100 Best Life Books of All Time

We've ranked the best life books using expert recommendations, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. At Shortform, we know books. Our book guides are the best in the world. Learn why.

Man's Search for Meaning book cover1

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl

5.0
Man's Search for Meaning has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 psychiatrist Viktor Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the stories of his many patients, Frankl argues that we can
How to Win Friends & Influence People book cover2

How to Win Friends & Influence People

Dale Carnegie

4.8
You can go after the job you want—and get it!
You can take the job you have—and improve it!
You can take any situation—and make it work for you!

Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change book cover3

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change

Stephen R. Covey

4.7
When Stephen Covey first released The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the book became an instant rage because people suddenly got up and took notice that their lives were headed off in the wrong direction; and more than that, they realized that there were so many simple things they could do in order to navigate their life correctly. This book was wonderful education for people, education
The Alchemist book cover4

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho

4.7
Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its powerful simplicity and inspiring wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. What starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treas
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life book cover5

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

Mark Manson

4.6
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062457738

In this generation-defining self-help guide, a superstar blogger cuts through the crap to show us how to stop trying to be "positive" all the time so that we can truly become better, happier people.

For decades, we’ve been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "Fk positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let’s be honest, shit is fked and w
Thinking, Fast and Slow book cover6

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

4.6
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
When Breath Becomes Air book cover7

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi

4.5
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve me
Outliers: The Story of Success book cover8

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell

4.5
In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?

His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their
9

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Charles Duhigg

4.5
A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed.

Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new produ
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind book cover10

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

4.5
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?
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos book cover11

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos

Jordan B. Peterson

4.5
What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson's answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.

Humorous, surprising, and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awa
The Fault in Our Stars book cover12

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green

4.5
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking book cover13

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking

Susan Cain

4.5
The book that started the Quiet Revolution

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.

In Quiet, Susan Cain a
Tuesdays with Morrie book cover14

Tuesdays with Morrie

Mitch Albom

4.5
Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, and gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of this mentor as you made your way, and the insights fad
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich book cover15

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

Timothy Ferriss

4.4
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
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing book cover16

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing

Marie Kondō

4.4
Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom

The Five People You Meet in Heaven book cover17

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Mitch Albom

4.4
From the author of the phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, a novel that explores the unexpected connections of our lives, and the idea that heaven is more than a place; it's an answer.

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills
The Last Lecture book cover18

The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch

4.4
A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture'. Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment book cover19

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

Eckhart Tolle

4.4
Eckhart Tolle is emerging as one of today's most inspiring teachers. In The
Power of Now, a #1 national bestseller, the author describes his transition
from despair to self-realization soon after his 29th birthday. Tolle took
another ten years to understand this transformation, during which time he
evolved a philosophy that has parallels in Buddhism, relaxation techniques,
and meditation theory but is
Meditations book cover20

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

4.4
One measure, perhaps, of a book's worth, is its intergenerational pliancy: do new readers acquire it and interpret it afresh down through the ages? The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, translated and introduced by Gregory Hays, by that standard, is very worthwhile, indeed. Hays suggests that its most recent incarnation--as a self-help book--is not only valid, but may be close to the author's intent
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom book cover21

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

Don Miguel Ruiz, Janet Mills

4.4
In The Four Agreements, don Miguel Ruiz reveals the source of self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and create needless suffering. Based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the Four Agreements offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. The Four Agreements are: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don't Take Anything Personally,
The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts book cover22

The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts

Gary Chapman

4.4
Couples who understand each other's love language hold a priceless advantage in the quest for love that lasts a lifetime -- they know how to effectively and consistently make each other feel truly and deeply loved. That gift never fades away.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success book cover23

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck

4.4
Now updated with new research — the book that has changed millions of lives.

After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea: the power of mindset. In this brilliant book, she shows how success in school, work, sports, the arts, and almost every area of human endeavor can be dramatically influenced by how
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones book cover24

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

James Clear

4.4
No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead book cover25

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead

Brené Brown

4.4
Researcher and thought leader Dr. Brené Brown offers a powerful new vision that encourages us to dare greatly: to embrace vulnerability and imperfection, to live wholeheartedly, and to courageously engage in our lives.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is
The Perks of Being a Wallflower book cover26

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Stephen Chbosky

4.3
Read the cult-favorite coming of age story that takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its glory. Now a major motion picture starring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a funny, touching, and haunting modern classic.

