I’ll venture to say it is fairly widespread conventional wisdom that neraly 100% of people who are considered successful in business are avid readers. This is underscored best by a quote from Charlie Munger: “In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time-none, zero. You’d be amazed at how much Warren reads-and at how much I read.”
Needless to say, I am quite obsessed when it comes to my attempt to be “well read” and I make it a point to read at least four of five book a month on a variety of subjects (but very disproportionately skewed towards investing related topics). I am curious to hear to what is on everyone’s reading list for 2009, as well as any books you have already read that have been very influential on your life.
To get it started I will say one book that has been very inspirational to me and will encourage you to get out and re-focus on meeting new people is Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazi. A book on my near term “to read” list is Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger, by Peter Bevelin (http://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Wisdom-Darwin-Munger-3rd/dp/1578644283).
I’d love to get some input from everyone. Perhaps everyone could list their three favorite/most influential books and list three that are on their “To Be Read” list.
Three Favorites:
1. Buffett – The Making of an American Capitalist (Roger Lowenstein)
2. Good to Great (Jim Collins)
3. Freakanomics (Steven Levitt)
I’ve yet to read Snowball, the most recent biography on Buffett, but I’ve heard Lowenstein’s version is at least as good, if not better. Good to Great is an excellent read on how to run a business, and Freakanomics is a great “outside the box” book on economics.
To Be Read:
1. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
2. Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk (Peter Bernstein)
3. Free Agent Nation (Daniel Pink)
Atlas Shrugged is a true classic by Ayn Rand. I’m in the middle of it right now and can already tell that it will replace one of my top 3 listed above. Excellent book with a Capitalism vs. Communism theme. Against the Gods – due to our current economic situation, it just seems like a book on risk is appropriate. Free Agent Nation is supposed to be a good read on entrepreneurship.
Will definitely pick up Never Eat Alone per the previous post and add it to the list. It never hurts to have a little extra encouragement to get out there and get in front of some new people. Thanks for that one. I’m sure there will be several books written on the current financial crisis we’re experiencing in the near future that will be worth reading. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one written about the chaotic weekend in Sept. when Merrill was sold to BoA and Lehman filed Chapter 11, similar to how “When Genius Failed” (Lowenstein) detailed the collapse of LTCM.
Would love to hear more favorites/recommendations.
Thanks for your input. I will add Good to Great to my list. When you finish with Atlas Shrugged, you should check out “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal” — I would consider it a kind of non-fiction footnote to Atlas Shrugged (it’s a collection of Rand’s essays, mostly on the moral aspects of Capitalism).
I enjoy financial history books, I think you can learn a great deal from others mistakes/successes. Three of my favorites are:
The Last Tycoons (Lazard)
Blue Blood & Mutiny (Morgan Stanley)
When Genius Failed (LTCM)
I also like:
The Black Swan – Very interesting perspective on risk.
The Fountainhead – I am currently reading another of Rand’s classics. Very good so far.
Next up:
Team of Rivals – Next on my list…supposed to be a great study in leadership.