The sun rises at 6 PM: Our book journey for August, 2021

"Books are a uniquely portable magic.” - Stephen King

Here's to book club: the thought-provoking, friendship-forming, cheese-nibbling excuse to catch up with other readers. Take a look at our list of must-read debuts for this month's club.

The Bullet-Proof Diet

Dave Aprey

Dave Asprey was a multimillionaire in Silicon Valley when he was in his mid-twenties. He also weighed 300 pounds, despite eating 1,800 calories a day and exercising for 90 minutes six times a week, as doctors instructed. The Bulletproof Diet will make you rethink your approach to weight loss and wellness.. You'll skip breakfast, quit counting calories, eat a lot of healthy saturated fat, exercise and sleep less, and supplement with smart supplements. You'll gain energy, create lean muscle, and see the pounds melt away as a result. Asprey went from being overweight and sick in his twenties to maintaining a 100-pound weight loss, raising his IQ, and feeling better than ever in his forties by abandoning typical "diet" thinking. The Bulletproof Diet is your road map to a healthier lifestyle. The following are the key points to remember:

• Bacteria in your gut causes insulin resistance
• Maintain a moderate amount of high quality protein in your diet
• Eat the right fats to lose weight

The Lean Startup

Eric Ries

Starting a new firm or business is always fraught with danger. A lot of startups fail before they even get to a certain point. The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation To Create Radically Successful Businesses is about revolutionizing the world of business with a fresh and revolutionary strategy called "Lean Startup." When an individual or a group of individuals embarks on a new venture, there is usually a sense of trepidation in their minds. They want to produce something meaningful that will last, proving that all the uncertainties are unfounded. The Lean Startup method focuses on boosting a company's capital efficiency as well as harnessing human creativity to its full potential. The book deftly conveys complex ideas such as validated learning and vanity metrics. It proposes fresh ideas in order to make the company more nimble and flexible. The following are some options for takeout:

• Tomorrow will be be different: different services, products, approaches; management systems. Be early on these changes
• You simply have to be experimenting constantly. Constantly!
• Learn what to measure. Only what brings actual growth is worth measuring

The Way to Integrity

Martha Beck

Beck lays out a four-step approach that anybody may take to find integrity and, with it, a sense of purpose, emotional healing, and a life free of mental anguish, in The Way of Integrity. People pleasing, staying in old relationships, and harmful behaviors are all examples of what happens when we lose touch with what actually makes us feel entire. The following are the key points to remember:

• Integrity is the true cure for emotional suffering
• You can free yourself from the Dark Wood of Error by acknowledging you’re lost and get through the Inferno by letting go of what is causing your suffering
• Pass through Purgatory by living your new truth, and soon you will find Paradise

How to Thrive in the Virtual Work Space

Robert Glazer

With these simple ideas and tactics, you can transform your career or business by making virtual working easier than ever before - no need for an office. The era of remote employment has arrived. The business world was already migrating toward virtual workplaces when COVID-19 developed the world's largest remote work experiment. Suddenly, even large companies like Twitter are realizing that their employees don't need an office to achieve excellent achievements. How to Thrive in the Virtual Workplace explains how to be productive, feel like a team member, and get the most out of remote work. The following are the key takeaways:

• Set goals and save time
• Self care is essential to safeguard your well-being while working remotely
• Find an email strategy

The Soul of a Woman

Isabelle Allende

Isabel Allende grew up seeing her mother, who had been abandoned by her husband, care for her three tiny children. She experienced the first wave of feminism as a young lady growing up in the late 1960s. Over the course of her life, she has witnessed the movement's achievements. She's learned how to grow as a woman while having a partner, when to step back, and the benefits of accepting one's sexuality throughout the course of three marriages. So, what are the desires of women? To be safe, appreciated, to live in peace, to have their own resources, to be linked, to have control over their bodies and lives, and most importantly, to be loved. There is considerable work to be done on all of these fronts, and Allende hopes that this book can "light the torch of our daughters and granddaughters with mine." They'll have to live for us, just as we did for our mothers, and accomplish the task that needs to be done. The following are the key takeaways:

