BOOKSHELF: Fascinating Books for Summer Reading

Compiled by Jamie H. Vaught

KySportsStyle.com Magazine

Updated July 3, 2026

--Apple: The First 50 Years by David Pogue (Simon & Schuster, $50) reveals the iconic company’s entire life story: how it was born, nearly died, was born again under Steve Jobs, and became, under CEO Tim Cook, the most valuable company in the world. The 596-page hardcover, which includes full-color photographs, features new facts that correct the record and illuminate its subversive culture and fresh interviews with the legendary figures who shaped Apple into what it is today. While the volume is not an authorized history, Apple did grant the author access to its archives and offered interviews with 150 key people who made the journey, including Steve Wozniak, John Sculley, Jony Ive, and many current designers, engineers, and executives. Pogue is a seven-time Emmy Award winner for his stories on CBS Sunday Morning and he has written about Apple for his entire career, including 13 years as a Macworld columnist and 13 more as tech columnist for The New York Times.

--Ain't Nobody's Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton by Martha Ackmann (St. Martin's Press, $30) is a remarkable biography of an American icon, tracing from her impoverished childhood in the Smoky Mountains to international stardom as a singer, songwriter, actress, businesswoman, and philanthropist. Dolly has exceeded everyone's expectations except her own. During a time when the Beatles set the standard for contemporary music, Dolly appeared on a local country music television show that her high school classmates thought was pure compone. The day after her high school graduation, she boarded a bus for Nashville, but record executives turned her down. One said her voice sounded like a screech owl. Eventually, her success came at a price. Shunned by many in Nashville who saw her ambition as a betrayal of her country music roots, Dolly became the target of death threats, lawsuits, and a judge who threatened to throw her in jail. She nearly collapsed on-stage and later succumbed to depression that pushed her to the brink, but she refused to be counted out and came back stronger than ever developing Dollywood, the amusement park that became the economic engine of East Tennessee, and founding the Imagination Library that provides free books to children around the world. The 290-page hardcover also features never before seen photographs and unearthed documents shedding light on her family's difficult life.

--The Education of a Senator: From JFK to Trump by Lamar Alexander (Post Hill Press, $37.50) is a behind-the-scenes story of the last 60 years of American politics, told with purpose and humor by a political legend who worked with 10 presidents, made deals with both Obama and Trump, and believes that serving in public office is the best way to help the largest number of people and to keep our Republic from falling apart. A three-term U.S. senator who started in JFK’s Justice Department, worked in the Nixon White House, turned down serving as GOP Watergate counsel and as Ford’s campaign manager, walked for six months across Tennessee to become governor, lost two runs for president, and served as a university president and education secretary. Over nearly six decades, Alexander saw the public arena from as many angles as any living American. He provides insider portraits of the 10 presidents he worked with. Filled with wry humor and wisdom, the new book is also for Americans who are hungry for optimism and leadership.

--The Capitol: The Surprising Biography of an American Building by Brian Jay Jones (Dutton, $35) is an in-depth exploration of history of the US Capitol building and the incredible personalities who built it, full of dramatic stories and surprising facts; a powerful testament to what the Capitol has meant to generations of Americans and how it has endured. The 452-page hardcover is a unique biography of a place, encompassing architecture, history, politics, popular culture, and race in a fascinating exploration of our Capitol's secret past, one rife with political intrigue, assassination attempts, thwarted bombings, and gunmen on the run. Spanning three centuries of American history, the book focuses on iconic and notable names and personalities from the past—from George Washington to Davy Crockett to Ronald Reagan—as well as countless colorful characters readers may not have heard of before, with a focus on restoring the narratives of enslaved people and recognizing their contributions.

--A Pen to Change the World: The Life of J.K. Rowling by Solomon Schmidt (Skyhorse Publishing, $49.99) is a dramatic unauthorized biography revealing dark family secrets hidden in Rowling's bestselling work. Joanne "Jo" Rowling is known to readers around the world as J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling book series of all time. The creator of Harry Potter was once a single mother writing in cafés and living on welfare, who experienced a fairytale-like rise from poverty and obscurity to becoming one of the richest and most influential women in the world. The 518-page hardcover is based on exclusive interviews with Rowling's relatives and remarkable research. Schmidt, who also wrote Legal Gladitor: the Life of Alan Dershowitz, spent years studying Rowling's life and books. He spoke with her reclusive ex-husband in Portugal, along with relatives who shared substantial memories and never-before-seen photographs of Rowling and her family. During the course of his extensive interviews and research, the author discovered dark family secrets that have remained concealed until now. Schmidt lives near Buffalo, N.Y.

