Book Picks: May/June 2026

Harper Wave

In this surprising and rigorously researched exploration of how temperature extremes can expand our mental and physical limits, Gifford—a gifted storyteller and coauthor of the bestsellers Outlive and Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (or Die Trying)—spends time in saunas, heat labs, and on a 100-mile bike ride under the blazing Texas sun. He documents how exposure to heat and sweat can benefit health and taps into the connections that form when people sweat together. Humans, he contends, evolved to excel in sweltering conditions.

Green Hills Books

This gripping spiritual thriller by the Oscar-nominated screenwriter focuses on a rabbi wrestling with doubts about his faith who is pulled into an unsettling whirlwind. The tale includes the murder of a young woman, a freak tornado, and evidence that the Golem of ancient Jewish legend may be more than a myth—and reappeared as a massive lump of mud in the tornado’s aftermath. Emet—Hebrew for “truth”—has consequences.

Resolve Editions

From a childhood in poverty amid brutal treatment of his mother by his uncles after his father’s death and tribal warfare to an Ivy League education and a career in global banking, “A.T.” offers a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. His journey and commitment to ethical conduct, integrity, and humility—even when confronted with profound personal challenges or cutthroat corporate culture—have been called “a powerful reminder that true leadership is forged not only in boardrooms but in the crucible of adversity.”

Routledge

The veteran movie producer and executive at Universal Pictures and Orion Pictures coauthors the fourth edition of Jeffrey Ulin’s film industry staple, which is widely used in graduate and entertainment business programs. Authoritative and accessible, this latest overview of business theory and practice across film, TV, and online streaming tackles changes to the industry by tech and AI.

Mad Creek Books (Ohio State University Press)
The author, whose valedictorian speech sparked headlines because he mentioned that he is gay, offers a variety of essays about his search for identity and belonging. His first work of nonfiction after five books of fiction, Place Envy chronicles growing up where his family had no past and his Holocaust refugee grandparents were silent about their experience. In this memoir, the agnostic Jew and queer traveler and lover excavates the tension between his identities and desire to belong fully to both.

Cambridge University Press
The professor at University of South Carolina School of Law draws on years of research and vivid case studies to show how family businesses are distinctive and how, with proper guidance, they can thrive. He offers insight on how to navigate recurring problems such as role conflicts among family members, succession planning obstacles, and ownership disputes.

Harvard Business Review Press
In his ninth book, the clinical professor of strategy at Tuck School of Business considers how 11 innovations—including the iPhone, disposable diapers, McDonald’s food system, the printing press, Julia Child’s The Art of French Cooking, mass production of automobiles—transformed our world and propelled humanity forward. He also delves into what drove the innovators and iconoclasts behind these revolutionary changes. Reviewers praise the book as smart, funny, delightful, and provocative.