100 Best Abstract Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

5.0

100,000 years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens.

How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations and human rights; to trust money, books and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables and consumerism?

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, and 34 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

Fact or fiction, the president knows that reading keeps the mind sharp. He also delved into these non-fiction reads. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Both Melinda and I read this one, and it has sparked lots of great conversations at our dinner table. Harari takes on a daunting challenge: to tell the entire history of the human race in just 400 pages. He also writes about our species today and how artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and other technologies will change us in the future. Although I found things to disagree with—especially Harari’s claim that humans were better off before we started farming—I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species. [source]

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

A grand theory of humanity. [source]

2

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

4.9

Preview Summary

Major New York Times bestseller
Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award in 2012
Selected by the New York Times Book Review as one of the best books of 2011
A Globe and Mail Best Books of the Year 2011 Title
One of The Economist's 2011 Books of the Year
One of The Wall Street Journal's Best Nonfiction Books of the Year 2011
2013 Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient

In the internatio

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Ev Williams, and 45 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? [source]

3

The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Timothy Ferriss

4.7

Preview Summary

More than 100 pages of new, cutting-edge content.
Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, Th

Recommended by Eric Weinstein, Simon Sinek, Tim Draper, and 51 others.

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

Tim Draper

Founder/Draper Fisher Jurvetson

With this kind of time management and focus on the important things in life, people should be able to get 15 times as much done in a normal work week. [source]

Jack Canfield

Co-author/The Success Principles

It's about time this book was written. It is a long-overdue manifesto for the mobile lifestyle, and Tim Ferriss is the ideal ambassador. This will be huge. [source]

4

1984

George Orwell

4.7

A PBS Great American Read Top 100 Pick

With extraordinary relevance and renewed popularity, George Orwell’s 1984 takes on new life in this hardcover edition.

“Orwell saw, to his credit, that the act of falsifying reality is only secondarily a way of changing perceptions. It is, above all, a way of asserting power.”—The New Yorker

In 1984, London is a grim city in the totalitarian state of Oceania

Recommended by Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Emma Watson, and 16 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

called this book "one of his favorite" and recommended it to the hires. The book also inspired one the greatest TV ad (made by Jobs) [source]

Andra Zaharia

These books and their core ideas have stuck with me the most and continue to guide me when I hit crossroads along the way. [source]

5

Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Simon Sinek

4.7

Preview Summary

Why do you do what you do?

Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential, and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty from customers and employees alike? Even among the successful, why are so few able to repeat their success over and over?

People like Martin Luther King Jr., Steve Jobs, and the Wright Brothers might have little in common, but they a

Recommended by Richard Branson, Tony Robbins, Tony Hsieh, and 24 others.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

Tony Robbins

Life Coach

The basis of this book is so important to anyone looking to increase their influence, profits or impact. People won't truly buy into a product, service, movement, or idea until they understand the WHY behind it. When you start with the why, everything else falls into place. This book is so impactful, I consider it required reading. [source]

Tony Hsieh

CEO/Zappos.com

Over the years he’s recommended well over 20 business books — including his own, the 2010 bestseller Delivering Happiness and you can always find what he’s currently reading atop his cluttered desk. Start with Why is amogst those titles. [source]

6

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley

4.6

Now reissued in a gorgeous hardcover edition: "one of the most prophetic dystopian works of the 20th century" (Wall Street Journal) must be read and understood by anyone concerned with preserving the human spirit in the face of our "brave new world." Huxley's masterpiece has become a bestseller once again after the American election.

Aldous Huxley's profoundly important classic of world literature,

Recommended by Sam Altman, Yuval Noah Harari, Andra Zaharia, and 9 others.

Yuval Noah Harari

Historian

The most prophetic book of the 20th century. Today many people would easily mistake it for a utopia. [source]

Andra Zaharia

These books and their core ideas have stuck with me the most and continue to guide me when I hit crossroads along the way. [source]

Catherine Mayer

It shows the ways in which technology, our need for certain creature comforts and consumer culture can be used to manipulate us. [source]

7

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Anders-Ericsson

4.6

Preview Summary

Selected as a Book of the Year by New Statesman

Mozart wasn’t born with perfect pitch.

Most athletes are not born with any natural advantage.

Three world-class chess players were sisters, whose success was planned by their parents before they were even born.

Anders Ericsson has spent thirty years studying The Special Ones, the geniuses, sports stars and musical prodigies. And his remarkable finding, r

Recommended by James Altucher, Seth Godin, Michael Sliwinski, and 1 others.

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

This book is a breakthrough, a lyrical, powerful, science-based narrative that actually shows us how to get better (much better) at the things we care about. [source]

Sergey Sapelnyk

PEAK by Anders Ericsson phenomenally explains how experts develop their skills. The author makes a profound claim: you can get significantly better at almost anything. This includes your job, a specific skill, or a hobby. From a career perspective, in most instances, the only barrier to personal development and success is effective effort. This book isn’t specific to a career, however it’s highly applicable to any career. The idea of this book is a meaningful one, since it suggests that many goals are achievable and doable. The key differentiator between someone who achieves these goals or does not, is the amount of calculated effort that’s exerted on this task. I think this book will reinforce to young people that nearly any career path is feasible given that a focused effort is made. Aiming to consistently practice and work on your craft, is a very fundamental mindset to personal growth. [source]

8

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Cal Newport

4.5

Preview Summary

One of the most valuable skills in our economy is becoming increasingly rare. If you master this skill, you'll achieve extraordinary results.

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide th

Recommended by Daniel Pink, Marvin Liao, Ryan Holiday, and 20 others.

Daniel Pink

Author

As automation and outsourcing reshape the workplace, what new skill do we need? The ability to do deep work. Cal Newport's exciting new book is an introduction and guide to the kind of intense concentration in a distraction-free environment that results in fast, powerful learning and performance. Think of it as calisthenics for your mind-and start your exercise program today. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

The Joy of Not Working (Zelinkski), Flash Foresight (Burrus), The Art of Worldly Wisdom (Gracian), Sapiens (Yuval), The End of Jobs (Pearson), Deep Work (Newport), Sovereign Individual (Davidson), The Fourth Economy (Davison) & The Monk & the Riddle (Komisar). Every single one of these books completely changed how I looked at everything in the world & literally pushed my life in a new direction. They were Paradigm Shifting as they say. (hate that word but it really was a Paradigm Shift for me). [source]

Ryan Holiday

Author

I've been a fan of Cal for a long time. His book So Good They Can't Ignore You is one of my favorites, but it's his new book that's probably had the biggest and most immediate impact on me. For those of you who enjoyed Tyler Cowen's Average is Over, you already know how important the ability to focus, be creative, and think at a high level is going to be in the future. This is a book that explains how to cultivate and protect that skill--the ability to do deep work. One thing I've already started doing since reading this book is recording the number of hours of deep work I do each day in my morning journal. It's a way of keeping a running tally and monitoring if I begin to get distracted or slow my pace. Anyway, great book! [source]

9

The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups

Daniel Coyle

4.5

Preview Summary

An essential book that unlocks the secrets of highly successful groups and provides readers with a toolkit for building a cohesive, innovative culture, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Talent Code

Recommended by Charles Duhigg, Bryan Callen, Graham Duncan, and 2 others.

Charles Duhigg

Author

If you want to understand how successful groups work—the signals they transmit, the language they speak, the cues that foster creativity—you won’t find a more essential guide than The Culture Code.

