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Book Recommendations:

Recommended by Forbes.com

'The book is packed with detail covering the people, places and production of whiskey. . . .no matter how many behind-the-scenes distillery tours I take, I learn elucidating new information from every single one' (from Amazon)

Buckle up and join bestselling author and whiskey connoisseur Tristan Stephenson on an epic tour of more than 40 unique distilleries from Vermont to California. "Rigorously researched and richly illustrated...Meticulous in detail and gleeful in its discoveries, this trip is a joyride for any whiskey lover." Publishers Weekly This engaging volume visits legendary makers in the states that are the spiritual home of the industry—Kentucky and Tennessee—and introduces readers to newer craft-distillers in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and even Texas. In his signature style, which is both fiercely entertaining and meticulously researched, Tristan weaves together the full and fascinating story of American whiskey with all its regional nuances, from its history and production methods to the origins of iconic bottle designs. With evocative images that take you behind the scenes and recipes for cocktails to make and enjoy, this is a celebration of a true American classic.

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The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League details the history of the league and tells the stories of the first women to play professional baseball in a league of their own. Illustrator and author Anika Orrock collects a variety of charming and powerful (and sometimes cringe-inducing, given the gender barrier these women were forced to overcome) vignettes told by the players themselves about their time participating in America's pastime, along with hard-to-find player statistics, historical beats, and headlines, fully illustrated in Orrock's vibrant style. (from Amazon)

This book chronicles the history of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and the stories of the first women to play professional baseball in a league of their own. "In 1941, the world was at war, and with American men fighting overseas, the much needed pastime of professional baseball was in danger of extinction—until women stepped up to the plate." In this heartwarming illustrated history, the League's story is told by the ones who know it best: the players. Author Anika Orrock collects a variety of funny, charming, wince-worthy, and powerful vignettes told by the players themselves about their time playing the American pastime. • Features stories of grit and perseverance against all odds, told by the players themselves • Filled with player statistics, historical beats, headlines, and more; and fully illustrated in Anika's vibrant style • A visually engaging, readable women-led history book Written in an approachable manner and beautifully illustrated, The Incredible Women of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League is a one-of-a-kind story told through the women's own voices and their own perspectives. This book ultimately proves that the incredible women of the AAGPBL truly were in a league of their own. • A unique celebration of a specific moment in women's and sports history • A great read for experienced and new sports fans alike, readers young and old, baseball fans, and anyone looking for an inspiring gift for an aspiring professional sports player • Perfect on the shelf with books like Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky, Strong is the New Pretty by Kate T. Parker, and Rad American Women A-Z: Rebels, Trailblazers, and Visionaries who Shaped Our History . . . and Our Future! by Kate Schatz

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Necessary to read… by the end, my only complaint about Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is that there wasn’t more to read. (from Amazon)

Add this page-turner to your summer reading list! NATIONAL BESTSELLER “The stories in this book make for a fascinating and remarkably complete pantheon of just about every common despair and every joy related to game development.” — Rami Ismail, cofounder of Vlambeer and developer of Nuclear Throne Developing video games—hero's journey or fool's errand? The creative and technical logistics that go into building today's hottest games can be more harrowing and complex than the games themselves, often seeming like an endless maze or a bottomless abyss. In Blood, Sweat, and Pixels, Jason Schreier takes readers on a fascinating odyssey behind the scenes of video game development, where the creator may be a team of 600 overworked underdogs or a solitary geek genius. Exploring the artistic challenges, technical impossibilities, marketplace demands, and Donkey Kong-sized monkey wrenches thrown into the works by corporate, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels reveals how bringing any game to completion is more than Sisyphean—it's nothing short of miraculous. Taking some of the most popular, bestselling recent games, Schreier immerses readers in the hellfire of the development process, whether it's RPG studio Bioware's challenge to beat an impossible schedule and overcome countless technical nightmares to build Dragon Age: Inquisition; indie developer Eric Barone's single-handed efforts to grow country-life RPG Stardew Valley from one man's vision into a multi-million-dollar franchise; or Bungie spinning out from their corporate overlords at Microsoft to create Destiny, a brand new universe that they hoped would become as iconic as Star Wars and Lord of the Rings—even as it nearly ripped their studio apart. Documenting the round-the-clock crunches, buggy-eyed burnout, and last-minute saves, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels is a journey through development hell—and ultimately a tribute to the dedicated diehards and unsung heroes who scale mountains of obstacles in their quests to create the best games imaginable.

