ESCP students share their recommendations on what to read this summer
Summer: a season of reflection, escape, and recalibration. Whether you’re travelling between cities, commuting to an internship, or finally lounging on the beach after a long semester, there’s a certain magic in cracking open a good book.
To help you choose your next literary companion, we asked ESCP students to share the books that shaped their thinking—stories that helped them understand the world, themselves, or the power of bold ideas.
The result is a summer reading list as diverse, thoughtful, and original as the ESCP community itself. Each title reflects one of the three defining qualities that drive our community: accountability, boldness, and creativity.
Happy reading!
Accountable
Books that emphasise responsibility toward oneself, others, society, or the world.
Just Mercy – Bryan Stevenson
A memoir following Stevenson’s legal work with the Equal Justice Initiative, focusing on the wrongful conviction of Walter McMillian, a Black man sentenced to death. Stevenson exposes systemic racism, unfair trials, and the emotional toll of pursuing justice.
This was the first book to ever make me cry. It’s a heartbreaking, eye-opening story of how the justice system unfairly targets the poor and people of colour—and one lawyer’s fight to make it right.
BSc 2025
L’Homme qui rit (The Man Who Laughs) – Victor Hugo
Set in the 1690s, it centres on Gwynplaine, a noble child whose face is mutilated into a permanent grin and forced into street performances. Through his story, Hugo critiques cruelty, hypocrisy, and social inequality.
It made me reflect on how debate is reduced to performance. Hugo’s storytelling is incisive, mocking, and brilliant—plus, there's a friendly wolf.
MiM 2026
Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence – Daniel Goleman
A science-backed exploration of attention, presence, and how to train our focus in a distracted world. Goleman identifies three types of attention—personal, social, and systemic—and shows how mastering focus enhances performance, relationships, and well-being. He combines neuroscience with practical advice for managing attention in our distracted world.
This book doesn’t have the solution, but it’s surely a place to start gaining your focus—and your life—back.
MSc in Marketing and Digital Media 2026
Bold
Books that highlight courage, risk-taking, or transformation.
Les vertus de l’échec – Charles Pépin
A refreshing reframing of failure as the foundation of growth, courage, and wisdom. Pépin rethinks failure, drawing on philosophy and real-world examples—from Seneca to Steve Jobs—to argue that setbacks build resilience, insight, and genuine self-confidence.
It gave me the confidence to take risks and see challenges as opportunities rather than threats.
BSc 2027
NET POSITIVE: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take – Paul Polman & Andrew Winston
A blueprint for values-driven leadership, showing how bold corporate responsibility leads to long-term success. Polman and Winston argue that businesses should return more to society and the environment than they consume. Drawing on case studies, they show how this approach supports sustainable profit and purpose-led leadership.
This is a blueprint for how companies can drive real change—leading with purpose, not just profit.
MSc in International Sustainability Management 2026
1984 – George Orwell
An enduring and chilling classic about surveillance, propaganda, and the suppression of truth. Winston Smith’s rebellion highlights the courage and danger of seeking truth in oppressive societies.
Orwell’s warning about power, truth, and surveillance remains chillingly relevant in today’s world.
MBA 2025
Creative
Books that inspire imagination, introspection, and original thought.
Steppenwolf – Hermann Hesse
A poetic, introspective journey into identity, contradiction, and the many selves within. Harry Haller is torn between his human and wolf-like urges. On entering a surreal “Magic Theatre”, he confronts fragmented identities, exploring his inner world through psychological and symbolic encounters.
It helped me accept contradictions within myself and reminded me that even in loneliness, we’re not alone.
BSc 2026
Charlotte – David Foenkinos
A haunting and artful tribute to a silenced artist that explores memory, creation, and trauma. Charlotte is a lyrical biographical novel about Charlotte Salomon, a Jewish artist who created a graphic autobiography while hiding during the Nazi occupation in France, before being deported to Auschwitz.
It gave voice to a silenced artist. Poetic and emotionally overwhelming in the most beautiful way.
MiM 2026
The Three-Body Problem (Trilogy) – Cixin Liu
This science-fiction trilogy spans from China’s Cultural Revolution to cosmic futures. It is a masterfully imaginative sci-fi epic that blends hard science with philosophy, geopolitics, and wonder.
Imagine a world where physics is dead. Gripping, complex, and mind-expanding—it challenges how you see reality.
MiM 2025
Acknowledgments
We extend our gratitude to the editorial board for their help in curating our final selection of books:
- Kamran Razmdoost, Dean of ESCP Business School, London Campus
- Marianne Conde Salazar, Brand and Communications Director
- David Kurzmann, Bachelor in Management student
- Ohana Duboscq, President of the Board of Directors, AGORA ESCP Student Union
- Karla Watson, ESCP Content Strategist
Special thanks to all the students who shared their summer reading recommendations and to ESCP student David Kurzmann for originating the idea and supporting the development of this project.
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