• Safety, peace, respect, control over their bodies and love
• Invest money in women
• End the patriarchy

How to Avoid Climate Disaster

Bill Gates

Bill Gates has spent a decade researching climate change's causes and effects. He has concentrated on what has to be done to stem the planet's slide into certain environmental calamity with the support of experts in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance. He not only discusses why we need to work toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in this book, but he also defines what we need to do to reach this critical goal. He offers us a clear picture of the problems we're up against. He describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations, based on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market. Finally, he lays out a detailed, actionable plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions, including not only legislation that governments should implement, but also what we, as individuals, should do to hold our government, our companies, and ourselves accountable in this critical endeavor. As Bill Gates points out, achieving zero emissions will not be straightforward or easy, but it is a goal that is well within our grasp if we follow the method he lays out here:

• Poor countries will be hit the hardest (and they already are)
• Innovation and massive investment, will help us develop clean technology
• Governments must implement policies to encourage green living

Late Bloomers

Rick Kalgaard

We live in a a world where kids and parents are fascinated with early success, from perfect SAT scores to admission to Ivy League institutions to finding an excellent job at Google or Facebook - or, even better, starting a company that could be the next Google, Facebook, or Uber. We see software programmers earning millionaires or billionaires before they turn 30, and we feel like we're failing if we're not one of them. Late bloomers, on the other hand, are underestimated in popular culture, by educators and employers, and even by parents unintentionally. However, the truth is that most of us do not explode out of the Gates in life.We need to figure out where we're going. We need to figure out what our passions, talents, and gifts are. That was the case for author Rich Karlgaard, who had a mediocre academic career at Stanford (which he got into by chance) and worked as a dishwasher and night watchman after graduation before finally finding the inner motivation and drive to start a high-tech magazine in Silicon Valley and eventually become the publisher of Forbes magazine. Why do so many of us Bloom later in life has a scientific explanation.. Our brains' executive function does not mature until we reach the age of 25 - and even later for others. In truth, the powers of our brains peak at various ages. Throughout our lives, we experience several flowering times. Late Bloomers reveals how and when we reach our full potential - and why today's focus on early success is so misguided and even harmful - based on years of research, personal experience, and interviews with neuroscience and psychologists, as well as countless people at various stages of their careers.

• Quit when you need to
• There's nothing wrong about finding your way later in your life

You are not your brain

Jeffrey M. Schwartz and Rebecca Gladding

There is a wide audience interested in harnessing the brain's latent potential, as indicated by the great success of Schwartz's prior works, as well as Daniel Amen's Change Your Brain, Change Your Life and Norman Doidge's The Brain That Changes Itself. In fact, readers of Brain Lock wrote in record numbers to the writers requesting such a book. Schwartz and Gladding clearly lay out their approach in You Are Not Your Brain, showing readers how to recognise negative brain impulses, channel them using the power of concentrated attention, and eventually live more fulfilled and empowered lives

• Self-directed neuroplasticity is your go-to weapon to change your habits
• Hebb's law and the quantum zeno effect
• There are 4 steps you can take to break a bad habit

Born For This

Chris Guillebeau

It's not just about identifying your passion when it comes to finding the career you were "born to do." It's fantastic to do what makes you happy, but if you're not making a living from it, it's a pastime, not a career. And those who get out of bed every morning happy to go to work don't only have occupations that allow them to pursue their passions for a living. They have professions where they may immerse themselves in the flow of meaningful work for hours on end. In this book, Guillebeau will guide you to the intersection of joy, money, and flow. He'll walk you through today's broad menu of career alternatives, using motivating examples of those who have successfully secured their dream job, as well as actionable tools, exercises, and thought experiments, to find the employment that is perfectly suited to your specific interests, abilities, and experiences.

