Best Independent Books August 21
We are delighted to recommend the following books from the independent publishing sector.
NON-FICTION
It Began in Africa: A Banker's Memoirs from the Heartland!
by Rizwan Haider
In this book, the author, an accomplished international banker, offers a compelling memoir that blends personal reflection with professional insight. This memoir is set against the vibrant backdrop of Africa, the author having moved there from his native Pakistan in 1979.
The author’s journey unfolds through evocative storytelling and sharp observations, revealing the continent’s cultural richness, historical depth and economic complexity. From bustling cities to remote villages, he explores Africa’s diverse communities, sharing stories shaped by resilience, tradition and transformation. He guides readers through the intricacies of African banking and finance, offering a rare insider’s view into a sector often overlooked yet vital to the continent’s progress.
This memoir captures the echoes of Cold War legacies, the enchantment of local myths and the pulse of innovation driving Africa’s future. The author’s narrative is both enlightening and entertaining — an invitation to see Africa not just through numbers and markets but through the lives and dreams of its people.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Biographies & Memoirs
ISBN: 978-1637353431
Resilience Under Fire: From Breakdown to Breakthrough
by Jochen Schwenk
This book is a bold and practical guide to transforming chaos into clarity, setbacks into success and fear into forward momentum. Drawing from high-stakes experiences in military intelligence, special operations and corporate crises at Fortune 500 companies, the author shares a proven framework for leading decisively and rising stronger.
This empowering book reveals how to identify a crisis and take swift, effective action. The author outlines mental models for navigating pressure, overcoming indecision, and making impactful decisions, whether time is scarce or abundant. He introduces innovative methods for thinking inside and outside the box to generate solutions that stand out, even in the most volatile situations. With expert insights and real-world scenarios, he shows how to transform stress into strategy. His step-by-step approach fosters resilience and confidence in the face of adversity, and equips readers to handle the unexpected with precision and strength.
Whether managing teams, steering a business, or facing personal upheaval, this book delivers the tools people need not only to survive, but to thrive. When everything feels uncertain, this is a blueprint for clarity, confidence and renewed purpose.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637353806
Business As UnUsual: How to Thrive in the New Renaissance
by Rick Yvanovich
This book outlines the mindsets, daily habits and skills required to break free from any ruts and get back in the business game. Action today determines success tomorrow.
In this book, the author shows how to organize for long-lasting success. He affirms coaching as a sought-after skill for the 21st century, and outlines its evolving landscape and its opportunities. He teaches the need to align internal purpose with external goals through mindset and habits. He describes unique assessments, tools and exercises to create a game plan. The objective is to establish critical skills for the next decade.
This book offers invaluable insights, practical strategies and actionable steps to adapt, overcome, and succeed in the new normal.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637352335
Stifled: Where Good Leaders Go Wrong
by James G. Wetrich
Great leaders and managers are not about control. They inspire, enable, and get the hell out of the way. A leader recognizes a person’s potential; a great leader helps develop that potential to its fullest.
This book explores the techniques of successful leaders and managers in detail, offering ideas and solutions to all the challenges facing today’s organizations. In the wake of a global pandemic, a blossoming worldwide social consciousness and a titanic shift in how business is done, the major issues of leadership and management have morphed, intensified, and multiplied.
Among the issues addressed by the author are management of millennials and Zoomers; diversity, equity and inclusion; the need for transparency; the new global workplace; and management of the quantum speed of business evolution.
Well-written with incredible strategies, useful information and actionable tactics… — GoodreadsHonors: seen on CBS
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637350386
Profit Generating Pipeline: A Proven Formula to Earn Trust and Drive Revenue
by Leslie Venetz
In today’s competitive B2B landscape, building a reliable pipeline isn’t just about hitting numbers; it’s about earning trust, leading with purpose, and creating sustainable growth. This book offers a no-nonsense, proven framework for sales leaders who want to drive consistent revenue without relying on outdated tactics or flashy gimmicks.
With a clear and actionable approach to outbound sales, the author helps teams generate qualified leads, improve buy-in, and establish repeatable processes that stand the test of time. At the heart of this guide is the “Earn the Right” mindset. That powerful philosophy fosters respect, builds credibility, and transforms how leaders engage with their teams and prospects. The author shows how to build a top-of-funnel pipeline that converts, implement scalable systems for long-term success, and lead with confidence in a way that inspires trust and performance.
