100 Best Gold Books of All Time

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]

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]

Bill Liao

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

Catherine Plano

The one that really resonates with me and still to this day is The Power of NOW from Eckhart Tolle because as an entrepreneur we get so caught up in the future that we fail to be 'present'. The reality of it all when you really think about it - the present is all we have that is real, it requires no effort, nor time. I practice this daily, if I feel uncomfortable then I know I am trying too hard and not being present but when I am being present it is easier to think about what I have to do right now, because now is all that matters. [source]

Darrah Brustein

Others include The Power Of Now which is powerful reminder that all we have is the present and helps give you meaningful ways to live in it, not in the past or the future. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

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

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Quite interesting. [source]

Brian Chesky

Co-Founder & CEO/AirBnb

For Chesky, a source may come in the form of a biography of a business hero such as Steve Jobs or Walt Disney. His primary book source on management technique is Andy Grove’s High Output Management. [source]

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]

Cressida Cowell

The Hobbit is such a richly imagined fantasy that, especially as a child, you can live in it. It is so completely immersive. [source]

Lev Grossman

First up, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, by JRR Tolkien. But you knew I was going to say that. This one book, which was published in 1937, defined so many variables for the fantasy tradition that are still in place today. Tolkien’s extraordinary achievement was to recover the epic landscapes of Anglo-Saxon myth, bring them back to life, and then to take us through them on foot, so we could see the details up close, at human scale. The Hobbit is both mythic and relatable at the same time – The New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik recently called it “an arranged marriage between the Elder Edda and The Wind in the Willows”, and I think that’s entirely fair. Though I would give more credit to the bass register of Tolkien’s imagination, its abyssal depths. Mole never delved as deep as the Mines of Moria. [source]

Jamie Grayson

Holy shit there’s no way this book is that old because that really ages me but I COMPLETELY agree. This book is a masterpiece and a must-read. Lessons about being human are in there and those are important right now. https://t.co/fF1spEFrUH [source]

Rae Earl

It is a tremendously powerful study of PTSD, a mental health issue that isn’t talked about enough [source]

Richard Speight Jr.

A pal for 30 years, @StephenChbosky ‘s first book #ThePerksofBeingaWallflower had a MASSIVE impact on me & countless others. Then came his great movies. Now..THE NEXT BOOK! Be like me & buy it THE DAY it comes out. (Then harass him until he agrees to put me in the movie! 🎥 🤠) https://t.co/02bMKPgF9A [source]

Adam Lawrence

It's just the best. [source]

Antonio Villaraigosa

Even though I know we’ve made great strides in America, and have come from the reality of Maycomb, we still suffer today from the lingering effects of the bigotry of that era. At the same time, it’s a lesson in standing tall in the face of tremendously hostile circumstances. [source]

Clive Stafford Smith

The book touches on so many issues and deals with so many prejudices – prejudices towards the mentally ill, racial stuff. It’s a book that was way ahead of its time in many ways. It’s also a wonderfully written book – a joy to read. [source]

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

Must admit to liking this book. Sad, romantic and beautifully named. [source]

James Comey

@johngreen You should not be. It is a great book. Was recently in Amsterdam and walked some of the scenes with your huge fan, my youngest daughter. Loved hearing from you and meeting you at Kenyon. [source]

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

Oh, it’s not a favorite book or anything like that, I just added it because I liked it. I don’t think there’s any real significance to the fact that it’s listed there and other books aren’t. [source]

Timothy Ferriss

Author & Entrepreneur

At one point, this was the only book listed on Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook page. If it’s good enough to be the sole selection of the founder of Facebook, maybe there’s something to it. The plot: In anticipation of another attack from a hostile alien race, the search for a brilliant military strategist has led to Ender Wiggin. In space combat school, Ender stands out, demonstrating exceptional leadership and unconventional strategy. But it is lonely at the top for Ender, as he struggles with relentless pressure from his instructors. Through Ender’s journey, you’ll learn how to capitalize on your strengths and those of your teammates, as well as exploit your adversaries’ weaknesses. Ender is a futuristic Level 5 Leader we can all learn from. [source]

Travis Kalanick

About a kid who is trained by the military to play video games … But he realizes at the end that the video games he was playing were an actual war. [source]

