There’s no shortage of ways to feel stressed these days, and the holidays pack an extra wallop. Expectations are high, patience is short, and people are exhausted. Trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list adds even more anxiety. The American Psychological Association found that gift giving is the second highest source of holiday stress.
To reduce your stress, you can’t go wrong with a book. It’s also an antidote to stress for the receiver: a chance to pause, escape and reflect. And science tells us that books grow the very skills–empathy and open mindedness–that make you a better leader. As Margaret Fuller famously quipped, “Today a reader, tomorrow a leader.” Here are eight books that will both entertain and educate the aspiring or established leader in your life, giving them new perspectives, enhanced skills and a much needed break from the grind.
For The Classicist
In 1816, 18-year-old Mary Shelley wrote her timeless masterpiece, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. Born of a vivid nightmare, the book's lonely mad scientist, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, discovers how to animate life and cobbles together a living Creature from stolen human body parts and feral animals. Larger than life, his creation repulses and torments him, and Victor spends the rest of his life both running from it and trying to destroy it. In the end, the Creature proves resilient but miserable, unable to achieve what it wants most: human connection. Frankenstein is uncannily relevant in a world grappling with AI, from the marvel of its creation to the fear of its domination. And the book raises the powerful question of what we as humans owe the Creatures we create, whether carbon or digital.
For The AI-curious
In the fervor over generative AI, it's hard to decipher the potential from the hype. How can you use it and when should you avoid it? In his book, Co-intelligence: Living and Working With AI, Wharton professor Ethan Mollick makes a compelling case for why—and how—we should embrace AI. He approaches generative AI not as a foe but as a trusted partner, an opportunity to enhance rather than replace human intelligence. Where Co-intelligence excels is its applicability. Mollick practices what he preaches, using AI extensively in his teaching and research. Blending technology with the science of cognition and good old trial and error, Mollick explains the evolution of gen AI’s abilities, and how to roll up your sleeves and take charge.
For The Feminist
I love a great metaphor, and Elise Loehnen’s book, On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to be Good, may be one of the best I’ve encountered in a long time. Loehnen uses the seven deadly sins as a framework to examine the dated views of morality that continue to control the narrative of women’s issues—at work and in the world. In this well-researched and richly detailed book, she paints a history of patriarchy that reverberates through today’s sociopolitical and workplace climate. She unveils the narratives that unwittingly shape women’s lives and behaviors and hold women back from their full potential in many aspects of their lives. In a moment where women’s rights are at risk, and gender pay parity remains a century away, Loehnen’s book sheds important light on why women approach work differently than men, and what a leader can do to reframe and honor women’s work at all levels of an organization.
For The Perspective Taker
It’s hard to believe you can improve on something as iconic as Mark Twain’s masterpiece, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but Percival Everett’s James renders it engaging and modern. The book is centered on Jim, the runaway slave who travels the Mississippi river with Huck Finn in search of freedom and the desire to change the trajectory of his family’s story. As Everett’s Jim code-switches to appear as his white masters expect, he camouflages a deep thinker, reader and philosopher, rising above the fray in a world of constant danger. He's a hero, not a victim. Recasting a classic story through fresh new eyes, Everett achieves his goal to “write the novel that Mark Twain did not.” A profound exploration of identity, perspective and the lengths a man can go (and the hardship he endures) to protect his loved ones. James is a reminder that the experiences of others are mysterious and complex, both familiar and foreign. As he pushes the reader out of their bubble, Everett leaves behind an all important lesson: one story is never the only story.
For The Big-Hearted
James McBride’s book, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is a powerful tale of community, reminding us that we have and still can live together across cultural and racial differences without rancor and violence. Writing about life in Pottstown, PA, in the early part of the 20th century, McBride centers his book on Chona, an empathetic Jewish woman whose fierce sense of fairness and justice knits together the town’s Black, Jewish and immigrant residents. Through a diverse crew of colorful characters and several intertwined plot lines (including a murder mystery and a jailbreak), McBride calls us to imagine what life might be like if we could give each other more grace and the benefit of the doubt. For the leader who really cares about unlocking the unique contributions of their team members, The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store is an inspirational reminder of what we can do when we work together.
For The Time-Starved
With the world moving at breakneck speed and our devices constantly hijacking our time, it’s no wonder our attention spans are shrinking. For the leader who can’t possibly find the time to read a whole book, all is not lost. There is a treasure trove of short stories by gifted writers all over the world, offering beautifully crafted narratives in the span of mere pages. Meron Hadero’s collection, A Down Home Meal For These Difficult Times, is like a box of chocolates, with each story a meditation on identity, belonging, home and community. An Ethiopian-American writer with a global perspective, Hadero’s characters find themselves in-between, pulled by traditions while working to create new ties in adopted homelands. Her stories are mirrors that reflect back on her readers as they seek to understand and adapt to new paradigms, at work and in the world. Short and poignant, Hadero’s stories will linger—making even the briefest moment to read a powerful and sustaining experience.
For The Futurist
For the science-fiction lover and technology enthusiast, there’s Ken Liu. While every story he writes is pure gold, his book, The Paper Menagerie, is a collection of his finest, starting with the title story that was the first to win the three most important science fiction awards the year it was published. Liu’s writing explores the intersection of new technology and human emotion, making his stories powerful examinations of current human dilemmas. How much have digital assistants like Siri or Alexa taken over our lives? How will we continue to redefine our identities and our distinctiveness in the face of rapidly growing collective knowledge (like gen AI or the Singularity)? What happens to our beliefs when new inventions trample our traditions? For the reader who enjoys futurist dilemmas faced by relatable human characters, Ken Liu’s writing is mesmerizing and memorable.
For The Puzzle Lover
Is there someone on your list with no off switch, whose brain is constantly at work 24/7? In this case, anything by William Shakespeare would fit the bill. In a fascinating study, researchers found that reading Shakespeare has a dramatic ability to exercise and delight the human brain. By employing a technique that changes the grammatical function of a word (for example, using a noun as a verb), he triggers readers to work both forward and backward to understand both the context and meaning of his words. Much like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle, for a reader this ambiguity makes Shakespeare’s writing more compelling because of the work it takes to unlock its messages. This might sound exhausting, but for the leader who is always looking to work their grey matter, tackling Shakespeare may be just the ticket.
Author Neil Gaiman wrote, “Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside of them.” But the magic of a good book isn’t how far afield it takes you, but the bridges it builds back into your own life and work. Books offer a chance to look at the world through someone else’s eyes. Whether it offers a different perspective on a problem we’re wrestling with or challenges a belief we hold dearly, every book brings a new lens, a new way of thinking. In a crazy and complicated world, what better gift could anyone receive?
First published on Forbes.com.
