Top non-fiction reads of 2022 (Second Half edition)

The Method: How the 20th Century learned to act - aac Butler

This is such a great example of how you think you sort of understand something (In this case Method acting) and you discover you the truth is way more interesting than your understanding.? A fascinating dive into the history of method acting, which is much disputed, and full of interesting characters from Marlon Brando to Marilyn Monroe.? I found it fascinating getting to understand where the philosophy of acting came from, and how different gurus think about what good acting looks like.? Has made me look me watch movies, plays and netflix with a completely different awareness

Maybe you should talk to someone: Lori Gottleib

This is the wonderful story of a young therapist going through therapy while learning to be a therapist.? Funny, candid, and so interesting to see what is going through the mind of a therapist as she tries to help her patients and then tries to get help herself.? I found it really interesting to get inside someones brain that works so differently to mine, and see the world from their perspective.? Also removed whatever vestiges of judgment I might have had about ‘going to therapy’. Shout out to Bridget Henderson who recommended this in response to my 2021 list!

Liar's Poker: Michael Lewis (New Audio book plus podcast)

I am a big Michael Lewis fan but I had never read Liars poker. ? I jumped at the chance to listen to it, after Lewis rerecorded it himself (The audio rights had lapsed and reverted back to him).? The book is great, but what really makes this special is the 5 part podcast?that accompanies it (part of the ‘Against the rules’ podcast).? Here he reconnects with many of the characters in the book, but the real magic is him going deep into how bad his first attempt at writing was, and discussing this with other creative successes with reference to their own awful first attempts.? So rich and encouraging to see just how bad brilliance looks at the start. Once Michael starts to talk about the weaknesses of his first book you can't unsee it!? Tremendous inspiration for my stop-start and clumsy attempts at creativity.

The everything store + Amazon unbound: Brad Owen

These two books comprise an incredible outsider/ insider account of the rise of amazon.? “The everything store” is a detailed telling of the early amazon story?based on access to amazon people plus a journalists deep research.? It brings into focus Bezos and how he thinks, and was controversial enough to get a one star review from MacKenzie, but 'insider' enough to get a really interesting perspective on the true inner workings.? It’s great that it is now quite old so one can see which initiatives have imploded and which have folded.? By the second book, it’s clear that Brad is more nervous about the overall impact of Amazon, and does a brilliant job telling the story with nuance and insight.? It’s not all good, not all bad, but it is pretty impressive.? I loved getting beyond the well oiled PR machine, and understanding the authenticity of the drive for customer obsession and the potential unintended consequences when that approach succeeds in generating enormous momentum. I love just how intentionally Amazon thinks about how they work, and this book had me starting to write down my own leadership principals.

Loonshots: Safi Bahcall

This is the book I find myself recommending this year more than any other. An incredible take on how innovation happens in big organisations. So many concepts that I have found myself referring to in many conversations: The phase separation (Ice and water), dynamic equilibrium that must exist in any organisation with the innovators and the executors.? And the need for the flow between them powered by respect.? I love the concept of what incentive an employee has to use a spare hour for improving the product vs politicking and how to influence this.? So full of interesting concepts like? P type and S type innovation.? ,? A brilliant and complementary set of mental models for corporate innovation to sit alongside the greats like Clayton Christensen.? Changed the way I think about innovation in large corporates.

Carl Rogers: On becoming a person

A quite extraordinary book which completely challenged how I engage with people.? Carl Rogers shares from his clinical experience that all that seems to be required for a person to heal and grow is the therapist to provide 'unconditional positive regard', congruence (accordance with his inside feelings, his awareness and his actions), and genuine empathy. What a challenge to me whose default in any conversation is advice and book references!? It is not a easy book to read.? Being a collection of essays it is repetitive. I put it down half way feeling like I had got the value then picked it up again 6 months later for a fantastic second helping.? What a wonderful framing for our underlying goal of living: "How do I become who I really am".? I am actively trying to make unconditional positive regard my default way of showing up and to live with more congruence.? Much work to do!

Bored and Brilliant: Manoush Zomordi

I watched the TED talk by Manoush, and it completely challenged me about how seldom I leave my attention idle, despite the fact that I KNOW that it is so valuable to my creativity, problem solving and prioritization.? I realised I was a total boredom hypocrite, encouraging my children to embrace boredom while being a world champion at avoiding it myself Check out my longer post here:

This books lays out her thinking in more detail, but I think the TED talk gives a huge chunk of the value. (https://lnkd.in/evy62ikN ) I have actively started the hard work of filling my attention less.? I still find it sooo hard!

Genius at Play: Siobhan Roberts

A great biography of the fascinating John Conway, a mathamatical genius who loved to tinker, to play and to generally stray out of his lane.? It’s incredibly humbling to see just how differently a truly brilliant mind works.? I found myself working hard to get even a shallow understanding on the many discussions on 183 diminsional space and surreal numbers and types of knots. A thrilling license to be unceasingly curious, to cut your own path, and not worry too much about where your thinking will take you.??

Beyond Bitcoin: Simon Dingle and Steven Boykey Sidley

I like to think that I have a decent understanding of Crypto, blockchain, the universe and everything, but this book absolutely showed my that I had not even scratched the surface.? ‘Beyond Bitcoin’ takes on an impossible task in working out how technically deep to go, to be understandable for the outsiders like me without being superficial.? They nailed it perfectly for me.? Its a broad sweep of a moment in time delivering into all sorts of angles of DeFi, from stable coins, to insurance to DAOs. ? 1000 new thoughts swimming through my head.? Its clear the future will be very different and its up to us to work out if it is brilliant or terrible

Failing to win: Mike Quinn

Failing to win is the story of Zoona, one of the early VC funded African Fintechs.? It's struggles, successes and mistakes are brilliantly and brutally laid bare in this incredibly vulnerable account. I know it's all about the cash for a start up but Mike Quinn's tale brings this to life in a way that makes you feel like you have just spent 5 years in an early stage business fighting for runway.? For a longer review see here:?

That's the best I read in H2. Check out my 2022 H1 picks and the 2021 picks below. Please do keep suggesting great things for me to read. They all go on the list and I eventually get to them. Enjoy!