The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” C
To Kill a Mockingbird book cover27

To Kill a Mockingbird

Harper Lee, Sissy Spacek, et al

4.3
The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.

Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mocki
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference book cover28

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell

4.3
An alternate cover edition exists here.

The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller,
Think and Grow Rich book cover29

Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon Hill

4.3
One of the most popular personal development and self-improvement books of all time, Think and Grow Rich has sold over 100 million copies worldwide since its first publication during the Great Depression. In this hardcover edition, Napoleon Hill presents a "Philosophy of Achievement" in 13 principles drawn from the success stories of such greats as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and o
Educated book cover30
Tara Westover was 17 the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag". In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard.

Her father forbade hospitals, so Tara nev
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World book cover31

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Cal Newport

4.3
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
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion book cover32

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini

4.3
Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say "yes"—and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His thirty-five years of rigorous, evidence-based research along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior has resulted in this highly
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values book cover33

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values

Robert M Pirsig

4.3
This lyrical, evocative, thought-provoking journal of a man's quest for truth - and for himself - has touched and changed an entire generation, and is ready to reach out to a new one. At its heart, the story is all too simple: a man and his son take a motorcycle trip across America. But this is not a simple trip at all, for around every corner, through mountain and desert, wind and rain, and seari
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less book cover34

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less

Greg McKeown

4.3
Have you ever found yourself stretched too thin?

Do you simultaneously feel overworked and underutilized?

Are you often busy but not productive?

Do you feel like your time is constantly being hijacked by other people’s agendas?

If you answered yes to any of these, the way out is the Way of the Essentialist.

The Way of the Essentialist isn’t about getting more done in less time. It’s about getting only
The Diary of a Young Girl book cover35

The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne Frank

4.3
In Everyman’s Library for the first time—one of the most moving and eloquent accounts of the Holocaust, read by tens of millions of people around the world since its publication in 1947.

The Diary of a Young Girl
is the record of two years in the life of a remarkable Jewish girl whose triumphant humanity in the face of unfathomable deprivation and fear has made the book one of the most enduring doc
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity book cover36

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

David Allen

4.3
"The Bible of business and personal productivity" —Lifehack

"A completely revised and updated edition of the blockbuster bestseller from 'the personal productivity guru'"—Fast Company


Since it was first published almost fifteen years ago, David Allen’s Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era, and the ultimate book on personal organization. “GTD” is now sh
The Selfish Gene book cover37

The Selfish Gene

Richard Dawkins

4.2
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
A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose book cover38

A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose

Eckhart Tolle

4.2

Building on the astonishing success of The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle presents readers with an honest look at the current state of humanity: He implores us to see and accept that this state, which is based on an erroneous identification with the egoic mind, is one of dangerous insanity.

Tolle tells us there is good news, however. There is an alternative to this potentially dire situation. Humani
Becoming book cover39

Becoming

Michelle Obama

4.2
In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era. As First Lady of the United States of America—the first African American to serve in that role—she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and aro
Eat, Pray, Love book cover40

Eat, Pray, Love

Elizabeth Gilbert

4.2
A celebrated writer's irresistible, candid, and eloquent account of her pursuit of worldly pleasure, spiritual devotion, and what she really wanted out of life.

Around the time Elizabeth Gilbert turned thirty, she went through an early-onslaught midlife crisis. She had everything an educated, ambitious American woman was supposed to want—a husband, a house, a successful career. But instead of feel
How Will You Measure Your Life? book cover41

How Will You Measure Your Life?

Clayton M. Christensen, James Allworth, Karen Dillon

4.2
How do you lead a fulfilling life? That profound question animates this book of inspiration and insight from world-class business strategist and bestselling author of The Innovator's Dilemma, Clayton Christensen.After beating a heart attack, advanced-stage cancer and a stroke in three successive years, the world-renowned innovation expert and author of one of the best selling and most influential
Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow book cover42

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Yuval Noah Harari

4.2
Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed New York Times bestseller and international phenomenon Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future, and our quest to upgrade humans into gods.

