2016 BACK-TO-SCHOOL READING LIST
Whether you’re heading back to campus this year, back to the office or just looking to get back into the swing of things this fall, the Goldman Sachs second annual Back-to-School Reading List features book recommendations for every age and career stage.
Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue to update this page with new book selects from leaders across the globe and across the firm so be sure to check back for more good reads.
Sarah Smith – Finance Division, New York
Evicted, by Matthew Desmond
The author recounts the stories of tenants and landlords in the poorest areas of Milwaukee during 2008 and 2009. It is an eye-opening account of the challenges faced by many in America to simply find and keep a place to live. It will stay with me for a long time.
The author recounts the stories of tenants and landlords in the poorest areas of Milwaukee during 2008 and 2009. It is an eye-opening account of the challenges faced by many in America to simply find and keep a place to live. It will stay with me for a long time.
The Quincunx, by Charles Palliser
I first read this novel many years ago and have recently re-read it. It is a huge, haunting story written by a modern-day professor of history in the style and era of Dickens, and is essentially a complex puzzle solving challenge disguised as a historic mystery novel. Not for the faint of heart.
I first read this novel many years ago and have recently re-read it. It is a huge, haunting story written by a modern-day professor of history in the style and era of Dickens, and is essentially a complex puzzle solving challenge disguised as a historic mystery novel. Not for the faint of heart.
Richard Manley – Global Investment Research, Hong Kong
Poorly Made in China: An Insider’s Account of the Tactics Behind China’s Production Game, by Paul Midler
This book is a look into the early years of China’s rise to become the workshop of the world. It contains firsthand stories depicting conduct that many will struggle to comprehend, but also outlines the cultural and governance challenges China’s manufacturers face as they are forced to compete beyond price.
This book is a look into the early years of China’s rise to become the workshop of the world. It contains firsthand stories depicting conduct that many will struggle to comprehend, but also outlines the cultural and governance challenges China’s manufacturers face as they are forced to compete beyond price.
Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and South East Asia, by Joe Studwell
While most listed Western companies are controlled by their minority shareholders, most Asian companies are controlled by a sovereign, corporate or family investors. Understanding the history, objectives and incentives of the tycoons that built many of Asia’s largest companies provides important context for anyone looking at Asia’s markets.
While most listed Western companies are controlled by their minority shareholders, most Asian companies are controlled by a sovereign, corporate or family investors. Understanding the history, objectives and incentives of the tycoons that built many of Asia’s largest companies provides important context for anyone looking at Asia’s markets.
Liz Bowyer – Executive Office, New York
Dispatches, by Michael Herr
Years ago, when I went to work for Tom Brokaw on his book Boom! about the 1960s, the first thing he told me to read was Dispatches, Michael Herr's essential work of reportage on Vietnam. When Herr died this summer, I decided to re-read it, and was once again struck by how viscerally he captured the war experience. Herr renders Vietnam as at once terrifying and desensitizing, while also expressing the disaffection of a generation.
Years ago, when I went to work for Tom Brokaw on his book Boom! about the 1960s, the first thing he told me to read was Dispatches, Michael Herr's essential work of reportage on Vietnam. When Herr died this summer, I decided to re-read it, and was once again struck by how viscerally he captured the war experience. Herr renders Vietnam as at once terrifying and desensitizing, while also expressing the disaffection of a generation.
The Noise of Time, by Julian Barnes
The gap between appearances and reality is a theme in another book on my summer reading list, The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes. Barnes constructs an imagined inner narrative of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich as he grapples with the idea of truth in life and art under Stalin's regime. It's breathtaking.
The gap between appearances and reality is a theme in another book on my summer reading list, The Noise of Time by Julian Barnes. Barnes constructs an imagined inner narrative of the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich as he grapples with the idea of truth in life and art under Stalin's regime. It's breathtaking.
William Hurley – Investment Management Division, Austin
Massive Change, by Bruce Mau
This book is a must-read. As author Bruce Mau says, it is "not about the world of design; it's about the design of the world." The book is a collection of essays from some of the most creative minds on our planet. This book will help you understand how to "tap into global commons," "distribute capacity" and "embrace paradox." At my last startup, I purchased a copy for employees as a way of indoctrinating them into the culture. I also sent copies to all of our customers to help break them out of their standard way of thinking and increase their ambitions around their projects and initiatives.