--Last Branch Standing: A Potentially Surprising, Occasionally Witty Journey Inside Today's Supreme Court by Sarah Isgur (Crown, $32) is a fascinating glimpse into the inner workings of the Supreme Court. Most people get the Supreme Court all wrong. A smattering of high-profile decisions have popularized a simplistic idea of the Court and its justices. Yes, six of them were appointed by Republicans, and only three by Democrats. So, how does that 6-3 conservative majority explain why in the 2024-25 term, conservative Brett Kavanaugh was more likely to agree with liberal Elena Kagan than conservative Neil Gorsuch? The author takes readers on a deep dive inside the Supreme Court: how cases land at the Court’s doorstep, which justices attend clerk happy hours (and which ones even bother showing up to the office), why conservatives already have buyer’s remorse about Amy Coney Barrett, and how the whole judicial system is kind of a constitutional anomaly. Blending irreverent humor and incisive commentary, the 390-page hardcover goes underneath the robes—and shows us what we need to do to preserve the rule of law amid dicey times in this little self-governing experiment we’ve been running for the last 250 years.

--Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad... and How Great Companies Stay Great by Eric Ries (Authors Equity, $32) is a new business book, offering a bold and urgently needed rethink of how organizations are built—and why success itself so often turns companies against the people and principles that made them worth building in the first place. For decades, we've explained corporate corruption as a problem of bad actors, moral weakness, or isolated scandals. But that story doesn't match reality. Again and again, companies founded with strong ideals drift toward short-term thinking, extractive behavior, and mission abandonment—often despite the best intentions of the people inside them. The 405-page hardcover argues that this failure is not primarily ethical. It is structural. As organizations grow, the systems that govern them—ownership, incentives, charters, accountability, and decision-making—quietly reshape behavior. When those systems are poorly designed, even principled leaders are pushed toward outcomes they never wanted. Success itself becomes a form of financial gravity, bending companies away from their original purpose. Drawing on two decades of work with founders, CEOs, investors, and institution builders, the author shows how these failures arise predictably—and how they can be prevented. He reframes corporate governance not as bureaucracy or compliance, but as a creative and strategic act at the heart of building enduring, mission-controlled companies.

--The Lightning-Fast Field Guide to the Bible: Your Compact Companion for Exploring the Best Book Ever by Matt Whitman (Zondervan Books, $19.99) offers a quick and smart breakdown of each book of Scripture to help you discover "must-know" facts--who, what, where, when, and why--along with fresh and surprising takes on questions you didn't even know to ask. You want to understand the Bible better, but you don't need a huge commentary with hard-to-understand words. The 244-page paperback fills that gap by using concise, playful, and relatable language to tell you everything you want to know and more about the most influential document in history. Overall, this compact companion and quick-reference guide brings the Bible alive and helps you explore God's Word in ways you never thought possible. The author is creator and host of The Ten Minute Bible Hour and a longtime pastor with graduate degrees in theology and history.

--Autocrats vs. Democrats: China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder – The Former Ambassador's Bold Vision for Confronting Authoritarian Threats by Michael McFaul (Mariner Books, $35) is a bold look at how the autocracies of China and Russia are challenging the current global order, and how America’s future depends on successfully confronting this threat. The rise of China, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the reelection of President Donald Trump have reinforced a gloomy yet growing consensus: the old global order has ended, and a new Cold War has begun. The 534-page hardcover, written by the former ambassador to Russia, argues that today’s challenges require fresh thinking, not constrained by distant memories of the Cold War or the nationalist dreams of MAGA. One of the preeminent thinkers on American foreign policy for decades, the author combines in-depth historical analysis with a forward-looking perspective, crafting a new grand strategy for America in this age of global disorder.

