If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.
–Ralph Waldo Emerson
I have a confession to make: I love reading great books.
For quite some time, I have kept a Google Document with an ongoing list of all the books I read. I realized this list could be helpful to others, so I decided to post a list of the best books I’ve read here.
As you will see below, these books are primarily non-fiction business books.
I’m going to be updating this list over time, so please feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments at the bottom. I’d love to hear what books you’ve read and loved.
(Most of the links below are referral links, meaning if you click through and buy a copy, I will receive a small commission. If you do purchase using my link, thank you!)
- The Lean Startup by Eric Ries – any entrepreneur should read this book first. It will change your way of thinking.
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie – the classic book on how to influence others by being giving and a good listener
- Give and Take by Adam Grant – one of the best books I read in 2013
- War of Art by Steven Pressfield – great source of inspiration, especially if you are feeling blocked
- Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Dan Pink (check out my video review, listen to my podcast interview of Dan talking about Drive here, and talking about his book To Sell Is Human here)
- The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau (check out video review of $100 Startup here)
- APE: Author Publisher Entrepreneur – how to publish a book Guy Kawasaki (check out my interview of Guy here)
- Reinventing You: Define Your Brand, Imagine Your Future by Dorie Clark (check out my podcast interview of Dorie)
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi (check out my Forbes piece on the BehaviorCon conference Ramit co-founded, and my interview with Ramit’s BehaviorCon co-founder Michael Fishman here)
- The Impact Equation by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith
- The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (also check out my interview of James Clear about habit triggers)
- Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss – in spite of its “get rich quick” themed title, it is an excellent book which will change your way of thinking about work and lifestyle.
- Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip and Dan Heath (my Boost Blog Traffic guest post on Made to Stick – forthcoming)
- Breakthrough Advertising by Eugene Schwartz – one of the greatest books on copywriting, a hugely important skill, ever written. You can download a free PDF of the book here.
- Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins – another excellent book on copywriting.
- Let Go by Pat Flynn (read my Huffington Post feature on Pat Flynn here, listen to my podcast interview of him, or read Pat’s guest post on my Huffington Post column)
- Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port (check out my interview with Michael’s co-author of Book Yourself Solid Illustrated, Jocelyn Wallace, here). I read this book when I first went to work for myself and it really helped me get my business off the ground.
- Getting Things Done by David Allen – excellent productivity advice.
- How to Work a Room by Susan RoAne (podcast interview forthcoming)
What books do you recommend? Please add your suggestions below.