This year’s list features 16 books covering topics including cultivating mental toughness, AI’s coexistence with humans, and the EV revolution. Perhaps surprisingly, it even includes coffee table books like Michael Petry’s MirrorMirror, showcasing reflective surfaces in art; Ian Wardropper’s The Fricks Collect exploring Gilded Age homes; and Mars, which compiled photographs from NASA’s archives. 

“Our focus was around the power of curiosity for this year’s list,” Darin Oduyoye, chief communications officer for JPMorgan asset and wealth management who also oversees the list, told CNBC. “You can think of it from a reflection standpoint or transformation standpoint.”

JPMorgan’s selection also explores themes of fulfilling careers, the future of the U.S. dollar, and how to break from deep-rooted work habits. Books from Melinda French Gates, “Iron Cowboy” athlete James Lawrence, and G9 Ventures’ Amy Griffin also pick the brains of successful people, offering up leadership lessons to readers. 

Gen Z could pick these books up too

The Wall Street giant has been running the list since 1999, compiling more than 1,000 recommendations from its client advisors annually, before a special committee whittles it down to the crème de la crème of literature.

And while anyone can enjoy JPMorgan’s list of good reads, this year Gen Alpha and Gen Z were taken into account, after wealthy patrons from its private investment arm said they craved guidance for their children who will eventually step into their shoes. 

“From our family office survey, what we heard loud and clear was that values are very important to the next generation,” Oduyoye said. 

“As they’re thinking about the adult leadership of the next generation for the family operating committee or business, they want to make sure these people are prepared.” 

With $84 trillion expected to trickle down to inheritors in the next two decades, young generations need to learn up as they step into wealth and power. 

It’s why self-improvement books dominate this year’s list. Oduyoye explained that these reads will help Gen Z and Gen Alpha navigate the moment they step into money and power.

“It’s about how to think about that from a psychological perspective as well, to make sure you’re balancing, not just the prosperity of wealth, but also the things that you can do to make impact both within your community and within your business,” he continued. 

The 16 books on JPMorgan’s summer reading list

• Life in Three Dimensions: How Curiosity, Exploration, and Experience Make a Fuller, Better Life by Shigehiro Oishi
• Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career by Suzy Welch 
• Reset: How to Change What’s Not Working by Dan Heath 
• The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward by Melinda French Gates
• Iron Hope: Lessons Learned from Conquering the Impossible by James Lawrence 
• The Tell: A Memoir by Amy Griffin
• Coming of Age: How Technology and Entrepreneurship are Changing the Face of MENA by Noor Sweid
• The Technological Republic: Hard Power, Soft Belief, and the Future of the West by Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska
• Inevitable: Inside the Messy, Unstoppable Transition to Electric Vehicles by Mike Colias
• Raising AI: An Essential Guide to Parenting Our Future by De Kai
• MirrorMirror: The Reflective Surface in Contemporary Art by Michael Petry
• The Fricks Collect: An American Family and the Evolution of Taste in the Gilded Age by Ian Wardropper
• Mars: Photographs from the NASA Archives by Nikki Giovanni, James L. Green, Emily Lakdawalla, Rob Manning, and Margaret A. Weitekamp
• Living With Flowers by Aerin Lauder
• The Values Compass: What 101 Countries Teach Us About Purpose, Life, and Leadership by Dr. Mandeep Rai
• Our Dollar, Your Problem: An Insider’s View of Seven Turbulent Decades of Global Finance, and the Road Ahead by Kenneth Rogoff