Showing results by author "Swift Reads" in All Categories

The Good Gut: The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-Term Health (2015) by Justin Sonnenburg and Erica Sonnenburg explores the fascinating machinations of the human gut. Also known as the microbiome, the gut is teeming with live bacteria that help make or break one’s physical and mental health.

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 truths about her neighbors and, by extension, about the world. (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.)

This is a summary of How to Talk so Your Kids Will Listen & How to Listen so Your Kids Will Talk (1979), which is a guide for parents who want to effectively communicate with their children. The skills contained in the book can be learned and practiced by all parents and, when incorporated consistently, help parents and children build positive relationships with each other....

Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy (2009) traces the lives of six North Korean defectors from Chongjin, a city in northeastern North Korea in North Hamgyong Province. The narrative examines their daily lives and occupations. Listen to this in-depth summary by Swift Reads to learn more.

Emotional Intelligence (published in 1995, last updated in 2005) by Daniel Goleman is a seminal work about how people recognize, navigate, and manage emotions in themselves and others. Those who can successfully read human moods, including their own, have a high degree of emotional intelligence…Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success (2011), by Napoleon Hill, describes the circumstances surrounding the self-help author’s rise to fame and fortune. After overcoming many personal and professional trials, including financial ruin, Hill had the opportunity to question the Devil about the ways in which he ensnares humanity.... (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.)

Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon (2017) by Joe Dispenza guides listeners through the steps of developing their full potential, which is far beyond what most believe is possible. Bridging science and spirituality, Dispenza outlines principles and practices that can help ordinary people harness the power inside themselves to achieve remarkable outcomes in their daily lives, including drastic improvements in health, mood, finances, and relationships....

Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies, 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 grow businesses, has been employed by technology companies such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Amazon to reach more customers, capture more of a given market, and improve overall profits. (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.)

This is a summary of The 33 Strategies of War (2006), which teaches different approaches to conflict. Robert Greene examines ways to defeat an enemy in contexts ranging from violent battlefields to the sets of famous Hollywood films....

In God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007), journalist Christopher Hitchens argues that religious faith is not necessary for humanity’s progress. In fact, faith in supernatural beings has slowed scientific advancement, led to human rights violations, and facilitated the creation of totalitarian regime.

Lost Connections explores the physical, psychological, and cultural factors that lead to depression, as well as the tactics communities can employ to overcome it. British journalist Johann Hari argues that while depression can have a biological cause, it’s largely an involuntary reaction to the social ills that plague modern society. Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (2008) by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein explores how "nudges", or subtle prompts, can help people make better decisions about spending and saving. Applying significant findings from the fields of business, psychology, law, and economics to some of the most controversial issues and problems in the United States, they propose strategies that can help anyone make a good choice, whether it’s on a personal or governmental level....

In Becoming (2018), Michelle Obama recounts the familial, educational, romantic, and political experiences that culminated in her tenure as first lady of the United States. Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

No-Drama Discipline by psychotherapists Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson explains how parents can diminish disorder while strengthening their child’s brain. The authors’ approach to discipline, based on the latest in neuroscience at the time of publication, enables parents to turn meltdowns, temper tantrums, and everyday frustrations into teachable moments that strengthen the parent-child relationship. Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

Big Debt Crises (2018) by Ray Dalio is an economic primer based on the proprietary decision-making system used at the author’s hugely successful hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates. Financial crises across history tend to share certain features....Listen to this in-depth summary by Swift Reads to learn more.

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (1962), by psychologist Joseph Murphy, outlines principles and techniques for anyone seeking mastery over the mind in the service of health, happiness, success, and fulfilling relationships. Achieving dreams and desires is within reach once obstacles and negative thoughts in the subconscious mind are addressed. (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.)

This is a summary of Tim S. Grover's Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable (2013), which teaches how to cultivate the mindset of an elite achiever. Grover’s ideas about high performance are based on his decades as a trainer for elite athletes including NBA stars Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Dwyane Wade. Bryant, Jordan, and Wade followed Grover’s no-nonsense training program.

The Surrender Experiment: My Journey into Life’s Perfection by best-selling author Michael A. Singer, is a spiritual memoir that chronicles Singer’s quest to embrace whatever the universe presented to him at any given moment. Singer’s experiment with surrender began in 1970, when he was enrolled in a graduate-level economics program at the University of Florida and realized there was a voice inside his head, often critical and judgmental.... (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.)

Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts (2018) by social researcher and best-selling author Brené Brown explains how to create an organizational culture built upon principles of vulnerability, connection, and meaning. For 20 years, Brown has researched vulnerability, and Dare to Lead incorporates her extensive data around shame and its cure, empathy; in addition, she interweaves the results of a seven-year education project on vulnerability and leadership, which Brown designed and implemented…

Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers is an expansive account of the days, months, and years leading up to World War I. Clark’s central contention is that scholars’ continuous preoccupation with the question of who was responsible for starting the war stems from an erroneous understanding of the events....