Jane Mcgonigal
*The opposite of play isn't work. It's depression.* Get my latest NYT bestseller SUPERBETTER! (it's powered by the science of games.) https://t.co/tN8dShLIIW
Book Recommendations:
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“@sethasfishman We have really enjoyed taking different adventures through this amazing book!!!!” (from X)
by Seth Fishman, Jessixa Bagley·You?
by Seth Fishman, Jessixa Bagley·You?
Every single day holds so many possibilities—how do you choose what to do when you wake up? Award-winning author Seth Fishman and acclaimed illustrator Jessixa Bagley introduce a young child and four different paths for their day in this inventive and original picture book that recognizes the imagination, courage, and independence of every child. When an imaginative young child wakes up before their parents, they know that they’re supposed to stay in bed until the clock says 7:00. But that’s no fun—so what should they do instead? Make breakfast? Build a city? Ride a scooter? Dig in the garden? Each choice leads to a different path for the day. And in the end, the child makes the best decision of all—to curl up, safe and loved, between Mom and Dad. When I Wake Up begins in black-and-white, and then each of the child’s four choices is rendered in a different color. Every spread includes all four choices, so readers can enjoy this book traditionally, reading all four colors at once, or they can choose one color to follow from beginning to end. Jessixa Bagley’s masterful and ingenious artwork beautifully complements Seth Fishman’s lyrical text that celebrates imagination, creativity, independence, and love. When I Wake Up begs to be read over and over again—and can change every time. Both children and parents will enjoy sharing this timeless story—no matter when they wake up or what time the clock says.
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“Happy book birthday to @jlythcotthaims! It's hard to explain how great this book is. It has the most awesome introduction I've ever read starting with "the right track concept is bullshit." Your Turn: How to Be an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims https://t.co/S7QY2ixLYW https://t.co/Ct6NjIckaX” (from X)
by Julie Lythcott-Haims·You?
by Julie Lythcott-Haims·You?
New York Times bestselling author Julie Lythcott-Haims is back with a groundbreakingly frank guide to being a grown-up What does it mean to be an adult? In the twentieth century, psychologists came up with five markers of adulthood: finish your education, get a job, leave home, marry, and have children. Since then, every generation has been held to those same markers. Yet so much has changed about the world and living in it since that sequence was formulated. All of those markers are choices, and they’re all valid, but any one person’s choices along those lines do not make them more or less an adult. A former Stanford dean of freshmen and undergraduate advising and author of the perennial bestseller How to Raise an Adult and of the lauded memoir Real American, Julie Lythcott-Haims has encountered hundreds of twentysomethings (and thirtysomethings, too), who, faced with those markers, feel they’re just playing the part of “adult,” while struggling with anxiety, stress, and general unease. In Your Turn, Julie offers compassion, personal experience, and practical strategies for living a more authentic adulthood, as well as inspiration through interviews with dozens of voices from the rich diversity of the human population who have successfully launched their adult lives. Being an adult, it turns out, is not about any particular checklist; it is, instead, a process, one you can get progressively better at over time―becoming more comfortable with uncertainty and gaining the knowhow to keep going. Once you begin to practice it, being an adult becomes the most complicated yet also the most abundantly rewarding and natural thing. And Julie Lythcott-Haims is here to help readers take their turn.
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“@Ologies speaking of which...professorrr @samuelwoolley would be an amazing guest for an episode in infodemiology, how disinformation and misinformation spread (very important for vaccination efforts!) His book Reality Game is fantastic and he is THE expert!” (from X)
by Samuel Woolley·You?
Fake news posts and Twitter trolls were just the beginning. What will happen when misinformation moves from our social media feeds into our everyday lives? Online disinformation stormed our political process in 2016 and has only worsened since. Yet as Samuel Woolley shows in this urgent book, it may pale in comparison to what's to come: humanlike automated voice systems, machine learning, "deepfake" AI-edited videos and images, interactive memes, virtual reality, and more. These technologies have the power not just to manipulate our politics, but to make us doubt our eyes and ears and even feelings. Deeply researched and compellingly written, The Reality Game describes the profound impact these technologies will have on our lives. Each new invention built without regard for its consequences edges us further into this digital dystopia. Yet Woolley does not despair. Instead, he argues pointedly for a new culture of innovation, one built around accountability and especially transparency. With social media dragging us into a never-ending culture war, we must learn to stop fighting and instead prevent future manipulation. This book shows how we can use our new tools not to control people but to empower them.
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“@AlteryxAd ah! now that is a great cover too. I've had several copies of this book but never that edition!” (from X)
• DUNE: PART TWO • THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE Directed by Denis Villeneuve, screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert • Starring Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Léa Seydoux, with Stellan Skarsgård, with Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem Frank Herbert’s epic masterpiece—a triumph of the imagination and the bestselling science fiction novel of all time. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of Paul Atreides—who would become known as Muad'Dib—and of a great family's ambition to bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream. A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction.
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“@rhondakap @kellymcgonigal If you haven't read this only read it if you want to be emotionally brutalized. Virtuoso portrayal of compassion but Jesus you could not make worse things happen to your characters. Almost sadistic. Amazing book but traumatic read” (from X)
by Hanya Yanagihara·You?
by Hanya Yanagihara·You?