Over the past century humankind has managed to do the impossible and rein in famine, plague, and war. This may seem hard to acce
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams book cover43

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Matthew Walker

4.2
“Why We Sleep is an important and fascinating book…Walker taught me a lot about this basic activity that every person on Earth needs. I suspect his book will do the same for you.” —Bill Gates

A New York Times bestseller and international sensation, this “stimulating and important book” (Financial Times) is a fascinating dive into the purpose and power of slumber.

With two appearances on CBS This Mor
Steve Jobs book cover44

Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson

4.2
From the author of the bestselling biographies of Benjamin Franklin and Albert Einstein, this is the exclusive, New York Times bestselling biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveti
Principles: Life and Work book cover45

Principles: Life and Work

Ray Dalio

4.2
Ray Dalio, one of the world’s most successful investors and entrepreneurs, shares the unconventional principles that he’s developed, refined, and used over the past forty years to create unique results in both life and business—and which any person or organization can adopt to help achieve their goals.

In 1975, Ray Dalio founded an investment firm, Bridgewater Associates, out of his two-bedroom apa
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking book cover46

Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell

4.2
Drawing on cutting-edge neuroscience and psychology and displaying all of the brilliance that made The Tipping Point a classic, Blink changes the way you'll understand every decision you make. Never again will you think about thinking the same way.

Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a bo
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End book cover47

Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

Atul Gawande

4.2
Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming the dangers of childbirth, injury, and disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should.

Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Atul Gawande, a practicing surgeon, reveals the suffering this
The Art of War book cover48
For more than two thousand years, The Art of War has stood as a cornerstone of Chinese culture-a lucid epigrammatic text that reveals as much about human psychology, politics, and economics as it does about battlefield strategy. The influence of Sun-tzu's text has grown tremendously in the West in recent years, with military leaders, politicians, and corporate executives alike finding valuable ins
The Gifts of Imperfection book cover49

The Gifts of Imperfection

Brené Brown

4.2
New York Times best-selling author and professor Brené Brown offers a powerful and inspiring book that explores how to cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection to embrace your imperfections and to recognize that you are enough.

Each day we face a barrage of images and messages from society and the media telling us who, what, and how we should be. We are led to believe that if we could only
The Little Prince Family Storybook: Unabridged Original Text book cover50

The Little Prince Family Storybook: Unabridged Original Text

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

4.2
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.
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies book cover51

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Jared Diamond

4.2
Explaining what William McNeill called The Rise of the West has become the central problem in the study of global history. In Guns, Germs, and Steel Jared Diamond presents the biologist's answer: geography, demography, and ecological happenstance. Diamond evenhandedly reviews human history on every continent since the Ice Age at a rate that emphasizes only the broadest movements of peoples and ide
The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun book cover52

The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun

Gretchen Rubin

4.2
Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the unlikeliest of places: a city bus. “The days are long, but the years are short,” she realized. “Time is passing, and I’m not focusing enough on the things that really matter.” In that moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness project.

In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her adventures during the twelve month
The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph book cover53

The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph

Ryan Holiday

4.2
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” — Marcus Aurelius

We are stuck, stymied, frustrated. But it needn’t be this way. There is a formula for success that’s been followed by the icons of history—from John D. Rockefeller to Amelia Earhart to Ulysses S. Grant to Steve Jobs—a formula that let them turn obstacles into opportunities. Faced with impossible si
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy book cover54

A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy

William Braxton Irvine

4.2
One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort and striving, we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life. In A Guide to the Good Life, William B. Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy, one of the most popular and successful schools of thought in ancient Rome, and shows how its insight and advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives.
In A Guide
The 48 Laws of Power book cover55

The 48 Laws of Power

Robert Greene

4.2
This amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive book synthesizes the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz with the historical legacies of statesmen, warriors, seducers, and con men throughout the ages.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us book cover56

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

Daniel H. Pink

4.2
The New York Times bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation

Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the carrot-and-stick approach. That's a mistake, says Daniel H. Pink (author of To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Motivating Others). In this provocative and persuasive new book, he asserts that the secret t
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear book cover57

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear

Elizabeth Gilbert

4.1
The instant #1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller

"A must read for anyone hoping to live a creative life... I dare you not to be inspired to be brave, to be free, and to be curious.” —PopSugar

From the worldwide bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: the path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of


Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from El
The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? book cover58

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?

