Recommended Reads, 30th in a Quarterly Series

Stuff I read recently that I would recommend:

The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It (McGonigal).  Dispelling the notion that all stress is toxic and should be avoided, McGonigal instead asks us to focus on how to "lean in" to the stress and grow stronger from it.

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America (Isenberg).  A fascinating panorama of American history from the lens of white-specific classism.

Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone (Nadella).  I loved Nadella's thoughtfulness about how to lead an iconic tech company that many had written off as irrelevant. 

Buzzed: The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy (Kuhn).  Stepping through the science and sociology of everything we can get addicted was sometimes scary and always informative.

When Breath Becomes Air (Kalanithi).  A beautifully touching memoir of a life cut short by cancer.

Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy (Sandberg).  Sandberg suffers an unspeakable loss, but with the help of her friend Wharton professor Adam Grant, she gains so much in how to grieve and what it means to change for the better through the grief.