Every year since 2014, the Non-Obvious Company has reviewed
nonfiction books published throughout the year and selected the best
of the best -- the most insightful, the most impactful, the most
"non-obvious" -- for their annual book awards. This year, they're
partnering with Inc. Magazine to produce the 2023 Inc. Non-Obvious
Book Awards, showcasing the best business books for entrepreneurs and
other business leaders, as selected by Non-Obvious Company founder Rohit
Bhargava.
Here are all of this year's winners, listed alphabetically
by title.
1. A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach
Weinersmith
A witty overview of space
exploration exposing all
the inconvenient truths of why space habitation is actually really hard, and
why we might need to temper our dreams of space settlement with harsh
reality.
2. Afrofuturism by the National Museum of African
American History and Culture, Kevin Strait, Kinshasha Holman Conwill, Kevin
Young, and Vernon Reid
Offers an
important and illuminating chronicle of the widely underappreciated
contributions of Afrofuturists to imagining a better and more equitable future
for humanity.
3. Against Technoableism by Ashley Shew
Unlike most books about disability, this one is written by a disabled
person. Academic Ashley Shew aims to "explode" common perceptions
about disability and explain how to create a more equitable world.
4. Awaken Your Genius by Ozan Varol
This guide to innovation explores why we call some people "geniuses"
when really, every single one of us could learn to be a genius.
5. Back to the Futures by Scott Irwin and Doug
Peterson
Scott Irwin and Doug Peterson explain why we
should be thinking about commodity futures markets -- how they work, and how they impact us
even when we're not invested in them -- just a little more.
6. Big Bets by Rajiv Shah
Big Bets offers a
manifesto for what it really takes to think bigger, ask more ambitious
questions, maintain your optimism, and actually set yourself on the path to
change the world.
7. Black Founder by Stacy Spikes
MoviePass founder Stacy Spikes explains what happened when he pursued his dream
-- and the lessons he learned that could open the door for so many others like
himself.
8. Breaking Free by Marcie Bianco
Bianco argues that
we should not pursue equality -- an unrealistic ideal grounded in racism and
sexism -- but should instead make it our mission to pursue freedom.
9. Build a Better Business Book by Josh Bernoff
Bernoff offers a
step-by-step guide to writing a good business book.
10. Building by Mark Ellison
A memoir from a master carpenter may not immediately seem
like the ideal place to learn timeless business lessons, but Ellison offers plenty of
takeaways that would rival the best guidebooks on growing a business.
11. Centered by Kaleena Sales
Designer Kaleena Sales argues that diverse
design perspectives and styles should not be an ancillary component of design
education, but rather a core component of the curriculum.
12. Clear Thinking by Shane Parrish
The key to a better future is to master the art of making
the right decisions in everyday, seemingly insignificant moments.
13. Code to Joy by Michael L. Littman
You may not realize it, but learning a little bit of
programming might indeed be an important part of surviving our digital
future.
14. Crossings by Ben Goldfarb
Goldfarb lays out why roads are the key to human history -- and
our future -- and explores what it would take to build roads that positively
benefit the environment as opposed to destroying it.
15. Do Interesting by Russell Davies
Advertising
legend Russell Davies offers a collection of tips on what it really takes to be
more creative and more noticeable.
16. Doppelganger by Naomi Klein
What if you discovered a mirror version of yourself who
believed in everything you despised? What sounds like science fiction sets that
stage for a very real memoir
from influential social critic Naomi Klein that will transform the way you see
yourself in a world filled with floods of fake content and people.
17. Emotional Labor by Rose Hackman
For decades, the invisible work of emotional labor was never
understood or discussed. Emotional Labor is a well-researched exploration of why
emotional work often disproportionately holds women and people of color back,
and how exposing it can foster more equality in work and life.
18. Encounterism by Andy Field
In an increasingly digital world, we need to refocus on the joy
of being physically together and the beauty of ordinary encounters.
