2015 Summer Reading List

Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education
By Ken Robinson and Lou Aronica
In his latest work, Ken Robinson makes the case for tapping our advanced technological capital—and creativity—to foster learning and to revamp public education systems. Creativity, he says, is essential to innovative thinking. Through Creative Schools, he offers persuasive evidence, including stories from education’s frontlines, that students, teachers and societies benefit from a curriculum centered on creativity capability rather than standardized learning and assessment.

How to Fly a Horse: The Secret History of Creation, Invention, and Discovery
By Kevin Ashton
For readers curious about the roots of innovation, Kevin Ashton’s How to Fly a Horse is a conversation starter. An entrepreneur and technology pioneer at MIT, Ashton chronicles the creative ingenuity, persistence and sometimes lonely path creators follow to move from idea to breakthrough. Tracing examples in medicine, science, technology, and more, Ashton argues that creativity and invention are not just the domains of a few and that with focus and determination, we can all be game changers.

The Resilience Dividend: Being Strong in a World Where Things Go Wrong
By Judith Rodin
The strength of leaders, organizations and communities can often be measured by their ability to bounce back from a crisis, observes Judith Rodin, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. In The Resilience Dividend, she offers stories of communities and businesses that have faced catastrophic events—ranging from weather or disease to political or economic crises—and then persevered and come away even stronger. Here’s a fascinating look at what makes leadership enduring.

Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free
By Héctor Tobar
When 33 men were trapped in a mine 2,000 feet underground, they vowed to tell their story together if they survived. Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Héctor Tobar was selected to write their saga. In Deep Down Dark, he recounts those 69 harrowing days—the miners’ ordeal, the families’ fears, the rescuers’ persistence, and how each person lives with the memory of this experience. With a novelist’s deftness, Tobar depicts the mosaic of human responses to life in danger.

Every Gift Matters: How Your Passion Can Change the World
By Carrie Morgridge and John Perry
“Giving transforms two lives: the one who receives and the one who gives,” writes Carrie Morgridge, who has worked for 15 years with her husband at the Morgridge Family Foundation. Every Gift Matters shares inspiring tales of those who drive community change through giving. Imbued with Morgridge’s boundless passion and energy, Every Gift Matters reflects her own practice of pairing a gift with personal involvement, making this deeply felt account both moving and practical.

Rain: A Natural and Cultural History
By Cynthia Barnett
Blending science and history—and a dedication to the environment—Cynthia Barnett’s Rain traces the evolution of one of the most common, precious and sometimes destructive forces in nature. Beginning with the primordial showers that created oceans and nurtured life, and moving through time to today’s altered weather patterns, Barnett brings a documentary approach to her subject, riveting the reader with facts and a sense of wonder.

The Wright Brothers
By David McCullough
Although with every attempt to fly, Wilbur and Orville Wright risked their lives, the brothers were determined to change history. Two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning historian David McCullough tells the story of their family and childhood, genius and ingenuity, successes and failures. McCullough includes details from private diaries, letters and family scrapbooks, making this a moving personal story as well as a tale of perseverance, history and invention.

World Order
By Henry Kissinger
Few people in the last century have been closer to the pulse of international politics than Henry Kissinger. The Nobel Peace Prize winner knows firsthand what lies behind recent international accords as well as the global discord that remains. World Order is his call for international harmony and is filled with details that draw from his experience as historian, statesman, observer and friend—an informative and thought-provoking analysis of the challenges ahead.

Saturday Night Live: The Book
By Alison Castle
Devotees of Saturday Night Live will enjoy celebrating the iconic program’s 40th anniversary with this comprehensive look back. Including more than 2,000 photos (some never before published), season reference guides and an insider’s look at a how a live show comes together, Saturday Night Live: The Book memorializes SNL’s spirit, irreverence and astonishing talent. With 500 pages, this coffee table tribute will be a Best Book among the show’s countless fans.

Where Chefs Eat: A Guide to Chefs' Favorite Restaurants
By Joe Warwick
Food writer and restaurant critic Joe Warwick presents a guide to more than 3,000 restaurants, based on recommendations from more than 400 of the world’s top chefs. Listed by city, chef favorites range from neighborhood joints to top-flight destinations. With quotes from the chefs, reviews and city maps, Where Chefs Eat is a go-to sourcebook for the curious foodie as well as the well-seasoned traveler.