• Hack the job of your dreams within a traditional organization by making it work for you
• Find not only your ideal work but also your ideal working conditions
• Create plans that will allow you to take smarter career risks and 'beat the house' every time

Friday Forward

Robert Glazer

Robert offers fifty-two of his favorite stories with real-life examples in Friday Forward, which will inspire you to grow and drive you to be your best self. He advises you to incorporate this book into a good and focused Friday morning routine in order to start the weekend on a positive note that will carry you through the week. These stories are both inspiring and thought-provoking, and they will push you to step outside of your comfort zone in order to realize your full potential. You have the capacity to make a lasting impact not only in your own life, but also in the lives of those around you, by making tiny, conscious changes. Today is a great day to get started

• Myth of work-life balance
• Freedom to fail
• Stop-doing list
• Goals and standards

When Women Ruled the World - Six Queens of Egypt

Kaara Cooney

Female kings are an uncommon occurrence, but they reigned supreme in ancient Egypt thousands of years ago. Queens like Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, and Cleopatra ruled the totalitarian state as power brokers and rulers on a regular, repetitive, and impune basis. However, in a male-dominated society, women in positions of authority have been more frequently employed as political pawns throughout history. What was it about ancient Egypt that allowed women to reach such high levels of political power? What did Egypt gain from its broad embrace of female leadership, and what can the rest of the world learn from it? Kara Cooney, a renowned Egyptologist, tells fascinating stories about female power, examining why it has been rare throughout history and why we should care.

The Long-Distance Teammate

Kevu Eickenberry and Wayne Turmelle

Remote work was expanding at roughly 30% per year even before the coronavirus, and it's already a way of life. Many millions of people who used to work every day in a central area are now confronted with a completely new method of working. This book is the most authoritative single resource for helping remote workers get work done effectively, build productive and satisfying relationships, and maintain a career trajectory when they are not in constant close contact with their leader, coworkers, or the organization in general, written by the founders of the Remote Leadership Institute. The Long-Distance Teammate addresses three key issues: navigating personal and interpersonal relationships, developing productive abilities, and communicating effectively - all while working from a distance. In short, there is a significant distinction between working from home and contributing well to a team. This practical tutorial explains the distinction and shows you how to be an excellent remote teammate

• The leader's role with a remote team
• Remote productivity
• Challenges in 2021

Soundtracks

John Acuff

It robs you of your time, creativity, and aspirations. It's the most costly and ineffective investment that firms make without even realising it. It's also a pandemic. When New York Times bestselling author Jon Acuff transformed his overthinking, he wondered if others may benefit from what he had discovered. He commissioned a study to ask 10,000 people if they, too, struggle with overthinking, and 99.5 percent responded affirmatively. The good news is that Acuff provides a tried-and-true strategy for turning overthinking into a superpower in Soundtracks.

• Stop negative thinking patterns by asking yourself if they’re true, kind, or helpful
• To get awesome new soundtracks to listen to, invert old soundtracks, or borrow from others
• Use item or image as a symbol to remind you of your new soundtracks and make them stick

All Work No Play

Dale Sidebottom

Recognize and become aware of the thoughts that are preventing you from having good relationships and attitudes. Put mental health first in your daily life to avoid burnout and exhaustion. Guide yourself through activities that will improve your happiness, focus, and productivity using visual aids and self-assessment questionnaires. All Work No Play is great for individuals who want to increase their ability to find joy and happiness in their everyday routines, as well as businesses who want to improve the health and wellness of their employees and colleagues.

• Recognize and become self-aware of thoughts blocking your way to healthy relationships and attitudes
• Prioritize mental wellbeing in your daily life and put an end to burnout and fatigue
• Use visual tools and self-assessment forms to guide you through exercises that will increase your happiness, focus, and productivity

The Power of Now

Eckhart Tolle

The message of Eckhart Tolle is simple: living in the present moment is the only way to pleasure and enlightenment. While Tolle's message may not appear to be particularly creative or novel, his clear language, encouraging voice, and excitement make this a fantastic manual for anybody who has ever questioned what "living in the now" really means. Tolle is first and foremost a world-class teacher, capable of explaining complex topics in simple terms. More crucially, readers are already holding the world in a different container after only a chapter of reading this book, more aware of how thoughts and emotions come in the way of their potential to live in genuine peace and happiness.