Bryan Callen

So here are my three must read books. I've been reading a lot of great books like: Outsmart Your Instincts, The Culture Code, and Antonio Damasio’s The Strange Order, and sometimes when you read a lot of nonfiction it’s very enriching, sometimes you need a novel. I really believe you should take a minute and read something beautiful. Listen, listen to Lolita by Nabokov. But also listen to Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and listen to Richard Poe narrate that. Those are two of the greatest feats of the english language that I can think of. Then there’s Fortress of Solitude, an amazing book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, these are great novels. Cold Mountain is a beautiful novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, I mean they’ve been around for a while. But goddamnit, get those under your belt. Those are the novels I think you should read. You know Love In The Time Of Cholera it just makes you ache. Kind of like a Hemingway thing, where Hemingway “ahh!”, it’s the same thing, you know. So I don’t know, I’m a fan of all those books. Those are my 3 slash 20 books. [source]

Graham Duncan

The author looks at a bunch of different cultures. Pixar, Navy SEALs, etc... And he’s looking for patterns among what makes people disproportionately effective as a culture. [source]

10

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood

4.5

Before The Testaments, there was The Handmaid’s Tale: an instant classic and eerily prescient cultural phenomenon, from “the patron saint of feminist dystopian fiction” (New York Times).

The Handmaid’s Tale is a novel of such power that the reader will be unable to forget its images and its forecast. Set in the near future, it describes life in what was once the United States and is now called the

Recommended by Daniel Pink, Emma Watson, Catherine Mayer, and 3 others.

Catherine Mayer

Atwood takes all the hard information about gender inequality that she sees around her and then turns it up a few notches. [source]

Cliff Bleszinski

@HandmaidsOnHulu Done. Love the show, book is a classic, can't wait for season 2. [source]

Grady Booch

I read this several years ago but — much like Orwell’s 1984 — it seems particularly relevant given our current political morass. [source]

11

Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs

John Doerr

4.5

Preview Summary

Legendary venture capitalist John Doerr reveals how the goal-setting system of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) has helped tech giants from Intel to Google achieve explosive growth--and how it can help any organization thrive.

In the fall of 1999, John Doerr met with the founders of a start-up whom he'd just given $12.5 million, the biggest investment of his career. Larry Page and Sergey Brin h

Recommended by Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, Walter Isaacson, and 6 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

John explains how OKRs Objectives and Key Results work and shows how you can apply them in all sorts of situations. I’d recommend John’s book for anyone interested in becoming a better manager (and I’d say that even if I hadn’t been interviewed for a super-nice chapter about the Gates Foundation). [source]

Reid Hoffman

CEO/LinkedIn

Whether you're a seasoned CEO or a first-time entrepreneur, you'll find valuable lessons, tools, and inspiration in the pages of Measure What Matters. I'm glad John invested the time to share these ideas with the world. [source]

Walter Isaacson

Author

In this indispensable book, the most important venture capitalist of our era reveals a key to business innovation and success. This crisp and colorful book combines fascinating case studies with insightful personal stories to show how OKRs can add magic to organizations of any size. [source]

12

Animal Farm

George Orwell and Christopher Hitchens

4.5

Animal Farm is one of the most famous warnings ever written. Orwell's immortal satire - 'against Stalin' as he wrote to his French translator - can be read on many levels. With its piercing clarity and deceptively simple style it is no surprise that this novel is required reading for schoolchildren and politicians alike. This fable of the steadfast horses Boxer and Clover, the opportunistic pigs S

Recommended by Daniel Pink, Whitney Cummings, Vlad Tenev, and 4 others.

Whitney Cummings

Whitney Cummings recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Vlad Tenev

When I was in sixth grade I remember being very upset by the ending of this book. [source]

Heather Brooke

I picked Animal Farm because it is an allegory about power and its seductive and corruptive influence on people regardless of their initial good intentions. [source]

13

The Selfish Gene

Richard Dawkins

4.5

Preview Summary

Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and mainta

Recommended by Charles T. Munger, Ev Williams, Brian Armstrong, and 7 others.

Charles T. Munger

Vice Chairman/Berkshire Hathaway

recommends this book in the second edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack. [source]

Matt Ridley

Turned evolutionary biology on its head and was written like a great detective story. [source]

Phil Libin

CEO/Evernote

Had a profound influence on me pretty early on. [source]

14

Crime and Punishment: A Russian Realistic Novel

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

4.4

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the

Recommended by Ben Domenech, Esther Perel, Irvine Welsh, and 3 others.

Ben Domenech

@SohrabAhmari @li88yinc @jgcrum @BlueBoxDave @InezFeltscher @JarrettStepman Maybe the best book ever written. [source]

Esther Perel

You can reread the Russians. They are timeless. [source]

Irvine Welsh

It is not a crime book in the way that we understand crime fiction today. Instead it is like an existential psychological thriller. [source]

15

The Little Prince Family Storybook: Unabridged Original Text

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

4.4

Rediscover Antoine de Saint-Exupery's universal masterpiece with original text and magnificent new illustrations created by masters of film animation. This wise and enchanginting fable teaches the secret of what is really important in life.

Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Brandon Stanton, Evan Goldberg, and 1 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

Equally allegorical, I read The Little Prince for the first time which for some reason I’d never been exposed to before. If you’re in the same boat, read it. It’s short but great. [source]

Brandon Stanton

Brandon Stanton recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Evan Goldberg

Phenomenal. [source]

16

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline

4.4

The bestselling cult classic--soon to be a major motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg.

At once wildly original and stuffed with irresistible nostalgia, READY PLAYER ONE is a spectacularly genre-busting, ambitious, and charming debut--part quest novel, part love story, and part virtual space opera set in a universe where spell-slinging mages battle giant Japanese robots, entire planets are in

Recommended by Steve Jurvetson, Brian Armstrong, Astro Teller, and 5 others.

Steve Jurvetson

A gift to all of my Apple II programming buddies from high school and Dungeons & Dragons comrades. [source]

Astro Teller

So much fun. [source]

Brian Burkhart

The last novel I read was Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One: A Novel,” because my buddy Mike Maddock said, “You gotta read this book!” And I tore it up. I read the whole book in less than two days. It’s something I wish everyone, including myself, did more of. [source]

Cover unavailable

17

Wonder

R. J. Palacio

4.3

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING JULIA ROBERTS, OWEN WILSON, AND JACOB TREMBLAY!

Over 6 million people have read the #1 New York Times bestseller WONDER and have fallen in love with Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face.

The book that inspired the Choose Kind movement.

I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.

August Pullman was born wi

18

Foundation (Foundation, #1)

Isaac Asimov

4.3

For twelve thousand years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Seldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future -- to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last thirty thousand years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire -- both scientists and scholars -- and br

Recommended by Elon Musk, Adam Gazzaley, Amy Webb, and 7 others.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

In terms of sci-fi books, I think Isaac Asimov is really great. I like the Foundation series, probably one of the all-time best. [source]

Adam Gazzaley

Life-changing for me as a kid, and have still read it multiple times throughout my life. [source]

Amy Webb

Asimov was a masterful fringe thinker, and this first book in the Foundation series shows just how attuned he was to possible and plausible future scenarios. Although it’s 50 years old, Foundation is especially provocative reading given our current state of world affairs — in order to save humankind and the vast knowledge we have accumulated, the main character gathers the smartest thinkers and forms a secret society. But that doesn’t go exactly as planned, either. [source]

Cover unavailable

19

1Q84 (1Q84 #1-3)

Haruki Murakami, Jay Rubin, Philip Gabriel

4.2

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo.

