Profit First: Transform Your Business From a Cash-Eating Monster to a Money-Making Machine (2014) is a business self-help book by American author and entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz. In his work Michalowicz argues that traditional accounting methods prompt entrepreneurs to focus too much on sales and accept spending as a necessary part of growth. He believes that this approach makes profit a neglected afterthought, entrenching business owners in “entrepreneurial poverty.” Michalowicz’s strategy, which he calls “Profit First,”... Read Profit First Summary

Progress and Poverty: An Inquiry into the Cause of Industrial Depressions and of Increase of Want with Increase of Wealth: The Remedy (1879) is the best-known work by 19th-century American political economist Henry George. The book’s main objective is to determine why technological advancement and wealth accumulation brought by the Industrial Revolution corresponded to the decline in wages and worsening poverty for the working class. George identifies the key cause of this paradox as being... Read Progress and Poverty Summary

Quiet Power: The Secret Strength of Introverts, written by Susan Cain, Gregory Mone, and Erica Moroz, and illustrated by Grant Snider, is a nonfiction book for young readers that explores the unique qualities and challenges of introversion. Published in 2016, this adaptation of Cain’s bestselling Quiet is tailored to adolescents and teenagers, offering relatable advice for navigating school, social settings, and personal growth as an introvert. Cain, a former corporate lawyer and public speaker with... Read Quiet Power Summary

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking is a nonfiction book by Susan Cain, published in 2012. It is considered part of the psychology and self-help genres. The book made several bestseller lists, including those of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and National Public Radio. It also was voted the best nonfiction book of 2012 by the Goodreads Choice Awards and has been translated... Read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking Summary

David Epstein’s Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World (2019) is a non-fiction book that argues against widely accepted ideas about paths to success in a variety of fields. Range argues that success can be achieved through exploration, flexibility, a willingness to change, and related ideas instead of highly focused, sustained, and specialized study or training. Epstein draws on his background as a journalist to gather stories about individuals who have gained success through... Read Range Summary

When Bill Browder’s 2015 nonfiction book Red Notice begins, he is a naive investor; when it ends, he is a crusader for human rights. In between is a narrative of ambition, greed, corruption, violence, death, and, finally, retribution and justice. Red Notice chronicles the life of a financier and his quest to repair the terrible damage done to him and his business team by Russian operatives, and, most of all, to get justice for Sergei... Read Red Notice Summary

Requiem for the American Dream: The 10 Principles of Concentration of Wealth & Power by linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky evaluates the rise of income inequality in the US over the last 40 years. It argues that the main consequence of neoliberalism, which has increased since the 1970s, is a dramatic concentration of wealth and power to the elite—at the expense of the lower and middle classes. Chomsky observes how rapid financialization since the... Read Requiem for the American Dream Summary

Published in 1997, Rich Dad Poor Dad is a financial self-help book written by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. Kiyosaki’s aim in writing the book was to impart financial lessons and insights to the masses, drawing from his own life experiences and the starkly contrasting financial philosophies of his two “dads.” Upon its release, the book quickly became a bestseller and remains a classic in the personal finance genre. Kiyosaki structures the book as a... Read Rich Dad Poor Dad Summary

Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas G. Brinkley’s Rise to Globalism: American Foreign Policy Since 1938 is a comprehensive look at the US foreign policy from the 1930s path toward the Second World War until the early-21st century and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. This book initially appeared in 1971 and is now in its 9th edition, the Penguin Group’s Kindle version (2010) of which is used here. Summary The authors examine several important historic events... Read Rise to Globalism Summary

Rogues is a 2022 essay collection by Patrick Radden Keefe, consisting of work originally published in The New Yorker drawing on his career as an investigative longform journalist for that magazine. The collection focuses on crime, fraud, and the nature of fame and notoriety, with case studies of 12 individuals and notable episodes in their lives. Keefe includes brief addendums to each essay describing each subject’s current status. The narratives range from a case of... Read Rogues Summary