19. Everyday Dharma by Suneel Gupta
In a time when it can be hard to center on your purpose at
work, Everyday Dharma reminds you how to rediscover your essence (or
dharma).
20. Excellent Advice for Living by Kevin Kelly
A collection of advice from one of the tech industry's
longtime icons that reads like the very best life advice from a benevolent grandfather
who has been at the center of the technological shift in the world, and offers
up short, digestible lessons he's curated along the way.
21. Extremely Online by Taylor Lorenz
Promising to chronicle the entire history of social
media, Lorenz offers a highly engaging exploration of what living our lives
"extremely online" is doing to our self-esteem, relationships, and
our culture at large.
22. Fool Me Once by Kelly Richmond Pope
Kelly Richmond Pope -- a forensic accounting
professor and the director of All the Queen's Horses, a documentary about
the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history -- investigates how scams make so
much money, examines the people working within them, and spotlights the
whistleblowers who break them open.
23. For the Culture by Marcus Collins
Collins explores culture's role in our decisions and why it
is so essential that we understand it, whether we're consumers or
marketers.
24. Generations by Jean M. Twenge
Renowned generational researcher Jean Twenge offers a detailed look at
every generation's habits. It presents a roadmap to understanding the forces
that each generation's mindset exerts on their collective behavior, and how
they interact with one another.
25. Happiness Is Overrated by Cuong Lu
Written by an ordained monk, Happiness Is Overrated:
Simple Lessons on Finding Meaning in Each Moment exhorts us to stop
spending so much time chasing happiness and instead to look at the truth of our
lives, without denying our suffering, and find joy in each moment.
26. Hidden Genius by Polina Marinova Pompliano
From the founder of The Profile, Pompliano brings
to light the perspectives and ways of thinking that have empowered leaders like
Al Pacino and Lin-Manuel Miranda to succeed.
27. Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
Social scientist Adam Grant argues that we can all rise to achieve
great things and offers a roadmap to realizing your hidden potential that
focuses on learning how to improve at improving.
28. How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg and
Dan Gardner
The world's leading expert on megaprojects offers an
insider's look at why some billion-dollar projects fail while others succeed.
29. How to Make Money by Nafisa Bakkar
Bakkar offers a
transparent look at both her experience as a Muslim female entrepreneur and at
what it actually takes to create a lucrative business.
30. How to Protect Bookstores and Why by Danny
Caine
Bookstore owner Danny Caine argues for the value of
bookstores -- and his guide for how we can all contribute to saving them.
31. How to Think Like a Woman by Regan Penaluna
Writer and journalist Regan Penaluna wanted to study
philosophy -- and soon found that all philosophers taught in her classes were
male. She chronicles her efforts to find and learn from women philosophers.
32. How to Work With (Almost) Anyone by Michael
Bungay Stanier
From the best-selling author of The Coaching Habit comes a practical guidebook on what it takes to work with every
type of person.
33. How Work Works by Michelle P. King
Your success in any business endeavor might come down to
your ability to read all the unspoken elements of a situation. This skill, also
dubbed "reading the air," is just one of the useful insights you'll
take away.
34. I Hope You Fail by Pinky Cole
You wouldn't think a book actively hoping you'll fail would
offer much inspiration, but restaurateur Pinky
Cole offers 10 irreverently useful "hater statements" along with the
secret for overcoming them.
35. Knowing What We Know by Simon Winchester
Winchester explores the rise of the encyclopedia --
including Wikipedia -- and investigates whether the ways in which we collect
knowledge are impeding our ability to think.
36. Look by Christian Madsbjerg
A teacher who developed a course on human
observation offers a
nuanced guide on how to recapture our ability to pay attention that will help
you focus on the unexpected, listen better, and really look at everything
happening around you.
37. Magic Words by Jonah Berger
Renowned
marketing professor Jonah Berger offers an immediately useful exploration of
six types of "magic words" that can motivate others, unlock
creativity, and persuade anyone.