A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He

Recommended by Adam Savage.

Adam Savage

Seriously, one of my favorite books of all time. [source]

20

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Ibram X. Kendi

4.2

Preview Summary

Americans like to insist that they are living in a post-racial, color-blind society. In fact, racist thought is alive and well; it has simply become more sophisticated and more insidious. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues in Stamped from the Beginning, racist ideas in America have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.

In this

Recommended by Bianca Belair.

Bianca Belair

For #BHM I will be sharing some of my favorite books by Black Authors 27th Book: Stamped from the Beginning Written by: @DrIbram When I found this book I couldn’t believe that I had never learned about the information in this book. A book everyone should read. Eye-opening! https://t.co/pLaifB8DFI [source]

21

The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Neil Gaiman

4.2

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an o

Recommended by Asher Wolf and Zoe Keating.

Asher Wolf

@trib I love that book. So much. [source]

Zoe Keating

For a while in 2015 I lost the ability to read (PTSD, I’m told) and “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” and Eli Brown’s “Cinnamon & Gunpowder” were the first books I was able to understand and enjoy. @neilhimself’s book in particular was like a hand pulling me up. https://t.co/foEbRxYbuj [source]

22

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

4.2

Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers at

Recommended by Steve Jurvetson, Seth Godin, Cory Zue, and 2 others.

Steve Jurvetson

Steve Jurvetson recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

In the last week, I discovered that at least two of my smart friends hadn't read Godel, Escher, Bach. They have now. You should too. [source]

Cory Zue

More recently books like Godel, Escher, Bach and Sapiens have influenced my thinking a lot. [source]

23

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Timothy Snyder

4.2

A historian of fascism offers a guide for surviving and resisting America’s turn towards authoritarianism.

On November 9th, millions of Americans woke up to the impossible: the election of Donald Trump as president. Against all predictions, one of the most-disliked presidential candidates in history had swept the electoral college, elevating a man with open contempt for democratic norms and institu

Recommended by George Saunders, Maya Wiley, and Tom Holland.

George Saunders

Please read this book. So smart, so timely. [source]

Maya Wiley

Prof. Tim Snyder, author of “In Tyranny” reminded us in that important little book that we must protect our institutions. #DOJ is one of our most important in gov’t for the rule of law. This is our collective house & #Barr should be evicted. https://t.co/PPxM9IMQUm [source]

Tom Holland

"There isn’t a page of this magnificent book that does not contain some fascinating detail and the narrative is held together with a novelist’s eye for character and theme." #Dominion https://t.co/FESSNxVDLC [source]

24

Foundation/Foundation and Empire/Second Foundation

Isaac Asimov, Michael Dirda

4.2

Isaac Asimov’s seminal Foundation trilogy—one of the cornerstones of modern speculative fiction—in a single hardcover volume.

It is the saga of the Galactic Empire, crumbling after twelve thousand years of rule. And it is the particular story of psychohistorian Hari Seldon, the only man who can see the horrors the future has in store—a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and violence that will last f

Recommended by Orson Scott Card and Paul Krugman.

Orson Scott Card

Author

Isaac Asimov wrote many good books, but this is the one that stands as his finest, and the one that most rewards periodic rereading. [source]

Paul Krugman

This [source]

25

The Stranger

Albert Camus, Jonathan Davis, et al

4.2

Through the story of an ordinary man unwittingly drawn into a senseless murder on an Algerian beach, Camus explored what he termed "the nakedness of man faced with the absurd." First published in English in 1946; now in a new translation by Matthew Ward.

Recommended by David Heinemeier Hansson and Kyle Maynard.

David Heinemeier Hansson

Seminal novel on existentialism and the absurd by Albert Camus from 1946. Explores that feeling of disconnectedness from society, its norms, and the absurdity of every day life. Striking first-person account in a powerful, direct language. [source]

Kyle Maynard

Kyle Maynard said this is one of his most-recommended books. [source]

26

The Trial

Franz Kafka, Breon Mitchell

4.2

Written in 1914 but not published until 1925, a year after Kafka's death, The Trial is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century: the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the exc

Recommended by David Heinemeier Hansson and Michael Peel.

David Heinemeier Hansson

It’s a fascinating writing style with a 3rd party observer that’s treated as an extension of the protagonists own sentiments and mind. It’s also just exquisitely written. And the concept of being on trial for charges unknown by a vast, impersonal, yet petty, bureaucracy pulls from a timeless well of societal anxieties. So far, so very good. About half way through. [source]

Michael Peel

I read this before going to Nigeria but moving there made me think about it a lot. The idea that the system always wins. [source]

27

Zoom

Istvan Banyai

4.2

As seen on the SERIAL podcast, season 2, episode 1 ("Dustwun")!

Open this wordless book and zoom from a farm to a ship to a city street to a desert island. But if you think you know where you are, guess again. For nothing is ever as it seems in Istvan Banyai's sleek, mysterious landscapes of pictures within pictures, which will tease and delight readers of all ages.

"This book has the fascinating a

28

Crush It!: Why Now Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion

Gary Vaynerchuk

4.2

Preview Summary

Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. In Crush It! Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, Gary Vaynerchuk shows you how to use the power of the Internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. Gary spent years building his family busin

Recommended by Eric Schmidt, Tony Hsieh, Ryan Hoover, and 8 others.

Tony Hsieh

CEO/Zappos.com

Gary Vaynerchuk is one of those entrepreneurs who has discovered the secret to combining passion with business. He is always an inspiration and always entertaining. You owe it to yourself to read this book! [source]

Ryan Hoover

I love how he cuts to the point - no BS. [source]

Adam Haritan

For anyone interested in my career path, I’d recommend books in various genres. On a real practical level, I’d certainly recommend reading any and all plant/mushroom/tree/ecology/nature books you can acquire. It’s even more helpful to read the books that pertain specifically to your ecosystem and bioregion. Additionally, I’d also recommend reading a plethora of business and marketing books — both old and new alike. Think And Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini, and anything by Seth Godin would be my top recommendations. And of course, every book I mentioned in the previous answers are strongly recommended as well. [source]

29

A Monster Calls

Patrick Ness, Jim Kay

4.2

An unflinching, darkly funny, and deeply moving story of a boy, his seriously ill mother, and an unexpected monstrous visitor.

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting - he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started

30

The Second Sex

Simone de Beauvoir, Constance Borde, Sheila Malovany-Chevallier

4.2

Newly translated and unabridged in English for the first time, and brilliantly introduced by Judith Thurman, Simone de Beauvoir’s masterpiece weaves together history, philosophy, economics, biology, and a host of other disciplines to analyze the Western notion of “woman” and to explore the power of sexuality.

Sixty years after its initial publication, The Second Sex is still as eye-opening and pert

Recommended by Arianna Huffington, Belinda Jack, Erica Jong, and 1 others.

