100 books like Minivan Mogul

By Alex Perry,

Here are 100 books that Minivan Mogul fans have personally recommended if you like Minivan Mogul. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Author Of Steel Toes and Stilettos: A True Story of Women Manufacturing Leaders and Lean Transformation Success

From my list on real talk by women authors.

Why are we passionate about this?

We are relatable women who have successful careers in a predominately male industry.  We have run businesses, built teams based on trust and inclusion, become authors, speakers, and advisors, while simultaneously raising children with our also working husbands.  This is not done with ease or without making trade-offs, but we will share our stories and hope to inspire other women.  We believe in supporting women in all areas of our lives and we love to lift up the ones who have impacted us.

Shannon's book list on real talk by women authors

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Why did Shannon love this book?

If you suffer at times from Imposter Syndrome, as many women do, including Shannon, then you should pick up this book! 

Valerie provides insights into why we often think we are fooling others with our success. She asks thoughtful questions to help you become more self-aware of your competence type and how that affects your own self-sabotage and self-doubt.

She opened Shannon’s eyes to how women perceive and project their failure and provides incredibly helpful suggestions on how to flip the script on your thought process. Valerie created a safe space to help us all do some reflection, recognize we aren’t the only one’s carrying around this Imposter Syndrome and explains how to overcome it!

By Valerie Young,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Learn to take ownership of your success, overcome self-doubt, and banish the thought patterns that undermine your ability to feel—and act—as bright and capable as others already know you are with this award-winning book by Valerie Young.  

It’s only because they like me. I was in the right place at the right time. I just work harder than the others. I don’t deserve this. It’s just a matter of time before I am found out. Someone must have made a terrible mistake.
 
If you are a working woman, chances are this inter­nal monologue sounds all too familiar. And you’re not…


Book cover of Leading with Grit and Grace: A Journey in Organizational Culture Change

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Author Of Steel Toes and Stilettos: A True Story of Women Manufacturing Leaders and Lean Transformation Success

From my list on real talk by women authors.

Why are we passionate about this?

We are relatable women who have successful careers in a predominately male industry.  We have run businesses, built teams based on trust and inclusion, become authors, speakers, and advisors, while simultaneously raising children with our also working husbands.  This is not done with ease or without making trade-offs, but we will share our stories and hope to inspire other women.  We believe in supporting women in all areas of our lives and we love to lift up the ones who have impacted us.

Shannon's book list on real talk by women authors

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Why did Shannon love this book?

Leading with Grit and Grace outlines the journey of an organization’s cultural transformation as told by its inspirational leader, Ashleigh Walters.

For Kathy, when reading this book, it felt as though she and Ashleigh had gone to the exact same school of leadership. Although in reality, it’s not a traditional leadership school, but becoming educated as a real live manufacturing leader, with all of its trials and joys.

Her book made Kathy feel as though she instantly had a kindred spirit out there, and she could not stop smiling through the entirety of this true story!

By Ashleigh Walters,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Leading with Grit and Grace as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lessons to Lead By: The journey to organizational culture change starts with you, the leader. Have the courage to take the road less traveled when you identify that change is necessary. Inspire personnel to solve problems while continuously improving processes. Learn from your failures and become more innovative and creative with each iteration. Know that life is full of adversity, but prepare to forge ahead and celebrate success along the way. Remember, if you lead with determination, resilience and persistence (GRIT), as well as empathy and compassion (GRACE), you can accomplish goals you once thought were unattainable. In all that…


Book cover of Energize Your Workplace: How to Create and Sustain High-Quality Connections at Work

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Author Of Steel Toes and Stilettos: A True Story of Women Manufacturing Leaders and Lean Transformation Success

From my list on real talk by women authors.

Why are we passionate about this?

We are relatable women who have successful careers in a predominately male industry.  We have run businesses, built teams based on trust and inclusion, become authors, speakers, and advisors, while simultaneously raising children with our also working husbands.  This is not done with ease or without making trade-offs, but we will share our stories and hope to inspire other women.  We believe in supporting women in all areas of our lives and we love to lift up the ones who have impacted us.

Shannon's book list on real talk by women authors

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Why did Shannon love this book?

Kathy loved this book by Jane Dutton, and found herself exclaiming, “Yes!” as she read through this book that validated the energy she did receive abundantly through small moments of connection at work!

As a senior executive, Kathy could have thousands of people in her organization. Wanting to know each and every one of them was a luxury she could not afford, so she did her best to make those opportunities she did have for meaningful connections, no matter how brief, to count for her and the other person with whom she was interacting.

