Books are a gift – whether given to others or bought for oneself. Take a break over the winter solstice, put away your screens, and curl up with these game-changing titles. You’ll thank us for it.

the best books to read (and gift) for this Christmas

Today’s radically complex problems require people to lead with design. Changemakers is an essential playbook for designers and non-designers who want to drive change at work, at home, and in their communities. Groundbreaking designers Maria Giudice and Christopher Ireland—armed with insights from some of today’s top minds in business, tech, and social justice—offer a pragmatic, people-centered approach to change.

Who is Maria Giudice? When Facebook acquired her design agency Hot Studio, Maria felt some sense of validation. For some, design is an after-thought. The acquisition sent a message to companies worldwide that “Design is strategic. It’s not just execution.”

Formerly of Autodesk and Facebook, Maria is an innovator, artist, protagonist, activist, and positive provocateur. Her vision of intelligent, elegant, people-centred design has kept her at the forefront of design and business for over 30 years.
Book Maria Giudice for a talk at your event.

Citizens sets out the tools we need to reinvent our organisations and our politics, equipping us to face the many challenges of our time. It traces human history from the Subject Story of kings and empires to the current Consumer Story, bringing together the evidence that we have always been Citizens by nature. The book shows us what we must do to survive and thrive in these challenging times – as individuals, as organisations, even as a species.

Achievements
• Financial Times’ top 5 new books to read on Politics in 2022
• Selected for McKinsey’s “must read” list for 2022
• Winner of Book of the Year by Country and Townhouse magazine
• Interviewed for the World Economic Forum Bookclub

Who is Jon Alexander? Jon began his career with success in advertising, winning the prestigious Big Creative Idea of the Year before making a dramatic change. Citizens was driven by a deep need to understand the impact on society of 3,000 commercial messages a day and a desire to change the world.
Book Jon Alexander for your event.

**The perfect gift for:** The curious, the activist, and the animal lover in your life.

James Bridle considers the fascinating, uncanny and multiple ways of existing on earth. What can we learn from these other forms of intelligence and personhood, and how can we change our societies to live more equitably with one another and the non-human world? From Greek oracles to octopuses, forests to satellites, Bridle tells a radical new story about ecology, technology and intelligence. We must, they argue, expand our definition of these terms to build a meaningful and free relationship with the non-human, one based on solidarity and cognitive diversity. We have so much to learn, and many worlds to gain.

Achievements
• The 10 Best Books of 2022 - InsideHook
• Top 10 Favorite Book Bites of 2022 - Next Big Idea Club
• The best design books of 2022 - Fast Company
• Selected for Audible’s Best Audiobooks of the Year 2022

Who is James Bridle? A writer and artist, James is the author of the acclaimed book, New Dark Age, about technology, knowledge and the end of the future. They wrote and presented the BBC Radio 4 series New Ways of Seeing, about how technology is changing visual culture; their writing on art, politics, culture and technology has appeared in magazines and newspapers including the Guardian, Wired, New Statesman, Frieze and ICON. Their TED talk has had over 6 million views and James’ artworks have been commissioned by galleries and institutions, including the V&A, Whitechapel, Barbican, Hayward and Serpentine, and exhibited worldwide and on the internet.
Book James Bridle for your event.

Must Read Books For Global Changemakers & Social Innovators

the best books to read (and gift) for this Christmas