• Live in the present
• You create pain
• The ego stops you from being happy

Big Dreams

Bob Goff

Bob Goff, author of The New York Times bestsellers Love Does and Everybody, Always, is on a quest to help people reclaim the version of their lives they imagined before fear took over. He wants them to have huge dreams. Bob guides you on a life-proven journey to rediscover your aspirations and convert them into reality in his new book, which is both revelatory and absolutely practical. Bob draws on a lifetime of living and dreaming big to help you achieve your larger-than-life aspirations, based on his hugely successful Dream Big workshop. In his book, Dream Big, he demonstrates how to:

• learn to define clearly your dreams for yourself,
• identify the obstacles holding you back,
• come up with a specific plan for reaching goals, and
• develop the tools that will help you act on the plan.

Get Better

Todd Davis

Todd Davis, Chief People Officer, goes beyond the adage that an organization's greatest asset is its people in Get Better: 15 Proven Practices to Build Effective Relationships at Work. Instead, he contends that relationships promote professional and personal effectiveness, ultimately resulting in a culture that can become a competitive advantage for a company. Davis reveals the most prevalent relationship errors that harm careers and negatively affect organizational performance in an approachable, engaging style that uses real-life experiences. David offers fifteen proven strategies that anyone at any level of an organization can implement to be successful at work, enhance business results, and fully master effective relationships, based on his experience observing, leading, and coaching people for more than thirty years.

• Behave their way to credibility
• Think 'we', not 'me'
• Take stock of their emotional bank accounts

Work

James Suzman

Who we are is defined by our work. It establishes our social standing and decides how, where, and with whom we spend the majority of our time. It shapes our values and mediates our self-worth. Are we, on the other hand, hard-wired to work as hard as we do? Did our Stone Age forefathers work to live and live to labour? What would it be like to live in a world where work is considerably less important? To answer these issues, James Suzman traces the evolution of "work" from the dawn of life on Earth to our increasingly mechanized present, questioning some of our most fundamental beliefs about ourselves. He argues that, while humans have evolved to find joy, meaning, and purpose in work, our ancestors worked significantly less and thought about work far differently than we do now, drawing on insights from anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary biology, zoology, physics, and economics.

• Human culture has evolved since at least the advent of farming to value work. And while the pursuit of wealth and consumption has led to overwork, people are generally not currently inclined to live lives primarily of leisure. Most Americans aren’t especially happy with the jobs they’re in. That’s a real problem that we all could think about more—and Work provides very useful context for doing so.

Superintelligence

Nick Bostrom

What happens when machines outperform humans in general intelligence is the subject of superintelligence. Will we be saved or destroyed by artificial intelligence? Nick Bostrom provides the groundwork for comprehending humanity's and intelligent life's destiny. The human brain possesses capacities that other animals' brains do not. Our species' dominant position is due to these distinguishing abilities. If machine brains outperformed human brains in general intelligence, a new superintelligence may emerge that is enormously powerful—and possibly beyond our control. The fate of people would be determined by the activities of the machine superintelligence, much as the fate of gorillas presently depends more on humans than on the species itself.

• Superintelligence will come in a form of AI that greatly exceeds the cognitive performance of humans in all domain interests
• With the level of intelligence and technological advantages, superintelligence could suppress competitors and form a singleton
• The speed of a takeoff matters (how fast the AI achieves superintelligence after achieving human-level general intelligence)

What Would You Do If You Weren't Afraid?

Michal Oshman

Michal developed a unique personal growth system based on the life-changing concepts of Jewish wisdom as a mentor for top worldwide executives. It's tempting to believe that the daily issues we encounter in the twenty-first century are novel and unlike anything individuals have faced before. Michal draws on her personal Jewish ancestry as well as a wide spectrum of Chassidus (Jewish traditions) to provide practical counsel for everyday issues including a broken heart, parenthood, overcoming setbacks, and making the most of your job.

• Mistakes and Brokenness are important paths to growth
• Learning to lead like a mensch is about giving space s well as being righteous and positive
• Parenting should be about instilling values , rather than asserting control