What the Rich Are Reading This Summer

Posted: 10 Jun 2011 03:12 PM PDT

Every June, J.P. Morgan Private Bank sends its rich clients its official "Summer Reading List," a collection of 10 books specifically chosen to appeal to the tastes and preoccupations of the wealthy. It is like a virtual book club for billionaires, or a plutocrats' box-set designed to be read on the sun deck of your Feadship off the Amalfi coast, or in the quiet shade of your Hamptons hammock.

: Associated Press

These books won't make you rich (the target audience is already rich). But the reading list has become hugely popular with J.P. Morgan clients looking for curated ideas. And if you want to know what the rich will be reading this summer and chatting about over cocktail parties, here is the full list, with blurbs from J.P. Morgan.

The Corner Office: Indespensable and Unexpected Lessons from CEOs on How to Lead and Succeed by Adam Bryant.

Adam Bryant, an editor at The New York Times who writes the paper's popular "Corner Office" column on CEOs, distills the wisdom of 75 CEOs on how to hire, how to build teams, how to identify talent and manage through a crisis. The WSJ's Alan Murray, in his review of the book, said “Corner Office” offers "insight into the most important challenge of corporate leadership—creating a shared vision that will motivate people to give their best.”

The Startup Game: Inside the Partnership Between Venture Capitalists and Entrepreneurs by William Draper III. With there generations of venture capitalists in his family, Draper details the inner workings of Silicon Valley-based venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.

America’s Medicis: The Rockefellers and Their Astonishing Cultural Legacy by Susan Loebl.

John D. Rockefeller’s “quiet hobby” started with collecting Chinese porcelains and grew into endowing major building projects. Loebl chronicles the Rockefeller family’s vast collecting and funding reach, and their continued legacy.

On China by Henry Kissinger

Over the past 40 years, Henry Kissinger helped shape China’s modern relations with the West. The former secretary of state brings knowledge and professional expertise to this account of China’s approach to diplomacy, strategy and political negotiations in recent times.

Feast for the Senses: A Musical Odyssey in Umbria by Lin Arison, Diana Stoll and Neil Folberg

This book follows Arison, the widow of Carnival Cruise founder Ted Arison, and Tilson Thomas (who together with Lin Arison co-founded the Miami Symphony Orchestra) as they explore the food, soundsand beauty of Umbria. The book includes three accompanying DVDs.

Little Bets: How Breakthrough Ideas Emerge from Small Discoveries by Peter Sim

From entertainers to top enterprises, Little Bets explores how a path of focused, quick wins can drive new thinking and innovative offerings to achieve breakthrough results and transform businesses.

She Walks in Beauty: A Woman’s Journey Through Poems by Caroline Kennedy

Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the former president, assembles some of her favorite poems by Elizabeth Bishop, Edna St. Vincent Millay, W.B. Yeats and others.

The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life by Howard S. Friedman and Leslie R. Martin

Friedman and Martin tap research dating back to 1921, to explore why some Americans are healthy and others are not. They offer insights to leading a long, healthy life—debunking long-held myths and popular ideas.

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff

This book takes readers beyond popular portrayals of the famous leader for an in-depth understanding of the woman, her kingdom and the influence she exerted in Egypt and the ancient world at large.

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Family’s Century of Art and Loss by Edmund De Waal

This memoir focuses on a unique collection of ornamental Japanese carvings known as netsuke. The author, a renowned London-based ceramics artist, traces his family’s history from Odessa to Paris, Vienna and beyond, with the heirloom collection as a springboard.

What other books do you think the rich might be reading this summer?