Books That Will Make You Smarter
Knowledge is power, making books a powerful source. Reading can boost your intellect by exposing you to new ideas, expanding your understanding of current events, increasing your vocabulary, and boosting brain connectivity.
By reading a book from the list below, you can learn what exists in the cosmos’ outermost edges to the oceans’ innermost recesses. You can learn what it takes to work smarter and to save smarter. You can collect fun facts about human evolution and about the Civil War. You can even uncover parts of American history you didn’t know — and be a part of changing history by learning how to combat pressing issues like racism and climate change.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.” What book from the list below will you read first?
-
1
Add to BookshelfFour Hundred Souls
by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
Understand African American history from 1619 — a year before the Mayflower — to the present. Four Hundred Souls is a unique one-volume “community” history of African Americans that has been named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post, Town & Country, Booklist, and more. The book involves 90 brilliant writers, assembled by editors Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain, each of whom takes on five years of that 400-year span as they take us on a journey defined by inhuman oppression, visionary struggles, stunning achievements, and millions of ordinary lives passing through extraordinary history. This book, this history, gives us new ways of thinking by illuminating our past.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$20.99Buy from Other Retailers:
-
2
Add to Bookshelf
Smarter Faster Better
by Charles Duhigg
Achieve peak productivity or simply get yourself back on track by reading Smarter Faster Better. In this New York Times bestseller, Charles Duhigg guides us through the science behind productivity and offers real-world takeaways to apply to your life. Duhigg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, draws from neuroscience, psychology, and behavioral economics to deliver his unique insights across eight key concepts — from motivation and goal setting to focus and decision-making. In reading Smarter Faster Better, you will see how the most productive people and companies don’t just act differently. They view the world — and their choices — differently. To be smarter, better, and faster, pick the book by the same name.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
3
Add to Bookshelf
The Demon of Unrest
by Erik Larson
Calling both Civil War history buffs and thriller fans! The Demon of Unrest, by master storyteller Erik Larson, is for you. Already a #1 New York Times bestseller, this book offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln’s election and the Confederacy’s shelling of Sumter. Larson draws on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers, and plantation records to give you a political horror story that captures the forces that led America to the brink. Thought you knew the story of the Civil War? You certainly don’t know it like this. As The Wall Street Journal says, The Demon of Unrest “enlivens even a thrice-told tale into an irresistible thriller.”
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$35.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
4
Add to Bookshelf
Rich AF
by Vivian Tu
Grow your wealth and make money moves with Rich AF. Personal finance expert and TikTok star Vivian Tu uses the lessons she learned working on Wall Street to reveal how to beat the financial game that has, for far too long, been male, pale, and stale. From understanding the ins and outs of savings accounts, identifying the tax strategies and (legal) loopholes to retire comfortably, maximizing your earnings, and overcoming investing fears, Rich AF will help you build a (non-)intimidating financial strategy with an affluent mindset. Who needs a man in finance who’s 6’5 with blue eyes when you’re Rich AF?
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$29.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
5
Add to Bookshelf
Unmasking AI
by Joy Buolamwini
Learn what’s at stake by adopting AI. From Dr. Joy Buolamwini, the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League who has been at the forefront of AI research, comes Unmasking AI, a national bestseller that explains the dangers of AI and what we can do to avoid its pitfalls. Unmasking AI is the story of how Buolamwini uncovered evidence of encoded discrimination and exclusion in tech products — and what she has done since to prevent AI-induced harm. Buolamwini shows how racism, sexism, colorism, and ableism can overlap and render swaths of humanity vulnerable in a world rapidly adopting AI tools. This book is for experts and non-experts alike to learn what it means to seek algorithmic justice.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$22.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
6
Add to Bookshelf
Eve
by Cat Bohannon
Change what you think you know about human evolution by reading Eve. If you’ve ever wondered why women live longer than men, are more likely to get Alzheimer’s, or sweat so much during menopause, this book has your answers. Eve is a no-nonsense, hard-hitting, seriously researched (but also readable) account of what it means to be in a female body and why women have the body parts they have. In this New York Times bestseller, Cat Bohannon deep dives, covering the past 200 million years, to explain the specific science behind the development of the female sex for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. As the author writes, “It’s time we talk about breasts.”
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$35.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
7
Add to Bookshelf
To Infinity and Beyond
by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Lindsey Nyx Walker
Go on an interstellar ride to the furthest reaches of the cosmos with To Infinity and Beyond. Neil deGrasse Tyson and Lindsey Nyx Walker make the mysteries of the universe understandable and fun to read by explaining the universe — from the solar system to the farthest reaches of space — with authority and humor. Tyson and Walker draw on mythology, history, and literature to bring planetary science down to Earth and bring principles of astrophysics within reach. To Infinity and Beyond is ideal for science buffs keen on learning about the Earth’s atmosphere and anyone interested in the spooky phenomena in space like parallel worlds, black holes, time travel, and more.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$30.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
8
Add to Bookshelf
Shame on You
by Melissa Petro
For any woman who has ever felt ashamed for being who you are, made to feel less than, or told she was unworthy, this is for you. Shame on You is also for you if you have a wife, a daughter, or a friend at risk of falling prey to the shame epidemic. From acclaimed journalist Melissa Petro, this book takes a hard look at the societal systems that encourage women to believe they are inadequate and offers a new way forward to break the cycle of shame — once and for all. In reading, you can outsmart shame and go on to live your best life (even in an over-exposed, image-obsessed world).
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$29.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
9
Add to Bookshelf
The Underworld
by Susan Casey
Join bestselling author Susan Casey on a deep-sea exploration. If you’ve ever looked at the sea and thought, “What’s down there?” this book is for you. In The Underworld, Casey takes us on a journey to understand the mysteries beneath the waves and those who seek to uncover the ocean’s secrets, like marine geologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers. Along the journey, you’ll hear stories of shipwrecks, myths and legends of the ancient world, the first intrepid bathysphere pilots, and the scientists who are just starting to understand the ecological importance of the quadrillion creatures living under the surface. Dive on into The Underworld to explore the depths of the natural world.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
10
Add to Bookshelf
White Women
by Regina Jackson and Saira Rao
Stop being nice and start dismantling white supremacy with White Women. In this instant New York Times bestseller Regina Jackson and Saira Rao call on white women to quit their desire to be perfect, stop avoiding conflict at all costs, and start doing real anti-racism work. Beginning with freeing white women from the oppressive need to be nice, Jackson and Rao deconstruct and analyze nine aspects of typical white woman behavior — from tone-policing to weaponizing tears — that uphold white supremacy and hurt all of those who are trying to live a freer, more equitable life. Take up the call to action with this no-holds-barred guidebook.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$16.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
11
Add to Bookshelf
The Climate Book
by Greta Thunberg
Change the world by reading about how to make it happen with The Climate Book — from famed climate activist Greta Thunberg. In The Climate Book, Thunberg shares wisdom from over 100 experts — including geophysicists, oceanographers, meteorologists, engineers, economists, mathematicians, historians, philosophers, and Indigenous leaders — to equip us all with the knowledge needed to combat a climate disaster. Thunberg also shares her own stories of greenwashing worldwide to show how much we have been kept in the dark. As we live out the most decisive time in the history of humanity, Thurnberg offers this essential guidebook to do the seemingly impossible — together.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$20.00Buy from Other Retailers:
