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Is this our agency book case or a trophy case? Either way, we’re keeping what’s on it…just in case.

Each year-end the internet fills with gift-guides and roundups, such as the Water & Wall favorite New York Times 100 Notable Books yearly list. Inspired by the best books of 2020, we bring to you today “The Books We Keep,” a handful of books chosen by Water & Wall staff that we’ve enjoyed this year, years past, and will continue to love for years to come.

Let us know if any of these are your favorites too or drop us a comment to tell us your favorite five. And if you’re gifting any books this year, we’d like to recommend shopping at stores like Books are Magic, Rizzoli, Marcus Books, or others at Bookshop to support small business and local bookstores this year.

Alaina Hay 

I tend to only keep books that remind me of specific places, ideas, or people. I usually give books I’ve loved away – I want everyone around me to read them! I kept Where the Crawdads Sing for pluff mud. Delia Owen’s 10-year master-piece brought me home to the Carolinas each time I turned the page; I could smell the marsh. F. Scott Fitzgerald is for my infatuation with stories. His books sparked my love for reading. A Tale of Two Cities for the reminder that you really can’t judge a book by its cover. I dreaded reading Dickens’ classic, but thanks to a required high school reading list, I quickly tore through page after page. Edgar Allan Poe is for my grandma. She has a beautiful collection of his on her bookshelf, so The Complete Tales and Poems is my mini New York City version. 

Andrew Healy

Music, food and soccer are some of my favorite things in the world, and you can’t get much better than Bob Spitz’s The Beatles, Fever Pitch (please read every Nick Hornby book immediately) and Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. I was genuinely upset when I finished each one. The Things They Carried is one of the most powerful and well-written books I’ve ever read, and On the Road is an absolute American classic and this is my father’s old copy.

Casey Sheets

Toni Morrison’s Beloved I’ve read a handful of times and each time I love it more. With Exhalation, Ted Chiang shares a collection of science fiction short stories with “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate” being my favorite piece. Every time I read Murakami I think, “this is the book where I’ll finally understand Murakami.” I never quite do and that is why I cannot get enough. A Wild Sheep Chase was my intro to the author and this copy happens to be a gifted first edition. Stephen Fry’s Mythos is an excellent retelling of Greek myths full of humor and suspense. Finally, David Mitchell is another ‘take me into a new world’ favorite. (He’s said Murakami is a huge influence, so no surprise for me here.) Utopia Avenue takes you through the life and times of a psychedelic British band set in the 60s, complete with scenes from their interactions with greats like Syd Barret and Jimi Hendrix. A must for any lover of rock music and captivating storytelling. 

Jesse Chen

If you pick up anything this winter, I recommend I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, and The Opposite of Loneliness, and also for good measure Trick Mirror if you’re the one person left who hasn’t read it. I’m a sucker for essays and these represent some of the funniest, well-written, thought-provoking ones I’ve read—pieces that punch you in the gut with that feeling of being seen and understood, that make you laugh and tear up and immediately send your friend a quote demanding they read the whole thing. When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities is a must for all my fellow poets, and I’m not just saying that because I share a name with the author. Finally, if you live in New York, and talk about leaving New York, or have friends who have left New York, or you left but dream about coming back, read Joan Didion’s “Goodbye to All That” and then read the Goodbye to All That essay collection, and perhaps find yourself falling in love with this city all over again.

Katie Healy

The Revenge of Analog is film and record players and print magazines… tell me everything David Sax! Saint Marks is far from dead, when you read about its decades of gritty history (Saint Marks is Dead), and thanks to Hank Green for adding aliens to some of my other beloved NYC streets in An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Kim Gordon (Girl in a Band) is my guitar-wielding Mom Goddess, and when you combine music and time travel you end up with my #1 favorite book of all time, Mo Daviau’s Every Anxious Wave.

Lisa Boyce

First off, I love The Great Gatsby and I’m not afraid to say it! I’m a sucker for gorgeous prose and creative structure, which explains my Nabokov and Nelson picks. Fun fact: the first time I read Pale Fire, I only read the poem, which is (spoiler alert) not where any of the actual story is. I read Bluets in a coffee shop and gasped out loud at every other line. The last two are a bit more personal connections, in addition to being great books. Stephanie Danler (Sweetbitter) graduated from my MFA program and this book was a beacon of inspiration while I was working on my thesis, and Colson Whitehead (The Nickel Boys) was one of my creative writing professors in undergrad. (I try not to think about the fact that this two-time Pulitzer Prize winner has read the one time I decided to attempt sci-fi.)