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

Great Thrive Questionnaire by @smlafleur, founder of M.M.LaFleur. On the book that changed her life, The Second Sex: "it changed my entire perception about what it means to be a woman, and it may be the unconscious reason behind why I started my company." https://t.co/tudVOb28J2 [source]

Belinda Jack

In making a distinction between sex and gender she drew attention to how much of what women had to contend with was actually something that society imposes. [source]

Erica Jong

The French literary world is incredibly sexist and here was one of their darlings pointing out how much they discriminate. [source]

31

The Bhagavad Gita

Eknath Easwaran

4.2

Preview Summary

Recommended by Ryan Holiday, Bernard Tan, Bill Liao, and 1 others.

Ryan Holiday

Author

I read The Bhagavad Gita, which is something I wasn’t ready for before, but glad to finally understand. [source]

Bernard Tan

The “Tao Te King” by Lao Tzu probably resonated with me the strongest, but others like the “Art of War” by Sun Tzu, “Bhagavad Gita” or Zen Buddhist scriptures were also real eye-openers, even for a non-religious person like myself. [source]

Bill Liao

The human world occurs in language so best get good at it! [source]

32

Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Max Tegmark

4.2

Preview Summary

How will Artificial Intelligence affect crime, war, justice, jobs, society and our very sense of being human? The rise of AI has the potential to transform our future more than any other technology--and there's nobody better qualified or situated to explore that future than Max Tegmark, an MIT professor who's helped mainstream research on how to keep AI beneficial.

How can we grow our prosperity th

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and 2 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

As 2018 draws to a close, I’m continuing a favorite tradition of mine and sharing my year-end lists. It gives me a moment to pause and reflect on the year through the books I found most thought-provoking, inspiring, or just plain loved. It also gives me a chance to highlight talented authors – some who are household names and others who you may not have heard of before. Here’s my best of 2018 list. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Anyone who wants to discuss how artificial intelligence is shaping the world should read this book. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

A compelling guide to the challenges and choices in our quest for a great future of life, intelligence and consciousness—on Earth and beyond. [source]

33

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

Simon Singh

4.2

In his first book since the bestselling Fermat's Enigma, Simon Singh offers the first sweeping history of encryption, tracing its evolution and revealing the dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives. From Mary, Queen of Scots, trapped by her own code, to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredible (and incredibly simple) logistica

Recommended by Stephen Kinsella.

Stephen Kinsella

@gavreilly @SLSingh Love that book [source]

Cover unavailable

34

The Red Book: Liber Novus

C. G. Jung, Sonu Shamdasani, Mark Kyburz, John Peck

4.2

When Carl Jung embarked on an extended self-exploration he called it his “confrontation with the unconscious,” the heart of it was The Red Book, a large, illuminated volume he created between 1914 and 1930. Here he developed his principle theories—of the archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the process of individuation—that transformed psychotherapy from a practice concerned with treatment

35

The Noisy Paint Box

Barb Rosenstock, Mary GrandPre

4.2

In this exuberant celebration of creativity, Barb Rosenstock and Mary Grandpre tell the fascinating story of Vasily Kandinsky, one of the very first painters of abstract art. Throughout his life, Kandinsky experienced colors as sounds, and sounds as colors--and bold, groundbreaking works burst forth from his noisy paint box.

36

Fascism: A Warning

Madeleine Albright and HarperAudi

4.2

A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state

A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violenc

Recommended by Brad Feld.

Brad Feld

Co-Founder/Foundry Group

Amy and I have been fortunate enough to get to know Madeleine Albright through our collective relationships at Wellesley. Amy knows her better, but I had an amazing dinner sitting next to her one night where I walked away thinking “I wish she had been born here so she could run for president.” The word “fascism” is once again being used so often as to mean nothing, so Albright spends 250 or so pages walking the reader through real fascism, how fascists behave, what they do to their countries (and societies), and what – as a citizen in a democratic country – to pay attention to. She covers the famous ones, but also some not so famous ones, especially those who came to power in the context of a theoretically democratic society. [source]

37

Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy

Sadhguru

4.2

Preview Summary

Achieve absolute well-being with the classical science of yoga

The practice of what is commonly known as hatha yoga is but one of eight branches of the body of knowledge that is yoga. Yoga is a sophisticated system of self-empowerment that is capable of harnessing and activating inner energies in such a way that your body and mind function at their optimal capacity. It is a means to create inner si

38

A Beautiful Mind

Sylvia Nasar

4.2

Stories of famously eccentric Princetonians abound—such as that of chemist Hubert Alyea, the model for The Absent-Minded Professor, or Ralph Nader, said to have had his own key to the library as an undergraduate. Or the "Phantom of Fine Hall," a figure many students had seen shuffling around the corridors of the math and physics building wearing purple sneakers and writing numerology treatises on

Recommended by Ariel Rubinstein and Diane Coyle.

Ariel Rubinstein

The story of John Nash is really a human story – I don’t think it sheds much light on game theory. But it gives hope to people dealing with this disease. [source]

Diane Coyle

This is a terrific book for just saying something about what game theory helps to do, without plunging you into all the complicated mathematics of how to do it in practice. [source]

39

A Theory of Justice

John Rawls

4.2

Preview Summary

An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Since it appeared in 1971, John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice has become a classic. The author has now revised the original edition to clear up a number of difficulties he and others have found in the original book.

Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition—justice as fairness—and to provide an a

Recommended by Azeem Azhar, Ann Miura-Ko, Jonathan Wolff, and 1 others.

Ann Miura-Ko

Actually a dialogue and a real logical debate. [source]

Jonathan Wolff

Rawls wants you to think about how you would design society if you didn’t know what place you’d play in it. [source]

Lucas Morales

Depending on your interest and goals, if you are like me and always looking for the trends in the big picture then I highly recommend being an active contrarian reader. Read what no one else is reading. Your goal is to think outside the box. To look at the world and ask “why hasn’t this been solved?” And that gives you a roadmap as to what opportunities may exist for your entrepreneurial efforts. So to that, here’s a snapshot, in no particular order, of what might help you push your intellectual boundaries: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism by Ha-Joon Chang Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future by Paul Mason Capital in the Twenty-First Century by Thomas Piketty Who Gets What--And Why: The New Economics of Matchmaking and Market Design by Alvin E. Roth The Political Economy of Participatory Economics by Michael Albert and Robin Hahnel The Zero Marginal Cost Society: The Internet of Things, the Collaborative Commons, and the Eclipse of Capitalism by Jeremy Rifkin Why America Misunderstands the World by Paul R. Pillar A Theory of Justice by John Rawls Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall [source]

40

Mortality

Christopher Hitchens

4.2

On June 8, 2010, while on a book tour for his bestselling memoir, Hitch-22, Christopher Hitchens was stricken in his New York hotel room with excruciating pain in his chest and thorax. As he would later write in the first of a series of award-winning columns for "Vanity Fair," he suddenly found himself being deported "from the country of the well across the stark frontier that marks off the land o

Recommended by Phil Libin and Susan Jacoby.