This book is a must-read. As author Bruce Mau says, it is "not about the world of design; it's about the design of the world." The book is a collection of essays from some of the most creative minds on our planet. This book will help you understand how to "tap into global commons," "distribute capacity" and "embrace paradox." At my last startup, I purchased a copy for employees as a way of indoctrinating them into the culture. I also sent copies to all of our customers to help break them out of their standard way of thinking and increase their ambitions around their projects and initiatives.
Zero to One, by Blake Masters and Peter Thiel
This is one of my favorite books to recommend to new entrepreneurs and innovators. The concept is simple enough, the next Bill Gates won’t invent an operating system, the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t invent a social network. To truly innovate, you are able to escape competition and market factors by creating ideas that are “0 to 1” and with those ideas, completely new marketplaces.
This is one of my favorite books to recommend to new entrepreneurs and innovators. The concept is simple enough, the next Bill Gates won’t invent an operating system, the next Mark Zuckerberg won’t invent a social network. To truly innovate, you are able to escape competition and market factors by creating ideas that are “0 to 1” and with those ideas, completely new marketplaces.
Bobby Vedral – Securities Division, London
Inverting the Pyramid: the History of Football Tactics, by Jonathan Wilson
For all the sports/soccer fans out there – this is an excellent book that describes how football tactics have evolved over time. Applicable to our work – as it shows how “change is the only constant.”
For all the sports/soccer fans out there – this is an excellent book that describes how football tactics have evolved over time. Applicable to our work – as it shows how “change is the only constant.”
World Order, by Henry Kissinger
Nobody knows the world of politics & diplomacy better than Henry Kissinger – an absolute and undisputed numero uno!
Nobody knows the world of politics & diplomacy better than Henry Kissinger – an absolute and undisputed numero uno!
Shigeki Kiritani – Investment Management Division, Tokyo
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
Europeans conquered other continents with guns, germs and steel. What makes the difference between conquerors and conquered? The author demonstrates from various points of view that it wasn’t because of the superiority or inferiority of particular races, but because of the geographical and ecological advantages that Eurasian continent offered to the people lived there. For example, in Eurasia, there happened to be plants and animals suitable for domestication, which could be transferred and shared relatively easily across the continent. Fun reading with lots of intellectual stimulation.
Europeans conquered other continents with guns, germs and steel. What makes the difference between conquerors and conquered? The author demonstrates from various points of view that it wasn’t because of the superiority or inferiority of particular races, but because of the geographical and ecological advantages that Eurasian continent offered to the people lived there. For example, in Eurasia, there happened to be plants and animals suitable for domestication, which could be transferred and shared relatively easily across the continent. Fun reading with lots of intellectual stimulation.
Dino Fusco – Services Division, Jersey City
Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything, by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
This is a must-read for every ‘Seinfeld’ addict. It is a hilarious behind-the-scenes history of how Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld created the concept, characters and story lines that resulted in the greatest television series of all time. It will make you want to put on a “puffy shirt” and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting…..
This is a must-read for every ‘Seinfeld’ addict. It is a hilarious behind-the-scenes history of how Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld created the concept, characters and story lines that resulted in the greatest television series of all time. It will make you want to put on a “puffy shirt” and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting…..
The Healthy Workplace, by Leigh Stringer
This is a well-researched book with relevant and provocative data and statistics – as well as intriguing insights and anecdotes – designed to shed light on how simple changes to our office workplace can increase worker productivity, reduce medical costs, and create healthier, happier employees. Everyone who works in an office can relate to the subject matter and assess for themselves the validity of its recommendations and conclusions.
This is a well-researched book with relevant and provocative data and statistics – as well as intriguing insights and anecdotes – designed to shed light on how simple changes to our office workplace can increase worker productivity, reduce medical costs, and create healthier, happier employees. Everyone who works in an office can relate to the subject matter and assess for themselves the validity of its recommendations and conclusions.
Sally Boyle – Human Capital Management, London
Half of the Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
This is my favourite of Chimamanda’s books (although Purple Hibiscus andAmericanah are also wonderful). Half of the Yellow Sun combines a beautiful account of three lives in Nigeria in the 1960’s against the backdrop of the country’s civil war. The characters in her book are so well-drawn and Chimamanda writes compassionately about her country’s history and its people.
This is my favourite of Chimamanda’s books (although Purple Hibiscus andAmericanah are also wonderful). Half of the Yellow Sun combines a beautiful account of three lives in Nigeria in the 1960’s against the backdrop of the country’s civil war. The characters in her book are so well-drawn and Chimamanda writes compassionately about her country’s history and its people.
