Swift Reads: 79 books

In The Big Short (2010), journalist Michael Lewis traces the stories of a handful of misfit investors who predicted the 2008 financial crisis. In the parlance of Wall Street, to “short” something is to bet against an investment or company through the purchase of a complex high-finance product... Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) by Harper Lee is a coming-of-age novel that traces young Scout Finch’s growing awareness of racism in her hometown of Maycomb, Alabama. Watching her father, a lawyer, represent a black man who has been falsely accused of rape, Scout comes to understand some difficult...

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: The Only Way to Guarantee Your Fair Share of Stock Market Returns (2007) demonstrates why index funds, a type of mutual fund, should make up the majority of the average investment portfolio. Index funds closely match the performance of a given financial market...

Astroball: The New Way to Win it All (2018) by Ben Reiter tells the dramatic story of how the Houston Astros transformed from being the worst team in professional baseball to the best. Reiter first made the bold prediction that the Astros would win a World Series in a Sports Illustrated cover story in June 2014… Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals (2019) by entrepreneur, influencer, and bestselling author Rachel Hollis is a self-help guide for women who want to pursue their dreams. Hollis’s advice comes from her own firsthand experiences as an enterprising woman,...

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst (2017) explains the numerous biological, cultural, and evolutionary factors that shape human behavior. Neurobiologist Robert M. Sapolsky uses studies from various scientific disciplines, including neurology, psychology, sociology, and anthropology,...

Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies (2018) by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh explains how start-up businesses can quickly expand into global corporations with industry-altering products and services. Blitzscaling, a term for a group of tactics used to rapidly...

The 33 Strategies of War (2006) by Robert Greene teaches different approaches to conflict. Greene examines ways to defeat an enemy in contexts ranging from violent battlefields to the sets of famous Hollywood films... Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

The 6 Keys: Unlock Your Genetic Potential for Ageless Strength, Health, and Beauty (2018) by fitness guru Jillian Michaels, with Myatt Murphy, is a guide to aging gracefully. Michaels researched the latest in scientific breakthroughs on living a healthy life and learned that most scientists and physicians...

It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work (2018) teaches companies and entrepreneurs how to increase productivity and improve work performance by setting reasonable boundaries on the hours spent completing tasks. Authors Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson use their web application company, Basecamp,...

First Things First (originally published in 1994, updated in 2015) by Stephen Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill is a time-management book that asks readers to examine their most deeply held values. When people center the things in life that are most important, whatever those may be,...

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World (2019) shows how social media sites, smartphones, and other modern innovations became major contributors to the rise of depression, anxiety, and loneliness. Author Cal Newport argues that many users have become dependent on smartphones and...

In Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth (2005), author and entrepreneur T. Harv Eker argues that readers can substantially increase their net worth by studying the financial habits and attitudes that rich people commonly have. Although their personalities and temperaments...

Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1994) by Barack Obama chronicles his quest to understand how the varied threads of his upbringing, including his father’s absence and his multiracial and multinational roots, shaped him and his understanding of his place in the world. Obama...