40 Leaders Book Club: 2021

Greg Lynn on October 26, 2021

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

“What book do you think everyone should read?” We posed this question to the 2021 class of 40 Leaders Under Forty and garnered a range of responses.

Both Joshua Gunn and Christell Frausto recommend The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (“the most beautiful book,” Frausto says), while Chanel Hargrave-Murry and Vance Jordan III suggest Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

According to Bethany Thimote, Dare to Lead by Brené Brown is “inspirational for all aspiring leaders,” while Eric Larson credits Gently and Lowly by Dane Ortlund for “reconstruct[ing] my faith.”

Betsy Larson offers two suggestions—Outliers or anything else by Malcolm Gladwell (nonfiction) and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (fiction)—and Jennifer Weaver recalls fond memories of the Harry Potter series growing up. More suggestions for your reading list include:

  • The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz (Dr. Aaron Rossi)
  • Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (De’Marcus Hamilton)
  • The Unwritten Rules of Golf by Peter Post (Zak Edmonds)
  • The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene (Gregory Wilson, Jr.) PM