The Best of Forge 2019
The Best Books on Improving Your Life From 2019
Forge’s favorite books on relationships, mental health, finding purpose, and more—with excerpts
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We all want to figure out how to do life better. But here at Forge, we’re also realistic about the way the world works. We understand that part of developing as a human being is working with what we’ve got, and figuring out what that is in the first place — something that can’t be accomplished with gimmicky life hacks or magical mantras. Most of us get that we’re not going to become a billionaire once we’ve learned to “think like a CEO.”
We believe that the best books on personal development have two feet planted firmly on planet Earth. They have something to say about working within the confines of an imperfect society, the limits of money, and time, and our mortal bodies. They transform us — not into people who have it all figured out, but into wiser versions of ourselves.
More Than Enough: Claiming Space For Who You Are (No Matter What They Say) by Elaine Welteroth
During her tenure as Editor-in-Chief of Teen Vogue, Welteroth proved that a glossy teen fashion mag can also be a sharp voice of political commentary. As a young, Black woman in charge, she navigated a demanding (and in her case, public) work life without losing her sense of self.
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy by Jenny Odell
Odell argues that the way to combat the digital noise that’s forever threatening to encroach on our headspace is to reinvent the wheel, on our own terms. It’s not an opting out, per se, but an opting in to something better.
RANGE: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Great news: You don’t have to know what you want to be when you grow up. David Epstein makes a compelling case for why, in a world that demands ever-shifting sets of complementary skills, lifelong…
