12 books for bankers this summer

July 24, 2018 3:28 PM

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We get it. You can't read American Banker all the time (even if you should). But whether you're lounging on the beach sipping mojitos, hiking the Smoky Mountains, or, like many of us, taking a breather from household chores on your staycation, you still need an escape from time to time. We asked around, and compiled a list that should get you through any dry spells. Take a look, and let us know in the comments below if you've got any recommendations that we missed.

Digital Human: The Fourth Revolution of Humanity Includes Everyone

If you're a traditional banker, reading Chris Skinner's "Digital Human" will feel like a SoulCycle kick-your-butt spin class — it will gut your view on traditional banking and likely freak you out on the long list of things your institution ought to do, including dumping your legacy core system. But you will walk away healthier and it will leave you with a wonderful possibility on how tech can rethink financial services into something that benefits everyone. Skinner has traveled the world and is one of the few that writes about fintech in an informed, funny and no-BS banker kind of way. Not only will you learn where the word "harlot" was originated but you will uncover the direction banks are going; namely, transforming from control freaks into open banks in a world destined to let people share their financial data where and when they want.

— Mary Wisniewski, deputy BankThink editor and tech reporter for American Banker

The Gene: An Intimate History

I grabbed "The Gene," by Siddhartha Mukherjee, at a random airport bookstore hoping to garner some intelligence about my sister's recent cancer diagnosis. I was blown away! "The Gene" is a riveting examination of our building blocks and the secrets they hold. The author, who is also a physician, biologist and an oncologist, guides you on a journey through human understanding of and influence on our genetic makeup as well as disease, life expectancy and our legacy to future generations. Dr. Mukherjee weaves his personal story of mental illness with impactful technical information and research from around the world. The 600-ish pages usher you into great hope for the future as the rapidly revealing discipline of genetics leads to healthier, longer lives for us all.

— Jill Castilla, president and CEO of Citizens Bank of Edmond

Breaking Digital Gridlock: Improving Your Bank's Digital Future by Making Technology Changes Now

For bankers seeking to help their organizations innovate, John Best's new book is an ex-banker's take on all the things financial organizations do that get in their own way. It's full of real-life anecdotes and suggestions for getting past that "default is no" mentality and the cultural barriers that invariably crop up.

— Penny Crosman, editor-at-large for American Banker

The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds

In his most recent book, Michael Lewis explores the groundbreaking insights of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, who together helped develop the field of behavioral economics. Even those who are familiar with the two Israeli psychologists, including their research on human judgment and decision-making, will take away something from this book. Lewis doesn't just explore their contributions to psychology and economics, he also presents a nuanced history of their lives, with a look at their incongruous personalities and their unusual friendship.

— Victoria Finkle, BankThink editor at American Banker

How The Other Half Banks: Exclusion, Exploitation and the Threat to Democracy

Mehrsa Baradaran, a law professor at the University of Georgia, published this book in 2015, but it has become more timely in the three years since. The book chronicles how poorer, less creditworthy and less profitable customers have been cut loose by banks and left to rely on payday lenders, check cashers and other high-cost financial providers. It advocates for postal banking, an idea with many critics in the banking industry, but a lot of appeal on the populist left. Baradaran has recently advised Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a likely presidential candidate in 2020, on postal banking. Bankers would do well to familiarize themselves with her ideas.

— Kevin Wack, reporter for American Banker

Bank 3.0: Why Banking Is No Longer Somewhere You Go But Something You Do

One of the most acclaimed industry-related books, Brett King's "Bank 3.0" is quite enlightening in helping you understand the disruption of many traditional banking models.

— Anthony Stich, chief operating officer, Advicent

Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin: From Money That We Understand to Money That Understands Us (Perspectives)

For bankers seeking to understand digital currency, Dave Birch's "Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin" is an insightful, witty look at how money has changed over the ages.

— Penny Crosman, editor-at-large for American Banker

Radical Markets: Uprooting Capitalism and Democracy for a Just Society

Creative destruction, the force of incessant innovation at capitalism's core, gets taken to an extreme in this work of political economics. In effect, the authors place under review the basic principles of capitalist democracy (private ownership of land, one person-one vote) with an eye to unleashing growth and prosperity, along with a modicum of income redistribution. By no means a practical road map, this alternately refreshing and frustrating thought experiment from Eric A. Posner & E. Glen Weyl is a worthwhile reminder that even the most fundamental economic ideas are worth reconsideration from time to time.

— An avid American Banker reader

Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life

Bankers will find no lessons about profit-making or the economy in this memoir about a writer's infatuation with surfing. But they will find a vivid look at how dedication to a craft — in this case, catching waves — can offer new ways of looking at the world. William Finnegan, a staff writer at The New Yorker, recounts his lifelong obsession with the sport, which began during his childhood in Hawaii and ultimately took him to beaches across the globe.

This book got a lot of buzz when it was published in 2015, and won a Pulitzer Prize the following year. I read it a few months ago and loved it. You'll never look at waves the same way again.

— Kristin Broughton, reporter for American Banker

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

Colin Woodard, a journalist, explores an intriguing alternate history of the United States. What if instead of being one nation indivisible, the country has been shaped by a number of competing regional cultures that remain apparent to this day? The author walks through the history of the different regions he's observed — and the cultural, political and economic clashes they've had with each other since the days of the early settlers. The book offers a thoughtful lens for considering the country's past as well as its future.

— Victoria Finkle, BankThink editor at American Banker

The Bullies of Wall Street: This Is How Greed Messed Up Our Economy

Sheila Bair is best known as the former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. during the financial crisis, who later penned an excellent look-back at the meltdown in "Bull by the Horns" (also well worth a look).

But she later turned that same experience into a book for young adults featuring stories of people whose lives were upended by the crisis. Instead of offering my own review, I gave the book to my 12-year-old son to read. Here's what he said:

"They are fictional stories but represented what really happened. I liked all the stories and references. She very deliberately made it easier to understand for kids. It was really good."

And, for the record, the book provoked some interesting questions at the dinner table, including why former Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner tried to get Bair fired, and some surprisingly forceful views on how Citigroup was nearly allowed to buy the failing Wachovia Corp. ("It should not have bought a bank because it was also failing," my son said. Bair has said previously that Citigroup should have been "led to the pillory".)

The story that resonated the most? A story about a woman who took out a deceptive mortgage to pay for her cancer treatment, and how the family ended up on the hook for it following her death. "They took advantage of a dying woman; that seems really unfair."

(His younger sister also was struck by the book, pointing to a story in which a woman tried to obtain a mortgage modification. "But they kept saying, 'We lost your papers.' They weren't even helping her.")

— Rob Blackwell, editor-in-chief at American Banker

The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History

OK, we've got to level with you: None of us here at American Banker has read this yet. But c'mon — that title alone! Still, if you need something stronger to go by, here are a couple of reviews:

Wall Street Journal reporter David Enrich's "impressive reporting and writing chops are on full display in 'The Spider Network' … . From the start, the book reads like a fast-paced John le Carré thriller, and never lets up."
— William D. Cohan, New York Times Book Review

"David Enrich is a masterful financial story teller using real time communications from the central figures. He weaves into his narrative not only what happened, but how it happened and why. Michael Lewis has a new rival."
— Sheila Bair, former chair of the FDIC and author of the best-seller "Bull by the Horns"

And if you'd like to hear the author talk about it, he does so here in The Wall Street Journal's MoneyBeat podcast.