Goldman Sachs business leaders recommend six must-read books

Summer is drawing to a close.

Although the mornings are getting chillier, the evenings darker, and the days shorter, there's something about September that seems to signify a fresh start.

If you want to know what's on the minds of Goldman Sachs's business leaders, they recommend these books.

1. World Order
by Henry Kissinger
"Nobody knows the world of politics & diplomacy better than Henry Kissinger – an absolute and undisputed numero uno!"
–Bobby Vedral at Goldman Sachs' securities division, London



2. Seinfeldia: How a Show About Nothing Changed Everything
by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
“This is a must-read for every ‘Seinfeld’ addict. It is a hilarious behind-the-scenes history of how Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld created the concept, characters and story lines that resulted in the greatest television series of all time. It will make you want to put on a “puffy shirt” and read it cover-to-cover in one sitting...”
-DINO FUSCO, global head of corporate services and real estate at Goldman Sachs, Jersey City



3. The Signal and the Noise: Why so many predictions fail - but some don’t
by Nate Silver
This is a remarkably engaging book about how people fail whenmaking predictions and the approaches followed by superior predictors. Each chapter uses real-world examples from different disciplines to reveal how the best and worst predictors behave, including revisiting Billy Beane, the protagonist of ‘Moneyball,’ and speaking with Goldman Sachs’s Jan Hatzius. Silver even successfully finds a way to gently introduce the reader to Bayesian statistics, which I realize is hard to believe but true.”
— KENT CLARK, investment management division at Goldman 5 Sachs, New York



4. A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara
“A Little Life, which has been nominated for a number of book awards, is a long but very compelling read. It follows the lives of four classmates from a small Massachusetts college as they pursue their chosen paths in New York City. It is an extraordinary study of friendship and trauma you are led to understand the minds of the characters in a way that is equally gripping and at times, harrowing.”
— SALLY BOYLE, partner and international head of the Human Capital Management division at the Goldman Sachs, London



5. Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
“The book is written by the author for his son. I chose to read it because I have a son and I think the experience of being a black male in America is unique. I want to be educated by his perspective for my son Austin’s benefit.”
— LISA OPOKU, chief operating officer at Goldman Sach’s technology division, New York



6. Churchill: A Life
by Martin Gilbert
“ I think Churchill is as interesting for his mistakes and failures as he is for his successes, his seemingly boundless energy and curiosity, and for having been an incredibly prolific writer. The biography gives good perspective on some of the most important events of the 20th century, at least as seen from Churchill’s vantage point”
— KENT CLARK, investment management division at Goldman Sachs, New York



(Images: Amazon.in)