Olympics and within striking distance of the four-minute mile. However, when war broke out, the athlete had changed into an airman and set off on a quest that resulted in his fated flight, a small raft, and a drift into the void.

#12 Eat Pray Love

The captivating, frank, and lyrical narrative of a renowned author’s quest for worldly pleasure, commitment to religion, and what she truly desired in life. Elizabeth Gilbert experienced an early-onset midlife crisis about the time she turned 30. She had a spouse, a home, and a fulfilling career—everything an educated, aspirational American woman was meant to want. But instead of experiencing joy and contentment, she was overcome by fear, grief, and perplexity. She experienced a divorce, a crippling depression, another failed relationship, and the destruction of all she had ever imagined herself to be.

Gilbert made a drastic decision in order to move past all of this. She got rid of her possessions, left her work, and started an unaccompanied year-long journey around the globe in order to allow herself the space and time to discover who she truly was and what she truly desired. The captivating history of that year is presented in Eat, Pray, Love. Her goal was to travel to three locations where she could investigate a single feature of her personality against the backdrop of a society that has historically excelled at that particular aspect of personality study. She learned the art of joy in Rome, where she also picked up Italian and put on the happiest 23 pounds of her life.

#13 Into The Wild

Author Jon Krakauer portrays the events in Into the Wild out of chronological order, making it difficult for the reader to determine when certain things occurred. This timeline reorders the book’s events according to their chronological order of occurrence rather than how they appear in Into the Wild for the benefit of clarity.

A young man from a wealthy family made a trip to Alaska in April 1992 and ventured out on his own into the wild north of Mount McKinley. Christopher Johnson McCandless was his full name. He had burned all the money in his wallet, donated his whole savings of $25,000 to charity, sold his car and most of his belongings, and created a new life for himself.

#14 Books Like Zero Dark Thirty

In contrast to other military branches, the Marine Corps in Vietnam mandated that combat pilots spend time performing forward air control duty with the infantry on the front lines. It was a brutal and horrifying lesson in the harsh reality of jungle warfare for Sam Brantley. The battle had always seemed far away as it passed by woods and rice farms at great altitudes. Now when the war was in his face during the Tet Offensive in the summer, what he saw and did turn his perspective forever.

#15 Books Like 84 Charing Cross Road

This endearing classic, which was initially released in 1970, compiles 20 years of letters between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer who resides in New York City, and a used book trader in London. Even though they have never met and are geographically and culturally apart, they have developed a warm, heartfelt bond through the years that is built on their shared love of books. These letters’ piercing depictions of their relationship will capture your heart and refuse to let go.

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#16 The Snow Leopard

The trek to the stunning Tibetan plateau of Dolpo in the high Himalayas is described in this travelogue. A 250-mile journey to Dolpo was performed by Matthiessen in 1973 as part of an investigation into the wild blue sheep. It was a strenuous, occasionally risky physical endeavor that involved exhaustion, blisters, blizzards, protracted discussions with sherpas, and shivering cold. But it was also a “tour of the emotions” because Matthiessen was looking for comfort among the majestic mountains’ aloofness. He was also hoping to catch a glimpse of a snow leopard, an animal that is so uncommonly seen that it is practically mythological.

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#17 Books Like Just Mercy

A remarkable true story from one of the most inspirational lawyers of our time on the power of mercy to transform us and a call to halt mass incarceration in America. Young attorney Bryan Stevenson established the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit law firm in Montgomery, Alabama, with the mission of representing the underprivileged, the imprisoned, and the wrongfully convicted.

In Just Mercy, the history of EJI is told, from the early years with a small staff dealing with the highest death sentences and execution rates in the country, through a successful campaign to end the cruel practice of sending children to die in prison, to revolutionary projects intended to confront Americans with our history of racial injustice. Walter McMillian, a young Black man who was given a death sentence for the murder of a teenage white woman that he didn’t commit, was one of EJI’s initial clients. The case serves as an example of how capital punishment in America is a straight offshoot of lynching, a system that rewards the guilty and wealthy over the innocent and impoverished.