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Tells in delightful detail the story of a long-gone pro football league. To call it just a sports book, though, sells it way short. Football for a Buck far transcends other sports books, making it contemporary and fun for anybody to read . . . The book is nothing less than painstakingly thorough, with dozens of zany and colorful stories about players and executives in a renegade league that quickly made its mark, frightening the mighty NFL . . . It is a thorough, funny, fascinating, and entertaining sports book. (from Amazon)

From a multiple New York Times bestselling author, the rollicking, outrageous, you-can’t-make-this-up story of the USFL The United States Football League—known fondly to millions of sports fans as the USFL—was the last football league to not merely challenge the NFL, but cause its owners and executives to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, 1983-85. It secured multiple television deals. It drew millions of fans and launched the careers of legends. But then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner—a New York businessman named Donald J. Trump. The league featured as many as 18 teams, and included such superstars as Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, Reggie White, Doug Flutie and Mike Rozier. In Football for a Buck, the dogged reporter and biographer Jeff Pearlman draws on more than four hundred interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America. From 1980s drug excess to airplane brawls and player-coach punch outs, to backroom business deals, to some of the most enthralling and revolutionary football ever seen, Pearlman transports readers back in time to this crazy, boozy, audacious, unforgettable era of the game. He shows how fortunes were made and lost on the backs of professional athletes and also how, thirty years ago, Trump was a scoundrel and a spoiler. For fans of Terry Pluto’s Loose Balls or Jim Bouton’s Ball Four and of course Pearlman’s own stranger-than-fiction narratives, Football for a Buck is sports as high entertainment—and a cautionary tale of the dangers of ego and excess.

Recommended by Forbes.com

The definitive book about the history and business of the electric guitar. (from Amazon)

The inspiration for the Play It Loud exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art "Every guitar player will want to read this book twice. And even the casual music fan will find a thrilling narrative that weaves together cultural history, musical history, race, politics, business case studies, advertising, and technological discovery." —Daniel Levitin, Wall Street Journal For generations the electric guitar has been an international symbol of freedom, danger, rebellion, and hedonism. In Play It Loud, veteran music journalists Brad Tolinski and Alan di Perna bring the history of this iconic instrument to roaring life. It's a story of inventors and iconoclasts, of scam artists, prodigies, and mythologizers as varied and original as the instruments they spawned. Play It Loud uses twelve landmark guitars—each of them artistic milestones in their own right—to illustrate the conflict and passion the instruments have inspired. It introduces Leo Fender, a man who couldn't play a note but whose innovations helped transform the guitar into the explosive sound machine it is today. Some of the most significant social movements of the twentieth century are indebted to the guitar: It was an essential element in the fight for racial equality in the entertainment industry; a mirror to the rise of the teenager as social force; a linchpin of punk's sound and ethos. And today the guitar has come full circle, with contemporary titans such as Jack White of The White Stripes, Annie Clark (aka St. Vincent), and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys bringing some of the earliest electric guitar forms back to the limelight. Featuring interviews with Les Paul, Keith Richards, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, and dozens more players and creators, Play It Loud is the story of how a band of innovators transformed an idea into a revolution.

