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They say great minds think alike, or perhaps they arrive at similar ideas because they observe the same world around them. Each year, my team and I discover a few themes among the 1,000+ submissions we consider when handpicking the year’s best books.
We call them themes. They reflect a combination of the cultural zeitgeist of what’s happening in business today and the hot topics entrepreneurs and business professionals are thinking about right now. Some of the books published this year include The Importance of Staying Calm and Overcoming Anxiety, Solutions to Climate Change, Putting Generosity First, Reevaluating the Human Condition in the Age of AI, and Quiet Leadership It is written about power etc. See the trends we discovered and our thoughts on how they’re relevant for 2025 and beyond.
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1. Reduce anxiety and burnout
After a divisive election year, heightened workplace anxiety and heightened awareness of mental health, this year has seen a flurry of books published focused on how to deal with burnout in the workplace. Some advocate reducing work hours, while others focus on productivity hacks. From relieving stress to overcoming anxiety, the idea of calm in work and life has become an urgent theme, and this reality has been reflected through books aimed at providing much-needed help.
2. Mathematical thinking
Can math explain the world? This year, we’re focusing on people with math knowledge, from how AI actually works to how it powers the world’s most popular games. We provided all kinds of perspectives. The group’s books put mathematics back in the spotlight, arguing that understanding the world, making new friends, and changing your perspective all lead to a deeper understanding of mathematics, so you’ll be able to explore geography, geometry, statistics, and more. Even thinking models were handled with numbers.
3. Good aging
If longevity explodes in 2023, this year will see a revision of books that focus on how we live, rather than just techniques for living longer. Many new books this year have shifted to themes of longevity, as well as providing insight into how to age well. From loving middle age to living a great life with purpose, the new theme when it comes to aging seems to be about enjoying your time, whether it lasts 100 years or less.
4. Rethinking higher education
As the workplace changes and the cost of higher education continues to spark debate, a variety of books this year explain the higher education experience and explore compelling alternatives to the traditional four-year college experience. Provided suggestions. The university crisis is accelerating as more young people consider alternative paths to success, and is likely to spark continued opposition and debate in the coming year and beyond.
5. Generosity comes first.
Perhaps in response to a world that seems to reward harmful behavior, several books this year have brought ideas of generosity and generous leadership to the fore. Fostering friendly team dynamics, maintaining hope rather than cynicism, and living life by giving more back are all important themes that stood out this year, and the authors believe that too offered a more optimistic prescription for how to live and work, reminding us of a power that is too easily forgotten. About actually caring for each other and why it’s the key to prosperity and happiness.
6. Save humanity
A big theme in last year’s AI-focused books was about designing AI in a more humane way, and reducing bias and other potential problems as the technology becomes more widespread. This year continued that trend, but many books took a decidedly more philosophical turn, pondering our existence in an AI-dominated world. Do we exist or are we needed? Is our destruction inevitable? As we live in a new technological age, these questions are taking on new urgency and attention, as many books help us rethink what it means to be human in an increasingly automated future. are collecting.
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7. Female lenses
In recent years, an increasing number of authors have focused on the previously ignored perspectives of women on a variety of topics. This year, its feminine lens focused on exploring the history of women on Wall Street, memoirs of female pioneers like Connie Chung, women-first branding techniques, and the role of women in crossword puzzle creation. This new series of books offers a gendered corrective to decades of male-centered views of history, as well as stories of hitherto neglected female heroines who deserve historical memory.
8. Find your purpose
A lot of books focused on finding your passion and purpose were a big topic this year. Instead of living a rudderless life, people of all ages are seeing reminders to live a life with purpose and leave a legacy they can be proud of. Whether it’s finding your passion or avoiding despair (seasonal, political, environmental, etc.), these hopeful books will help you rediscover your purpose and live more intentionally every day. Helpful.
9. Climate solutionism
In recent years, many books on global warming and climate change have aimed to document the problem and provide legislative and advocacy solutions. This year, a new perspective on “solutionism” has emerged. In other words, many books have provided practical prescriptions for solving some of the global environmental problems caused by humans. At least this positivity focuses on what to do next, rather than analyzing and assigning blame to how we got here.
10. Obligations of citizenship
After a contentious election season, several books were published last year aimed at helping Americans rediscover democracy and what it means to be a people. From teaching young people about the latter, to explaining topics like immigration and free speech, to the more controversial call to overhaul and rethink the Constitution itself, we all need to understand the fundamentals of government. The idea that we need to better understand and perhaps reconsider our beliefs was timely and urgent. Last year we focused on a number of titles.
11. Quiet leadership
In what may seem like the ultimate irony, several counterintuitive books have been published this year that focus on the quieter aspects of leadership. From embracing silence to increasing cultural intelligence to focusing on the soft side of leadership, the bottom line is that the noisier the world becomes, the more effective leaders will buck this trend and embrace the quiet side. I think I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s possible.
12. Friendship Antidote
A year ago, books explored the loneliness epidemic and issued dire warnings about the negative health and emotional effects of isolation. This year, the antidote has taken center stage by encouraging people to build and strengthen more friendships. These books provided encouragement, tactics, and perhaps most importantly, a reminder that building strong friendships requires investing the time to make them happen.