Favorite Books

These are the books I believe are worth taking the time to read, in no particular order, other than the books at the top of the list I read more recently (so it’s easier to see when new ones are added).

Many of the excellent books on the global economy and financial markets are written for a specific period of time (usually the current events taking place as the author is writing the book), and I left those off the list so the books below can be considered “timeless.” If I come across a book on the current state of the financial markets I think is worth recommending, I will try to add it to the main page.

Business, Psychology & Self Improvement:

  • Breakneck: China’s Quest To Engineer The Future
  • The Art Of Spending Money: Simple Choices For A Richer Life
  • Taming The Molecule Of More: A Step-By-Step Guide To Making Dopamine Work For You
  • The Inner Compass: Cultivating The Courage To Trust Yourself
  • The Antidote: Happiness For People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking
  • The DOSE Effect: Optimize Your Brain & Body By Boosting Your Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin & Endorphins
  • Sway: The Irresistible Pull Of Irrational Behavior
  • Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking Is The Beginning & End Of Suffering
  • Meditations For Mortals: Four Weeks To Embrace Your Limitations & Make Time For What Counts
  • The Laws Of Connection: The Scientific Secrets Of Building A Strong Social Network
  • The Intelligence Trap: Revolutionize Your Thinking & Make Wiser Decisions
  • The Anxious Generation: How The Great Rewiring Of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic Of Mental Illness
  • Scarcity Brain: Fix Your Craving Mindset & Rewire Your Habits To Thrive With Enough
  • The First Rule Of Mastery: Stop Worrying About What People Think Of You
  • Fluke: Chance, Chaos & Why Everything We Do Matters
  • Look Again: The Power Of Noticing What Was Already There
  • Same As Ever: A Guide To What Never Changes
  • Live Your Best Life: 219 Science-Based Reasons To Rethink Your Daily Routine
  • How Highly Effective People Speak (Peter Andrei)
  • Magic Words: What To Say To Get Your Way
  • Writing For Busy Readers: Communicate More Effectively In The Real World
  • Build The Life You Want: The Art & Science Of Getting Happier
  • What Happens When You Get What You Want? Success & The Challenge Of Choice
  • Excellent Advice For Living: Wisdom I Wish I’d Known Earlier
  • The Good Life: Lessons Learned From The World’s Longest Scientific Study Of Happiness
  • Happy Money: The Science Of Happier Spending
  • Thinking 101: How To Reason Better To Live Better
  • Plays Well With Others: Why Everything You Know About Relationships Is (Mostly) Wrong
  • Die With Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money And Your Life
  • Don’t Trust Your Gut: Using Data To Get What You Really Want In Life
  • Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention & How To Think Deeply Again
  • The Expectation Effect: How Your Mindset Can Change Your World
  • Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management For Mortals
  • Quit: The Power Of Knowing When To Walk Away
  • The Power Of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward
  • From Strength To Strength: Success, Happiness & Deep Purpose In The Second Half Of Life
  • The Molecule Of More: How A Single Chemical In Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity: And Will Determine The Fate Of The Human Race
  • Do Nothing: How To Break Away From Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving
  • Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why Is Matters and How To Harness It
  • The Algebra Of Happiness: Notes On The Pursuit Of Success, Love & Meaning
  • The Algebra Of Wealth: A Simple Formula For Financial Security
  • Why We Sleep: Unlocking The Power Of Sleep & Dreams
  • Tribe: On Homecoming & Belonging
  • Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
  • The Upside Of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits Of Defying Logic At Work & Home
  • Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham & The Science Of Success
  • Everybody Lies: Big Data And What The Internet Can Teach Us About Who We Really Are
  • Stumbling On Happiness
  • Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way To Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
  • The Time Paradox: The New Psychology Of Time That Will Change Your Life
  • Smarter, Faster Better: The Secrets Of Being Productive In Life & Business
  • Thinking In Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All The Facts
  • When: The Scientific Secrets Of Perfect Timing
  • Barking Up The Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong
  • The Power Of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life & Business
  • The Happiness Equation: Want Nothing + Do Anything = Have Everything
  • Outliers: The Story Of Success
  • Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
  • Smartcuts: How Hackers, Innovators & Icons Accelerate Success
  • Peak: Secrets From The New Science Of Expertise
  • Range: Why Generalists Triumph In A Specialize World
  • Risk Savvy: How To Make Good Decisions
  • Grit: The Power Of Passion & Perseverance
  • Nudge: The Final Edition
  • How To Fail At Almost Everything & Still Win Big
  • The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make Big Difference
  • Blink: The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking
  • Talking To Strangers: What We Should Know About The People We Don’t Know
  • The Catalyst: How To Change Anyone’s Mind
  • The Happiness Advantage: The 7 Principles Of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success
  • Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores The Hidden Side Of Everything
  • Think Like A Freak
  • Fooled By Randomness: The Hidden Role Of Chance In Life & In The Markets
  • The Black Swan: The Impact Of The Highly Improbable
  • The E-Myth Revisited
  • The Tao of Pooh
  • The Four Hour Workweek
  • How To Win Friends & Influence People
  • The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People
  • Economics In One Lesson: The Shortest & Surest Way To Understand Basic Economics

Investing:

  • The Psychology Of Money: Timeless Lessons On Wealth, Greed, & Happiness
  • Dollars & Sense: How We Misthink Money & How To Spend Smarter
  • The Behavioral Investor: The Art & Science Of Investment Management
  • The Geometry Of Wealth: How To Shape A Life Of Money & Meaning
  • Rich Dad Poor Dad
  • The Richest Man In Babylon
  • The Wealthy Barber

Financial Market History:

  • In Light Of Yesterday: The Backstory Of The Global Economy
  • Boom and Bust: A Global History Of Financial Bubbles 
  • The Price Of Time: The Real Story Of Interest
  • Manias, Panics & Crashes: A History Of Financial Crises
  • The Panic Of 1907: Lessons Learned From The Market’s Perfect Storm
  • The Great Crash, 1929
  • The Go-Go Years: The Drama & Crashing Finale Of Wall Street’s Bullish 60s
  • A Monetary and Fiscal History Of The United States, 1961 – 2021
  • Bull: A History Of The Boom & Bust 1982 – 2004
  • When Genius Failed: The Rise & Fall Of Long Term Capital Management
  • The Asian Financial Crisis 1995 – 1998: Birth Of The Age Of Debt
  • The Secret Life Of Real Estate & Banking

Sales & Marketing:

  • Fanatical Prospecting
  • Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion (New & Expanded Version)
  • The Psychology Of Selling
  • Duct Tape Marketing

Business Stories (Great For Audio Books):

  • Chaos Kings: How Wall Street Traders Make Billions In The New Age Of Crisis
  • Hatching Twitter: A True Story of Money, Power, Friendship & Betrayal
  • Super Pumped: The Battle For Uber
  • The Man Who Solved The Market: How Jim Simons Launched The Quant Revolution
  • A Man For All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat The Dealer & The Market
  • The Greatest Trade Ever: The Story Of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street & Made History