My favorite books for understanding how past events will impact our future

Why am I passionate about this?

Ever since I can remember I’ve been curious about history and how past events connect to our present; And how challenging it is to predict the future, even with all our advanced technologies. In the internet era, everything seems to be changing faster than ever before. I’m no expert, but I do know that if we don’t try to understand all the pieces of this complex puzzle, we’ll never be able to build the future we want. I don’t want to be left behind, so my book is an attempt at understanding the past and outlining a future of investing in people, the most undervalued asset class.


I wrote...

The Next Gold Rush: The Future of Investing in People

By Ethan Turer,

Book cover of The Next Gold Rush: The Future of Investing in People

What is my book about?

In The Next Gold Rush: The Future of Investing in People, author Ethan Turer explores the past, present, and future of cryptocurrency and its potential to transform the world. Turer challenges the idea that individuals are purely financial entities and instead argues that they have intrinsic value beyond money. The book addresses important questions about the future of cryptocurrency and how it can benefit all of humanity, not just a select few. Turer also considers how a cryptocurrency based on human value could be created and what lessons can be learned from the past to direct the future of cryptocurrency. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting out in the world of crypto, this thought-provoking analysis provides valuable insights into the technology's potential.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

Ethan Turer Why did I love this book?

I love this book and try to reread it every couple of years.

This book doesn’t make any specific predictions about the future but instead identifies technological trends that are inevitable. 

Trends like accessing, tracking, and sharing, just to name a few. I like to think of the future as an ever-evolving entity that we get to shape. Kelly explains how technology changes in patterns that we can anticipate.  

If you feel like the increasing rate of technological change is getting too fast to keep up with, then I recommend reading—and rereading—The Inevitable.

By Kevin Kelly,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Inevitable as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A quintessential work of technological futurism.” – James Surowiecki, strategy + business, “Best Business Books 2017 – Innovation”

From one of our leading technology thinkers and writers, a guide through the twelve technological imperatives that will shape the next thirty years and transform our lives

Much of what will happen in the next thirty years is inevitable, driven by technological trends that are already in motion. In this fascinating, provocative new book, Kevin Kelly provides an optimistic road map for the future, showing how the coming changes in our lives—from virtual reality in the home to an on-demand economy to…


Book cover of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Ethan Turer Why did I love this book?

History repeats itself. That was never more clear to me until I finished reading Sapiens. 

A Brief History of Humankind is a must read for everyone to understand the historical context of where we collectively came from and where we’re going. 

The reality of human history includes long periods of brutality, war, and uncertainty. Only within the last few hundred years have we become civilized enough to develop complex systems of organization. 

When you can see the long road of progress and how none it was a sure thing, then you will appreciate that the road ahead isn’t written in stone either.

By Yuval Noah Harari,

Why should I read it?

20 authors picked Sapiens as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?

In Sapiens, Dr Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the…


Book cover of Debt: The First 5,000 Years

Ethan Turer Why did I love this book?

Out of all my recommendations, this book is the most dense in terms of detailed descriptions of the history of debt. The author needs to be specific since he’s challenging the economic establishment’s false claims.

The most telling example is that there’s no evidence that barter led to exchanging goods in a marketplace. Debt, not barter, was the original economic system for trade in a village. 

War became the catalyst for the creation of currency since soldiers couldn’t afford to wait till after the war concluded for the government to pay its debts.

If you’re curious about the real history of money and debt, this is the book for you.

By David Graeber,

Why should I read it?

6 authors picked Debt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The groundbreaking international best-seller that turns everything you think about money, debt, and society on its head—from the “brilliant, deeply original political thinker” David Graeber (Rebecca Solnit, author of Men Explain Things to Me)
 
Before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years, since the beginnings of the first agrarian empires, humans have used elaborate credit systems to buy and sell goods—that is, long before the invention of coins or cash. It is in this era that we also first encounter a society divided into debtors and creditors—which lives on in full force to this day.

So…


Book cover of The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives

Ethan Turer Why did I love this book?

If you're interested in learning about the impact of technology on our future, The Future Is Faster Than You Think is a must-read.

In this book, the author explores how converging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotechnology are transforming business, industries, and our lives. 

Diamandis provides examples of how these technologies are already changing our world, and shares his insights into what the future may hold. By reading this book, you can expect to gain a deeper understanding of the potential benefits and challenges that will arise as technology continues to advance at an exponential pace.

By Peter H. Diamandis, Steven Kotler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Future Is Faster Than You Think as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling authors of Abundance and Bold comes a practical playbook for technological convergence in our modern era.

In their book Abundance, bestselling authors and futurists Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler tackled grand global challenges, such as poverty, hunger, and energy. Then, in Bold, they chronicled the use of exponential technologies that allowed the emergence of powerful new entrepreneurs. Now the bestselling authors are back with The Future Is Faster Than You Think, a blueprint for how our world will change in response to the next ten years of rapid technological disruption.

Technology is accelerating far…


Book cover of Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World

Ethan Turer Why did I love this book?

I love this book on many levels. Utopia is always just out of reach but with the scale of time, one could argue that we’re currently living in a utopia.

Even if we don’t have flying cars, more people have opportunities and access to resources than ever before in recorded history.

This book is for optimists and pessimists alike, as the author does a great job addressing the current issues we face and outlining a future worth building. A future of Universal Basic Income (UBI) and no national borders, where opportunities are shared more equitably.

If everyone read this book I know we’d be one step closer to reaching utopia.

By Rutger Bregman,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Utopia for Realists as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Universal basic income. A 15-hour workweek. Open borders. Does it sound too good to be true? One of Europe's leading young thinkers shows how we can build an ideal world today.

"A more politically radical Malcolm Gladwell." -- New York Times

After working all day at jobs we often dislike, we buy things we don't need. Rutger Bregman, a Dutch historian, reminds us it needn't be this way -- and in some places it isn't. Rutger Bregman's TED Talk about universal basic income seemed impossibly radical when he delivered it in 2014. A quarter of a million views later, the…


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Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past

By Gabrielle Robinson,

Book cover of Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past

Gabrielle Robinson Author Of Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Retired english professor

Gabrielle's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

Gabrielle found her grandfather’s diaries after her mother’s death, only to discover that he had been a Nazi. Born in Berlin in 1942, she and her mother fled the city in 1945, but Api, the one surviving male member of her family, stayed behind to work as a doctor in a city 90% destroyed.

Gabrielle retraces Api’s steps in the Berlin of the 21st century, torn between her love for the man who gave her the happiest years of her childhood and trying to come to terms with his Nazi membership, German guilt, and political responsibility.

Api's Berlin Diaries: My Quest to Understand My Grandfather's Nazi Past

By Gabrielle Robinson,

What is this book about?

"This is not a book I will forget any time soon."
Story Circle Book Reviews

Moving and provocative, Api's Berlin Diaries offers a personal perspective on the fall of Berlin 1945 and the far-reaching aftershocks of the Third Reich.

After her mother's death, Robinson was thrilled to find her beloved grandfather's war diaries-only to discover that he had been a Nazi.

The award-winning memoir shows Api, a doctor in Berlin, desperately trying to help the wounded in cellars without water or light. He himself was reduced to anxiety and despair, the daily diary his main refuge. As Robinson retraces Api's…


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