Booth Faculty's Summer Reading List 2025

Arthur Middlebrooks, James M. Kilts, Jr. Professor of Marketing

We asked a few Chicago Booth faculty members for their current book recommendations. See their picks below.

The Secret of Our Success: How Culture is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter

Joseph Henrich

"'The key thing that makes humans special is so-and-so' is about as worn-out a topic as any. Yet, Henrich delivers an extraordinary and engaging treatise on it."

Emir Kamenica
Richard O. Ryan Professor of Economics

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

Peter Attia, with Bill Gifford

"A friend gave me a copy of Outlive, and it has really changed the way I think about improving and maintaining my health."

Art Middlebrooks
James M. Kilts, Jr. Clinical Professor of Marketing

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia

Sheila Miyoshi Jager

"This book taught me a lot about the history of great power rivalries in East Asia. It's a useful background for understanding current international relations in that part of the world."

Stefan Nagel
Fama Family Distinguished Service Professor of Finance

Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives - How Your Friends' Friends' Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do

Nicholas A. Christakis and James Fowler

"Connected offers a compelling explanation of how our actions affect those around us, emphasizing the profound influence of social networks on our well-being. It explores concepts such as the contagious nature of happiness and contrasts this interconnectedness with the isolation/loneliness of 'Homo Economicus.'"

Veronika Rockova
Bruce Lindsay Professor of Econometrics and Statistics in the Wallman Society of Fellows

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Anthony Doerr

"My favorite book that I read in the past year was Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. I liked it even more than All the Light We Cannot See!"

Stephanie Smith
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Stevens Junior Faculty Fellow

Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect

Will Guidara

"A student in my Managing Service Operations course read and recommended, and I thoroughly enjoyed."

Amy Ward
Rothman Family Professor of Operations Management and Charles M. Harper Faculty Fellow

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