Recommended by Forbes.com

The Signal and the Noise is essential reading in the era of Big Data that touches every business, every sports event, and every policymaker. (from Amazon)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The groundbreaking exploration of probability and uncertainty that explains how to make better predictions in a world drowning in data, from the nation’s foremost political forecaster One of The Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Works of Nonfiction of the Year “Could turn out to be one of the more momentous books of the decade.”—The New York Times Book Review Most predictions fail, often at great cost to society, because experts and laypeople mistake more confident predictions for more accurate ones. But overconfidence is often the reason for failure. If our appreciation of uncertainty improves, our predictions can get better too. This is the “prediction paradox”: The more humility we have about our ability to make predictions, the more successful we can be in planning for the future. Drawing on his own groundbreaking work in sports and politics, Nate Silver examines the world of prediction, investigating how to seek truth from data. In The Signal and the Noise, Silver visits innovative forecasters in a range of areas, from hurricanes to baseball to global pandemics, from the poker table to the stock market, from Capitol Hill to the NBA. He discovers that what the most accurate ones have in common is a superior command of probability—as well as a healthy dose of humility. With everything from the global economy to the fight against disease hanging on the quality of our predictions, Nate Silver’s insights are an essential read.

Recommended by Forbes.com

A 650-page tome that is filled with facts, observations and insider knowledge about a craze that doesn’t appear to be subsiding anytime soon. (from Amazon)

Back in 2002, Simon “Woody” Wood was dreaming up schemes to get free sneakers. Two weeks later, he was the proud owner of Sneaker Freaker and his life was never the same. From its early roots as a punk-style fanzine to today’s super-slick print and online operations, the fiercely independent publication has documented every collab, custom, limited edition, retro reissue, Quickstrike, Hyperstrike, and Tier Zero sneaker released over the last 15 years. Woody’s original premise that Sneaker Freaker would be “funny and serious, meaningful and pointless at the same time” has certainly been vindicated in The Ultimate Sneaker Book. With more than 650 pages jam-packed with insider knowledge and his own irreverent observations, the insane historical detail and otaku-level minutiae is beyond obsessive. Traversing 100 years of history, each chapter paints a rollicking picture of the sneaker industry’s evolution. Air Max, Air Force, Adi Dassler, Converse, Kanye, Dapper Dan, Dee Brown, Michael Jordan, and Yeezy—along with obscure treasures like Troop, Airwalk, and Vision Street Wear—are all exhaustively documented. This is a definitive source of knowledge. Keep your laces loose!

Recommended by Forbes.com

Excellent ... a short read, but it overflows with smart tips for navigating every phase of the interview process, from the initial prep to accepting an offer. (from Amazon)

Get ready for the best interview of your life! Praised as "Excellent" in a Forbes review, Get That Job! is packed with all you need to prepare for confident, compelling interviews. "Canned' answers won't work, neither will "winging it." You need to be both authentic and strategic to convince the employer you're "the one." This book is for you:If you've been through many unsuccessful interviews. Get the offer this time.If you find it difficult to "sell" yourself. Discover what makes you stand out--and get it across memorably.If you haven't interviewed in a long time (or ever). Be prepared for modern formats, including automated (AI) interviews.If you don't feel confident. Overcome your fears and believe in yourself.If you just want to give yourself every advantage. It's all here, step-by-step.Praise for the first edition: Excellent … smart tips for navigating every phase of the interview process, from the initial prep to accepting an offer. – Forbes.com A practical guide to authentic, well prepared interviewing, Get That Job! offers an abundant tool kit of resources. – Marie Zimenoff, Director of Career Thought Leaders and the Resume Writing Academy This book changed my entire mindset heading into an interview ... I landed the job!!! – Kendall (verified purchaser at Amazon) Gets right to the point without any fluff or filler ... the only interviewing book you'll ever need. – Ian D. P. (verified purchaser at Amazon) [This book] will pay for itself 10,000 times over. – Tina F. (verified purchaser at Amazon) Order now. Get That Job!

