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These are books that I have read and think make essential reading. You may notice the variety of themes and approaches. This is because I believe that visiting various themes, ideas and approaches helps creativity and critical thinking.
 

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10 Minutes 38'' Seconds in this Strange World

by Elif Shafak

Kindness, love, politics and deep humanity as in all Elif's writings. One of the most prolific thinkers of our times.

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Dare to Lead

by Brene Brown

Brené Brown has taught us what it means to dare greatly, rise strong, and brave the wilderness. Vulnerability is the heart of courageous leadership. 

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Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys' Club of Silicon Valley

by Emily Chang

For women in tech, Silicon Valley is not a fantasy land where millions of dollars grow on trees. It's a "Brotopia," where men hold all the cards and make all the rules. 

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Written in History

by Simon Sebag Montefiore

Written in History celebrates the great letters of world history, creative culture and personal life. Acclaimed historian Simon Sebag Montefiore selects over one hundred letters from ancient times to the twenty-first century: some are noble and inspiring, some despicable and unsettling; some are exquisite works of literature, others brutal, coarse and frankly outrageous; many are erotic, others heartbreaking.

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What my Soul Told me

by Richard Barrett

This book provides a practical step-by-step guide to soul activation. This four step process involves: Connecting with your soul; Befriending your soul; Trusting your soul; Becoming one with your soul.

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It's not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be

by Paul Arden

A handbook of how to succeed in life by the world's top advertising guru.

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The Silo Effect

by Gilllian Tett

The Silo Effect asks a basic question: why do humans working in modern institutions collectively act in ways that sometimes seem stupid? Why do normally clever people fail to see risks and opportunities that later seem blindingly obvious? Why, as Daniel Kahnemann, the psychologist put it, are we sometimes so “blind to our own blindness”?

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The Marches

by Rory Stewart

An exploration of the Marches—the borderland between England and Scotland—and the people, history, and conflicts that have shaped it.

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The Power of Habit

by Charles Duhigg

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg.

He argues that 40% of our daily choices aren’t choices — they’re habits. And helps us understand how to break them.

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Adults in the Room

by Yanis Varoufakis

What happens when you take on the establishment? In Adults in the Room, the renowned economist and former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis gives the full account of his momentous clash with the mightiest economic and political forces on earth.

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Merchents of Truth

by Jill Abramson

The definitive report on the disruption of the news media over the last decade. With the expert guidance of former Executive Editor of The New York Times Jill Abramson, we follow two legacy (The New York Times and The Washington Post) and two upstart (BuzzFeed and VICE) companies as they plow through a revolution in technology, economics, standards, commitment, and endurance that pits old vs. new media.

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Principles

by Ray Dalio

Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that helped him create unique results in life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to better achieve their goals. 

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Venture Girls

by Cristal Glangchai 

A book written to reach parents and educators. It outlines how to keep young girls from falling into a set of limited beliefs about their potential. It explores how to empower their imagination through entrepreneurial training and problem-solving skills, resulting in confident children who are equipped for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

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A Daughter of Isis

by Nawal El Saadawi

The autobiography of Nawal El Saadawi, the Arab world's leading feminist. Paints a beautifully textured portrait of the childhood that moulded Saadawi into a novelist and fearless campaigner for freedom and the rights of women.

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The Book of Disquiet

by Fernando Pessoa

Published for the first time some fifty years after his death, this unique collection of short, aphoristic paragraphs comprises the "autobiography" of Bernardo Soares, one of Pessoa's alternate selves. Part intimate diary, part prose poetry, part descriptive narrative, captivatingly translated by Richard Zenith, The Book of Disquiet is one of the greatest works of the twentieth century.

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Misjustice: How British Law is Failing Women

by Helena Kennedy

Helena Kennedy, one of our most eminent lawyers and defenders of human rights, examines the pressing new evidence that women are being discriminated against when it comes to the law. From the shocking lack of female judges to the scandal of female prisons and the double discrimination experienced by BAME women, Kennedy shows with force and fury that change for women must start at the heart of what makes society just.

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Sontag - Her Life

by Benjamin Moser

Benjamin Moser strikes a balance between the immersive details that fans expect and the storytelling that will appeal to more general readers.

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Pour Me a Life

by A.A. Gill

A.A. Gill's Pour Me a Life is a riveting meditation on the author's alcoholism, seen through the lens of the memories that remain, and the transformative moments that saved him from a lifelong addiction and early death.

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Three Daughters of Eve

by Elif Shafak

The three Muslim friends who meet at Oxford in the Turkish novelist Elif Shafak’s “Three Daughters of Eve” are described as the Sinner, the Believer and the Confused.

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Political Tribes

by Amy Chua

A book that covers the topic of how loyalty to groups can be more important than ideology, and applies this idea to both failures of American foreign policy abroad and the rise of Donald Trump within the United States.

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Becoming

by Michelle Obama

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States

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Why Nations Fail

by Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson

Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?

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The New Silk Roads

by Peter Frankopan

The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and Trump, the themes of isolation and fragmentation permeating the western world stand in sharp contrast to events along the Silk Roads, where ties have been strengthened and mutual cooperation established. The book asks us to reread who we are and where we are in the world, illuminating the themes on which all our lives and livelihoods depend.

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