Now Reading
Alumni Books - Spring 2019
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs
John Doerr ’73
(Portfolio, 2018)
John Doerr, chairman of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, reveals how strategic goal-setting systems, called objectives and key results (OKRs), have helped tech giants, nongovernmental organizations and other enterprises grow and evolve far beyond their expectations. Objectives, Doerr explains, are the “WHAT is to be achieved” and key results are “HOW to get to the objective,” meaning that OKRs channel company efforts and coordination, creating a sense of purpose. Featuring a broad range of case studies with narrators such as Bono and Bill Gates, this book explores the reasons behind the effectiveness of OKRs and also offers practical tips to enhance performance, retention and satisfaction in the workplace. — Mariana Najera '21
A Fierce Glory: Antietam — The Desperate Battle That Saved Lincoln and Doomed Slavery
Justin Martin ’87
(Da Capo Press, 2018)
The battle was a draw, but it marked a turning point in the Civil War — and in U.S. history. As Justin Martin demonstrates in “A Fierce Glory,” the Battle of Antietam was a pivotal moment that helped turn the tide for the Union, pave the way toward ending slavery and ultimately unite a nation on the brink of permanent division. In a narrative that cuts back and forth between the field where America’s bloodiest battle was fought and the Oval Office, where the fate of the nation rested on its outcome, Martin focuses on Abraham Lincoln’s offstage part in the drama and the role Antietam played in America’s evolution. — J.L.
The battle was a draw, but it marked a turning point in the Civil War — and in U.S. history. As Justin Martin demonstrates in “A Fierce Glory,” the Battle of Antietam was a pivotal moment that helped turn the tide for the Union, pave the way toward ending slavery and ultimately unite a nation on the brink of permanent division. In a narrative that cuts back and forth between the field where America’s bloodiest battle was fought and the Oval Office, where the fate of the nation rested on its outcome, Martin focuses on Abraham Lincoln’s offstage part in the drama and the role Antietam played in America’s evolution. — Jennifer Latson
A Necessary Hero
G.W. Kennedy ’67
(Black Opal Books, 2018)
Set in the middle of World War II, “A Necessary Hero” tells the story of John Mackenzie “Mack” Simmons III, the one-eyed janitor and son of a powerful businessman. After his best friend, Tommy, dies in the war, Mack is drawn into the world of Chicago’s seedy underbelly as he discovers the criminal intrigues of Tommy’s family. While simultaneously trying to deal with his background of privilege, follow gun-toting gangsters and chase the love of his life, Mack is an everyman protagonist who pulls the reader alongside him through his series of adventures in WWII-era Chicago. G.W. Kennedy is the pen name of author and Baker College alumnus William Kennedy. This is his fourth novel.