Recommended by Forbes.com

A beautifully illustrated hardcover book... Inside you'll find the story of Basquiat's life relayed in a quick-to-read, visually dazzling fashion. (from Amazon)

…a beautifully illustrated hardcover book… Inside you'll find the story of Basquiat's life relayed in a quick–to–read, visually dazzling fashion. – Forbes.com Cool, talented, and transgressive, Jean–Michel Basquiat's life is just as fascinating as the work he produced. Delve into 1980s New York as this vivid graphic novel takes you on Basquiat's journey from street–art legend SAMO to international art–scene darling, up until his sudden death. Told through cinematic scenes, this is Basquiat as seen through the eyes of those who knew him, including his father, Suzanne Mallouk, Larry Gagosian, and, most importantly, the man himself. Basquiat is a moving depiction of a troubled artist's life for those interested in both the art and the man who made it. – More Praise for Basquiat: A Graphic Novel – Loving the shit out of Black culture, Italian illustrator Paolo Parisi is paying homage to some of the most prolific Black artists of the 20th century with a series of graphic novels. Inspired totally by Basquiat's own aesthetic, the graphic novel is depicted through the use of primary and secondary colors – a favorite of JMB's and his contemporaries at the time." Afropunk "Those unfamiliar with Basquiat will eagerly seek out his work upon completion of the book." Booklist "Parisi's visuals are powerful – sometimes jarringly so, as with the image of the artist in chains – and his design choices effective. In other spreads, comics are juxtaposed with facsimile notebook pages of Jean–Michel's writings. It's this type of visual, verbal, textural play that makes the graphic novel an interesting form for the Basquiat story." Hyperallergic "Parisi offers a vibrant biography of iconic New York artist Jean–Michel Basquiat, briefly touching on his childhood and examining how he struggled, achieved fame, and made a lasting legacy in the art world. A mesmerizing account of a creative phenomenon." School Library Journal "In vividly drawn panels of red, electric yellow, green, and indigo, Paolo Parisi's Basquiat makes striking use of the graphic novel medium to immerse readers in the story of how a young graffiti artist from Brooklyn emerged to become one of the rising stars of the 1980s art scene. With searing images and sharp captions that give life to Jean–Michel Basquiat's frenetic drug–fueled creativity, keen sense of irony, and celebrity flare, the author chronicles how the artist parlayed attention–grabbing spray–paint designs clandestinely placed all over downtown New York." The Millions "…an engrossing chronicle of one of the world's most celebrated artists, one gone too soon. The story by Paolo Parisi is heartbreaking, epic and intense. The art by Parisi is very much in the spirit of its subject, giving the reader a surreal kaleidoscopic vision. Altogether, a biography of an artist whose story has not been given justice until now with Parisi's deft hands and vision." Graphic Policy

Recommended by Forbes.com

An important insider’s perspective, an unapologetic glimpse into the hard-core investor view of what success looks like. (from Amazon)

“An outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation.” — Warren Buffett #1 on Warren Buffett’s Recommended Reading List, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Letter, 2012 Named one of “19 Books Billionaire Charlie Munger Thinks You Should Read” in Business Insider. “A book that details the extraordinary success of CEOs who took a radically different approach to corporate management.” — Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation “Thorndike explores the importance of thoughtful capital allocation through the stories of eight successful CEOs. A good read for any business leader but especially those willing to chart their own course.” — Michael Dell, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Dell What makes a successful CEO? Most people call to mind a familiar definition: “a seasoned manager with deep industry expertise.” Others might point to the qualities of today’s so-called celebrity CEOs—charisma, virtuoso communication skills, and a confident management style. But what really matters when you run an organization? What is the hallmark of exceptional CEO performance? Quite simply, it is the returns for the shareholders of that company over the long term. In this refreshing, counterintuitive book, author Will Thorndike brings to bear the analytical wisdom of a successful career in investing, closely evaluating the performance of companies and their leaders. You will meet eight individualistic CEOs whose firms’ average returns outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of twenty—in other words, an investment of $10,000 with each of these CEOs, on average, would have been worth over $1.5 million twenty-five years later. You may not know all their names, but you will recognize their companies: General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Capital Cities Broadcasting, TCI, and Teledyne. In The Outsiders, you’ll learn the traits and methods—striking for their consistency and relentless rationality—that helped these unique leaders achieve such exceptional performance. Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these “outsiders” shunned Wall Street and the press, and shied away from the hottest new management trends. Instead, they shared specific traits that put them and the companies they led on winning trajectories: a laser-sharp focus on per share value as opposed to earnings or sales growth; an exceptional talent for allocating capital and human resources; and the belief that cash flow, not reported earnings, determines a company’s long-term value. Drawing on years of research and experience, Thorndike tells eye-opening stories, extracting lessons and revealing a compelling alternative model for anyone interested in leading a company or investing in one—and reaping extraordinary returns.

