Author: Allen Cheng

In 1951, a 30-year-old African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks entered Johns Hopkins Hospital to be treated for cervical cancer. In a matter of months she was dead, overcome by her cancer’s malignancy. Her cancer _cells_, however, would prove immortal—and change medicine forever.

_The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks_ tells the story of Henrietta, her family, and her incredible cells. Tracking both the scientific advances owed to “HeLa” cells and the struggles of Henrietta’s descendants, author Rebecca Skloot leads readers through the history of cell research, the ethical implications of scientific study, and the human story of a poor and ailing family whose matriarch contributed to some of 20th-century science’s greatest achievements.

_The Hiding Place_ is an autobiographical memoir by Corrie ten Boom, a devoutly religious woman who lived in the Holland city of Haarlem during the Nazi occupation. Compelled by her unshakeable Christian morality, she defied tyranny to rescue her Jewish neighbors who faced annihilation during the Holocaust. She was ultimately caught and sent to the notorious Ravensbruck death camp, where she witnessed scenes of unimaginable cruelty. In the camp, it was Corrie’s bedrock faith in the glory of God that sustained her. She discovered that love was a far more powerful force than hate—for God’s love was truly unconquerable.

_The Glass Castle_ is the harrowing tale of Jeannette Wall’s life growing up in poverty with wayward parents. Jeannette and her siblings were often left to fend for themselves as their parents engaged in alcoholic binges or flights of fancy. The siblings ultimately resented their parents’ neglect and became independent, moving far away.

Following the Walls family through the desert to the coal-mining region of West Virginia to the fast-paced life of New York City, this memoir explores the nature of family, loyalty, and tragedy and what it takes to survive together and apart.

_The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable_ explores how teams fail to work cohesively together through a dynamic, five-part model of dysfunction. The five dysfunctions are 1) absence of trust, 2) fear of conflict, 3) lack of commitment, 4) avoidance of accountability, and 5) inattention to results. Through identifying these root causes of poor teamwork, teams can develop specific strategies for overcoming each of them. By doing this, they will become comfortable with one another, be willing to engage in constructive debate, achieve clarity and buy-in around team priorities, hold one another to high standards, and focus on team results instead of individual ambition.

The First 90 Days is a field guide for anyone undergoing professional transition. Through an eminently practical approach, it builds out a map for your first 90 days in a new role (whether that entails a promotion, a geographic move, or a lateral transition into a new company). Within that map, the book covers key aspects of such a transition including:
* How to effectively gather essential knowledge about your new role
* How to develop strong relationships with your new colleagues
* How to achieve wins early on
* How to grapple with the personal and psychological implications of the transition

Peppered throughout the book are concrete exercises and action points, which can be replicated for any job transition and will continue to serve as essential tools over the course of one’s career.

Trauma can stem from abuse to a severe car accident to wartime combat—and cause a lifetime of flashbacks, nightmares, isolation, insomnia, hypervigilance, and rage. In _The Body Keeps the Score, _the author explores how diagnosing and treating trauma has evolved as new technologies, research, and fields of science emerged.

Trauma’s impact is not only mental, emotional, and neurological, but also physiological: **Trauma rewires the brain to put people in a constant state of stress or numbness, leading to a host of physical problems.**

Set in 2006, this book is a semi-autobiographical novel by Sherman Alexie. In it, 14-year-old Arnold Spirit, Jr., known on the Spokane Indian Reservation as “Junior,” grapples with his dual-identity when he transfers to a rich, racist, white high school 22 miles from the reservation. At his new school, Junior is the only Indian (aside from the school mascot); on the reservation, the members of his tribe treat him like a traitor who thinks he’s better than his fellow Indians.

As Junior struggles with racism and isolation in his “white” world and poverty, alcoholism, and tragedy on “the rez,” he survives on the hope of a better life than the one he seems destined for. The book is a hopeful story about belonging, friendship, and the importance of dreams.

Although there are thousands of successful companies and leaders, only a few ever really change the world. What makes these different from the rest?

They start with WHY – the vision and mission behind their efforts. Starting with WHY yields benefits like a more inspired team, more loyal customers, and enduring long-term success. In _Start With Why_, learn how to discover your WHY and communicate it through your organization and to the outside world.

Imagine that men and women come from two different planets. When you think that way, it’s suddenly easier to understand why men and women tend to communicate differently, behave differently, and have different emotional needs. In this book, author John Gray breaks down the primary differences between men and women and gives comprehensive advice for dealing with miscommunication, showing support to your partner in the way they crave, and being more fulfilled with your relationship. Find out why your husband pulls away just when you need him most, and why your wife needs to talk relentlessly about her feelings.

Black Swans are extremely unpredictable events that have massive impacts on human society. These include positive Black Swans, like the invention of the Internet and the discovery of antibiotics, as well as negative Black Swans, like the 2008 recession. Black Swans compel people to explain why they happened—to show, after the fact, that they were indeed predictable. Taleb’s thesis, however, is that Black Swans, by their very nature, are always unpredictable. Furthermore, because of our cognitive biases, we’re more vulnerable than ever to misunderstanding Black Swans and their impact. Learn what Black Swans are, why we’re susceptible to them, and