Jane systematically provides the science of how and why this works, along with so many useful tools for those to whom this does not come naturally!

By Jane E. Dutton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Energize Your Workplace as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Corrosive work relationships are like black holes that swallow up energy that people need to do their jobs. In contrast, high-quality relationships generate and sustain energy, equipping people to do work and do it well. Grounded in solid research, this book uses energy as a measurement to describe the power of positive and negative connections in people's experience at work. Author Jane Dutton provides three pathways for turning negative connections into positive ones that create and sustain employee resilience and flexibility, facilitate the speed and quality of learning, and build individual commitment and cooperation. Through compelling and illustrative stories, Energize…


Book cover of The Effort Myth: How to Give Your Child the Three Gifts of Motivation

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Author Of Steel Toes and Stilettos: A True Story of Women Manufacturing Leaders and Lean Transformation Success

From my list on real talk by women authors.

Why are we passionate about this?

We are relatable women who have successful careers in a predominately male industry.  We have run businesses, built teams based on trust and inclusion, become authors, speakers, and advisors, while simultaneously raising children with our also working husbands.  This is not done with ease or without making trade-offs, but we will share our stories and hope to inspire other women.  We believe in supporting women in all areas of our lives and we love to lift up the ones who have impacted us.

Shannon's book list on real talk by women authors

Shannon Karels and Kathy Miller Why did Shannon love this book?

Every parent with school-age children should read The Effort Myth

Sherri teaches parents how to help their children become independent, lifelong learners with the foundation of, “It’s not how hard you try that leads to success. It’s how you try hard.” Even if your child doesn’t struggle in school, Sherri taught Shannon ways to be a better parent for her child. 

She taught her how to really listen to what her child was telling her they wanted or needed, instead of assuming she knew. How to use coaching techniques to help with homework or tasks instead of saying, “Just try! Do the work! Put in the effort! (All phrases Shannon had previously used).

This book gave Shannon more confidence in ways to parent her child toward success!

By Sherri Fisher,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Are you a well-meaning parent who tries to motivate your child by reassuring them that they just need to try harder?

Do you believe that gritty effort is the key to their success?

If so, you may believe in the false promises of the effort myth. Students often do try harder, and some make short-term improvements. However, focusing on effort may even make a student’s problems worse.

No one should have to suffer to be able to learn.

Of course, effort is necessary for work to be done successfully. However, trying harder is not sufficient by itself. That’s because it’s…


Book cover of Secret Agent Mom

Alesha Escobar Author Of The Wayward Wizard

From my list on heroes when secret agencies mess things up.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an avid fantasy reader and enjoy stories filled with magic, danger, and a mix of humor and romance thrown in. When I’m not writing my own fantasy novels, you might catch me tucked away in a corner, reading a book, and fueling my imagination. Since my own book, The Wayward Wizard, features a secret organization trying to intercept the supernatural, I knew similar stories would make a perfect list to share with fellow fantasy readers.

Alesha's book list on heroes when secret agencies mess things up

Alesha Escobar Why did Alesha love this book?

As a mom of six, I must say that I’m in a constant state of balancing motherly duties with other obligations—so Lucy Heron has my sympathy as a fellow native of Los Angeles, who juggles her kids, a bakery, and apparently her job as “Agent 485,” fighting supernatural crime.

Lucy works for a secret organization that wants to keep magic in the realm of myth and humanity none the wiser to its existence. Well, that will be tough as a tribe of ancient witches gets thrown into the mix, some unscrupulous magical beings, and the fact that this mom of three has to get this all done in time for dinner. This is definitely a fun read to check out!

By Martha Carr, Michael Anderle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Secret Agent Mom as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lucy Heron is a mom with three kids, and a baker with a happy marriage in sunny Echo Park. She’s also Silver Griffins Agent 485.

The suburbs will never be the same.

Fighting supernatural crime from a minivan while keeping the magical world a secret is a fulltime job. Then there’s the PTA bake sale and the neighborhood barbecue.

Hard to balance even with a wand.

And now, a monstrous loan shark is spreading his shadowy empire from a hidden kemana. Mix in a tribe of ancient witches and tunnel-dwelling magical misfits.