Recommended by Forbes.com

A powerful book on embracing your core values, being more decisive, and committing to meaningful change. (from Amazon)

#1 Wall Street Journal Best Seller Winner of the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award Amazon Best Book of the Year Forbes Recommended Books for Leaders TED Talk sensation—over 12 million views! The counterintuitive approach to achieving your true potential, heralded by the Harvard Business Review as a groundbreaking idea of the year. The path to personal and professional fulfillment is rarely straight. Ask anyone who has achieved his or her biggest goals or whose relationships thrive and you’ll hear stories of many unexpected detours along the way. What separates those who master these challenges and those who get derailed? The answer is agility—emotional agility. Emotional agility is a revolutionary, science-based approach that allows us to navigate life’s twists and turns with self-acceptance, clear-sightedness, and an open mind. Renowned psychologist Susan David developed this concept after studying emotions, happiness, and achievement for more than twenty years. She found that no matter how intelligent or creative people are, or what type of personality they have, it is how they navigate their inner world—their thoughts, feelings, and self-talk—that ultimately determines how successful they will become. The way we respond to these internal experiences drives our actions, careers, relationships, happiness, health—everything that matters in our lives. As humans, we are all prone to common hooks—things like self-doubt, shame, sadness, fear, or anger—that can too easily steer us in the wrong direction. Emotionally agile people are not immune to stresses and setbacks. The key difference is that they know how to adapt, aligning their actions with their values and making small but powerful changes that lead to a lifetime of growth. Emotional agility is not about ignoring difficult emotions and thoughts; it’s about holding them loosely, facing them courageously and compassionately, and then moving past them to bring the best of yourself forward. Drawing on her deep research, decades of international consulting, and her own experience overcoming adversity after losing her father at a young age, David shows how anyone can thrive in an uncertain world by becoming more emotionally agile. To guide us, she shares four key concepts that allow us to acknowledge uncomfortable experiences while simultaneously detaching from them, thereby allowing us to embrace our core values and adjust our actions so they can move us where we truly want to go. Written with authority, wit, and empathy, Emotional Agility serves as a road map for real behavioral change—a new way of acting that will help you reach your full potential, whoever you are and whatever you face.

Recommended by Forbes.com

Archaeology from Space presents a lively and engaging narrative about not only what it’s like to be an archaeologist, but how archaeologists use the data they gather to understand the ancient world. (from Amazon)

Winner of Archaeological Institute of America's Felicia A. Holton Book Award • Winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Prize for Science • An Amazon Best Science Book of 2019 • A Science Friday Best Science Book of 2019 • A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2019 • A Science News Best Book of 2019 • Nature's Top Ten Books of 2019 "A crash course in the amazing new science of space archaeology that only Sarah Parcak can give. This book will awaken the explorer in all of us." ?Chris Anderson, Head of TED National Geographic Explorer and TED Prize-winner Dr. Sarah Parcak gives readers a personal tour of the evolution, major discoveries, and future potential of the young field of satellite archaeology. From surprise advancements after the declassification of spy photography, to a new map of the mythical Egyptian city of Tanis, she shares her field’s biggest discoveries, revealing why space archaeology is not only exciting, but urgently essential to the preservation of the world’s ancient treasures. Parcak has worked in twelve countries and four continents, using multispectral and high-resolution satellite imagery to identify thousands of previously unknown settlements, roads, fortresses, palaces, tombs, and even potential pyramids. From there, her stories take us back in time and across borders, into the day-to-day lives of ancient humans whose traits and genes we share. And she shows us that if we heed the lessons of the past, we can shape a vibrant future. Includes Illustrations

Recommended by Forbes.com

'In the pages of this book, you'll find brand new recipes, traditional recipes reinterpreted for modern bakers, and deep dives into some legendary Chinese bakeries.' -- Forbes.com (from Amazon)

