Showing results by author "Swift Reads" in All Categories

The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less (first published in 1997, and updated most recently in 2017) by Richard Koch is a self-help book about how to achieve maximal results from minimal input. The 80/20 Principle states that the universe is imbalanced in such a way that 20 percent of causes lead to 80 percent of results....

The Power of Your Subconscious Mind (1962), by psychologist Joseph Murphy, outlines principles and techniques for anyone seeking mastery over the mind in the service of health, happiness, success, and fulfilling relationships. Achieving dreams and desires is within reach once obstacles and negative thoughts in the subconscious mind are addressed. (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.)

This is a summary of The 33 Strategies of War (2006), which teaches different approaches to conflict. Robert Greene examines ways to defeat an enemy in contexts ranging from violent battlefields to the sets of famous Hollywood films....

The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great (2019) explains how Western nations used philosophical and religious values to create governments that protect individual liberty while encouraging collective action. Author Ben Shapiro argues that countries like the United States became prosperous because they adhered to two primary sources of moral and intellectual thought: Judeo-Christian values and ancient Greek reason...

This is a summary of The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery (2010) by Miguel Ruiz and Jose Ruiz with Janet Mills. The Fifth Agreement explores how people can harness their innate personal power to create a life that is rich in peace, happiness, and love - or, the equivalent of heaven on earth. The Fifth Agreement is the follow-up to Miguel Ruiz’s best seller The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (1997).

Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself (2011) by Kristen Neff is a self-help book rooted in evidence-based psychology. Too often, people suffer from the tendency to critique themselves too harshly....

Big Debt Crises (2018) by Ray Dalio is an economic primer based on the proprietary decision-making system used at the author’s hugely successful hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates. Financial crises across history tend to share certain features....Listen to this in-depth summary by Swift Reads to learn more.

This is a summary of Business Adventures (1969), a collection of 12 nonfiction stories about American business and high finance by journalist John Brooks. Each story explores a different subject, including eccentric leaders and their successes, failures, and legal quandaries.

On Liberty (1859) by John Stuart Mill is an influential philosophical treatise that argues societies can be free only when they celebrate diversity and promote individual freedom. Mill believed that conformity is a blight on human happiness, creativity, and social progress....

In Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level (2019), technology journalist Leander Kahney explains how a mild-mannered man from a small town in Alabama became the CEO of one of America’s most influential and successful companies. Cook, who once served as Apple’s chief operating officer, was considered a strange choice to replace Steve Jobs when he was announced as the company’s new leader in 2011...

This is a summary of Behind the Cloud: The Untold Story of How Salesforce.com Went from Idea to Billion-Dollar Company - and Revolutionized an Industry (2009), which explores how salesforce.com used cloud-based computing to create new business standards in the early 2000s.

Educated (2018) by Tara Westover is a memoir about how an uneducated young woman raised in the remote mountains of Idaho came to earn a doctorate from Cambridge University. Raised outside of society, in a violent household run by Mormon fundamentalists, Tara never saw herself as a person with choices or prospects...

Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals (2019) by entrepreneur, influencer, and bestselling author Rachel Hollis is a self-help guide for women who want to pursue their dreams. Hollis’s advice comes from her own firsthand experiences as an enterprising woman, building her own business from scratch....

Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time (1997) details how a small coffee roastery in Seattle became a monolithic corporation with a worldwide reputation for providing affordable luxury beverages. Author Howard Schultz, now retired CEO and chairman of Starbucks, recounts how he grew the company into an internationally recognized chain after joining Starbucks in the early 1980s and buying it later that same decade...

The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation (2011) shows companies how assertive sales representatives can increase profits and create repeat customers. Authors and entrepreneurs Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson use the results of interviews with more than 5,000 sales representatives to outline five different profiles most employees fit into. Purchase this in-depth summary to learn more.

In From the Ground Up: A Journey to Reimagine the Promise of America (2019), Howard Schultz examines how his upbringing in a working class New York family influenced his actions when he became chairman and CEO of Starbucks. Schultz uses his eventual professional success to argue that the United States still can be a land of opportunity if those with means are willing to give chances and resources to those without.

First Things First (originally published in 1994, updated in 2015) by Stephen Covey, A. Roger Merrill, and Rebecca R. Merrill is a time-management book that asks readers to examine their most deeply held values. When people center the things in life that are most important, whatever those may be, triaging a busy schedule becomes an easy exercise instead of an ongoing nightmare....

Almost Everything: Notes on Hope (2018) by best-selling author Anne Lamott is a collection of essays on finding glimmers of optimism even amid great turbulence. Just before her sixty-first birthday, Lamott wrote these essays to share the wisdom she has gleaned from her many decades of living with her grandson and niece. Listen to this in-depth summary by Swift Reads to learn more.

Brief Answers to the Big Questions (2018) presents the thoughts of theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking on 10 major scientific and philosophical debates, including whether a deity exists, whether intelligent life exists in space, and whether humans should seek out a new home outside of Earth.

In The Big Short (2010), journalist Michael Lewis traces the stories of a handful of misfit investors who predicted the 2008 financial crisis. In the parlance of Wall Street, to “short” something is to bet against an investment or company through the purchase of a complex high-finance product.... (Disclaimer: This is NOT the original book. If you’re looking for the original book, it is available from Amazon and Audible.)