Books like The Right Stuff

01

Into Thin Air

Jon Krakauer · Memoir

Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer's firsthand account of the May 1996 Everest expedition that killed eight climbers in a single afternoon.

A kindred memoir read.

02

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Alfred Lansing · History

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton led twenty-seven men into the Weddell Sea on a ship called the Endurance with the goal of crossing Antarctica on foot.

A kindred memoir read.

03

The Soul of a New Machine

Tracy Kidder · Memoir

Tracy Kidder's account of the engineers at Data General Corporation who designed a new minicomputer under enormous competitive pressure in the late 1970s won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1982 and effectively invented the genre of technology-company narrative journalism.

Shares competition and technology with The Right Stuff.

04

Empires of Light

Jill Jonnes · History

Empires of Light is Jill Jonnes's history of the War of Currents — the late-nineteenth-century battle between Thomas Edison's direct-current electrical system and George Westinghouse's alternating-current system, with Nikola Tesla as the third figure whose genius made AC practical.

Shares competition and technology with The Right Stuff.

05

I Am Malala

Malala Yousafzai · Memoir

I Am Malala is the memoir of Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani activist who was shot by the Taliban on her school bus in October 2012 at age fifteen, and who survived to become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Both dig into courage.

06

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike

Phil Knight · Memoir

Shoe Dog is Phil Knight's account of the first two decades of Nike, from the $50 loan he borrowed from his father in 1964 to fund his first shipment of Japanese running shoes to the company's IPO in 1980.

Both dig into competition.

07

The Hiding Place

Corrie ten Boom · Memoir

Corrie ten Boom's memoir of her family's decision to hide Jewish people in their Haarlem home during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and of the arrest, imprisonment, and concentration camp ordeal that followed, has been continuously in print since its 1971 publication and is one of the most widely read Christian testimonies of the twentieth century.

Both dig into courage.

08

A Man on the Moon

Andrew Chaikin · History

A Man on the Moon is Andrew Chaikin's exhaustive narrative history of the Apollo program, from the first lunar orbit of Apollo 8 in 1968 through the final mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.

Both dig into courage.

09

American Gods

Neil Gaiman · Fantasy

American Gods opens with Shadow Moon, a man released from prison days early because his wife has died in a car accident.

Both dig into american mythology.

10

Blue Ocean Strategy

W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne · Business

Blue Ocean Strategy is Kim and Mauborgne's case that the most successful companies don't compete in existing markets by beating rivals at their own game — they create new market spaces where competition is irrelevant.

Both dig into competition.

11

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software

Charles Petzold · Science

Code is Charles Petzold's explanation of how computers work, built from first principles.

Both dig into technology.

12

Competitive Strategy

Michael E. Porter · Business

Competitive Strategy is Michael Porter's foundational framework for analyzing industries and developing competitive strategy.

Both dig into competition.