2022 JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • Baking and Desserts 2022 JAMES BEARD AWARD WINNER • Emerging Voice, Books ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker Magazine, The New York Times ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time Out, Glamour, Taste of Home Food blogger Kristina Cho (eatchofood.com) introduces you to Chinese bakery cooking with fresh, simple interpretations of classic recipes for the modern baker. Inside, you’ll find sweet and savory baked buns, steamed buns, Chinese breads, unique cookies, whimsical cakes, juicy dumplings, Chinese breakfast dishes, and drinks. Recipes for steamed BBQ pork buns, pineapple buns with a thick slice of butter, silky smooth milk tea, and chocolate Swiss rolls all make an appearance--because a book about Chinese bakeries wouldn’t be complete without them In Mooncakes & Milk Bread, Kristina teaches you to whip up these delicacies like a pro, including how to: Knead dough without a stand mixerAvoid collapsed steamed bunsInfuse creams and custards with aromatic tea flavorsMix the most workable dumpling doughPleat dumplings like an Asian grandma This is the first book to exclusively focus on Chinese bakeries and cafés, but it isn’t just for those nostalgic for Chinese bakeshop foods--it’s for all home bakers who want exciting new recipes to add to their repertoires.

Recommended by Forbes.com

The book is a true masterpiece. (from Amazon)

From the visionary head of Google's innovative People Operations comes a groundbreaking inquiry into the philosophy of work -- and a blueprint for attracting the most spectacular talent to your business and ensuring that they succeed. "We spend more time working than doing anything else in life. It's not right that the experience of work should be so demotivating and dehumanizing." So says Laszlo Bock, former head of People Operations at the company that transformed how the world interacts with knowledge. This insight is the heart of Work Rules!, a compelling and surprisingly playful manifesto that offers lessons including: Take away managers' power over employees Learn from your best employees-and your worst Hire only people who are smarter than you are, no matter how long it takes to find them Pay unfairly (it's more fair!) Don't trust your gut: Use data to predict and shape the future Default to open-be transparent and welcome feedback If you're comfortable with the amount of freedom you've given your employees, you haven't gone far enough. Drawing on the latest research in behavioral economics and a profound grasp of human psychology, Work Rules! also provides teaching examples from a range of industries-including lauded companies that happen to be hideous places to work and little-known companies that achieve spectacular results by valuing and listening to their employees. Bock takes us inside one of history's most explosively successful businesses to reveal why Google is consistently rated one of the best places to work in the world, distilling 15 years of intensive worker R&D into principles that are easy to put into action, whether you're a team of one or a team of thousands. Work Rules! shows how to strike a balance between creativity and structure, leading to success you can measure in quality of life as well as market share. Read it to build a better company from within rather than from above; read it to reawaken your joy in what you do.

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Seth Godin says that the key to success is to find a way to stand out—to be the purple cow in a field of monochrome Holsteins. Godin himself may be the best example of how this theory works: The marketing expert is a demigod on the Web, bestselling author, highly sought-after lecturer, successful entrepreneur, respected pundit, and high-profile blogger. He is uniquely respected for his understanding of the Internet, and his essays and opinions are widely read and quoted online and off. (from Amazon)

The cult classic that revolutionized marketing by teaching businesses that you’re either remarkable or invisible. Few authors have had the kind of lasting impact and global reach that Seth Godin has had. In a series of now-classic books that have been translated into 36 languages and reached millions of readers around the world, he has taught generations of readers how to make remarkable products and spread powerful ideas. In Purple Cow, first published in 2003 and revised and expanded in 2009, Godin launched a movement to make truly remarkable products that are worth marketing in the first place. Through stories about companies like Starbucks, JetBlue, Krispy Kreme, and Apple, coupled with his signature provocative style, he inspires readers to rethink what their marketing is really saying about their product. In a world that grows noisier by the day, Godin's challenge has never been more relevant to writers, marketers, advertisers, entrepreneurs, makers, product managers, and anyone else who has something to share with the world.