Phil Libin

CEO/Evernote

Just got Hitchens' latest book "Mortality" from Amazon. Opened the box and it finally sank in: I'm never gonna get this signed. [source]

Susan Jacoby

Oh for God’s sake! For everybody who was a prominent atheist – Voltaire, Paine, Ingersoll – these rumours always circulate, that they converted on their deathbed. The reason I recommend Mortality to everyone is that one of the things that’s always asked about atheists – and I think it’s a fair question – is how you can survive the terrible things that life hands out, if you don’t believe in a life beyond death. Well I think this book, which are essays of his year-and-a-half of dying and living with cancer, are among the best things he wrote in his long and prolific career. They directly address what I believe is the main reason for the survival of religion, which is not a desire to live a better life, but our fear of death, our fear of extinction. What all religion offers – whether it’s western religion with the idea of life after death or eastern religions with different forms of reincarnation – is a way to say, we do not die, we do not become just one with nature. It’s very strange in a way, when you think of the old service from the Book of Common Prayer, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”, because that, of course, is the way a person of science looks at death too. Then it goes on “in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ,” so there atheists differ. [source]

41

Bluebeard

Kurt Vonnegut

4.1

Broad humor and bitter irony collide in this fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, who, at age seventy-one, wants to be left alone on his Long Island estate with the secret he has locked inside his potato barn. But then a voluptuous young widow badgers Rabo into telling his life story—and Vonnegut in turn tells us the plain, heart-hammering truth about man’s careless fancy to create or destr

Cover unavailable

42

The God of Small Things

Arundhati Roy

4.1

Compared favorably to the works of Faulkner and Dickens, Arundhati Roy’s debut novel is a modern classic that has been read and loved worldwide. Equal parts powerful family saga, forbidden love story, and piercing political drama, it is the story of an affluent Indian family forever changed by one fateful day in 1969. The seven-year-old twins Estha and Rahel see their world shaken irrevokably by t

Recommended by William Dalrymple.

William Dalrymple

Of all the great modern Indian novels, of which there has been a flood, Arundhati Roy is the one I enjoyed most. It’s got that fabulous quality, in the literal sense. It has a craftsmanship to it, and one of the greatest endings to any novel. There are so few modern novels which end perfectly, with that perfect click into place, the lock clicking shut. But it has that, and it’s a very well-worked, well-written novel. I hope she repeats it at some point in the future. [source]

43

Mystic's Musings

Sadhguru

4.1

44

Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art

Mary Gabriel

4.1

Five women revolutionize the modern art world in postwar America in this "gratifying, generous, and lush" true story from a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist (Jennifer Szalai, New York Times).

Set amid the most turbulent social and political period of modern times, Ninth Street Women is the impassioned, wild, sometimes tragic, always exhilarating chronicle of five women who dared to

Recommended by Tim Kastelle.

Tim Kastelle

Good post from @garancedore, referencing the great book by Mary Gabriel Ninth Street Women, which profiles Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell & Helen Frankenthaler: Is Satisfaction the Enemy of Creativity? https://t.co/kC7whiVewx [source]

45

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract

Bill James

4.1

When Bill James published his original Historical Baseball Abstract in 1985, he produced an immediate classic, hailed by the Chicago Tribune as the “holy book of baseball.” Now, baseball's beloved “Sultan of Stats” (The Boston Globe) is back with a fully revised and updated edition for the new millennium.

Like the original, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract is really several books in

Recommended by Joe Posnanski.

Joe Posnanski

Bill is a very good friend of mine. He was always a baseball fan, but in the 1970s he started looking at baseball and asking all these questions about the game. Was it really the way people described it, in terms of the strategy of the game and the focus of the game? He found that in many, many ways it was not. And he just started writing about it. He’s a brilliant writer. The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract is his big thing; it’s an entire history of baseball. There’s a section where he goes through decade by decade, telling all the biggest stories about the game. There’s another section where he picks the 100 greatest players in every position – so the 100 greatest catchers, the 100 greatest first basemen and so on. This could be extremely dry, but Bill takes it as an opportunity to tell 1,900 different stories. I’ve read the book cover-to-cover, but even more than that, I’ve read some parts of the book a thousand times. I’ve picked it up, turned to a page and started reading about, say, the 23rd-best second baseman. The stories are just so wonderful, and Bill’s mind is just so remarkable. It’s a great book. [source]

46

Way of the Wolf: Straight Line Selling: Master the Art of Persuasion, Influence, and Success

Jordan Belfort

4.1

Preview Summary

Jordan Belfort—immortalized by Leonardo DiCaprio in the hit movie The Wolf of Wall Street—reveals the step-by-step sales and persuasion system proven to turn anyone into a sales-closing, money-earning rock star.

For the first time ever, Jordan Belfort opens his playbook and gives you access to his exclusive step-by-step system—the same system he used to create massive wealth for himself, his client

Recommended by Kimberly Gloria Choi and 1 others.

Kimberly Gloria Choi

I actually have read the Wolf of Wall Street before. But this time I want to understands this man without any Hollywood beautifying filter. Try to get into his head. Simply want to know how he used charisma and Psychology to manipulate people. And I’m certain, all dictators, leaders in history, they all have their very own charisma, unique tonality that attracts people's’ attention. To be continued…. [source]

47

The Metamorphosis

Franz Kafka

4.1

Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0553213695 / 9780553213690

"As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back and when he lifted his head a little he could see his domelike brown belly divided into stiff arched segments on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in positi

Recommended by David Lynch and David Lynch.

David Lynch

David Lynch said this is one of his most-recommended books. [source]

David Lynch

David Lynch said this is one of his most-recommended books. [source]

Cover unavailable

48

Starry River of the Sky

Grace Lin

4.1

The moon is missing from the remote Village of Clear Sky, but only a young boy named Rendi seems to notice! Rendi has run away from home and is now working as a chore boy at the village inn. He can't help but notice the village's peculiar inhabitants and their problems-where has the innkeeper's son gone? Why are Master Chao and Widow Yan always arguing? What is the crying sound Rendi keeps hearing

Cover unavailable

49

Madness, Rack, and Honey: Collected Lectures

Mary Ruefle

4.1

This is one of the wisest books I've read in years... —New York Times Book Review

No writer I know of comes close to even trying to articulate the weird magic of poetry as Ruefle does. She acknowledges and celebrates in the odd mystery and mysticism of the act—the fact that poetry must both guard and reveal, hint at and pull back... Also, and maybe most crucially, Ruefle’s work is never once stuffy

50

Bande dessinée et abstraction: 2 volumes

ACME

4.1

51

The Origins of Totalitarianism

Hannah Arendt, Nadia May, et al

4.1

Hannah Arendt's definitive work on totalitarianism and an essential component of any study of twentieth-century political history

The Origins of Totalitarianism begins with the rise of anti-Semitism in central and western Europe in the 1800s and continues with an examination of European colonial imperialism from 1884 to the outbreak of World War I. Arendt explores the institutions and operations of

Recommended by Ruth Ben-Ghiat.

Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Her most useful (and her most chilling) conclusion for today is that totalitarian tools were not specific to Nazism or Stalinism or any ideology. Arendt’s words should be studied today by those who want to prevent the further spread of authoritarian regimes and the ideologies they are propagating. [source]

52

Helvetica/Objectified/Urbanized: The Complete Interviews

Gary Hustwi

4.1

In-depth discussions with designers and thinkers like Paola Antonelli, Alejandro Aravena, Chris Bangle, Michael Bierut, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Neville Brody, Tim Brown, Amanda Burden, David Carson, Matthew Carter, Candy Chang, Yung Ho Chang, Noah Chasin, James Corner, Wim Crouwel, Ellen Dunham-Jones, Tobias Frere-Jones, Experimental Jetset, Dan Formosa, Sir Norman Foster, Naoto Fukasawa, Jan

53

Painting Abstracts: Ideas, Projects and Techniques

Rolina Van Vliet

4.1

Clear, challenging and inspiring, this book contains instructions for 65 abstract paintings that you can get to work on straightaway, with no previous experience. All the basic information relating to picture elements, composition, theme and design is provided at the start of the book, together with an exploration of the meaning of abstract painting, and its importance as a means of self-expressio

Cover unavailable

54

Abstract Painting: The Elements of Visual Language

Jane Davies

4.1

Abstract Painting: The Elements of Visual Language examines and articulates a vocabulary of visual elements from which you build images, abstract or otherwise. As you examine line, shape, pattern, texture, depth, and color in detail, you become more aware of the elements that make up a painting, and better able to observe your own work without judgment and self-criticism. Generously illustrated wi

55

The Dangerous Alphabet

Neil Gaiman, Gris Grimly

4.1

A is for Always, that's where we embark . . .