Matt Kirdahy

Wonder Boys was my “I saw the movie first” moment then read the book five times. Casino Royale is the first and best James Bond story. Did you know Bond had a three-inch scar on his face? Where was that in the movies? The World According to Mister Rogers is a daily hug made up of the simplest and most essential thoughts. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry makes me feel like I’ve got the IQ to be an astronaut. The Dictionary. I open it daily, as the distressed binding lets on. If only I retained all of what’s inside. I guess then I’d be an astronaut.

Scott Sunshine

I love to travel. I love to cook. And I love to come home and relive my journeys through local dishes made in my own kitchen.

In a recent blog for Business Wire, Matt Kirdahy, Partner at Water & Wall, continues his series of commentary on the changing tone and role of ESG initiatives across the business landscape. 

To think, under the fog of a global pandemic, social unrest and economic duress, we started a decade that, in a look back years from now, could rank as the year we not only just talked about but acted the most on the initialism that’s just about everywhere in the business community. Those initials are E, S, and G.

One could argue – and I attempt to do so hastily here – that what helped the business world make such progress is human curiosity. Though, if ESG’s best friend is curiosity, then it wouldn’t be much of a friend without action.

For years, people have been asking questions about how they can use their resources to push for positive change in global business.

In the U.S., what we’ve learned in 2020 is that more and more people care about how their investment decisions could and should influence positive change at less of a financial risk than once thought. 

Major U.S. corporations have finally followed suit behind their European counterparts.

In the case for motivating more companies to weigh their climate, social and governance-driven business decisions, what will matter in the months and years to come – notwithstanding the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election – are the voices of corporate leadership, more positive change, as well as people’s appetite to remain informed.

In the last 12 months, ESG as a search term in the U.S. reached near peak popularity 

(94) in January, according to Google Trends. Google rates search terms on a scale of 1-100. A value of 100 is the peak popularity for the term. At the time, MSCI CEO Henry Fernandez said investment managers would be greatly remiss if they ignored sustainable investment criteria. As reported by CNBC: “We are sounding the alarm bells that if you are an investment institution and you’re not embracing this and taking it into account, it’s going to be at your own peril.” In 2019, Morningstar reported ESG funds saw record inflows.

“ESG” search fell off a cliff in March and April, clocking in at a Google Trends score of 29-59, as interests shifted to the pandemic. Then something happened in May and June when the score shot right back up to 100. 

The investment community connected the dots between global health and the eventual economic crisis to how private sector attitudes and action could lead to a more prepared world, a better world. 

One where a greener planet, more workplace diversity, and a more inclusive definition of the word “stakeholder” wasn’t just lip service.

Wall Street responded. On the equities front, the Wall Street Journal reported that amid market turmoil, ESG-themed investments performed well and in some cases better than non-ESG plays.

On the policy front, Bloomberg reported The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee advised the “time has come” for the agency to consider requirements for certain environmental, social, and governance factors in public company disclosures.

On the corporate front, Reuters reported that Citigroup launched a new ESG investment banking unit. Several weeks later, Citi would become the first among the largest banks to name a female CEO.

Of course, progress is not without its roadblocks.

In June, the U.S. Department of Labor said it would try to keep ESG investment options from retirement plans because they put the fiduciary in a position to potentially prioritize social good before investment returns. Then we were reminded why balloons aren’t made of lead. 

People spurred into action.

ThinkAdvisor reported that since the DOL announced the proposal, “the department has reportedly collected about 1,500 comments, though it only posted 1,100 comments on its website — most of them negative, except for a handful from conservative political groups such as Americans for Prosperity and the Conservative Union.”

What’s more, we’ve still got three-and-half months left! Just what will our questions, our conversation, and our curiosity bring before we ring in a new year? Whatever positive change that may be, there is science to help make the case. This is me reaching but check this out.

In November 2015, two scientists published a report titled “The Psychology and Neuroscience of Curiosity.” Among the things they considered is how much of our time we spend seeking and consuming information that goes beyond our basic survival, this includes those Wikipedia and IMDB rabbit holes that we fall down into from time to time. Among many other things, what the scientists learned is that “our insatiable demand for information drives much of the global economy.”

How about that? 

The production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in the entire world relies on your constant desire to learn. 

Now, it stands to reason that this curiosity could be driving ESG, too.

Check out the blog and more from Business Wire here. 

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Our co-founder, Andrew Healy, recently chatted with Matt Halloran of the Top Advisor Marketing podcast, where they talked about:

– How COVID-19 forced RIAs to adapt – and in many cases, adopt for the first time – their digital marketing approach

– How it changed the client experience overnight and how advisors can use technology to their advantage

– And why fundamental aspects of advice-giving was able to shine during the dark early days of the pandemic

– And more!

The episode is available here and you can check out the full list of Top Advisor Marketing podcasts at https://topadvisorm.blubrry.net/. 

Let us know what you think in the comments.