The best books of 2023

This list is part of the best books of 2023.

Join 1,707 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2023

Book cover of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well

Jennifer Riel Why did I love this book?

I haven’t always had a terribly healthy relationship with failure.

I was a perfectionist, who wanted to avoid being wrong, especially being publicly wrong, at any cost. My own journey to getting comfortable with failure took a long time and some pretty hard work, through building a practice of design thinking. If only I’d had Amy’s book to help me along the way!

Amy’s work is always thoughtful and inspiring, and this book builds on her essential thinking on psychological safety. Here, she lays out a helpful model for understanding good and bad failure, with a focus on reflection and learning. Intelligent failure goes far beyond a simple Fail Fast mantra, and Amy explains it all with wit and nuance.

By Amy C Edmondson,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Right Kind of Wrong as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Shortlisted for the Financial Times and Schroders Business Book of the Year

A revolutionary guide that will transform your relationship with failure, from the pioneering researcher of psychological safety and award-winning Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson.

We used to think of failure as the opposite of success. Now, we’re often torn between two “failure cultures”: one that says to avoid failure at all costs, the other that says fail fast, fail often. The trouble is that both approaches lack the crucial distinctions to help us separate good failure from bad. As a result, we miss the opportunity to fail…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite

Jennifer Riel Why did I love this book?

This book is more than a decade old, but it is so smart, so well written, so ultimately enraging that I devoured it.

Part history lesson, part colourful character study, it begins with the origin story of the hedge fund industry and takes the reader through the most important events and changes in the space over time. Mallaby does a great job of explaining the technical details and industry intricacies in approachable and understandable ways that helped me see things in a new way.

By Sebastian Mallaby,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked More Money Than God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book of its kind: a fascinating and entertaining examination of hedge funds today Shortlisted for the Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 'An enormously satisfying book: a gripping chronicle of the cutting edge of the financial markets and a fascinating perspective on what was going on in these shadowy institutions as the crash hit' Observer Wealthy, powerful, and potentially dangerous, hedge-find managers have emerged as the stars of twenty-first century capitalism. Based on unprecedented access to the industry, More Money Than God provides the first authoritative history of hedge funds. This is the inside story…


My 3rd favorite read in 2023

Book cover of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

Jennifer Riel Why did I love this book?

I first read this book in 2019, when I was living in Chicago, as a way to get to know more about the history of the city.

It draws together the lives of two very different men, both inexorably linked the Columbian Exposition in 1893 – architect Daniel Burnham and serial killer HH Holmes. I re-read it this summer and again found myself more transfixed by Burnham’s attempts to build a thing of greatness than by Holmes’ lurid crimes.

It gives you a brilliant sense of the city, of Burnham’s genius and of Holmes’ madness.

By Erik Larson,

Why should I read it?

25 authors picked The Devil in the White City as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Chicago World Fair was the greatest fair in American history. This is the story of the men and women whose lives it irrevocably changed and of two men in particular- an architect and a serial killer. The architect is Daniel Burnham, a man of great integrity and depth. It was his vision of the fair that attracted the best minds and talents of the day. The killer is Henry H. Holmes. Intelligent as well as handsome and charming, Holmes opened a boarding house which he advertised as 'The World's Fair Hotel' Here in the neighbourhood where he was once…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

Book cover of Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking

What is my book about?

When it comes to our hardest choices, it can seem as though making trade-offs is inevitable. But what about those crucial times when accepting the obvious trade-off just isn't good enough? Rather than choosing the least-worst option, Creating Great Choices offers a model that guides you towards a new and superior answer... integrative thinking.

The book includes stories of successful integrative thinkers that will demystify the process of creative problem solving, as well as practical tools to help readers engage with the ideas. And it lays out a four-step methodology for creating great choices, which can be applied in virtually any context. The result is a replicable, thoughtful approach to finding a "third and better way" to make choices in the face of unacceptable trade‐offs.

Book cover of Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well
Book cover of More Money Than God: Hedge Funds and the Making of a New Elite
Book cover of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

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