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If you’re looking for a last-minute gift for a social innovator in your life—or just something to curl up with, in a warm place when it’s cold outside—we’ve got you covered. We polled some of our favorite thinkers and doers in the SSIR world to recommend the best book they read this year, and why.
Carissa Carter, author of Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future:
A great one for your readers might be Imagination: A Manifesto by Ruha Benjamin. In it she talks about the power of our collective imagination to change society for the positive in ways we may never have thought possible. Taking imagination seriously is a theme that I absolutely love. It's critical for design work–everything is imagined before it is created.
Andrew Hoffman, author of the forthcoming Business School and the Noble Purpose of the Market: Correcting the Systemic Failures of Shareholder Capitalism
I’d recommend Beyond Shareholder Primacy (2024) by Stu Hart, which examines the question of what future form capitalism will take to address issues of climate change, species extinction, etc. This is the key question we face on sustainability and follows on other important books of a similar vein, including Can American Capitalism Survive (2018) by Steven Pearlstein and Rethinking Capitalism (2016) by Michael Jacobs and Mariana Mazzucato.
Auden Schendler, author of Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul:
Readers should check out two books that are related in their iconoclasm. The first is The Ultimate Hidden Truth of the World, a posthumous collection of essays by David Graeber, the British anthropologist, Occupy movement catalyst, and original thinker who wrote on topics like bullshit jobs and the history of debt. The other is The Unaccountability Machine: Why Big Systems Make Terrible Decisions—and How The World Lost its Mind by Dan Davies about how the complex organizations we create often yield results nobody wants.
Joan Garry, author of “Before the Exposé Hits the Front Page”:
I coach nonprofit CEOs and one of the most common refrains I hear is I have too much on my plate. We work together to diagnose exactly what is on the plate, what belongs and what does not. In nearly every case, staff leaders are not doing what is the best and highest use of their time and are instead engaging in administrative tasks. I encourage clients to read Dan Martell’s Buy Back Your Time to assess the value of the work relative to the value of their time. It has been a game changer, often making the case for added admin support so that the client can focus on strategy and fundraising. Martell is a fascinating character. After spending time in jail and rehab at age 17, Dan turned it all around. He founded and led three startups and has invested in dozens of others. His content, keynotes, and coaching programs have helped thousands of clients unlock growth, get fit, and develop the mindset to become the best version of themselves.
Eric Nee, emeritus editor-in-chief of SSIR:
In Hahrie Han’s Undivided: The Quest for Racial Solidarity in an American Church, one of America’s keenest observers of social movements examines a Cincinnati, Ohio, megachurch that combines uplifting people’s spirits with combating personal and systemic racism—changing the lives of its members as well as the lives of those in the wider community.
Vera Michalchik, senior research scholar at Stanford PACS:
I recently read the 2024 trade book, In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face-to-Face with the Idea of An Afterlife, by the journalist Sebastian Junger—a quick and bracing read about confronting one’s own mortality. Junger relates his experiences to the postulate that consciousness holds primacy over physical reality, a fascinating lens for considering what makes for a well-lived life.
Lina Srivastava, author of Notes on a Present Future:
In The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong and How to Fix It, Amy Schiller challenges conventional philanthropy by advocating for a broader understanding of humanity. Schiller critiques current philanthropic norms, such as objectification, cost-effectiveness, and self-interest for the donor, arguing that they dehumanize recipients and prioritize efficiency over deeper, more holistic benefits. This is a great book for anyone interested in interrogating capitalist frameworks of giving.
Navi Radjou, author of The Frugal Economy: Building a Better World With Less:
The late Carol Sanford’s The Regenerative Life was published in 2020, but in a world that is degenerating rapidly, it’s even more relevant. Sanford invites social innovators to regenerate Life in our societies and the planet by becoming conscious agents of change.”
Aida Davis, author of Kindred Creation:
A historical fiction novel exploring genealogies across time and place, Tommy Orange’s Wandering Stars offers a poetic critique of forced assimilation and the intergenerational trauma it creates.
Sam Daley-Harris, author of Reclaiming Our Democracy: Every Citizen's Guide to Transformational Advocacy:
During this time of attacks on immigrants and on our democracy, Aqualino Gonel’s American Shield helped me see a deeper truth about both.
Robb Willer, faculty codirector of Stanford PACS:
Marshall Ganz’s new People, Power, Change is a wonderful book that documents much of Ganz’s legendary approach to mobilization. In contrast to many contemporary approaches, Ganz emphasizes that to achieve the big goal of organizing diverse coalitions that have the power to affect social change starts with making meaningful connections among those people who must work together toward that end.
Annie Neimand, author of “How to Tell Real Stories About Impact”:
The Message by Ta-Nehisi Coates—his new book on writing, storytelling, colonization, racism, and politics—should be a required text for all storytellers and changemakers. Coates is one of the greatest voices of our generation.
Michael McAfee, author of “We Must Be Founders”:
Aida’s vision and voice in Kindred Creation are seminal and represent the leadership necessary to unlock the promise of the nation by unleashing the promise in us all. Read a review of Kindred Creation in SSIR.
Kevin Starr, author of “Big Bet Bonanza”:
Thinking in Bets and Quit are back-to-back books by Annie Duke, a professional poker player turned academic. The first is about making the optimal decisions when there is a lot of uncertainty (like when funding social entrepreneurs), and the latter about when to bail (like when funding social entrepreneurs).
Read more stories by SSIR Editors.