Turns out, Los Angeles is hiding a lot…


Book cover of The Lonely Century: How to Restore Human Connection in a World That's Pulling Apart

Roanne van Voorst Author Of Six in a Bed: The Future of Love - from Sex Dolls and Avatars to Polyamory

From my list on finding connection in a modern digital world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a futures anthropologist whose research centers on anticipated changes within human society. I seek to understand what gains can be made for humanity in various future scenarios, what aspects we must preserve to safeguard what I refer to as ‘sustainable humanity,’ and what is at risk of being lost and who stands to lose. One of the important themes in my work is love because intimacy–whether that be in a romantic, sensual, or friendly manner–is innate to the human experience. In my work, I wonder: if the experience of love changes, does this mean we, as humans, are also changing?

Roanne's book list on finding connection in a modern digital world

Roanne van Voorst Why did Roanne love this book?

I loved this book, as it describes one of the biggest problems of our day and age: that we are both superconnected and no longer connected at all. By that, I mean that we are constantly digitally stimulated.

We are in touch with friends, colleagues, and strangers, but because of that, we are too tired to truly connect to the important people around us and even with ourselves.

By Noreena Hertz,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A bold, hopeful, and thought-provoking account by “one of the world’s leading thinkers” (The Observer) of how we built a lonely world, how the pandemic accelerated the problem, and what we must do to come together again 

“A compelling vision for how we can bridge our many divides at this time of great change and disruption.”—Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global

“An important new book.”—The Economist

NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB NOMINEE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY WIRED (UK) AND THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Loneliness has become the defining condition of the twenty-first century.…


Book cover of Divided We Fall: America's Secession Threat and How to Restore Our Nation

Daniel F. Stone Author Of Undue Hate: A Behavioral Economic Analysis of Hostile Polarization in US Politics and Beyond

From my list on understanding and defusing political polarization in America.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been doing research on polarization for most of my career as an economist and have focused on affective polarization in US politics since 2015. As a behavioral economist, I’m interested in how false and biased beliefs contribute to affective polarization. As a microeconomist I’m also generally interested in economy—not “the economy,” but the efficient use of resources—and affective polarization leads to a lot of wasted time and resources. This happens in politics at all levels, and in relationships of all types—neighbors, colleagues, spouses, siblings—as we all know from experience. So, I’m hoping to try to understand this bias better and cut down on it where we can.

Daniel's book list on understanding and defusing political polarization in America

Daniel F. Stone Why did Daniel love this book?

To balance out my list is Divided We Fall by David French, who recently became The New York Times’s newest conservative columnist.

So, yes, he’s a moderate conservative—and his book actually stands out to me among polarization books because it does a particularly good job of articulating both conservative and liberal perspectives on various issues, and both sides’ reasons for frustration and anger.

I also especially appreciate French’s discussion of the “law of group polarization”—the tendency for people’s opinions to become more extreme when we confer with like-minded groups—French and I agree this is a key cause of US polarization. And true to the title, the book includes descriptions of potential secession scenarios—not pleasant to read but perhaps a wake-up call for some readers.

By David French,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Divided We Fall as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Two decades into the 21st Century, the U.S. is less united than at any time in our history since the Civil War. We are more diverse in our beliefs and culture than ever before. But red and blue states, secular and religious groups, liberal and conservative idealists, and Republican and Democratic representatives all have one thing in common: each believes their distinct cultures and liberties are being threatened by an escalating violent opposition. This polarized tribalism, espoused by the loudest, angriest fringe extremists on both the left and the right, dismisses dialogue as appeasement; if left unchecked, it could very…


Book cover of Feeding My Mother: Comfort and Laughter in the Kitchen as a Daughter Lives with Her Mom's Memory Loss

Jo Owens Author Of A Funny Kind of Paradise

From my list on for commiserating over the "aging parents" challenge.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a care aide (aka personal support worker) who has happily worked at an extended care facility for more than twenty years, and as such, I have been a compassionate listener to many a family member suffering from the tsunami of feelings involved when coping with aging parents or spouses, so I thought I would be well-positioned and emotionally prepared to cope when it was my turn to face my own mother's deterioration. How wrong I was! Thank goodness for the generous souls who write memoirs. Each of the books that I have chosen was an education and an affirmation to me as I tried to maintain my equilibrium while supporting my mother and my mother-in-law through their final years.

Jo's book list on for commiserating over the "aging parents" challenge

Jo Owens Why did Jo love this book?