38. MCU by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, and
Gavin Edwards
A historic look at
the pop culture universe of Marvel Studios, its rise, and how that movement
happened.
39. Misbelief by Dan Ariely
Why do some people succumb to misbeliefs and shift their
reality -- and how can any of us prevent ourselves from being misbelievers? A legendary
social scientist offers some answers.
40. Mixed Signals by Uri Gneezy
Gneezy uses behavioral economics and game theory to
explore our approach to incentives and how we can design things to be more
effective.
41. More Numbers Every Day by Micael Dahlen and
Helge Thorbjornsen
Economics professors Micael
Dahlen and Helge Thorbjornsen examine our obsession with numbers -- tracking
our sleep, steps, friends, and more -- and how you can live a happier,
healthier life by understanding their context.
42. NFTs Are a Scam/NFTs Are the Future by Bobby
Hundreds
Hundreds provides
a rare, balanced look at both the opportunity and the bullshit driving the NFT
craze, and offers an even-handed but still optimistic way to make sense of the
hype.
43. Nobody's Fool by Daniel Simons and Christopher
Chabris
Psychology professors Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris
explain why we get misled and what habits we can cultivate to avoid getting
scammed.
44. On Being Unreasonable by Kirsty Sedgman
British cultural studies scholar Kirsty Sedgman explores the
relative definition of "reasonable" and its role in why we disagree.
45. Once Upon a Tome by Oliver Darkshire
Oliver Darkshire comes to work at an antique bookstore in London,
takes it over, and learns unexpected lessons from working with rare
books.
46. Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe
Part poetry collection and part art project, Ordinary
Notes has been described as "a brilliant new literary form" and
offers a fascinating, immersive look at the everyday Black experience that will
change your perspective.
47. Outrage Machine by Tobias Rose-Stockwell
Rose-Stockwell argues that our outrage is fueled
by algorithms, and investigates what it does to our culture when outrage is
continually fueled and monetized.
48. Outsmart Your Brain by Daniel T. Willingham
A practical,
step-by-step guide on exactly how to be a better learner -- a valuable skill at
work and in life at any stage.
49. Paved Paradise by Henry Grabar
Examines everything you've never thought about in terms of parking
and reveals why understanding it might be the key to creating more livable
cities in the future.
50. Pockets by Hannah Carlson
Carlson explores the history of pockets, what they reveal about
us and our perspective on gender, and why that matters.
51. Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
Desmond suggests the
solution to inequity may be in our willingness to become "poverty
abolitionists" and offers a manifesto to ending poverty in America.
52. Quiet Street by Nick McDonell
A short memoir written from the perspective of a young white
man who was forced to confront his elite background, it attacks the 1 percent and how they cling to power, and
examines what it would take for them to share it.
53. Radical Inclusion by David Moinina Sengeh
From the classrooms of Sierra Leone, Sengeh tackles
the idea of creating a better, more inclusive world through lessons on
identifying exclusions, building connections, and reimagining the systems that
hold people back.
54. Reimagine Inclusion by Mita Mallick
A more mature look at the evolution and meaning of
DEI, Mallick breaks
down 13 common ideas people believe about diversity, equity, and
inclusion.
55. Right Kind of Wrong by Amy Edmondson
Edmondson guides readers to avoiding the shame of
failure and instead pursuing "intelligent failure," which will help
you achieve more success by getting better at learning from the things you'll
inevitably do wrong.
56. Saving Time by Jenny Odell
In this irreverent guide from the best-selling author of How to Do Nothing,
you'll learn how to reevaluate the role time plays in your life to find a
better balance.
57. Saying NO to a Farm-Free Future by Chris Smaje
Social scientist and farmer Chris Smaje explains how farms work, and how we can
protect nature as well as keep farms alive.
58. Selfless by Brian Lowery
Lowery argues
that your self isn't just you, but everything around you -- and so your highs
and lows belong to others too. It's an empowering, reimagined way to look at
yourself.
