New Book Releases | March 24, 2026
Books can take you deep inside yourself and help you get more comfortable in your own skin, and they can take you far outside of yourself to see the systems we live in from a new vantage point. Wherever you are and whatever you want to do next, there is likely a book that can be carried on your journey to help navigate the way forward.
This week, the focus of the books we're highlighting ranges from the individual to the interpersonal, and from the entrepreneurial to economic history.
First up, psychologist Sergi Rufi offers "a poetic and scientific reappraisal of society's obsession with fitting in" and celebrates our uniqueness. Then, behavioral scientist Julia Minson explains why "displaying receptiveness to opposing views" is "essential for everything from navigating decisions at home to running innovative and agile companies to governing democratic societies." Keeping the lens on that wider aperture, historian Trevor Jackson examines how capitalism became the "dominant way of organizing life" on Earth and whether it has to remain so. And finally, the Cofounder & Chief Culture Officer of the James Beard Award-winning Chai Pani Restaurant Group "explores resilience, innovation, and how to create a strong culture in any workplace."
All four are available online and on local bookshop shelves today. Interested in buying multiple copies for your team, book club, or employee resource group? Follow the links below to purchase the books, or check out our services for bulk book buyers to learn more about how we can help.
Unless otherwise noted, all book descriptions are from the publisher.
The Beauty of Being Weird: A Psychologist's Guide to Living Guilt-Free by Sergi Rufi, published by Hanover Square Press
A rebellious and provocative take on what it means to be different, offering a way forward for anyone who wants to blaze their own path.
Do you feel like an outsider? Like a weirdo that doesn't fit in with what society considers "normal?" Have people ever told you you're too sensitive or too clever? If so, this book is for you. Psychologist Sergi Rufi provides you with tools to start living your life authentically, without blaming or shaming.
Through a poetic and scientific reappraisal of society's obsession with fitting in, Rufi presents a real reflection on what it means to be human, the root causes of suffering and above all, how to avoid the unhappiness of the mainstream. He invites us on a transformative journey which goes beyond good and evil, beyond blame and shame, where unabashed weirdness becomes a breeding ground for authenticity, justice, health, and beauty.
Get the life you've always wanted to live with this direct, practical guide, for readers of The Courage to Be Disliked and Don't Believe Everything You Think.
How to Disagree Better: The Secret to Less Conflict and More Influence by Julia Minson, published by Avery
In this "brilliant" (Arthur Brooks) and "both timely and timeless" (Adam Grant) book, pioneering Harvard Kennedy School professor and behavioral scientist Julia Minson reveals the counterintuitive secret to a life of less drama and more impact.
We are in a disagreement crisis. The average person would rather go to the dentist than have a twenty-minute conversation with someone that they strongly disagree with. Yet disagreement is both inevitable and essential for everything from navigating decisions at home to running innovative and agile companies to governing democratic societies.
In How to Disagree Better, Minson brings to bear her decades of research into understanding the psychology of disagreement and its relevance to negotiations, conflict resolution, and decision-making, revealing the hidden skill that all the best mediators and negotiators share: displaying receptiveness to opposing views.
The science shows that receptive individuals don’t just fight less, they also get more done—they are better decision-makers, better peacemakers, and yes, better influencers than the rest of us. Through original research and case studies, How to Disagree Better will show you why traditional persuasion strategies don’t work as well as you think they do, how you can bridge division and reach better outcomes simply by utilizing receptiveness strategies, and that disagreeing better is a skill all of us can learn to apply at home, at work, and with our neighbors.
The Insatiable Machine: How Capitalism Conquered the World by Trevor Jackson, W. W. Norton & Company
A concise, colorful, and convincing account of capitalism’s rise to global dominance.
Today, a vast majority of us live under the economic system called capitalism—it touches almost every aspect of our lives, and most people alive have never known another. Yet, a cursory look at the world around us reveals that things can’t stay this way forever: an economy built on infinite amassing and consumption of resources is at odds with a finite planet. How did this happen? As the economic historian Trevor Jackson argues in this powerful book, It wasn’t always capitalism, it didn’t have to be capitalism, and capitalism didn’t have to be this way.
With a firm grasp on history and economics and a keen eye for the telling anecdote, Jackson explains where capitalism came from, how it spread across the globe, and how it came to be the dominant way of organizing life. He traces capitalism’s development from the accidental construction of an international monetary system to the creation of banking, the emergence of a new form of slavery in the eighteenth century, fossil-fuel industrialization, and finally the global capitalist system spread by imperialism in the nineteenth century. Along the way, readers learn about the surprising role of Chinese mulberry trees, Dutch cheese, whale blubber, imperial gin and tonics, Spanish conquistadors, Mexican mine workers, and English bankers in the history and development of capitalism.
Full of memorable characters and lively vignettes as well as sweeping quantitative analysis and historical synthesis, The Insatiable Machine makes clear that capitalism is neither a natural, permanent, nor inevitable feature of human life but rather an economic system that has a history. And just as it was made by people, it can also be unmade by them.
Service Ready: A Story of Love, Restaurants, and the Power of Hospitality by Molly Irani, Scribner
Molly Irani, the visionary cofounder of the James Beard Award–winning restaurant Chai Pani, shares her passion for hospitality and story of building a thriving business that puts people first.
Growing up with parents who owned a restaurant, Molly understood the power of service but also had a keen understanding of the industry’s challenges. When her husband Meherwan wanted to open a restaurant that would serve the Indian street food of his childhood, Molly thought he was nuts. And yet, the couple turned this unlikely dream into a vibrant reality. Chai Pani would eventually win the James Beard Award for Most Outstanding Restaurant in America, and be named one of 50 Favorite Restaurants in America by The New York Times, and one of Southern Living’s 20 Friendliest Places in the South.
In Service Ready, Molly takes readers on their inspiring journey to the heights of culinary and professional success. While she and her husband learned their way into running a restaurant, Molly created a groundbreaking work culture with industry-leading retention rates. They have fostered a loyal team and legions of fans, and have since launched multiple Chai Pani locations, the fast-growing spin-off, Botiwalla, and the popular spice business, Spicewalla.
Molly shares the ten core principles that have shaped their path, offering essential lessons for any industry. She opens up about the challenges and rewards of being business partners with your life partner and shares how she and Meherwan learned to merge their strengths in order to thrive. Her story celebrates the power of female leadership in a traditionally male-dominated field and is a testament to the essential impact these strengths bring to businesses. As she reflects on navigating a recession, a global pandemic, and the devastating floods in Asheville, she explores resilience, innovation, and how to create a strong culture in any workplace.
