Lessons learned from my eclectic reading of late

I’ve always believed that reading is more than entertainment—it’s a front-row seat to other people’s ideas, failures, gambles, brilliance, and blind spots. A good book can reframe how we see decisions, power, ambition, or even the quiet forces shaping history.

This is my fourth eclectic round-up of books that I’m reading, thinking about, and recommend. These are great to share with others, gift to a future leader, and of course, read yourself.

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know that I’m as much of an avid listener as I am an avid reader. If I’m not in a hurry to read something, I find it on Libby, the library’s app. Otherwise, I go with Audible. I’m doing a lot of driving these days, and listening to a book is a great way to pass the time as I travel from one place to another.

Lately, I’ve been leaning toward nonfiction and stories rooted in business, politics, and history.

Spanning decades and industries, the books on this list share a common thread: human motivation—why do people do what they do? Why do people pursue power? Why do they double down on bad bets? Why do they follow visionaries into disaster? Why do they walk away? Or stay.

Here are six books that stayed with me long after I finished them.

~Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s Astonishing Life of Power, Seduction, and Intrigue by Sonia Purnell

~Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke

~Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

~Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon by William D. Cohan

~Dead in the Water: A True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and a Global Maritime Conspiracy by Matthew Campbell

~For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug by Nathan Vardi

(Interested in my previous lists? Find all three of them on Kathbern Management’s blog page. Look here,  here, and here.)

1. Kingmaker: Pamela Harriman’s path to power

This biography follows Pamela Harriman, Winston Churchill’s daughter-in-law, whose personal charm and strategic social maneuvering opened doors in diplomatic and political circles.

During the Second World War, she played a quiet but influential role courting American diplomats before the U.S. formally joined the war. These were relationships that supported Churchill’s push for American involvement.

It’s a story of soft power and how persuasion, proximity, and personal leverage can have just as much of an impact as an elected position.

2. Quit: Knowing when to walk away

Written by a professional poker champion, Quit is a counterpoint to “perseverance-at-all-costs” thinking.

The book unpacks sunk-cost bias, which is the irrational belief that we must continue because we’ve already invested time or money. Whether in careers, relationships, or card games, quitting can be strategic, rational, and liberating.

It’s a practical reminder: sometimes folding is the smartest move.

3. Bad Blood: The rise and collapse of Theranos

Elizabeth Holmes built Theranos, a company that claimed to be able to use one drop of blood for multiple tests, into a multi-billion-dollar biotech juggernaut despite technology that didn’t work.

Supposedly seasoned executives, politicians like Henry Kissinger, and sophisticated investors were seduced by promise, charisma, and urgency. Even insiders who raised alarms were dismissed.

I found this a jaw-dropping case study in ambition, deception, and willful blindness.

4. Power Failure: The story of General Electric’s rise and fall

General Electric once symbolized American industrial excellence.

This corporate biography traces the company’s origins, its meteoric growth under Jack Welch, and the unravelling that followed. With anecdotes—including the CEO traveling with two private jets—it illustrates how hubris, scale, and complacency can undermine even the most iconic brands.

A sobering lesson in corporate governance and leadership succession, it reminded me a lot of Red Roulette by Desmond Shum, which I recommended in 2022. Red Roulette was an insider’s look at rising to great wealth in China that chronicled the perils of flying a little too close to the sun.

5. Dead in the Water: Crime, insurance, and the high seas

This narrative plunges into the shadowy world of shipping insurance.

It tells the story of an oil tanker that was attacked by pirates in July 2011. Or was it? This non-fiction account of the insurance investigation that followed features mysterious deaths at sea, suspicious losses, and international conspiracy.

Dark, gripping, and full of twists, this book is grounded in real-world stakes but reads like a thriller.

6. For Blood and Money: A pharma-industry race with everything at stake

A gripping business narrative and scientific thriller about what it takes to bring a wonder drug that will save countless lives to market.

This is another biotech saga that follows a small team of scientists from California who created a once-in-a-million cancer drug…twice. It reveals the challenges inherent in bringing a new drug to market and examines the intersection of venture capital and medicine.

A thoughtful look at risk, ethics, and the cost of life-changing drugs, as well as how scientific uncertainty, profit pressure, and personal ambition are shaping the race for medical innovation.

Honourable mentions that explore systems of control, secrecy, and exploitation across vastly different eras and contexts

These titles didn’t make the main list but sparked reflection and deserve recognition for readers interested in history, crime, or tech:

• The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
• Dark Wire by Joseph Cox
• Angel Makers by Patti McCracken

Why these stories matter

I gravitate toward biographies and history for a reason.

Technologies change, but people don’t. Our impulses, fears, ambition, and blind spots echo across centuries.

Each of these stories reveals patterns that shape both past and present:

*how people rationalize bad decisions

*how power accumulates quietly

*how systems reward confidence more than truth

*how history repeats itself

*how quitting isn’t failure—just strategy

If reading teaches anything, it’s that the most unbelievable stories are often true.

Larry Smith is the founder and president of Kathbern Management, an executive search firm based in Toronto. Kathbern helps companies find the executives and senior managers who not only have the experience and credentials to fulfill their responsibilities, but also have the emotional and “fit” requirements that will enable them to be successful in a particular environment. Kathbern simplifies the process and, through deep research, brings more and better candidates forward than would ever be possible through a do-it-yourself passive advertising campaign.

 Learn more at www.kathbern.com, or contact us today for a free consultation about your key person search. Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.