Below are a selection of books (50 or so) from all that I read last year. It is quite eclectic but I look up to someone like Sir John Templeton in this regard, he'd go to unusual sources of information to find answers. Hope you’ll find some that might interest you.
Biographies
- Paul Allen - Idea Man: The other perspective on Microsoft. I appreciated reading about his relationship with Bill Gates, going through cancer and exploring different avenues in life after founding Microsoft
- Mark Robichaux - Cable Cowboy: No description necessary
- Peter Barton, Larry Shames - Not Fade Away: I wrote about this book at length before. Highly recommend to read it. It also inspired me to write about my experience with cancer
- Jon Krakauer - Into the Wild: The book upon which the movie was based on
- Chris Hadfield - An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: Chris Hadfield's fantastic life story
- Rich DeVos - Compassionate Capitalism: From the founder on Amway
- Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: Funny autobiography from a great comedian
- Gene Lees - Oscar Peterson: I grew up on Oscar Peterson’s incredible jazz piano music and listen to it to this day (little snippet of his genius here). Gene Lees did an excellent job with this biography book
- Donald Trump - The Art of the Deal: “The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of exaggeration -- and a very effective form of promotion”
Business/Investing
- Tren Griffin - Charlie Munger: From the author of the great 25iq blog
- Max Gunther - Zurich Axioms: Why the Swiss get things right
- Laszlo Bock - Work Rules: Insights into Google i.e. why putting bean bags and ping-pong tables into your office won't make your company like Google
- Valerie Hansen - The Silk Road: Good background reading on the history Silk Road, especially in the context of China's expansion of the One Belt, One Road system
- Richard Roberts - The Lion Wakes: The modern history of HSBC and the development of corporate Asia
- Bennet Goodspeed - The Tao Jones Averages: a Guide to Whole-Brained Investing: Why the right side of the brain is just as important as the left side in investing (i.e. how to overcome the man with a hammer syndrome)
- Matthew McCleary - Shipping Man: A good story about why in public shipping investments the public is the patsy at the imaginary poker table
- Tim Ferriss - 4 Hour Chef
- Tim Ferriss - 4 Hour Work Week
- Mark Tier - Becoming Rich: Cheesy title but a surprisingly good book about the mental habits of successful investors
- Joe Studwell - How Asia Works: Studwell writes very well about the connection of politics and business in Asia. His other book, called the Asian Godfathers is very good too
- Jeffrey Towson - The One Hour China Book: A one hour book on China from the former right hand man of Prince Alwaleed. He is also a big Buffett fan
- Sterling Seagrave - Lords of the Rim: One to complement Studwell’s book
- Michael Eisner - Working Together: “The best way to have a great partner is to deserve one” – Charlie Munger. Awesome book about great partnerships such as Buffett/Munger, Bill and Melinda Gates, Grazer/Howard, Rubell/Schrager and so on
- Peter H. Diamandis – Abundance: Why the world is not such a bad place. From the founder of Singularity University
- Peter Maguire - Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade: A different perspective on Thailand...
- Mohsin Hamid - How to Get Filthy Rich in Asia: It is a fiction but could well be the real life story of anyone growing up in a developing country
- Robert Kiyosaki - Rich Dad Poor Dad: Yes, I know. But still…
Psychology, mindfulness etc
- David Buss - Evolution of Desire: Mix of Sapiens and Emotional Intelligence
- Nir Eyal - Hooked: Book about how to build habits in your life
- Kapleau - Three Pillars of Zen: History and discipline of Zen Buddhism
- Phil Jackson - Eleven Rings: Marvellous book about introducing mindfulness into professional sports (and life in general) from the legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson
- Michael Singer - The Untethered Soul: Amazing book. Highly recommend to read it after Michael Singer's other book called the Surrender Experiment
- Jon Kabat-Zinn - Wherever You Go There You Are: Must read every year
- Karen Salmansohn - Instant Happy: Bad day in the markets? Flip through this book
Personal development, spirituality etc
- Robert Greene - Art of Seduction: Written well-before The Game, in the same well researched manner as the 48 Laws of Power
- Marcus Aurelius – Meditations: No introduction necessary I believe. One I re-read every year
- David Schwartz - Magic of Thinking Big: Cheesy title but this book is up there with Think and Grow Rich
- Paul Arden - It's Not How Good You Are, It's How Good You Want to Be: A handbook of how to succeed in life by advertising guru Paul Arden. It's a short book that I try to read every year
- Ryan Holiday - The Obstacle is the Way: It’s not why someone put that obstacle in our way but how we overcome it
- Ryan Holiday - Ego is the Enemy: This books takes the theory behind Obstacle is the Way and presents a philosophical application to overcoming our own ego
- Carol Dweck – Mindset: When you fail at something it doesn’t mean that the world has come to an end. How you get back up is the key to life
- Cal Newport - So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Advice from Steve Martin
- Cal Newport - Deep Work: Recommend to read Cal Newport’s books together
- Elisabeth Gilbert - Big Magic: Oh yes. For anyone facing fear in expressing their creative work publicly
- Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People: Must read for a left brained person (aham, me)
- Dale Carnegie - How Stop Worrying and Start Living: Dale Carnegie’s less famous but very good book
- Don Miguel Ruiz - The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship: Not just mastery of love but life itself
- Kamal Ravikant - Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It: Often from the greatest depths of misery a new way of life emerges. At first you might not know what to make of the title but I highly recommend this very short read. A talk from Kamal on his story here
- Adam Braun - The Promise of a Pencil: I’ve put off reading this book until the end of the year but it is a wonderful story, especially how Adam’s upbringing in the US and the formation of Pencils of Promise was influenced by his family of Holocaust survivors and Hungarian refugees
- Neale Donald Walsch - Conversations with God: This goes deep (not in religious or dogmatic way)
- A Course in Miracles: A daily practice in spirituality
- Marianne Williamson - Law of Divine Compensation: One of the best known spiritual teachers alive today. I saw her giving a talk last autumn and was very impressed then started delving into her books afterwards.
- Oprah Winfrey - What I Know for Sure: Someone gave me this very short book and I’ve been through it a few times already. Wonderful life lessons from Oprah
Nutrition
- Michael Moss - Salt, Sugar, Fat: Why does it feel so good the way those Pringles crunch, and how the food industry tricked our brains into eating it
- Mark Sisson - The Primal Blueprint: Very good book for those exploring making a change in their diet and lifestyle. From the author of Mark's Daily Apple lifestyle blog
- David Asprey - Bulletproof Diet: Inventor of the Bulletproof Coffee. Highly recommend the podcast
- Alejandro Junger - Clean Gut: I've binged through 5-6 books on this topic. One of the most concise books I came across on why the standard high carb diet is unsustainable
- Nina Teicholz - The Big Fat Surprise
- Mark Hyman - Eat Fat, Get Thin
- Mark Hyman - The Blood Sugar Solution
Books currently on my nightstand
- Brian Grazer – A Curious Mind: A story about a collection of curiosity conversations
- Ryan Holiday – Daily Stoic: Daily practice in Stoicism
- Chris Voss – Never Split the Difference: Most amazing negotiation book. Ever
- Phil Knight – Shoe Dog: The amazing story of Nike’s birth
- Robert Cialdini – Pre-suasion: Follow up book to Influence
- Tim Ferriss – Tools of Titans: If you like the podcast, you’ll like the book
- Matthew McCleary - Viking Raid: Follow up story to The Shipping Man
- William Irvine – A Guide to the Good Life: Continued exploration of Stoicism