Rick Warren

4.1
A New Edition for A New Generation!

Two new bonus chapters on the most common barriers to living a purpose driven life.

Access to an online community where you can discuss your journey to purpose, get feedback, and receive support.

“Movie stars and political leaders aren’t the only ones turning to Rick Warren for spiritual guidance. Millions of people—from NBA and LPGA players to corporate executives
The War of Art book cover59

The War of Art

Steven Pressfield

4.1
The Art of War meets "The Artist's Way" in this no-nonsense, profoundly inspiring guide to overcoming creative blocks of every kind.
A Thousand Splendid Suns book cover60

A Thousand Splendid Suns

Khaled Hosseini

4.1
A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan's last thirty years—from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding—that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think book cover61

Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think

Hans Rosling

4.1
Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts.

When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. So wrong that a chimpanzee choosing answers at random will consistently o
62

Looking for Alaska

John Green

4.1
The award-winning, genre-defining debut from #1 bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars

First drink
First prank
First friend
First girl
Last words

Miles “Pudge” Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.”

Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are eve
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals book cover63

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Michael Pollan

4.1
What should we have for dinner? For omnivore's like ourselves, this simple question has always posed a dilemma: When you can eat just about anything nature (or the supermarket) has to offer, deciding what you should eat will inevitably stir anxiety, especially when some of the foods on offer might shorten your life. Today, buffeted by one food fad after another, America is suffering from what can
The Kite Runner book cover64

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini and Simon & Schuster Audi

4.1
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country that is in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacri
Grit book cover65
In this must-read book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students, and business people both seasoned and new that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called grit.

Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, Angela Duckworth explains why
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience book cover66

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

4.1
Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's famous investigations of "optimal experience" have revealed that what makes an experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow. During flow, people typically experience deep enjoyment, creativity, and a total involvement with life. In this new edition of his groundbreaking classic work, Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates the ways this posit
67

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Cal Newport

4.1
The key to living well in a high tech world is to spend much less time using technology.

Georgetown computer scientist Cal Newport's Deep Work sparked a movement around the idea that unbroken concentration produces far more value than the electronic busyness that defines the modern work day. But his readers had an urgent follow-up question: What about technology in our personal lives?

In recent year
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder book cover68

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.1
From the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some systems actually benefit from disorder.

In The Black Swan Taleb outlined a problem; in Antifragile he offers a definitive solution: how to gain from disorder and chaos while being protected from fragilities and adverse events. For what he calls the "antifragile"
Mastery book cover69
In this book, Robert Greene demonstrates that the ultimate form of power is mastery itself. By analyzing the lives of such past masters as Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and Leonard da Vinci, as well as by interviewing nine contemporary masters, including tech guru Paul Graham and animal rights advocate Temple Grandin, Greene debunks our culture’s many myths about genius and d
Siddhartha book cover70

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse

4.1
Herman Hesse's classic novel has delighted, inspired, and influenced generations of readers, writers, and thinkers. In this story of a wealthy Indian Brahmin who casts off a life of privilege to seek spiritual fulfillment. Hesse synthesizes disparate philosophies--Eastern religions, Jungian archetypes, Western individualism--into a unique vision of life as expressed through one man's search for me
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action book cover71

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

Simon Sinek

4.1
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
72

Ego is the Enemy

Ryan Holiday

4.1
As in the Obstacle is the way, Ryan holiday delivers practical and inspiring philosophy, this time exploring a powerful concept that runs back centuries, across borders and schools of thought: Ego. Ego is our biggest enemy. Early in our careers, it can prevent us from learning and developing our talents. When we taste success, ego can blind us to our own faults, alienate us from others and lead to
The Art of Happiness book cover73