Salt Sugar Fat is a 2013 nonfiction book by Michael Moss. It describes the modern American food industry. The author visits the corporate headquarters, scientific research facilities, and marketing departments of major food manufacturers. He also talks with consumer advocates and other involved parties to understand the ongoing obesity epidemic.Through industrial processes, food companies remove nutritious components and substitute cheaper, harmful ingredients. The key ingredients in most processed foods are salt, sugar, and fat. Manufacturers... Read Salt Sugar Fat Summary

Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need, published in 2005, is the best-selling book about screenwriting. Snyder, a successful Hollywood screenwriter, consultant, and author, wrote the nonfiction craft book to help would-be screenwriters develop and structure their movie ideas in order to achieve box office success. The title comes from his shorthand description of a scene that should aim to make the audience view the protagonist as likeable... Read Save the Cat Summary

Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few is a 2015 nonfiction book by Robert B. Reich. Reich, who served as the United States Secretary of Labor in the administration of President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1997, takes a critical look at capitalism, with a focus on America’s political-economic system. The book is structured as 24 chapters broken into three sections: “The Free Market,” “Work and Worth,” and “Countervailing Power.” Reich’s primary focus is... Read Saving Capitalism Summary

Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much (2013) is a nonfiction work by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir, which delves into the profound psychological impacts of scarcity. Drawing from their extensive research spanning economics, psychology, and decision science, the authors explore how the experience of lacking critical resources captures the mind, shaping decision-making processes and behaviors across various domains. Through a synthesis of real-world narratives, empirical studies, and policy analysis, Mullainathan and Shafir describe... Read Scarcity Summary

Shift: Managing Your Emotions—So They Don’t Manage You (2025) by Ethan Kross is a science-backed guide to emotional regulation that bridges personal narrative with cutting-edge psychological research. Written for anyone seeking to manage their emotional life better, this self-help book challenges common misconceptions about emotions while providing practical tools for navigating them effectively. Key takeaways include:Embrace Emotions as Adaptive Signals Rather than Obstacles Develop Emotional Flexibility Through Strategic Attention ManagementCreate Psychological Distance Using Perspective-Shifting TechniquesStrategically Engineer... Read Shift Summary

Shoe Dog is a first-person memoir written by Nike cofounder Phil Knight. It was published in 2016. Shoe Dog primarily recounts the events from 1962, the year Knight traveled around the world as a young man, to 1980, the year Nike went public and Knight became a multimillionaire. The years in between are comprised of the struggles and challenges Knight faced as he worked to build the company that would ultimately be known worldwide as... Read Shoe Dog Summary

Shoe Dog: Young Readers Edition is the abridged version of American businessman Phil Knight’s 2016 memoir about his career as the founder of Nike. The book chronicles the years 1962 to 1980, beginning when Knight travels around the world and makes a deal to distribute Onitsuka athletic shoes in America and ending when Nike goes public and Knight becomes a multimillionaire. Published by Simon & Schuster, the Young Readers Edition is structured with a Prologue... Read Shoe Dog: Young Readers Edition Summary

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, published in 2009, is an often personal and meditative pitch for a cultural recommitment to the vocational arts. As a mechanic with a doctorate in philosophy, author Matthew B. Crawford has lived both lives—that of the “knowledge worker” of white-collar culture and that of the manual laborer who solves the problems society faces on a daily basis. He uses the space of the book... Read Shop Class as Soulcraft Summary

Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout (2024) is a self-help book by Cal Newport, a professor of computer science at Georgetown University and bestselling author known for his work on productivity and digital culture. The book builds upon his previous works, such as Deep Work and A World Without Email, while aiming to introduce a comprehensive philosophy for sustainable productivity. Slow Productivity challenges the prevailing notion that increased busyness equates to better... Read Slow Productivity Summary

Smart Brevity is a 2022 book written by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz that proposes a new way of writing in the digital age that advocates for a shorter, leaner, and more precise writing style. The authors, who are also the co-founders of the news organization Axios, argue that in a world where audience attention is always up for grabs, learning ways to capture that attention is an increasingly valuable and essential skill... Read Smart Brevity Summary