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

One of the finest works of fiction of the last century. [source]

Neil Gaiman

@Slavinskas_art I love that book. [source]

Andi Dumitrescu

If I had to make a more rational choice, I’d go with Ulises or The Master and Margareta, but I think that choice is a bit snobbish. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

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

Robert Muchamore

A brutal, exciting, action-based sci-fi novel. Hugely popular and excellent fun. [source]

Audrey Russo

So many novels; Lord of the Flies, Great Gatsby, Great Expectations; all the Nancy Drew books; Catcher in the Rye, Books written by Zora Neale Hurston; Pat Conroy – all because of the view about different people who endure despite adversity while kindling the hearts of the human spirit. [source]

Chigozie Obioma

William Golding imbues some of these children with wisdom that would read, in the hands of a lesser author, as implausibly knowing [source]

Disco Donnie

@JoshRHernandez1 I love the book “Lord of the Flies” so just started watching The Society [source]

Audrey Penn

My next one is Jane Eyre. She was orphaned and sent to a very rich aunt, who had her own very selfish children. Jane Eyre was not the perfect child and she was sent to live in a girls’ school. She made one friend, but unfortunately the little girl died, so she had to toughen up. She grew up there and learned everything she needed to know about teaching. She was a very good artist, she played a little piano, she learned French. When she got older she became the governess for a little French girl who was the ward of a man who lived in a manor. They fell in love, but it turned out that he had a wife, who was insane and lived in the attic. So Jane Eyre ran away and found out she had an uncle who had left her a great deal of money. But she couldn’t get the man out of her mind, so she went back. She found out that after she left, the man’s wife had set the place on fire. The wife had died in the fire, and it had blinded him. They were still very much in love and they married. And they lived happily ever after. [source]

John Sutherland

There is an interesting debate … that the real heroine of Jane Eyre is not the plain little governess but the mad woman in the attic, Bertha Mason [source]

Lucy Atkins

I think Charlotte Brontë’s most accomplished book is Villette. It’s probably a better book, it’s tighter and more sophisticated in some ways. But there’s something about Jane Eyre that is just deeply emotionally compelling for me. [source]

Marc Andreessen

Co-Founder/Andreessen Horowitz

The Sovereign Individual—written 20 years ago, this is the most thought provoking book on the unfolding nature of the 21st Century that I’ve yet read. It’s packed with ideas on every page, many that are now fast becoming conventional wisdom, and many that are still heretical. Two related books to read are The Twilight of Sovereignty and Cryptonomicon. [source]

Risto Siilasmaa

CEO/Nokia

The one book on Siilasmaa's list is this fantasy offering from Neal Stephenson. The novel relates two parallel stories, one about an elite group of code-breakers in World War II, and another set in the present day, about two grandchildren of members of the group trying to track down a previously unknown – and rumored to be unbreakable – Nazi code. The book's subject matter resonates with current issues surrounding data liberty, computer surveillance and cyber security. [source]

Marko Rakar

This is a novel about a new world order where information is the currency, a virtual currency in the world. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

Excellent novel. [source]

Ann Miura-Ko

Ann Miura-Ko recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show". [source]

Magda Marcu

I’m currently reading “The Kite Runner”. I never have expectations from books, I let them surprise me as I get into the story. Learning about characteristics of different cultures, in this case the Afghan one, it’s one aspect I am interested in. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

One of my favorite books ever. [source]

Woody Allen

Film Director

It was such a relief from the other books I was reading at the time, which all had a quality of homework to them. [source]

Audrey Russo

So many novels; Lord of the Flies, Great Gatsby, Great Expectations; all the Nancy Drew books; Catcher in the Rye, Books written by Zora Neale Hurston; Pat Conroy – all because of the view about different people who endure despite adversity while kindling the hearts of the human spirit. [source]

Eric Weinstein

Managing Director/Thiel Capital

Eric Weinstein recommended this book on Twitter. [source]

Jean Webb

An imaginative, clever and fun fantasy story that satirises nineteenth century England at the same time as celebrating academic thinking. [source]

Larry Doyle

You’d have to be a zombie to miss the humour in it – it’s hilarious. Although the book is ancient, the humour feels modern [source]