Two children, treasure map in hand, and their pet gazelle sneak past their father, out of their house, and into a world beneath the city, where monsters and pirates roam.

Will they find the treasure? Will they make it out alive?

The Dangerous Alphabet is a tale of adventure, piracy, danger, and heroism told in twenty-six alphabetical lines—although even t

56

The Invisible Man (AmazonClassics Edition)

H. G. Wells

4.1

This masterpiece of science fiction is the fascinating story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.

57

Jackson Pollock: 1912-1956

Leonhard Emmerling

4.1

A TRAGIC ICON OF ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM, JACKSON POLLOCK (1912-1956) TOOK INFLUENCES FROM PICASSO AND MEXICAN SURREALISM AND DEVELOPED HIS OWN WAY OF SEEING, INTERPRETING, AND EXPRESSING. THOUGH HIS NAME INEVITABLY CONJURES UP IMAGES OF THE DRIP PAINTINGS FOR WHICH HE IS MOST FAMOUS, THIS TECHNIQUE WAS ONLY DEVELOPED MIDWAY THROUGH HIS CAREER. THE PROGRESSION FROM HIS EARLIER WORK TO HIS FINAL "AC

Cover unavailable

58

Creatures of a Day: And Other Tales of Psychotherapy

Irvin D. Yalom

4.1

"The publication of Creatures of a Day is reason to celebrate." --Steven Pinker
In this stunning collection of stories, renowned psychiatrist Irvin D. Yalom describes his patients' struggles--as well as his own--to come to terms with the two great challenges of existence: how to have a meaningful life yet reckon with its inevitable end. We meet a nurse who must stifle the pain of losing her son in

59

Field Theory (Graduate Texts in Mathematics)

Steven Roman

4.1

"Springer has just released the second edition of Steven Roman's Field Theory, and it continues to be one of the best graduate-level introductions to the subject out there....Every section of the book has a number of good exercises that would make this book excellent to use either as a textbook or to learn the material on your own. All in all...a well-written expository account of a very exciting

60

Janesville: An American Story

Amy Goldstein

4.1

A Washington Post reporter’s intimate account of the fallout from the closing of a General Motors’ assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin - Paul Ryan’s hometown - and a larger story of the hollowing of the American middle class.

This is the story of what happens to an industrial town in the American heartland when its factory stills—but it’s not the familiar tale. Most observers record the immedia

Recommended by Zach Wahls.

Zach Wahls

The best book I've read on this question RE: re-training after factory closures is Janesville by Amy Goldstein. [source]

61

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: Guidance on the Path to Mindfulness from a Spiritual Leader

Haemin Sunim

4.1

"Is it the world that's busy, or is it my mind?"

The world moves fast, but that doesn't mean we have to. In this best-selling mindfulness guide - it has sold more than three million copies in Korea, where it was a number-one best-seller for 41 weeks and received multiple best book of the year awards - Haemin Sunim (which means "spontaneous wisdom"), a renowned Buddhist meditation teacher born in Ko

Recommended by Arianna Huffington.

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

Not only a useful and practical book, it’s a beautiful one as well. Everyone who wants to thrive more in their life should have it on their nightstand. [source]

62

Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success

Rory Vaden

4.1

Do you ride the escalator-or take the stairs? No matter how you define success, it always requires one thing: self-discipline. But as popular speaker and strategist Rory Vaden explains, we live in an "escalator world"-one that's filled with shortcuts, quick fixes, and distractions that make it all too easy to slide into procrastination, compromise, and mediocrity. What seems like an easier path i

63

Life: A User's Manual

Georges Perec, David Bellos

4.1

Life: A User's Manual is an unclassified masterpiece, a sprawling compendium as encyclopedic as Dante's Commedia and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and, in its break with tradition, as inspiring as Joyce's Ulysses. Perec's spellbinding puzzle begins in an apartment block in the XVIIth arrondissement of Paris where, chapter by chapter, room by room, like an onion being peeled, an extraordinary rich cas

Recommended by Alina Varlanuta and David Bellos.

Alina Varlanuta

I don’t have a favourite book. But I do have favourite characters: … All inhabitants of the apartment block on 11Rue Simon-Crubellier who lived inside George Perec’s ‘Life. A user’s manual.’. [source]

David Bellos

Some people love it for its cleverness but, behind the cleverness, there is something more, something deeply human. [source]

Cover unavailable

64

Sputnik Sweetheart

Haruki Murakami

4.1

alternate cover can be found here

Sumire is in love with a woman seventeen years her senior. But whereas Miu is glamorous and successful, Sumire is an aspiring writer who dresses in an oversized second-hand coat and heavy boots like a character in a Kerouac novel.

Sumire spends hours on the phone talking to her best friend K about the big questions in life: what is sexual desire, and should she ever

65

Sec

Ron Lang

4.1

Sarah Ferrick is currently producing what may be the last in a series of love letters chronicling 2014—2016. In Sec, her penultimate letter, Ferrick reaches a fever pitch of desire.

66

Abstracts in Acrylic and Ink: A Playful Painting Workshop

Jodi Ohl

4.0

Cover unavailable

67

Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting: Fun, Creative and Innovative Techniques

Jo Toye

4.0

Discover abstract painting with acrylics!

"If you approach your art with a playful attitude you will be more apt to keep making art, and the more art you make, the better your art will be." --pg. 10

Like a diving board for creativity, Abstract Explorations in Acrylic Painting will help you plunge joyfully into artmaking. With the belief that an attitude of playfulness is key to artistic growth, awar

68

A Book of Abstract Algebra

Charles C Pinter

4.0

Accessible but rigorous, this outstanding text encompasses all of the topics covered by a typical course in elementary abstract algebra. Its easy-to-read treatment offers an intuitive approach, featuring informal discussions followed by thematically arranged exercises. Intended for undergraduate courses in abstract algebra, it is suitable for junior- and senior-level math majors and future math te

69

The Invisibles, Vol. 3: Entropy in the U.K.

Grant Morrison, Phil Jimenez, Steve Yeowell

4.0

Collects Volume 1, Issues #17-25

Cover unavailable

70

Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker

Patricia Hruby Powell, Christian Robinson

4.0

In exuberant verse and stirring pictures, Patricia Hruby Powell and Christian Robinson create an extraordinary portrait for young people of the passionate performer and civil rights advocate Josephine Baker, the woman who worked her way from the slums of St. Louis to the grandest stages in the world. Meticulously researched by both author and artist, Josephine's powerful story of struggle and triu

Recommended by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins.

Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins

The illustrated story of Josephine Baker, a ground-breaking dancer, singer and comedienne of the 1920’s. [source]

71

The Moonstone

Wilkie Collins, Carolyn G. Heilbrun

4.0

"The Moonstone is a page-turner", writes Carolyn Heilbrun. "It catches one up and unfolds its amazing story through the recountings of its several narrators, all of them enticing and singular." Wilkie Collins’s spellbinding tale of romance, theft, and murder inspired a hugely popular genre–the detective mystery. Hinging on the theft of an enormous diamond originally stolen from an Indian shrine, t

Recommended by Jason Hall.

Jason Hall

Like The Woman in White, it’s one of the more famous novels by Collins. It’s another with several characters, lots of perspectives, a great mystery at the middle of it [source]

Cover unavailable

72

Power of Silence

Carlos Castaneda

4.0

Millions of readers worldwide have treasured the visionary brilliance of Carlos Castaneda, who first explore the world of the Yaqui Indian sorcerer in The Teachings of don Juan. Now, at last, don Juan returns in The Power of Silence—wise, infuriating, capable or working miracles and playing practical jokes, but always seeking the wisdom of the warrior.

The Power of Silence is Castaneda's most aston

73

The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness

Lolly Daskal

4.0

Do people see you as the kind of leader you want to be? Are your strongest leadership qualities getting in the way of your greatness?

After decades of advising and inspiring some of the most eminent chief executives in the world, Lolly Daskal has uncovered a startling pattern: within each leader are powerful abilities that are also hidden impediments to greatness. She's witnessed many highly drive

Recommended by Dan Rockwell and Susan Suehr.

Susan Suehr

Excellent book. Full of leadership insights! A must in your library. Originally bought on kindle & had to buy a hard copy. https://t.co/3eI7NidboR [source]

74

Le Petit Prince

Joann Sfar, Gallimard

4.0

Joann Sfar retrouve en bande dessinée la poésie, l'émotion et toute la force symbolique du célèbre conte. Fidèle au livre de son enfance, il l'est aussi à lui-même et raconte l'histoire avec la grâce et la générosité qui le caractérisent.

Cover unavailable

75

Tender Buttons: The Corrected Centennial Edition

Gertrude Stein, Seth Perlow, Juliana Spahr

4.0

The MLA Committee on Scholarly Editions has awarded Tender Buttons: The Corrected Centennial Edition its seal designating it an MLA Approved Edition.
2014 marks the one hundredth anniversary of the original publication of Gertrude Stein's groundbreaking modernist classic, Tender Buttons. This centennial edition is the first and only version to incorporate Stein's own handwritten corrections—found i

Recommended by Jeremy Noel-Tod.

Jeremy Noel-Tod

Tender Buttons in particular was the book that made her notorious. She knew that there was something about her writing that fascinated people, and it fascinated them partially because it irritated them. But it irritated them because they were sort of attracted to it, without knowing why. It irritates the rational part of the mind which expects to be able to explain things. [source]

76

The Astonishing Color of After

Emily X.R. Pan

4.0

Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her g

77

Blood and Chocolate

Annette Curtis Klause

4.0

Vivian Gandillon relishes the change, the sweet, fierce ache that carries her from girl to wolf. At sixteen, she is beautiful and strong, and all the young wolves are on her tail. But Vivian still grieves for her dead father; her pack remains leaderless and in disarray, and she feels lost in the suburbs of Maryland. She longs for a normal life. But what is normal for a werewolf?

Then Vivian falls i

Cover unavailable

78

Kindling the Celtic Spirit: Ancient Traditions to Illumine Your Life Through the Seasons

Mara Freeman

4.0

In this beautiful treasury of sacred wisdom, Mara Freeman shares the rich legacy of the Celts -- the festivals, gods and goddesses, saints, faeries, music, poetry, and storytelling that anchor this magical tradition. Discover myths, rituals, recipes, and crafts for every month of theyear. Honor Saint Brigit with a prayer in February, or ensure a merry start to May with a bowl of frothy syllabub. C

79

Strategy: A History

Lawrence Freedman

4.0

Selected as a Financial Times Best Book of 2013
In Strategy: A History, Sir Lawrence Freedman, one of the world's leading authorities on war and international politics, captures the vast history of strategic thinking, in a consistently engaging and insightful account of how strategy came to pervade every aspect of our lives.
The range of Freedman's narrative is extraordinary, moving from the surpr

Recommended by Antulio Echevarria II.

Antulio Echevarria II

He lays out quite nicely how complex and convoluted that history is. [source]

80

What the Hell Are You Doing?: The Essential David Shrigley

David Shrigley

4.0

A darkly comic collection of work, this book collects together the best of Shrigley's work, old and new. It is a celebration of the surreal world of one of Britain's finest contemporary artists.

81

Mrs. Dalloway

Virginia Woolf

4.0

In this vivid portrait of one day in a woman's life, Clarissa Dalloway is preoccupied with the last-minute details of party preparation while in her mind she is much more than a perfect society hostess. As she readies her house, she is flooded with far-away remembrances. And, met with the realities of the present, Clarissa reexamines the choices she has made, hesitantly looking ahead to growing ol

Recommended by Charles Fernyhough and Maria Sveland.

Charles Fernyhough

Woolf is interested in the intersections between minds. She’s trying to show how minds bleed into each other. [source]

Maria Sveland

It’s one of the saddest books I’ve ever read. I could really identify with Clarissa, this empty, poor person who is going out to find some flowers for a party. At the same moment, we are following her out into the beautiful morning as the story starts. It’s clear very soon that Clarissa is a woman who has lost her soul among all the duties and conventions of a boring marriage. That loss is so overwhelming and confusing that she loses contact even with her own body. She describes feeling young, but at the same time really old. I don’t know why I identified with her so strongly. [source]

82

Cicada

Shaun Tan

4.0

From the visionary Shaun Tan, an inspirational story for older picture book readers and beyond
Cicada tells the story of a hardworking little cicada who is completely unappreciated for what he does. But in the end, just when you think he's given up, he makes a transformation into something ineffably beautiful. A metaphor for growing up? A bit of inspiration for the unappreciated striver in all of u

Cover unavailable

83

The Invisibles, Vol. 4: Bloody Hell in America

Grant Morrison, Phil Jimenez

4.0

In a world where paranoia is a survival skill, the only hope for humankind is a group of unconventional occultist freedom fighters called the Invisibles. In this collection, the team launches an assault on an underground New Mexico lab to free the cure for the AIDS virus from the alleged inventors of the disease: the U.S. government. Collects Volume 2, Issues #1-4

84

The Educated Imagination

Northrop Frye

4.0

Addressed to educators and general readers--the "consumers of literature" from all walks of life--this important new book explores the value and uses of literature in our time. Dr. Frye offers, in addition, challenging and stimulating ideas for the teaching of literature at lower school levels, designed both to promote an early interest and to lead the student to the knowledge and kaleidoscopic ex

85

The Starless Sea

Erin Morgenstern

4.0

Far beneath the surface of the earth, upon the shores of the Starless Sea, there is a labyrinthine collection of tunnels and rooms filled with stories. The entryways that lead to this sanctuary are often hidden, sometimes on forest floors, sometimes in private homes, sometimes in plain sight. But those who seek will find. Their doors have been waiting for them.

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is searching for

Recommended by Chuck Wendig and Pim Techamuanvivit.

