list | Klaava Travel Guide nonfiction ebooks

For busy people, vacations are the best time to really concentrate on reading books. It doesn’t matter if it is a beach destination, mountains or a city holiday, because during the journey and in the destination, there should be plenty of time to enjoy a good read. Our experienced travel writers recommend packing ebooks only, because it is possible to carry a large library along without adding extra weight to a travel bag.

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, who has retired from the company but manages a non-profit organization with his wife has always made sure he has time to read. Now, he has a list of five nonfiction books that he recommends for the summer 2018 (summer in northern hemisphere, that is).

Factfulness, by Hans Rosling, with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund. Gates says this is one of the best books he has ever read. The book talks about a breakthrough way of understanding basic truths about the world—how life is getting better, and where the world still needs to improve.

Leonardo da Vinci, by Walter Isaacson. The biography explores Leonardo’s life and focuses on what made him so exceptional.

Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders. This is a novel that blends historical facts from the Civil War with ghosts, including Lincoln’s deceased son.

Origin Story: A Big History of Everything, by David Christian. A book about humanity’s place in the universe.

Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I’ve Loved, by Kate Bowler. A cancer patient’s funny memoir about faith.

If you are planning a holiday in the sun in south Europe, for instance, in Portugal, take a look at the travel guide to Algarve, Southern Portugal. If you are planning a vacation in the Arctic, a guidebook to Lapland in Scandinavia covers the destination.

Via Fast Company.

Here is video clip where Bill Gates talks about the books he recommends for summer 2018.

Recently, the big news was that Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon online store, had become the richest person in the world. The ranking, however, can quickly change because it largely depends on the stock prices of companies the richest people own, which is why Bill Gates or Warren Buffet can take the number one position any day.

Amazon started its business as an online bookstore. Even now, when the company enters a new market, it often starts business in the country with books.

Books, reading, and learning mean a lot to Jeff Bezos who established Amazon 22 year ago. He has led the company from the beginning, and has always been regarded as a visionary. He took over the Washington Post newspaper that was on the brink a year ago. He is investing his personal money in the Washington Post, not Amazon’s corporate assets.

Amazon has invested in the creation of the ebook market probably more than any enterprise. The Kindle ereader, and the worldwide marketplace for ebooks on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and on other country-specific markets have the biggest market share of ebooks. The company is also running many other book-related business programs, such translating titles, print-on-demand, and even its own publishing imprint.

Jeff Bezos is known as an authoritarian leader. He has established rules, processes and methods that are strictly followed. Jeff’s Reading List is a list of 12 books Bezos expects Amazon employees to read. Many are related to business, but there are other themes as well.

Author Brad Stone who wrote the Bezos biography The Everything Store lists those 12 books. The author says the books have shaped Bezos’ leadership style and way of thinking. Here is the Jeff’s Reading List.

– The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro: a fictional story about the First World War.
– Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by Jim Collins: advice from business management guru.
– Creation: Life and How to Make It by Steve Grand: building intelligent technology systems.
– Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … and Others Don’t by Jim Collins: the author of the book has consulted Amazon as well.
– The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen: how new technologies disrupt existing businesses.
– Sam Walton: Made in America by Sam Walton: Walmart founder’s biography.
– Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation by James Womack and Daniel Jones: lean thinking method.
– Memos from the Chairman by Alan Greenberg: a collection of memos from the Bear Stearns Chairman to the employees. (Bezos worked for an investment bank before starting Amazon.)
– The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks, Jr.: small groups of engineers can be more effective than large groups.
– The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvements by Eliyahu Goldratt: lessons for manufacturing.
– Data-Driven Marketing: The 15 Metrics Everyone in Marketing Should Know by Mark Jeffery: how to measure everything – has become a must at Amazon.
– The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb: the power of events with massive consequences.

Via CNBC.