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Build Your Summer Reading List

Build Your Summer Reading List

Warning: Your “to read” list is about to get longer! We asked some of our expert speakers to share what’s on their summer reading list. From travel memoirs to economic foreshadowing, our speakers have a diverse list of great reads for you.

Jamil Jivani recommends Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto

Forgiveness by Mark Sakamoto is the 2018 winner of CBC Canada Reads, passionately defended by our own Jeanne Beker. It’s the true story of author Mark Sakamoto’s grandparents during WWII — one a prisoner of war in Japan and the other sent to a Japanese internment camp by their own government.

As a lawyer, community organizer and teacher, Jamil Jivani tackles some of the biggest challenges in the world. With research and teaching appointments at Yale Law School and Osgoode Hall Law School, Jamil focuses on issues that impact youth, immigrants, and low-income families. Learn more about Jamil.

Bruce Kirkby recommends Land of Lost Borders by Kate Harris

Land of Lost Borders by Kate Harris is an illuminating and thought-provoking travel memoir following one woman’s journey by bicycle along the Silk Road. It makes readers challenge the limits they place on themselves and the natural world. Bruce says “Kate is a fierce and formidable writer, and this brave travel memoir is a generational achievement.”

Bruce Kirkby’s expeditions — and the formidable adversities they’ve entailed — have made him an authority on change leadership and risk management. Learn more about Bruce here.

Nilofer Merchant recommends Economics for the Common Good by Jean Tirole

In Economics for the Common Goodnobel Prize-winning economist Jean Tirole proposes a bold new agenda for the role of economics in society.

Nilofer Merchant is a master at turning seemingly “wild” ideas into new realities, and showing the rest of us how we can, too. Learn more about Nilofer here.

Neil Pasricha recommends Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy is a harrowing memoir of a woman whose face was left severely disfigured from cancer. It also provides a social commentary on our culture’s obsession with physical beauty.

With infectious enthusiasm, heartfelt authenticity, and a “what works” authority, Neil Pasricha draws on the latest research in happiness to increase individual performance and create a more positive and productive workplace. Learn more about Neil here.

David Usher recommends How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan

How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan is an investigation into the medical and scientific revolution taking place around psychedelic drugs — and the spellbinding story of the author’s own life-changing psychedelic experiences.

A creative tour de force, David Usher is the front man of the internationally acclaimed rock band Moist, and a solo artist who has sold more than 1.4 million albums. Believing that creativity and creative success is a learnable skill that anyone can master, his unique and dynamic presentations employ music and video to help people to reboot their creativity in a world of disruptive change. Learn more about David here.