Best Independent Books March 26
We are delighted to recommend the following books from the independent publishing sector.
NON-FICTION
Lifting the Curtain: Memoirs of a CFO: His View on Global Connections, Courage to Decide, and Intercultural Leadership Style
by Jörg Kornblum
This is a candid and insightful journey through a global career shaped by culture, challenge and leadership. From his early days as a ski instructor to executive roles across Europe and Asia, the author shares his experiences of working and leading in unfamiliar environments. His story captures what it feels like to step into new cultures, navigate unspoken rules, and earn trust as an outsider.
Blending personal memoir with practical guidance, the book explores what it truly takes to lead across borders. Readers gain valuable insights into adapting leadership styles between Western and Asian contexts, building strong teams and respecting cultural differences as a foundation for success.
More than a career story, this book offers lessons on courage in decision-making, the importance of mentorship, and redefining success in an international life. It also sheds light on the realities of living abroad and the complex choices professionals face when deciding whether to stay or return home.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Biographies & Memoirs
ISBN: 978-3982819433
Author Inc: the entrepreneur's secret playbook to skyrocketing leads and sales
by self-publishing a book (Book One of the Entrepreneur Success series)
by Ray Brehm, Nathan Andersen et al.
Successfully integrating a book into a business strategy requires hard work. More than 30 successful entrepreneurs shared their insights, and the common thread is effort and dedication. The strategies in this book are effective, but only for those willing to put in the work.
The book shows how to build a list and make sales immediately, even without an existing list or product. It teaches 15 counterintuitive habits that successful entrepreneurs use to boost their daily success. It tells where to locate the best people for email and reader lists and how to bypass the lengthy trial-and-error process while building an online empire. It explains why no one should ever go it alone as an author and why advertising less might actually help grow a list faster.
The intention behind the book was to gather a unique group of entrepreneurs and delve into their success stories. It went a step further by asking them to outline what they would do if they had to start from scratch in 30 days. The results were astounding! What had started out as an interview anthology was transformed into a world-class handbook for entrepreneurs aiming to use a book as a primary business tool.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1732783058
InvestPreneur: real estate lessons for the determined investor (Book Two of the I Can. I Will. Watch Me! series)
by Kristin Cripps
This book lays out the proven track that the author — a former bartender and massage therapist — followed to become a real-estate mogul and a millionaire before her 30th birthday.
The author explains the first crucial step toward investing. She describes some out-of-the-box ways to save for the first down payment. She explores different types of loans available and discusses the common investments that can result in a loss. When deciding on properties, she points out those that should be avoided like the plague, but also shows the right way to fix up a fixer-upper. There is also guidance on when and why to sell properties and an insider’s scoop on what buyers are likely to be looking for.
The author has built an empire from the ground up. She’s spent years learning the ins and outs of real-estate investing. In this book, she shares her hard-earned knowledge so that others can follow her lead.
Honors: seen on CBS and NBC
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1943386857
Play Bold: how to win the business game through creative destruction
by Magnus Penker
In this book, the author, a world-renowned thought leader, details a modern approach to innovation. He finally and comprehensively answers the question why it is that some companies succeed where others — even those with great potential — fail.
The author teaches how to identify and mitigate the corporate antibodies that kill innovation. He outlines how to gain the capability and culture necessary to jump from S-curve to S-curve so as to avoid going down with the ship. He explains why playing it safe is the surest way to a slow death in today’s globalized economy.
The lifespan of companies is rapidly shrinking. This book points the way forward. Innovation at its best destroys what doesn’t work and builds something brilliant from the pieces. Everything we need is right in front of us. All we need to know is how to bring it together.
Honors: seen on CBS and Fox
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637350584
Captain’s Logbook: escaping nine to five for 24/7
by John De Silva
This book comprises recollections of a life spent at sea. Throughout this first-person account of the voyage, the author explores the exquisite miseries and vicissitudes of life on the unforgiving oceans of our planet.
The long, tiresome journey begins in January 2006. The author assumes command of Cape Agulhas and a misanthropic crew. Before the ship has completed its circuitous route along the African coastline, however, he must respond to everything from biblical infestations of cockroaches to engine failures, duplicity and deceit. Nearly every imaginable disaster that can occur on a seafaring vessel does occur. Yet the palpable tension of the narrative underscores the tenacity of the human spirit as it is tested by God and nature alike. Through optimism, faith and a relentless desire to make it back to his family, the author guides the vessel through one hardship after another.
This book offers a darkly humorous examination of man as he faces the best and the worst of his own kind. The colorful cast of characters includes barbarous sailors, corrupt port officials and a seasick cook with the culinary aptitude of a barnacle.
A vivid, practical and insightful look in the life of those who choose to navigate the open seas and earn a livelihood — Goodreads
Honors: seen on CBS and Fox
Category: Biographies & Memoirs
ISBN: 978-1637350560
In case you missed the books featured in the last newsletter, here they are again:
NON-FICTION
Persuasive Leadership: mastering the art of influence in business and in life
by Alinka Rutkowska, Buster Arnwine et al.
