Titles Coming To A Blinkist App Near You This May
It’s never too late to get a daily dose of inspiration, whether it’s from a personal account of determination, or someone sharing their well-earned business knowledge. Here’s a sneak peek at the Blinks coming through this May.
1. Who Can You Trust by Rachel Botsman
Who Can You Trust?
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
You don’t need to have binge-watched Black Mirror to harbor a sneaking suspicion that technology, for all the joy and convenience it brings, has its dark sides, too. Who Can You Trust addresses our growing cynicism towards brands and corporations while without a second thought, we patronize community-based apps relying on the gig economy. In the wake of the Cambridge Analytica revelations, where we are all questioning the real cost of our data, this couldn’t have joined Blinkist’s roster at a better time.
2. Be More Pirate by Sam Conniff Allende
Be More Pirate
- 16 min reading time
- audio version available
Playing a pirate isn’t just for kids. As adults, we might be a little more concerned with our jobs, but that’s no reason not to channel the rebel within when it comes to your professional life. Based on the tenets of MISCHIEF, PURPOSE, AND POWER, this book teaches you to challenge the establishment, effect change, and revive your inner troublemaker… in the good sense, obviously.
3. Boost! by Michael Bar-Eli
Boost!
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
Business administration professor and seasoned sports psychologist Bar-Eli whittles down the science of getting ahead — spoiler alert, it’s got a surprising amount in common with sports. He shows us how we can apply the mental focus required to excel in physical activities to our everyday professional lives. The key topics covered include heightening your awareness and the similarities between working in a team on the field and getting on with colleagues.
4. The Four by Scott Galloway
The Four
- 16 min reading time
- audio version available
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google: not so much household names as presences that govern our lives more than we might like to admit. Galloway takes a humorous approach to exploring the bare bones of each part of this modern-day quatrefoil, and how we can apply lessons from their respective ascents to the top to our own working and social lives.
5. Feminist Fight Club by Jessica Bennett
Feminist Fight Club
- 10 min reading time
- audio version available
Office politics can dwindle from tricky to malevolent when gender discrimination comes into play. Unfortunately, since women are often socialized to believe that they are overreacting about their brushes with sexism, it can be a difficult topic to bring out into the open. Based on Bennett’s own experiences trading anecdotes with friends about both subtle and unabashed sexist aggressions at work, and pooling ideas on how to deal with them, this is a practical guidebook for a post-#MeToo world.
6. Dear Madam President by Jennifer Palmieri
Dear Madam President
- 12 min reading time
- audio version available
As former Communications Director to none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton, Palmieri knows a thing or two about being a woman running for the US presidency. Taking the form of an open letter, she wonders aloud whether Americans are really ready for a female president — not because she would be less capable, but because they only have male figures to go by when it comes to the highest office in the country. A must-read for any leader, aspiring or experienced.
7. My Morning Routine by Benjamin Spall & Michael Xander
My Morning Routine
- 27 min reading time
- audio version available
If you want to live an energized, productive, and above all happy life, scrolling social media the moment you wake up may not be the right way to set foundations. This book is a collection of morning routine case studies with notable people like Marie Kondo (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up) and multiple Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Soni, sharing how they wake up without wanting to immediately hit the snooze button.
8. The Distracted Mind by Adam Gazzaley & Larry D. Rosen
The Distracted Mind
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
It’s a common complaint of modern life that our attention spans are down to zero, and all, it seems, because of a glowing blue screen. Is true multitasking scientifically possible? And just why, even when we’re focused on a particular task, do we still feel the draw of “just one quick look” at our apps? The authors put forward actionable solutions to our attention-deprived woes and hold up a mirror to our anxious selves, scared to fall out of the loop for even a moment.
9. Economics for the Common Good by Jean Tirole
Economics for the Common Good
- 18 min reading time
- audio version available
Following his Nobel Prize win in Economics in 2014, the author pondered economists’ place in society, occupying a role somewhere between scientists and public intellectual. His book details his own insights on topics seemingly disparate as the 2008 recession and digitization, making it a must-read for those who want to find out more about the framework of how we work, interact, develop, and trade.
10. Fascism by Madeleine Albright
Fascism
- 16 min reading time
- audio version available
The US’ first female Secretary of State was forced into exile from Nazis as a child, so her investment in letting the world know the dangers of fascism is sincere and hard-wrought. She presents the climate in 2018 as a threat to one of the longest periods of peace in the West in recent history. Albright urges us to address the social and economic questions that make fertile ground for fascist thought to develop, if we are to truly stop the mistakes of the past from being repeated.
11. Letters from a Stoic by Seneca
Letters from a Stoic
- 15 min reading time
- audio version available
Stoicism is defined as the restraint of animal instincts and the severing of emotional ties. Sounds bleak, but could these beliefs dating from 4th century BC actually aid us through the trials of 21st century life? Human will is a hardy thing, and Seneca’s philosophical musings are a surprisingly effective confidence-booster, reaffirming in today’s chaos, that less is more.
12. Educated by Tara Westover
Educated
- 32 min reading time
- audio version available
Born to survivalist parents in rural Idaho, Westover grew up in an environment of paranoia and stayed off the radar for the first 17 years of her life. She escaped a violent situation and began to self-study subjects she had been sheltered from — only to find herself both empowered by her newfound knowledge, and wondering whether even poisonous blood was thicker than water. This memoir demonstrates inner strength and the necessity of shifting one’s perspective, no matter the cost.
13. The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle
The Culture Code
- 13 min reading time
- audio version available
Hot on the heels of The Talent Code, the author navigates the nebulous topic of company culture — otherwise known as the secret force behind groups achieving their goals with panache. He offers advice how not to end up on the pile of toxic cultures that have shot themselves in the foot, stopping healthy growth and success in their tracks. The book is an important reminder that trust underlies collaboration.
