50 Books This Year's TED Speakers Think You Should Read

by Jessica Stillman for Inc.com TED's world-class speakers regularly recommend books for further reading from the stage, and this year's event, held recently in Vancouver, British Columbia, was no exception.Here's a small fraction of the truly gargantuan list:

1. Thank You for Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman; recommended by World Bank president Jim Yong Kim and Martin Ford. Amazon calls it "a field guide to the 21st century."
2. Success Through Stillness by Russell Simmons and Chris Morrow and; recommended by Serena Williams. The hip-hop mogul on meditation.
3. Lying by Sam Harris; recommended by Elon Musk. A neuroscientist argues that giving up white lies will improve your life and the world.
4. Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson; recommended by Tim Ferriss
5. Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo; recommended by surgeon and author Atul Gawande (and Barack Obama)
6. Our Kids by Robert D. Putnam; recommended by futurist Martin Ford. A best-selling examination of growing inequality.
7. Machines of Loving Grace by John Markoff; recommended by Martin Ford. Will machines help us, or will they replace us?

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