The perfect carry-on book to take with you during private jet flights is one complex enough that it distracts you from the whirring engines, but isn’t so intellectually challenging that it requires a dictionary. It’s easy enough to put down when you’re ready for your catered in-flight meal, but captivating enough to make you wish the flight were a little longer.
‘Art of Flying: The Golden Decades of Private Air Travel’
The Art of Flying by Josh Condon (available December 2015) portrays the evolution and culture of private air travel from the mid-twentieth century to the present. Its beautiful glossy pages give you an insider’s look at luxury cabins, the first private jets, crew uniforms by designers such as Dior and Moncler, architecture, art and more. The book celebrates the dreams of luxury air travel’s past and present.
‘The Arrival’
Shaun Tan’s The Arrival is a grown-up graphic novel in which the author/artist illustrates the excitement, fear, awe and wonder that accompany an immigrant as he leaves his family and homeland to make a new life in a strange foreign country. The sepia-toned illustrations are fantastical masterpieces that tell a nuanced and complex narrative.
‘Bel Canto’
Brought to you by the author of The Magician’s Assistant, Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto will completely absorb you in an engaging story about how individuals communicate when music is the only common language. In the novel, 58 international hostages—including a soprano, priest, diplomats and business people—in an unnamed South American country forge unexpected bonds that make them forget about the looming danger close by.
‘Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future’
Imagine a world in which any form of manual labor—from manufacturing jobs to creating bespoke items—is no longer allowed. In Rise of the Robots, Martin Ford depicts the economic and social disruptions that arise when educated workers are left unemployed when robots replace humans across various industries. In this world, smart software makes “good jobs” obsolete as artificial intelligence replaces individuals in professional roles, such as journalists, computer programmers and paralegals. The only two industries that remain unaffected are healthcare and education. The book examines the implications of accelerating technology on economies and societies.
‘The Heart Goes Last’
In her serialized book, Margaret Atwood poses one of life’s ultimate questions: What would you do to have a comfortable life? The Heart Goes Last is a satirical book about a dystopian society set amid the financial crisis of 2008 in which a couple participates in a social experiment that promises middle class living, full employment and a meaningful life in an idyllic 1950s-style town. The catch—they must spend half their lives in prison. The experiment’s participants alternate between spending a month in jail and their civilian roles. The other catch—they can never leave. It doesn’t take long for troubling events to unfold.
‘Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion’
A book often recommended by business mogul Charlie Munger, author Robert Cialdini compiles a lifetime of research about the psychology of compliance into six principles of persuasion in Influence:The Psychology of Persuasion. The book explores why people say, “Yes,” and how to apply these understanding into your personal and professional life. The highly acclaimed book explains what drives individuals to change their behaviors, making it the perfect read before a negotiation or an important meeting.
Photo by quattrostagioni