When Jann Arden falls into her role as caretaker to her parents, she uses journaling and social media to maintain her sanity. "I didn't want to feel alone in a room with Alzheimer's," she writes, and so she brings the reader into her home. Comprised of excerpts from Jann's journals, photographs that make the daily minutiae feel real, and recipes, Jann's beautiful book is a generous and very personal gift. Even those who are not already ardent Jann-fans will feel like her friend when immersed in this memoir. I did my first reading in one sitting, cried, and then read it again.

By Jann Arden,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Feeding My Mother as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This edition of the inspirational #1 bestseller draws on a new year of Jann's diaries and her mother's final days.

When beloved singer and songwriter Jann Arden's parents built a house just across the way from her, she thought they would be her refuge from the demands of her career. And for a time that was how it worked. But then her dad fell ill and died, and just days after his funeral, her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. 

In Feeding My Mother, Jann shares what it is like for a daughter to become her mother's caregiver--in her own frank…


Book cover of Know-It-All Society: Truth and Arrogance in Political Culture

Virginia Rademacher Author Of Derivative Lives: Biofiction, Uncertainty, and Speculative Risk in Contemporary Spanish Narrative

From my list on combating post-truth contagions.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a writer and professor of literary studies whose work has been deeply involved in topics of truth, realism, and public policy. My recent book considers works of fiction that openly and honestly experiment with questions of uncertainty, identity, and risk in the supermodern present. This book draws from disciplinary discourses in law, finance, and economics, which similarly contend with competing claims to truth and value and dive deep into the circumstantial and speculative games that authors play when they write fiction about reality. I have my PhD in Spanish Literature (UVA), M.A. in International Affairs and Economics (Johns Hopkins Univ.), and a B.A. from Harvard University.

Virginia's book list on combating post-truth contagions

Virginia Rademacher Why did Virginia love this book?

I found incredibly compelling the argument of how important humility and the willingness to admit what we don’t know are to democratic, liberal thought.

That we have become a society that rarely listens to ideas that challenge our own or that disrupt what we think we know to be true–is hugely dangerous. 

As Lynch explores, more information has not led to greater certainty or confidence in the answers we find. What we are experiencing is not only a crisis of truth, but one of trust.

By Michael P. Lynch,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Know-It-All Society as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Taking stock of our fragmented political landscape, Michael Patrick Lynch delivers a trenchant philosophical take on digital culture and its tendency to make us into dogmatic know-it-alls. The internet-where most shared news stories are not even read by the person posting them-has contributed to the rampant spread of "intellectual arrogance." In this culture, we have come to think that we have nothing to learn from one another; we are rewarded for emotional outrage over reflective thought; and we glorify a defensive rejection of those different from us.

Interweaving the works of classic philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and Bertrand Russell…


Book cover of I'm a Fan

Victoria Gosling Author Of Bliss & Blunder

From my list on novels inspired by the digital age.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m the author of two novels, both of which explore the impact of the digital age on my characters’ lives. I’m old enough to have experienced being a teenager before the Internet but young enough to have used it all my adult life. I can’t forget the before-times! While I’ve benefitted a lot from what the tech industry calls Web 2.0, I’m also really alive to the losses: social, economic, personal, and existential. From our work lives to our communities to our health and sex lives–nowhere is free from technology’s influence. We are living in fascinating and dangerous times.

Victoria's book list on novels inspired by the digital age

Victoria Gosling Why did Victoria love this book?

I love this book, and it caused a big splash on publication.

The novel takes a highly individual look at one woman’s twin obsessions–a man she is having an affair with and his sometime lover, a woman whom the narrator obsessively follows via social media. On the one hand, it’s a story of infatuation and obsession, about how you can lose sight of yourself in the desire for another. On the other, it’s about how social media and capitalism can combine to diminish us all.

I thoroughly enjoyed it–it’s dark, racy and thought-provoking.

By Sheena Patel,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked I'm a Fan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“A fast, fizzing cherry bomb of a debut” (The Observer [UK]) about power, intimacy, and the internet

I stalk a woman on the internet who is sleeping with the same man as I am.

Sheena Patel’s incandescent first novel begins with the unnamed narrator describing her involvement in a seemingly unequal romantic relationship. With a clear and unforgiving eye, she dissects the behavior of all involved, herself included, and makes startling connections between the power struggles at the heart of human relationships and those of the wider world. I’m a Fan offers a devastating critique of class, social media, patriarchy’s…


Book cover of The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women: Why Capable People Suffer from the Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in Spite of It
Book cover of Leading with Grit and Grace: A Journey in Organizational Culture Change
Book cover of Energize Your Workplace: How to Create and Sustain High-Quality Connections at Work

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