Time’s Most Influential People in 2023 and the Books They Read
Besides influencing our lives, they share their reading preferences
Last week, Time magazine published its 100 Most Influential People of 2023 list, with Artists, Innovators, Titans, Leaders, Icons, and Pioneers.
From Salma Hayek to Bob Iger, here are ten people included in Time’s list and the books they recommend. I selected various names and professions. Politicians, Entrepreneurs, Artists, Writers, and even a YouTube celebrity are on this list.
With biographies, novels, innovation, and some books included in The Ultimate “100 Books To Read Before You Die List”.
I hope you enjoy the book recommendations, which many titles I’m sure you’ve already read and are among your favorites.
Just click the links to see the complete list or any of the names mentioned in the list.
ARTISTS
1. Salma Hayek Pinault
Mexican actress, director, and producer recommend:
American Dirt By Jeanine Cummins
The book follows the story of Lydia, a journalist, and her 8-year-old son Luca, who were forced to cross Mexico towards the United States after her husband was murdered in Acapulco for exposing a drug trafficker in a journalistic book. It describes how thousands of immigrants travel by foot and train to the border.
ICONS
2. Yvon Chouinard
Rock climber, environmentalist, and Patagonia Company founder recommend:
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind By Yuval Noah Harari.
This book depicts the history, from the first humans to Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. The author explores how current events shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. It makes us wonder if we became happier as history unfolded, freed our behaviors from our ancestors, and if we could influence the centuries to come in four parts:
- The Cognitive Revolution (c. 70,000 BCE, when imagination evolved in Sapiens).
- The Agricultural Revolution (c. 10,000 BCE, the development of agriculture).
- The unification of humankind (c. 34 CE, the gradual consolidation of human political organizations towards one global empire).
- The Scientific Revolution (c. 1543 CE, the emergence of objective science).
3. Pedro Pascal
Chilean-born American actor who appeared in Game of Thrones, Narcos, and The Mandalorian recommends:
One Hundred Years Of Solitude By Gabriel Garcia Marquez
28 times. One of the twentieth century’s most daringly original works tells the story of seven generations of the Buendia family at Macondo, the town they built. A little town surrounded by mountains, where they live wars, disasters, and life’s wonders and miracles. A microcosm of Columbian life, its secrets are hidden, encoded in a book, and only Aureliano Buendia can unravel its enigmas and reveal its enigmatic fate.
4. Salman Rushdie
Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie, an Indian-born British-American novelist, recommends:
The Lord of the Rings By J. R. R. Tolkien.
“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.” The most remembered paragraph of one of the most beloved epic high-fantasy novels. Set in Middle-earth, a place in a distant time in the past. The story is a sequel to Tolkien’s children’s book The Hobbit and developed into a much more extensive work, which became the theMiddle-earths trilogy.
PIONEERS
5. Sam Altman
Entrepreneur, investor, co-founder of Loopt, and current CEO of OpenAI recommends:
Zero to One Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future By Peter Thiel
We live in an age of technological dependence, distracted by mobile devices. There is no reason to limit your success to computers and IT. You can achieve it in any industry or business.
There are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. Zero to One shows how you can find new ways to develop your future endeavors.
6. MrBeast
Born Jimmy Donaldson, YouTuber and philanthropist, recommends:
Steve Jobs By Walter Isaacson
The authorized autobiography of American business entrepreneur and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Walter Isaacson, a former CNN and TIME editor who had previously written best-selling Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein biographies, wrote the book at Jobs’ request.
LEADERS
7. Anthony Albanese
Australia’s Prime Minister since 2022 recommends:
“That Deadman Dance” By Kim Scott
The book delves into the early encounters between Australia’s Aboriginal Noongars, European settlers, and American whalers. A young Noongar befriends the newcomers, but things shift in the colon, with ruined crops, injuries, and rare incidents.
The youngster must choose between the old world and his ancestors and the development brought by his settler pals, which might affect the colony and Australia forever.
8. John Biden
46th and current President of the United States recommends:
Ulysses by James Jones By James Joyce
The book captures a single day in the life of Dubliner Leopold Bloom, his friends Buck Mulligan and Stephen Daedalus, his wife Molly, and a scintillating cast of supporting characters. Pushing Celtic lyricism and vulgarity to splendid extremes with exuberant wordplay and earthy humor.
TITANS
9. Elon Musk
Born in South Africa, he founded SpaceX, and Tesla. The current Owner/CEO of Twitter recommends this book, among others (“12+ Books Elon Musk Recommends on His Twitter Account” ):
5. Our Final Invention Artificial Intelligence and the End of the Human Era By James Barrat.
According to this book, Artificial Intelligence (AI) could match and surpass human intelligence in the next decade. Big companies and government agencies worldwide invest much of their budget towards AI like never before.
Looking to achieve human-level intelligence to reduce costs, increase their market share, or create the ultimate weapon. But will these machines compete with humans in every field, or can we coexist and make them part of our lives, as we did with the automobile?
AI detractors say challenging fate is not a good idea since we might bite more than we can chew. Creating a Frankenstein cyber-monster so intelligent it would see humans as a threat to its existence.
INNOVATORS
10. Bob Iger
American media business executive and current CEO of The Walt Disney Company recommends:
Tender is the Night By F. Scott Fitzgerald
The fourth and final Fitzgerald completed novel, Tender Is the Night, is a semi-autobiographical published in 1934. The book, set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, depicts the story of a psychiatrist who marries one of his patients; as she slowly recovers, she exhausts his vitality until he disintegrates into drunkenness, failure, and anonymity as his wife Nicoleregainss her strength and independence.
Take Away
Love or hate them. No one can deny these people have changed how we live, think, or stream on TV.
From different places of origin, skin color, gender, or wealth, they are here to leave a mark on history and let us know what they read.
Economists, tech wizards, TV personalities, or writers who, besides publishing bestsellers, share our passion for reading.
No matter who they are, men and women alike have one thing in common, we are fascinated by their lives, achievements, failures, and successes.
“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.”
— Jane Goodall
© Copyright Jose Luis Ontanon, 2023