59. Size by Vaclav Smil
An impressively wide-ranging, unique look at a topic that truly affects
everything.
60. SLAY the Bully by Rebecca Zung
You're going to deal with narcissists, in life as well as
business. Zung breaks
down the unfortunately necessary skill of negotiating and dealing with these
individuals.
61. Soul Boom by Rainn Wilson
The Office actor offers a humorous explanation of
how we can use spirituality and religion to bring people together and find
balance, instead of letting it divide us.
62. STFU by Dan Lyons
An entertainingly blunt book that offers the
underappreciated call to action for all of us to shut the f*ck up. Learning to
be strategically quiet and to speak with intention might not only help you
succeed, it might also make the world better for the rest of us.
63. The Anxious Achiever by Morra Aarons-Mele
Top-rated podcaster Aarons-Mele explains
how to lean into anxiety and make it work for you.
64. The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff
and Rikki Schlott
A remarkably thoughtful review of a sensitive topic for
many, Lukianoff provides an exploration of
the roots of cancel culture on American college campuses and its effects on our
ability to tolerate and engage with dissenting viewpoints.
65. The Case for Good Jobs by Zeynep Ton
MIT professor Zeynep Ton examines
the connection between retention and jobs that make people feel good while
doing them -- and how we can use this concept to improve frontline jobs.
66. The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman
An A.I. thinker and ethicist explores what
the future of A.I. will bring and what the ethical considerations need to
be.
67. The Defiant Optimist by Durreen Shahnaz
Part memoir and part guidebook, this shares Shahnaz's efforts to fight for women's rights as
well as her advice for redistributing finances to more equitably invest in the
community.
68. The Four Workarounds by Paulo Savaget
Savaget offers a practical
and story-filled guide on using four of the most common workarounds.
69. The Future Is Disabled by Leah Lakshmi
Piepzna-Samarasinha
A rare look at the future from a disabled perspective: Told
through the unique format of love letters, the book offers the sadly radical
idea that a utopian future and disabled people can coexist.
70. The Future of the Responsible Company by
Vincent Stanley and Yvon Chouinard
A marketing pamphlet of sorts about the Patagonia founders'
decision to give the company away nevertheless offers a
refreshing, behind-the-scenes look at exactly what the company's leadership has
learned from their unique approach to business.
71. The Golden Screen by Jeff Yang
Jeff Yang brings Asian American culture to life through the movies
that have shaped or told the story of the Asian experience in America.
72. The Identity Trap by Yascha Mounk
Mounk challenges
conventional thinking about identity and reveals how we might find belonging in
groups without letting identity fuel the idea that we are in conflict with one
another.
73. The Long View by Richard Fisher
BBC journalist Richard Fisher explains why, in a world
dominated by the 24-hour news cycle, thinking in terms of deeper, longer time
scales is so essential.
74. The PARA Method by Tiago Forte
A quick guide expanding on the author's highly practical and
popular method for organizing all the files in your digital clutter to help you
focus on what matters most, instead of getting buried in digital folders and
email.
75. The Perennials by Mauro F. Guillén
A different look at generational differences argues
that the terms we typically use to define generations are outdated because they
put us into rigid categories, and offers an explanation of how we can create
more effective intergenerational collaboration and communication.
76. The Power of Empathy by Michael Tennant
Effectively balances a self-help approach with a
practical explanation of how we can use empathy as a tool.
77. The Power of One by Frances Haugen
A fantastic example of bravery
and how one person's actions really can change the world.
78. The Power of Saying No by Vanessa Patrick
Patrick offers a process and toolkit for
something you probably know you should do more -- say no -- and explains how
you can go about doing that in a way that doesn't make you feel wracked with
guilt.
79. The Power of Wonder by Monica C. Parker
A well-thought-out dissection
of "wonder" and a compelling reminder of just how important to our
emotional fulfillment it can be to find consistent ways to cultivate more
wonder in our lives.