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
A Little Life, which has been nominated for a number of book awards this year, is a long but very compelling read. It follows the lives of four classmates from a small Massachusetts college as they pursue their chosen paths in New York City. It is an extraordinary study of friendship and trauma – you are led to understand the minds of the characters in a way that is equally gripping and at times, harrowing.
A Little Life, which has been nominated for a number of book awards this year, is a long but very compelling read. It follows the lives of four classmates from a small Massachusetts college as they pursue their chosen paths in New York City. It is an extraordinary study of friendship and trauma – you are led to understand the minds of the characters in a way that is equally gripping and at times, harrowing.
Kent Clark – Investment Management Division, New York
The Signal and the Noise: Why so many predictions fail - but some don't, by Nate Silver
This is a remarkably engaging book about how people fail when making predictions and the approaches followed by superior predictors. Each chapter uses real-world examples from different disciplines to reveal how the best and worst predictors behave, including revisiting Billy Beane, the protagonist of ‘Moneyball,’ and speaking with Goldman Sachs’ Jan Hatzius. Silver even successfully finds a way to gently introduce the reader to Bayesian statistics, which I realize is hard to believe but true.
This is a remarkably engaging book about how people fail when making predictions and the approaches followed by superior predictors. Each chapter uses real-world examples from different disciplines to reveal how the best and worst predictors behave, including revisiting Billy Beane, the protagonist of ‘Moneyball,’ and speaking with Goldman Sachs’ Jan Hatzius. Silver even successfully finds a way to gently introduce the reader to Bayesian statistics, which I realize is hard to believe but true.
Churchill: A Life, by Martin Gilbert
This is a good one volume biography of Churchill by Martin Gilbert, who was the “official” Churchill biographer. I think Churchill is as interesting for his mistakes and failures as he is for his successes, his seemingly boundless energy and curiosity, and for having been an incredibly prolific writer. The biography gives good perspective on some of the most important events of the 20th century, at least as seen from Churchill’s vantage point. Unless you have a good knowledge of the political figures of this era, I’d recommend an e-book edition since you can easily get a bit of information on the many characters who feature throughout the book.
This is a good one volume biography of Churchill by Martin Gilbert, who was the “official” Churchill biographer. I think Churchill is as interesting for his mistakes and failures as he is for his successes, his seemingly boundless energy and curiosity, and for having been an incredibly prolific writer. The biography gives good perspective on some of the most important events of the 20th century, at least as seen from Churchill’s vantage point. Unless you have a good knowledge of the political figures of this era, I’d recommend an e-book edition since you can easily get a bit of information on the many characters who feature throughout the book.
Lisa Opoku – Technology Division, New York
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The book is written by the author for his son. I chose to read it because I have a son and I think the experience of being a black male in America is unique. I want to be educated by his perspective for my son Austin’s benefit.
The book is written by the author for his son. I chose to read it because I have a son and I think the experience of being a black male in America is unique. I want to be educated by his perspective for my son Austin’s benefit.
Black Wealth, White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality, by Melvin L. Oliver and Thomas Shapiro
Sherrilyn Ifill from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund recently recommended this book during a meeting I attended with her. The book explains many important historical facts about wealth in the black community and how public policies have impacted the problem. It is not light summer reading but I am enthusiastic about the education I am getting on how differences in the transfer of wealth contribute to racial inequality.
Sherrilyn Ifill from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund recently recommended this book during a meeting I attended with her. The book explains many important historical facts about wealth in the black community and how public policies have impacted the problem. It is not light summer reading but I am enthusiastic about the education I am getting on how differences in the transfer of wealth contribute to racial inequality.
Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
My friend gave me a copy of this book and told me it was “homework.” I told her she had too much confidence in me if she thought I could work a full day and read 300 pages in 48 hours! It is about two sisters from Ghana where my friend and I are both from. The novel details the life of one sister in Ghana and the other who was sold into slavery in America. It is a very well-written and educational narrative of their lives.
My friend gave me a copy of this book and told me it was “homework.” I told her she had too much confidence in me if she thought I could work a full day and read 300 pages in 48 hours! It is about two sisters from Ghana where my friend and I are both from. The novel details the life of one sister in Ghana and the other who was sold into slavery in America. It is a very well-written and educational narrative of their lives.
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