Chuck Wendig

1.) It is a book in love with books, a story in love with stories, and as both a writer and a reader, that is DELECTABLE FOOD. It is brain food. It is heart food. [source]

Pim Techamuanvivit

@grubreport It is so lovely. And I love that the first book reference in that book was The Shadow of the Wind, and then on from there. It’s sort of like a zombie movie that doesn’t pretend to somehow take place in a universe where no one has heard of zombies. [source]

86

The Paint Pouring Workshop: Learn to Create Dazzling Abstract Art with Acrylic Pouring

Marcy Ferro

4.0

Jump into the exciting world of paint pouring—and instantly create dazzling, abstract art—with this comprehensive how-to guide by the popular founder of the Mixed Media Girl YouTube channel.

Paint pouring—which involves using a free-flowing acrylic paint mixture created with a pouring medium, such as glue and water—is the hottest trend for making abstract art. In this fun, colorful guide, Marcy F

87

The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich

David Bach

4.0

Preview Summary

What’s the secret to becoming a millionaire?

For years people have asked David Bach, the national bestselling author of Smart Women Finish Rich, Smart Couples Finish Rich, and The Finish Rich Workbook, what’s the real secret to getting rich? What’s the one thing I need to do?

Now, in The Automatic Millionaire, David Bach is sharing that secret.

The Automatic Millionaire starts with the powerful story

Recommended by Tiffany Aliche.

Tiffany Aliche

The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach - this is the book that started Tiffany on her financial journey. [source]

88

Death from the Skies!: These Are the Ways the World Will End...

Philip Plait Ph.D

4.0

A lively astronomy primer that uses cataclysmic scenarios to explain the universe's most fascinating events.

According to astronomer Philip Plait, the universe is an apocalypse waiting to happen But how much do we really need to fear from things like black holes, gamma-ray bursts, and supernovae? And if we should be scared, is there anything we can do to save ourselves? With humor and wit, Plait de

89

Creative Haven Entangled Coloring Book

Dr. Angela Porter

4.0

This collection of more than 30 original patterns was inspired by Zentangle, a method of creating repetitive patterns that promotes relaxation as well as creative expression. The sweeping, free-form line designs incorporate flowers, stars, and geometric shapes. Pages are perforated and printed on one side only for easy removal and display. Specially designed for experienced colorists, Entangled an

90

You Don't Know Me

David Klass

4.0

John ("My father named me after a toilet!") wrestles with the certainty that no one really knows him not in his miserable home, and certainly not at school. It's true that no one can guess his hidden thoughts, which are hilarious, razor-sharp observations about lust, love, tubas, algebra, everything. And then there's his home: his father ran off years ago, so he's being raised by his mother, who w

91

Waiting for Godot

Samuel Becket

4.0

The story revolves around two seemingly homeless men simply waiting for someone—or something—named Godot. Vladimir and Estragon wait near a tree, inhabiting a drama spun of their own consciousness. The result is a comical wordplay of poetry, dreamscapes, and nonsense, which has been interpreted as mankind’s inexhaustible search for meaning. Beckett’s language pioneered an expressionistic minimalis

Recommended by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Have recently come to appreciate the awesome, absurdist humor of this book. [source]

92

The Sciences of the Artificial

Herbert A Simon

4.0

Continuing his exploration of the organization of complexity and the science of design, this new edition of Herbert Simon's classic work on artificial intelligence adds a chapter that sorts out the current themes and tools -- chaos, adaptive systems, genetic algorithms -- for analyzing complexity and complex systems. There are updates throughout the book as well. These take into account important

Recommended by Alan Kay.

Alan Kay

A much stronger way to think about computing — and what 'Computer Science' might mean. [source]

93

History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier

Deborah E. Lipstadt

4.0

In her acclaimed 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, Deborah Lipstadt called putative WWII historian David Irving "one of the most dangerous spokespersons for Holocaust denial." A prolific author of books on Nazi Germany who has claimed that more people died in Ted Kennedy's car at Chappaquiddick than in the gas chambers at Auschwitz, Irving responded by filing a libel lawsuit in the United Kingdom -

94

The Stuff of Stars

Marion Dane Bauer, Ekua Holmes

4.0

In an astonishing unfurling of our universe, Newbery Honor winner Marion Dane Bauer and Caldecott Honor winner Ekua Holmes celebrate the birth of every child.

Before the universe was formed, before time and space existed, there was . . . nothing. But then . . . BANG! Stars caught fire and burned so long that they exploded, flinging stardust everywhere. And the ash of those stars turned into planets

95

Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language

Douglas R. Hofstadter

4.0

Lost in an art—the art of translation. Thus, in an elegant anagram (translation = lost in an art), Pulitzer Prize-winning author and pioneering cognitive scientist Douglas Hofstadter hints at what led him to pen a deep personal homage to the witty sixteenth-century French poet Clément Marot.”

Le ton beau de Marot” literally means ”The sweet tone of Marot”, but to a French ear it suggests ”Le tombea

Recommended by Nicholas Ostler.

Nicholas Ostler

. [source]

96

The Blonde Woman

Ellie Lofaro and Patsy Clairmont

4.0

97

Keturah and Lord Death

Martine Leavitt

4.0

Martine Leavitt offers a spellbinding story, interweaving elements of classic fantasy and high romance in this National Book Award Finalist. Keturah follows a legendary hart into the king's forest, where she becomes hopelessly lost. Her strength diminishes until, finally, she realizes that death is near. Little does she know that he is a young, handsome lord, melancholy and stern. Renowned for her

98

Grief is the Thing with Feathers

Max Porter

4.0

In a London flat, two young boys face the unbearable sadness of their mother's sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness.

In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow - antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This self-described sentimental bird is attracted to the grieving family and threatens to stay un

Recommended by Sophie Ratcliffe.

Sophie Ratcliffe

What struck me about this book is the way in which grief is embodied. In Max Porter’s novel (or novel-poem), grief becomes ‘Crow’, who descends upon this family. He’s variously a babysitter, a friend, a ghost, a terrorizer. He impersonates a mother; he’s a joker; he’s twisted. He causes chaos. That’s what it captures: the absolute unpredictability, and nastiness, and then sudden benevolence of grief. [source]

99

Lifescale: How to Live a More Creative, Productive, and Happy Life

Brian Solis

4.0

Somewhere along the way, we got distracted. As much as we multitask, love our devices and feel like we’re in control, deep down we know that something is off. Shortened attention spans, declines in critical thinking, lack of sleep, self-doubt and decreased creativity are just some of the effects coming to light in an age of digital distraction.

It’s time to reclaim our lives. It’s time to take cont

Recommended by Jeremy Boudinet and Micah Baldwin.

Jeremy Boudinet

I'm currently reading LifeScale by Brian Solis. Oddly enough, it's a book about overcoming digital distraction and boosting your happiness, creativity, and sense of purpose in life. It's a powerful cautionary tale against spending too much time as a digital consumer. As someone who spends - at minimum - 40 hours a week staring at a computer screen where digital distraction is just one click away, I'm always looking for useful strategies for overcoming distraction and maintaining focus. It's already delivering on that front. [source]

Micah Baldwin

One of the fun things about @create33pnw is getting to showcase friends that are doing amazing things and carrying amazing messages. @briansolis' new book is full of great learnings. Would love to have you stop by. https://t.co/WlqEtgrgJA [source]

100

The Museum of Love and Mystery

Jim Woodring

4.0