Mark Pendergrast | Basic Books, 2010 | Book
An excellent history of coffee and how it impacts everything in our lives — the economy, the environment and intellectual history. Here's one highlight — when Pope Clement gave coffee his official blessing: "Why, this Satan's drink is so delicious ... we shall fool Satan by baptizing it and making it a truly Christian beverage."
Janice Kaplan | Dutton, 2016 | Book
The author chronicles her year trying to increase her gratitude using wisdom both modern and ancient. For instance, Epicurus's advice: "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not."
William MacAskill | Avery, 2016 | Book
In my book and TED Talk, I argue that being grateful makes you want to help others. MacAskill, a philosopher professor at Oxford and fellow TED speaker, is a great guide on how to help as smartly and effectively as possible. The heart meets the brain, Moneyball meets charity.
Adam Grant | Penguin Books, 2014 | Book
A great book on how being a mensch can actually be good for business. (Note: I’m told by Jewish scholars that "mensch" is actually gender-neutral, so it applies to everyone.) In my book Thanks a Thousand, I talk about Grant's section on the "responsibility bias." This is the cognitive bias that makes us give credit to individuals instead of teams. This is a grave error, in my opinion. It encourages the quest for individual glory, when in reality almost everything good is the result of teamwork.
David DeSteno | Eamon Dolan/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018 | Book
Psychologist David Desteno examines the science of gratitude. One key point: gratitude is good for your own happiness, but also makes you more pro-social and more generous.
James Salzman | The Overlook Press, 2013 | Book
The author — a professor of law and environmental policy at Duke University — examines the history and current politics of clean water. An eye-opening look at how much we take water for granted.