--The Kissinger Tapes: Inside His Secretly Recorded Phone Conversations by Tom Wells (Oxford University Press, $34.99) is a detailed collection of transcripts of Henry Kissinger's secretly recorded phone conversations from his time in President Nixon administration that touch on every important issue of Kissinger's day and provide a sweeping view of his era. Kissinger is unquestionably one of the most powerful foreign policy makers in American history. A remarkably influential academic during his long tenure at Harvard, Kissinger became Nixon's National Security Advisor in 1969 and Secretary of State in 1973. Like Nixon, Kissinger left a trail of secretly recorded evidence in his wake. Kissinger began taping in 1969, two years before Nixon did in 1971, and he continued taping for over three years after Nixon's recording system was dismantled in 1973. The author draws on his expertise in the Nixon era to provide carefully selected, edited, and annotated transcripts of Kissinger's phone conversations, which chronologically highlight the most momentous crises and controversies of the era. They not only provide context and many revelations on Kissinger's role in numerous events but also throw his personality, character, and checkered record into sharp relief. The transcripts reveal Kissinger's opinions and attitudes on important policy matters and his complex relationship with Nixon, as well as the many battles he fought with other administration officials and his subtle manipulations of well-known journalists.

--Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter by Neil deGrasse Tyson (Simon Six / Simon & Schuster, $26) is an entertaining book written by America's favorite astrophysicist who provides a practical guide in dealing with Alien visitors, an exploration of how it might happen, and a cultural history of our fascination with extraterrestrials. The author wrote, “Ever since childhood, I’ve wanted to be abducted by Aliens.” Take Me to Your Leader is the culmination of a lifetime of fascination, speculation, and the amassing of scientific data about the possibility of Aliens visiting Earth. Drawing on a wealth of depictions from history, literature, pop culture, and film, Tyson applies the universal laws of physics to make the case for what Aliens might look like, act like, how they might travel through the universe to reach us, and what they might think of us upon arrival. Should such an event occur, Tyson further offers useful etiquette tips for your first close encounter.

--Bernie for Burlington: The Rise of the People's Politician by Dan Chiasson (Alfred A. Knopf, $35) covers the early days and rise of the young Bernie Sanders, the one-of-a-kind visionary who changed American politics forever. The author, a Burlington, Vermont native who had a ringside seat to Sanders’s development, reconstructs the rise of an American icon. With in-depth reporting and remarkable remembered scenes, the 570-page hardcover tracks a faint political signal that traveled from the Vermont communes, hardluck neighborhoods, traditional businesses, and county fairs to the town meetings and ballot boxes of his home state, and finally to Washington, D.C., to transform our national political landscape. Well-known for his democratic socialist platform, Sanders is currently a U.S. Senator from Vermont.

--An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln by Lois Romano (Simon & Schuster, $31) is a fascinating biography about Mary Todd Lincoln, one of the most misunderstood and vilified First Ladies in American history. Mrs. Lincoln was at the center of politics at a time when society’s expectations for women were rigid and circumscribed. The product of Southern aristocracy, she grew up among an influential clan of politicians and elites who founded Lexington, Kentucky. Lincoln's early exposure to the male-dominated world of politics instilled in her a keen political acumen and a fierce ambition. Proclaiming as a child that she was destined to become the wife of a president, she played a crucial role in boosting her husband to greatness. But her hopes for a triumphant experience at the pinnacle of power were lost to the Civil War and unfathomable family tragedies. Still, she persevered. The author, who once wrote for the Washington Post, draws on hundreds of archives, letters, and memoirs to provide the most complete portrait of a brilliant and flawed woman.

--The 12-Week MBA: Learn the Skills You Need to Lead in Business Today by Bjorn Billhardt and Nathan Kracklauer (Balance, $19.99) offers practical tips for managers and aspiring business leaders. The book is based on a business leadership program taught to professionals at global Fortune 500 companies. Getting an MBA takes time and money, making it inaccessible to many people who want to take charge in the business world. The 12-Week MBA offers an alternative way to learn business essentials, with a unique premise — business leaders in any industry, any function, and at any level need the same core knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively manage and lead.

--The Way of Excellence: A Guide to True Greatness and Deep Satisfaction in a Chaotic World by Brad Stulberg (HarperOne, $29.99) offers a practical guide to realizing our potential amid the chaos of modern life and learning how to reconnect to ourselves by focusing on the pursuit of excellence. Whether you are practicing guitar, pushing your limits at the gym, leading a team, honing a craft, studying medicine, or giving yourself the time and space to finally write that book, the pursuit of excellence is a big part of what makes life worth living — and it is for all of us. The author redefines excellence -- not as a finish line to cross, but as an ongoing process of growth and becoming that allows us to reach our fullest potential wihle staying deeply connected to our values and what truly matters.