The Art of Happiness

Dalai Lama

4.1
Nearly every time you see him, he's laughing, or at least smiling. And he makes everyone else around him feel like smiling. He's the Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, a Nobel Prize winner, and an increasingly popular speaker and statesman. What's more, he'll tell you that happiness is the purpose of life, and that "the very motion of our life is towards happiness." How to get
The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter - and How to Make the Most of Them Now book cover74

The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter - and How to Make the Most of Them Now

Meg Jay

4.1
Our "thirty-is-the-new-twenty" culture tells us the twentysomething years don't matter. Some say they are a second adolescence. Others call them an emerging adulthood. Dr. Meg Jay, a clinical psychologist, argues that twentysomethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation, much of which has trivialized what is actually the most defining decade of adulthood.

Drawing from a decade o
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions book cover75

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely

4.1
Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?

Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn't possibly be caught?

Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?

Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are a
Who Moved My Cheese? book cover76

Who Moved My Cheese?

Spencer Johnson

4.1
Who Moved My Cheese? is a simple parable that reveals profound truths. It is an amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a "Maze" and look for "Cheese" to nourish them and make them happy.

Two are mice named Sniff and Scurry. And two are "Littlepeople"—beings the size of mice who look and act a lot like people. Their names are Hem and Haw.

"Cheese" is a metaphor for what you wan
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not! book cover77

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What The Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor And Middle Class Do Not!

Robert T. Kiyosaki

4.1
In Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, Robert Kiyosaki shares the story of his two dad: his real father, whom he calls his ‘poor dad,’ and the father of his best friend, the man who became his mentor and his ‘rich dad.’ One man was well educated and an employee all his life, the other’s education was “street smarts” over traditional classroom education and he took the path
Stumbling on Happiness book cover78

Stumbling on Happiness

Daniel Gilbert

4.1
• Why are lovers quicker to forgive their partners for infidelity than for leaving dirty dishes in the sink? • Why will sighted people pay more to avoid going blind than blind people will pay to regain their sight? • Why do dining companions insist on ordering different meals instead of getting what they really want? • Why do pigeons seem to have such excellent aim; why can’t we remember one song
The Secret (The Secret, #1) book cover79

The Secret (The Secret, #1)

Rhonda Byrne

4.1
The Secret’s 10th Anniversary Edition includes a new foreword by Rhonda Byrne, and 10 of the most life-changing insights she’s had over the last 10 years of practicing and living The Secret every day. The 10 insights alone will accelerate your understanding and mastery of the law of attraction.
Walden book cover80

Walden

Henry David Thoreau

4.1
At Walden Pond, Henry David Thoreau reflected on simpler living in the natural world. By removing himself from the distractions of materialism, Thoreau hoped to not only improve his spiritual life but also gain a better understanding of society through solitary introspection.

In Walden, Thoreau condenses his two-year, two-month, two-day stay into a single year, using the four seasons to symbolize h
Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success book cover81

Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success

Adam Grant

4.1
Give and Take highlights what effective networking, collaboration, influence, negotiation, and leadership skills have in common.

For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But today, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. It turns out that at work, most people operate as either takers, matchers, or givers.
10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works book cover82

10% Happier: How I Tamed the Voice in My Head, Reduced Stress Without Losing My Edge, and Found Self-Help That Actually Works

Dan Harris

4.1
Nightline anchor Dan Harris embarks on an unexpected, hilarious, and deeply skeptical odyssey through the strange worlds of spirituality and self-help, and discovers a way to get happier that is truly achievable.

After having a nationally televised panic attack on Good Morning America, Dan Harris knew he had to make some changes. A lifelong nonbeliever, he found himself on a bizarre adventure, invo
You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life book cover83

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

Jen Sincero

4.0
The #1 New York Times Bestseller You Are A Badass is the self-help book for people who desperately want to improve their lives but don't want to get busted doing it.

