The following is a selection of books amongst multiple hundred, that made a strong positive impression on me that has stayed years after.
I consider all books below 9/10 or 10/10. It was hard (very hard!) to live out the many 8s.
If you know of a book that may change my life or at least my mind, please let me know below.
Enjoy!:
LITERATURE
Dune, by Frank Herbert
– The only one at Tolkien’s hight
Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
– An adult’s book that is a favorite of gifted children
The Count of Montecristo, by Alexander Dumas
– Epic
The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follet
– Historic novel at its best
The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien
– A world of its own
SPIRITUALITY & PHILOSOPHY
The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
– Beautiful and timeless lessons
The Power of Now and A New Earth, by Eckhart Tolle
– Life changing
Dialogues and Essays, by Seneca
– On the shortness of life
Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius
– Timeless stoic wisdom from a wise Roman emperor
Man’s search for meaning, by Viktor Frankl
– Reflections from a concentration camp
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, by Benjamin Franklin
– My first personal development book, by the father of the field
Poor Charlie’s Almanack, by Charles T. Munger
– Warren Buffet’s partner imparts wisdom on life and business with humour
The 7 habits of highly effective people, by Steven Covey
– The self-improvement classic
The 80/20 Principle, by Richard Koch
– Everyone knows the concept, applying this book will change your life (2nd half of the book)
Mastery, The 33 Strategies of War, and the 48 Laws of Power, by Robert Greene
– Present day machiavellian leveraging History’s anecdotes
The Power of Full Engagement, by Tony Shwartz
– Energy management trumps time management
Thinking, fast and slow, by Daniel Kahneman
– Nobel prize winning explanation of how thinking works
The Art of Learning, by Josh Waitzkin
– Mastery of any discipline at world-class level by a world champion
The Tower, by Chris Guillebeau
– Short and inspiring read
BUSINESS
The Personal MBA, by Josh Kaufman
– The best primer on what business is really about: creating and capturing value. Start here.
The Millionaire Fastlane, by MJ DeMarco
– Read only one how-to-make-money book: this one. All the rest are toxic.
The 80/20 Principle, by Richard Koch
– Everyone knows the concept, applying this book will change your look at business (1st half)
Antifragility, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
– A powerful, simple concept to systematically put the odds on your side in business and life.
The Ultimate Sales Machine, by Chet Holmes
– Business without academic BS, ideal for entrepreneurs.
SPIN-Selling, by Neil Rackham
– Solution selling: sales without the hype.
NON-BOOK MENTIONS
Paul Graham’s essays: http://paulgraham.com/articles.html
– Plain smart
Getting Things Done audiobook, I find the book unpalatable, by David Allen
– How to become a task master (questionable whether you should)
BLACK LIST
(Initially great, in practice absolutely toxic and soul-killing . By the nature of the dark side, I’m aware you may actually start here, but you have been warned :))
Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
– It can be summarized in three letters: ego.
The Four Hour Work Week, by Timothy Ferriss
– Smoke selling mixed with truths make the best lies. Read the chapters on 8020 thinking, skip the business BS.
How to get rich, by Felix Denniss
– A self-proclaimed rich bastard tells the ugly way to riches. A cautionary tale that may actually stir your greed.
Ben West
Awesome Miguel! Will add some of these to my reading list. The two that had the greatest impact on my life are Buddha’s Brain and Omnivore’s Dilemma, which I highly recommend.
Admin
Glad to hear that Ben. And thanks! I have just ordered both books.
Kanan Dhru
Wonderful list of books Miguel! I am going to add some of them, especially the 80/20 Principle to my list of reading! 🙂