This book dives deep into the wisdom of top business visionaries who’ve harnessed the magic of persuasion to elevate their collaborative prowess and achieve unparalleled success.
In countless business endeavors, the difference between mediocrity and triumph hinges on ability to motivate and inspire. This book features the wisdom of more than 30 persuasive leaders who’ve mastered this craft. It describes the core elements of persuasive leadership: eight principles of persuasion and seven leadership traits.
True leaders understand that inspiring people isn’t about barking orders but about sparking a collective desire to excel. This book serves as a roadmap to infuse persuasion into people’s leadership DNA, supercharging their impact and propelling them towards their loftiest ambitions.
Rutkowska does a brilliant job of assembling the stories of leaders from a variety of fields who draw from their wealth of knowledge and experience to share some helpful nuggets of wisdom on leadership and everything it entails. — Readers’ Favorite
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637352595
The Learning Revolution: AI's influence on intelligence and education
by Sarah Chardonnens
Artificial intelligence is transforming the way we learn, think, and adapt. In this book, the author explores the intersection of AI and cognitive science, offering a groundbreaking perspective on how education must evolve in the digital age.
This book provides an innovative framework for understanding the synergy between AI and human cognition. The author examines the differences between human and artificial intelligence, introducing the Synapse model — a fresh approach to how the brain learns and adapts. She offers practical insights into how AI impacts sensory input, memory and emotional regulation, while exploring strategies to foster self-regulation, motivation and curiosity in AI-driven education.
Beyond learning techniques, the author delves into the ethical implications of AI in education, questioning its effects on creativity and cognitive diversity. As technology reshapes the way people acquire knowledge, this book empowers educators, students, and tech enthusiasts to rethink the future of learning.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Education
ISBN: 978-3952422076
Lead To Disrupt: 7 keys to success in the changing world
by Kumar R. Parakala
In a world transformed by disruptive forces such as rapid technological advances, geopolitical tensions, climate change and demographic shifts, the very foundations of business and society are being reshaped in unforeseen and unpredictable ways. Traditional leadership models are no longer sufficient to meet the demands of this dynamic environment.
The author asks what kind of leaders are needed to navigate the relentless pace of such changes. He delves into this urgent question, offering profound insights and practical strategies for thriving amidst constant transformation.
This book is a clarion call for a new paradigm of leadership — one that not only adapts to disruption, but also harnesses it to drive meaningful change. It provides essential tools to master the art of disruptive leadership.
Honors: seen on MarketWatch
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1637352618
Click To Transform: digital transformation game plan for your business
by Kevin L. Jackson
In this book, the author demonstrates how to catapult a business into the next decade of digital efficiency.
The author explains why cloud computing is integral for any modern business looking to develop an economic, operational and technology service-consumption model to meet the demands of hybrid information technology; to streamline outmoded internal/external processes to build an effective business ecosystem; to leverage IoT, big data analytics and 5G networks to deliver and capitalize on innovative business models; to leverage joint governance structures to strengthen cyber security and privacy; to reduce cost with convenient, ubiquitous network access to shared computing resources; to create the foundation necessary to transition a business to a hybrid information technology system; and to understand how composable infrastructures and multi-access edge computing can deliver a competitive edge.
For people who have considered cloud computing but weren’t sure how to get started, there’s never been a better time to be guided through the process by an experienced business executive.
Honors: seen on ABC, CBS and NBC
Category: Business
ISBN: 978-1943386901
FICTION
Zero Two Hundred Hours: a fact-based military thriller
by Eric Wentz
To avenge the death of his father, a Navy SEAL leads a counterstrike against Al-Qaeda.Saudi-trained Al-Qaeda operatives launch an attack on Camp Delta, the terrorist prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The assault mirrors not only the brutality and sophistication of the assault that killed his father but mimics the SEAL’s own tactics. Lieutenant Commander Grant Chisolm must outsmart Shakir Amir, the head of the fanatical movement.
Chisolm prepares his men to stop an attack he’s expecting to come from the water. When he realizes he’s about to clash with Al-Qaeda forces coming from all directions and wearing suicide vests — 2:00 a.m. is the scheduled detonation time — he crosses international borders and confronts Cuban forces as well as the terrorists. Hours later, his forces slaughtered, Amir, badly wounded, bleeding and delusional, floats off the coast of Guantanamo.
A veritable crash course in world history, military strategy and the psychology of warfare, the narrative is so fast-paced and electrically charged, it will leave readers’ hairs standing on the back of their necks.
Wentz teaches as well as mesmerizes... Intensity of writing pervades the pages of this stunning story. — Goodreads
Honors: seen on CBS and Fox
Recognition for Author: Bronze Medal, Thriller – Terrorist, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, 2013; Honorable Mention, Thriller – Terrorist, Readers’ Favorite Book Awards, 2017
Category: Mystery & Thriller
ISBN: 978-1637350553
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