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves.
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“My twin sis is Oprah's first ever visionary I'm so proud!!! Her new book is amazing the Joy of Movement you will love it 🤸 https://t.co/MmwP7Fz1IB” (from X)
by Kelly McGonigal·You?
Now in paperback. The bestselling author of The Willpower Instinct introduces a surprising science-based book that doesn't tell us why we should exercise but instead shows us how to fall in love with movement. Exercise is health-enhancing and life-extending, yet many of us feel it's a chore. But, as Kelly McGonigal reveals, it doesn't have to be. Movement can and should be a source of joy. Through her trademark blend of science and storytelling, McGonigal draws on insights from neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, and evolutionary biology, as well as memoirs, ethnographies, and philosophers. She shows how movement is intertwined with some of the most basic human joys, including self-expression, social connection, and mastery--and why it is a powerful antidote to the modern epidemics of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. McGonigal tells the stories of people who have found fulfillment and belonging through running, walking, dancing, swimming, weightlifting, and more, with examples that span the globe, from Tanzania, where one of the last hunter-gatherer tribes on the planet live, to a dance class at Juilliard for people with Parkinson's disease, to the streets of London, where volunteers combine fitness and community service, to races in the remote wilderness, where athletes push the limits of what a human can endure. Along the way, McGonigal paints a portrait of human nature that highlights our capacity for hope, cooperation, and self-transcendence. The result is a revolutionary narrative that goes beyond familiar arguments in favor of exercise, to illustrate why movement is integral to both our happiness and our humanity. Readers will learn what they can do in their own lives and communities to harness the power of movement to create happiness, meaning, and connection.
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“This is the best book review I have ever read, of Jared Diamond's new book, which does not sound like a good book, but this review is damn good, and important. Read the whole thing. "What to Do When You’re a Country in Crisis" https://t.co/EBChOd42Y2” (from X)
by Jared Diamond·You?
by Jared Diamond·You?
A "riveting and illuminating" Bill Gates Summer Reading pick about how and why some nations recover from trauma and others don't (Yuval Noah Harari), by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the landmark bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel. In his international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in his third book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crises while adopting selective changes -- a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises. Diamond compares how six countries have survived recent upheavals -- ranging from the forced opening of Japan by U.S. Commodore Perry's fleet, to the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, to a murderous coup or countercoup in Chile and Indonesia, to the transformations of Germany and Austria after World War Two. Because Diamond has lived and spoken the language in five of these six countries, he can present gut-wrenching histories experienced firsthand. These nations coped, to varying degrees, through mechanisms such as acknowledgment of responsibility, painfully honest self-appraisal, and learning from models of other nations. Looking to the future, Diamond examines whether the United States, Japan, and the whole world are successfully coping with the grave crises they currently face. Can we learn from lessons of the past? Adding a psychological dimension to the in-depth history, geography, biology, and anthropology that mark all of Diamond's books, Upheaval reveals factors influencing how both whole nations and individual people can respond to big challenges. The result is a book epic in scope, but also his most personal yet.
Recommended by Jane Mcgonigal
“this is a STEAL for a great book on game thinking! https://t.co/cebHKEaOT0” (from X)
by Amy Jo Kim PhD, Scott Kim, Raph Koster·You?
by Amy Jo Kim PhD, Scott Kim, Raph Koster·You?
How are market-leading products born?Successful innovations may end up reaching a mainstream audience, but they never start off that way. That’s the paradox of innovation most entrepreneurs fail to embrace—the typical people in your market are not the ones you need to woo when bringing your idea to life. Instead, find the “superfans” hidden in your audience: Those willing to take risk and put up with a messy or incomplete prototype in order to start solving the problem your product will eliminate. Show your idea to these people. What do they love about it? Where does it seem to go in the wrong direction? Allowing these early fans to “play” with your idea gives you fast, accurate answers to your most pressing questions long before your product is built. Game Thinking supercharges your progressThat’s where Game Thinking comes in. In this groundbreaking book, Amy Jo Kim lays out a step-by-step system for crafting products that people love...and keep loving. The secret? Develop “impossible to put down” products by using techniques that the fast-moving games industry employs when making games that glue millions of players to their screens. During her time working on genre-defining games like The Sims, Rock Band, and Ultima Online, Amy Jo learned that customers stick with products that help them get better at something they care about, like playing an instrument or leading a team. Amy Jo has used her insights from gaming to help hundreds of companies like Netflix, Disney, The New York Times, Ubisoft and Happify innovate faster and smarter, and drive long-term engagement. Build successful products like a (game) masterBuilding on the principles of lean/agile design and design thinking, Game Thinking covers five powerful strategies you can use to create your next hit product: Accelerate innovation by testing your highest risk assumptions first Use insights from superfans to build a product that fits how people really behave Keep customers engaged with a coherent and compelling customer journey Improve your product concept by rapidly testing and tuning the core experience Plot your development path with the Game Thinking roadmap Get your hands on Game Thinking, and start innovating smarter today.