This book is a roadmap for leading with purpose, selling with confidence, and growing with consistency. With practical insights and a refreshing dose of honesty, the author proves that selling with integrity isn’t just possible; it’s profitable.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 979-8998527036
In case you missed the books featured in the last newsletter, here they are again:
NON-FICTION
Success DNA: Mastering Persistence in Leadership and Life
by Alinka Rutkowska, Manuel R. Aragon, Golshan Barazesh et al.
This isn’t just a collection of inspirational stories — it’s a call to action for those who are ready to take ownership of their journey and lead with courage, clarity and compassion. In this book, 19 accomplished leaders talk about their journeys from adversity to achievement, revealing the personal qualities that fuel enduring success.
Through powerful storytelling, this anthology illuminates the pathways forged by persistence, resilience and adaptability, traits that transcend backgrounds and redefine what's possible. Each chapter in this book offers deep insights into the evolution of leadership, the strength found in overcoming personal and professional obstacles and the purpose discovered when ambition aligns with core values. From redefining success beyond status and wealth to transforming setbacks into stepping stones, these stories provide a roadmap for navigating today’s complex challenges.
Readers get to explore how effective leadership emerges through experience and reflection, how balance and fulfillment go hand in hand and how lasting impact is created when individuals lift others up. Rooted in real-world lessons and emotional truths, this is a guide to cultivating an authentic leadership style.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637353875
Finding A Perfect Audience: Cracking the Social Media Code
by John Edmonds Kozma
In this insightful guide, the author reveals proven strategies and timeless principles to help businesses attract and connect with the people who truly matter. Combining practical advice with innovative techniques, this book offers a universal approach to using social media content to build influence and collect meaningful data.
This book is a step-by-step roadmap to create powerful connections that can revolutionize business. The author teaches how to identify a perfect audience with clarity and precision and engage with it; to harness the law of attraction to bring in ideal customers or fans; and to master the tone and timing that resonate in today's digital world. The book provides valuable insights on leveraging demographics to unlock the full potential of a social media presence.
Complete with actionable advice and interactive exercises, this book empowers entrepreneurs, creatives, marketers and professionals to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637353691
Invest and Grow Rich: Achieve Financial Freedom with $500 a Month
by Sanjay Jaybhay
This book is a fact-based boot camp in personal finance. It offers easy-to-follow concepts that will appeal to those seeking approachable solutions to managing budgets and assets.
All concepts are explained with the example of investment in rental property but the same thinking can be used for any kind of investments or businesses. It’s money mastery for the middle class.
This book explains what actions self-made breadwinners routinely practice. Key money concepts followed by millionaires are revealed. It also contains essential guidance about the common mistakes everyone makes around good and bad debt. Other topics covered include understanding necessities, liabilities and assets, four-dimensional investment and supersize downsizing.
Honors: seen on ABC, CBS and NBC
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1943386659
Confessions of an Ironman: Swim, Bike, and Run to Self-Discovery
by David Solyomi
The value is in the journey, not the finish line! In this book, the author describes his hilarious (and grueling) adventure as he attempts to complete one of the world’s most demanding endurance races.
There might be a fine line between discipline and stubbornness, but no one told the author that! In this book, he recounts how training in preparation for the world’s most iconic endurance race helped him to face his deepest fears and to attain a quality of life entirely different from what he had previously known.
This is an epic telling of one man’s highs (and so very many lows) in the parallel journeys to peak physical fitness and deep self-discovery. The journey itself is the destination as it offers the possibility of the deepest self-discovery, and with that, the chance for a better life. The outcome, like the Ironman title, is just the icing on the cake.
Not only those who are into sports can benefit from Solyomi’s narrative but any type of reader looking for inspiration and a purpose for doing what they are doing at this point in life. — GoodreadsHonors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Self-Help
ISBN: 978-1637351079
Chaos by Design: Tales of Empowerment on the Path to Digital Transformation
by Kader Sakkari, Imran Karbhari and Trevor Macomber
This book explores the ways in which successful leaders motivate their teams, drive innovation, and propagate long-lasting digital transformations.
This book is a deliberately empowering tool that describes how to foster the leadership characteristics, mindset and company values required to implement a successful digital-first approach. The authors discuss how to harness the power of creative chaos to shift an organization from fragile to agile. They explain why the servant leadership style is uniquely suited to transformative processes.
In this book, the authors reveal how unyielding creative disruption promotes flexible, adaptable business models primed for growth. They explain how to position a business not just to survive a global crisis, but to thrive in the uncertainty; in other words, chaos by design.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637350041
We trust that your readers will enjoy our hand-picked selection.
For more bestselling and award-winning books from the independent publishing sector, please go here.
Warm regards,
Alinka Rutkowska
CEO, LibraryBub