Andrei Codrescu

Vampirism is a growth industry. Dracula is bigger than Jesus now. [source]

Becky Cloonan

@Noise_Raptor Oh, thank you so much! This book was such a delight, and such a challenge! Dracula is one of my favorites- funny enough I'd jump at the chance to do this again XD [source]

Claire Jarvis

Dracula is very explicit. That’s what’s so surprising about it. [source]

Barack Obama

Former USA President

When he got to high school, the president said, his tastes changed and he learned to enjoy classics like “Of Mice and Men” and “The Great Gatsby.” [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Melinda and I really like this book. When we were first dating, she had a green light that she would turn on when her office was empty and it made sense for me to come over. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

For Non-Business, I'd have to say Dune (Herbert), Emergency (Strauss), The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) or Flint (L'Amour). I re-read these books every year because they are just so well written & great stories that I get new perspective & details every time I read them. [source]

Andra Zaharia

A copy from 1903 of this book is my most prized possession. [source]

Eric Berkowitz

The Picture of Dorian Gray is now a part of the canon that no one would admit to not having read. Most of us have read it and delighted in its witticisms. It’s hard to imagine, but when Dorian Gray was first published, the book was not well received at all. It was totally panned. It was held against him as being an example of an effete character. It was being serialised by Lippincott’s Magazine, and the serialisation of the novel stopped when it became too inflammatory. [source]

Marc Montagne

My favorite fiction book is the The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I'm a huge Oscar Wilde fan, he has one of the brightest minds and the Picture is a masterpiece and his unique novel. I consider that you should only read books that you would consider reading again at some point while still enjoying the same pleasure. The Picture is definitely one of those. [source]

Evan Spiegel

Evan Spiegel said this was his favorite book. [source]

Alain de Botton

This book was recommended by on page 488 in "Tools of Titans". [source]

Bernard Tan

I wasn’t expecting anything going into it, but I am currently quite engrossed by Kundera’s understanding of humanity and his beautiful writing style. [source]

Marko Rakar

Basically, first of all, I am a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy books and I grew up with Douglas Adams and Arthur C Clarke. For me, this is the best of Gaiman’s books and I’ve got all of them. It’s set in the present time and talks about settlers who have settled a continent and have brought their gods with them. So, if you are Swedish and you cherish Nordic gods and move to the US, the gods go with you and the more you believe in them the stronger they are. But if fewer people start believing in them then they get weaker and eventually they become mortal and die. So, it’s about all these forgotten gods. It’s a horror story in which nobody dies. It’s a metaphor for our society – if you replace gods with values then you get the same thing. [source]

Ricky Whittle

Nobody can break my family.I’m proud to be apart of this diverse cast & crew who are working their butts off to deliver a fantastic season 3 continuing to tell Shadows story and the awesome characters he meets along the way as in @neilhimself incredible book #readit #details🤔 https://t.co/PahPC9j3HB [source]

Scott Johnson

American Gods by Neil Gaiman. This is a brilliant thought experiment about what happens to a god when its believers stop believing. My preferred edition is the 10th Anniversary release with expanded text. [source]

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]

Ella Berthoud

Even though it’s wrong, you sympathise with him because he can’t help himself and writes about it in such a passionate and empathetic way. [source]

Richard Cohen

It’s more imbued with references to the sun and using the sun as symbol or metaphor – almost a kind of character in the novel – than any other work in literature. [source]

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]

Chad Harbach

I think Infinite Jest is the major American novel of the past 25 years…It’s the book on which his reputation will rest, and I think people are going to read it for a long time. [source]

Rebecca Goldstein

It’s an extraordinary book…One of the things that he is examining in the novel is the various games that we play, many of them recursive. [source]

Oprah Winfrey

CEO/O Network

Nobody who reads it—nobody who reads it—looks at a church or a cathedral the same. I made me think about my own life differently, reading that book, the experience of reading that book. What a treasure. [source]

Theresa Evanoff

One of my favourite non-business book is “Pillars of the Earth”, by Ken Follett. I have read this many times over the years, and still enjoy eit ach time. I love how the characters are all very complex, strategic, and how the story weaves together on so many levels. [source]