In this refreshingly entertaining how-to guide, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author and world-traveling success coach, Jen Sincero, serves up 27 bite-sized chapters full of hilariously inspiring stories, sage advice, easy exercises, a
The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth book cover84

The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

M. Scott Peck

4.0
The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth
316 pp. "Psychotherapy is all things to all people in this mega-selling pop-psychology watershed, which features a new introduction by the author in this 25th anniversary edition. His agenda in this tome, which was first published in 1978 but didn't become a bestseller until 1983, is to reconcile the psychoana
Life of Pi book cover85

Life of Pi

Yann Martel

4.0
Yann Martel's imaginative and unforgettable Life of Pi is a magical reading experience, an endless blue expanse of storytelling about adventure, survival, and ultimately, faith. The precocious son of a zookeeper, 16-year-old Pi Patel is raised in Pondicherry, India, where he tries on various faiths for size, attracting "religions the way a dog attracts fleas." Planning a move to Canada, his father
1984 book cover86

1984

George Orwell

4.0
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
The Richest Man in Babylon book cover87

The Richest Man in Babylon

George S Clason

4.0
This hardcover edition is cleanly formatted for easy reading. 12 point Garamond, 1.25 spacing. The Richest Man in Babylon is a timeless classic, revealing the secrets to making money and keeping it. This inspirational book is hailed as the greatest of books on finances. It unveils the secrets to wealth, providing priceless suggestions, advice, unforgettable parables, financial problem-solving tool
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything book cover88

Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

Steven D. Levitt

4.0
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime? Freakonomics will literally redefine the way we view the modern world.

These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks book cover89

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

4.0
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine. The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. If you could pile all He
The Great Gatsby book cover90

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

4.0
A young man, newly rich, tries to recapture the past and win back his former love, despite the fact that she has married.
Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ book cover91

Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ

Daniel Goleman

4.0
Everyone knows that high IQ is no guarantee of success, happiness, or virtue, but until Emotional Intelligence, we could only guess why. Daniel Goleman's brilliant report from the frontiers of psychology and neuroscience offers startling new insight into our "two minds"—the rational and the emotional—and how they together shape our destiny.

Through vivid examples, Goleman delineates the five crucia
The Catcher in the Rye book cover92

The Catcher in the Rye

J. D. Salinger

4.0
The hero-narrator of The Catcher in the Rye is an ancient child of sixteen, a native New Yorker named Holden Caulfield. Through circumstances that tend to preclude adult, secondhand description, he leaves his prep school in Pennsylvania and goes underground in New York City for three days. The boy himself is at once too simple and too complex for us to make any final comment about him or his story
93

Thirteen Reasons Why

Jay Asher

4.0
You can’t stop the future.
You can’t rewind the past.
The only way to learn the secret . . . is to press play.


Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker–his classmate and crush–who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reason
94

Me Before You (Me Before You, #1)

Jojo Moyes

4.0
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, discover the love story that captured over 20 million hearts in Me Before You, After You, and Still Me.

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny villa
Tools of Titans book cover95

Tools of Titans

Timothy Ferriss

4.0

The latest groundbreaking book from Tim Ferriss, the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The 4-Hour Workweek.

From the author:

“For the last two years, I’ve interviewed nearly two hundred world-class performers for my podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. The guests range from super celebs (Jamie Foxx, Arnold Schwarzenegger, etc.) and athletes (icons of powerlifting, gymnastics, surfing, etc.) to l

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead book cover96

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Sheryl Sandberg

4.0
Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become an instant catchphrase for empowering women. The book soared to the top of bestseller lists internationally, igniting global conversations about women and ambition. Sandberg packed theatres, dominated opinion pages, appeared on every major television show and on the cover of Time magazine, and sparked ferocious deb
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable book cover97

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.0
A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was.

The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from t
98

Good Vibes, Good Life: How Self-Love Is the Key to Unlocking Your Greatness

Vex King

4.0
Vex King is leading a revolution for the next generation of spiritual seekers. An online inspiration to hundreds of thousands of people, Vex is a role model for young people seeking a new way of living. Vex beat all the odds of an incredibly difficult childhood – his family were often homeless and he suffered racist abuse in a violent neighbourhood. Despite these challenges, Vex went on to complet
The Glass Castle book cover99

The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls

4.0
A tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Sout
Magic of Thinking Big book cover100

Magic of Thinking Big

David J. Schwartz

4.0
The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises. Dr. Schwartz presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don't need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction, but you do need to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behavi