80. The Problem of 12 by John Coates
Harvard professor John Coates examines the issues that come
up in a world where a few institutions exert influence over politics, the
economy, and nearly every other aspect of our lives.
81. The Real Work by Adam Gopnik
Gopnik explains how masters become experts at their craft and what they can
teach the rest of us about improving at whatever we do.
82. The Right Call by Sally Jenkins
Acclaimed sports writer Sally Jenkins relates all she's learned from
interviewing legendary athletes, coaches, and other sports minds.
83. The Second in Command by Cameron Herold
Leadership coach Cameron Herold explains just how important a COO is and
why getting the right person in that role can significantly improve a CEO's
success.
84. The Song of Significance by Seth Godin
This collection of short
anecdotes will make you think about the biggest aspects of your business by
delivering potentially huge suggestions in a small, digestible format.
85. The Status Revolution by Chuck Thompson
A wildly original look at how we assign
status and a deeper review of the macro shift that may cause a reimagining of
the idea of luxury.
86. The Teachers by Alexandra Robbins
An urgent and sometimes disturbing look at the
true lives and work of U.S. teachers exploring what teachers deal with on a
daily basis, why they're so underpaid and underappreciated, and why it's so
difficult to get people to enter that profession.
87. The Theory of Everything Else by Dan Schreiber
Popular podcaster Dan Schreiber offers an entertaining
journey into "weird," all to help you find new ways to think
differently.
88. The Wisdom of the Bullfrog by William H.
McRaven
Navy Admiral William H. McRaven offers leadership lessons
from legendary military officers and breaks down everything he himself has learned
in his journey to becoming admiral.
89. Turnaround Time by Oscar Munoz
The unlikely story of a leader who took over a major
airline, had a near-fatal heart attack a month later, and then managed to
recover and lead a dramatic turnaround at United Airlines.
90. Unmasking AI by Joy Buolamwini
Legendary A.I. researcher Joy Buolamwini explores how we
can be more human in a world that is increasingly dominated by
technology.
91. Upshift by Ben Ramalingam
You'll discover the secrets of
becoming an "upshifter" who can innovate under any kind of
pressure.
92. Walking With Sam by Andrew McCarthy
Actor and travel writer Andrew McCarthy tells his story of
walking through Spain with his son and explores the power of taking time
off.
93. What Is ChatGPT Doing... and Why Does It Work? by
Stephen Wolfram
Prominent scientist Stephen Wolfram offers a short,
accessible explanation of the technology behind ChatGPT, how it works, and what
it's actually doing.
94. When Race Trumps Merit by Heather Mac Donald
Mac Donald argues that we may be
overcorrecting when it comes to creating more policies and opportunities for
disadvantaged groups, and that that overcorrection may actually be causing us
to leave equity behind.
95. Win Every Argument by Mehdi Hasan
The ambitious but somehow realistic goal of this book is to
help you win any argument.
96. Working to Restore by Esha Chhabra
Chhabra examines regenerative
commerce through several lenses, exploring how can we use the economy and the
things we're producing to simultaneously resurrect and rebuild the
environment.
97. You Will Own Nothing by Carol Roth
In a world where ownership and the need for it is transformed, Roth offers an activist lens on why we all may want to fight back for our
right to own things once again.
98. Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy
Ross
The authors use compelling science and fascinating stories to
offer up an argument that many have long believed but rarely had proof of --
that art helps humanity flourish.
99. Your Face Belongs to Us by Kashmir Hill
The fight to create and improve facial recognition
technology is riveting, scary, and timely...this is the
perfect introduction not only to the evolution of this technology, but also to
what we should all know about the potential dangers this technology
poses.
100. Yours Truly by James R. Hagerty
A Wall Street Journal obituary writer's explanation of
how obituaries are written and what they tell us about people's lives. What
would your obituary say -- and what would you want it to say?
https://www.inc.com/inc-staff/non-obvious-book-awards-best-books-2023.html
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