Recommended by Forbes.com

The pages will turn your creative juices and light a fire under you. #AskGaryVee will make you uncomfortable and get you excited about your discomfort (from Amazon)

The New York Times bestselling author draws from his popular show #AskGaryVee to offer surprising, often outrageous, and imminently useful and honest answers to everything you’ve ever wanted to know—and more—about navigating the new world. Gary Vaynerchuk—the inspiring and unconventional entrepreneur who introduced us to the concept of crush it—knows how to get things done, have fun, and be massively successful. A marketing and business genius, Gary had the foresight to go beyond traditional methods and use social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to reach an untapped audience that continues to grow. #AskGaryVee showcases the most useful and interesting questions Gary has addressed on his popular show. Distilling and expanding on the podcast’s most urgent and evergreen themes, Gary presents practical, timely, and timeless advice on marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and everything else you’ve been afraid to ask but are dying to know. Gary gives you the insights and information you need on everything from effectively using Twitter to launching a small business, hiring superstars to creating a personal brand, launching products effectively to staying healthy—and even buying wine. Whether you’re planning to start your own company, working in digital media, or have landed your first job in a traditional company, #AskGaryVee is your essential guide to making things happen in a big way.

Recommended by Forbes.com

[A] terrific book. (from Amazon)

Silicon Valley visionary John Chambers shares the lessons that transformed a dyslexic kid from West Virginia into one of the world's best business leaders and turned a simple router company into a global tech titan. When Chambers joined Cisco in 1991, it was a company with 400 employees, a single product, and about $70 million in revenue. When he stepped down as CEO in 2015, he left a $47 billion tech giant that was the backbone of the internet and a leader in areas from cybersecurity to data center convergence. Along the way, he had acquired 180 companies and turned more than 10,000 employees into millionaires. Widely recognized as an innovator, an industry leader, and one of the world's best CEOs, Chambers has outlasted and outmaneuvered practically every rival that ever tried to take Cisco on--Nortel, Lucent, Alcatel, IBM, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard, to name a few. Now Chambers is sharing his unique strategies for winning in a digital world. From his early lessons and struggles with dyslexia in West Virginia to his bold bets and battles with some of the biggest names in tech, Chambers gives readers a playbook on how to act before the market shifts, tap customers for strategy, partner for growth, build teams, and disrupt themselves. He also adapted those lessons to transform government, helping global leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create new models for growth. As CEO of JC2 Ventures, he's now investing in a new generation of game-changing startups by helping founders become great leaders and scale their companies. Connecting the Dots is destined to become a business classic, providing hard-won insights and critical tools to thrive during the accelerating disruption of the digital age.

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Three centuries of fashion and style are the focus of the new book Fashion Forward: 300 Years of Fashion. The book traces the evolution of fashion and fashion techniques as well as its relation with the decorative arts from the time of Louis XV and his royal court to 2016. (from Amazon)

Fashion Forward: 300 Years of Fashion book cover

by Pierré Berge, Olivier Gabet, Pamela Golbin, Denis Bruna·You?

Tracing the evolution of fashion—from the opulence of the court of Louis XV to the catwalk couture of today—this stunningly illustrated volume charts three centuries of fashion trends and innovations. This handsome volume is published to accompany a major exhibition that chronicles fashion from the seventeenth century to the present. Featuring three hundred iconic pieces, it highlights key moments in fashion history and provides new insight into the designers, patrons, and groundbreaking techniques and materials. It also explores how fashion has always been intertwined with both fine art and the decorative arts. Many of the great couturiers were known for this artistic cross-pollination, including such towering figures as Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, Gabrielle Chanel, Christian Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent. Re-created here are a number of fashion  inflection points illustrating fashion’s  elective affinities  with other disciplines. Eighteenth-century wood paneling, scenic wallpapers by Zuber, and Paul Iribe’s drawings for Paul Poiret, among other examples, provide perfect settings for fashion’s stylistic metamorphoses culminating in the effervescence and eclecticism of today’s global fashion scene.