Mark Manson's Top Book Recommendations

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

Indistractable is the most practical and realistic approach to balancing technology with well-being. A must-read for anyone with a smartphone. [source]

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

This is such an important book. Indistractable is the best guide I’ve read for reclaiming our attention, our focus, and our lives. [source]

Cal Newport

Author

Indistractable is a master class in understanding the root cause of distraction. Recommended for anyone looking to do more deep work. [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

In this age of manufactured outrage and constant distraction, the ability to choose a focused inner stillness is arguably more important than ever before. Ryan Holiday’s book revives ancient wisdom that calls for a quiet life in a noisy and restless world. [source]

Angela Duckworth

Author

Ryan Holiday is among the most psychologically wise writers I know. I'm a fan of all of his work, including this new gem, Stillness is the Key. If you struggle—as I do—to find your center in the increasingly noisy and frenetic world we live in, then this book is for you. [source]

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

Whether you are an athlete, an investor, a writer or an entrepreneur, this little but wise and soulful book will open the door to a healthier, less anxious and more productive life and career. [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

A lot of people email me asking about habits - how to form good ones, how to break bad ones, how to stop doing the dumb shit we always do. I've got a friend named James Clear. He's an accomplished author and business owner and is kind of a "habit guru." He's probably forgotten more habits research than I've ever brought myself to look at. He just launched his first book. It's called Atomic Habits and it's probably the most practical and complete guide I've ever seen about habit formation and habit change. Do check it out. And then email him and tell him that I have luscious and beautiful hair and he doesn't. Then stick out your tongue and go, "Nyah, nyanya, nyah, nyah." [source]

Cal Newport

Author

I recently read an advance copy of James Clear’s new book, Atomic Habits. His thesis is that small but carefully selected habits can, over time, create massively positive results — not just in terms of what you accomplish, but also in terms of the type of person you become. James’s exposition rings true with what’ve I learned hanging around interesting people and high achievers. I recommend you give this book a closer look. [source]

Noah Kagan

Founder/Sumo

James launched his book today, Atomic Habits. I’ve read it and recommend it. [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

I read a bunch of books on writing before I wrote my first book and the two that stuck with me were Stephen King’s book and “On Writing Well” by Zinsser (which is a bit on the technical side). [source]

Alina Varlanuta

My professional path – copywriting – somehow intertwines with my unprofessional (hahaha) path – writing so I would recommend reading literature for both. Somehow reading and writing are two ways of doing the same thing: storytelling (even when you read you tell yourself a story in your own voice, bringing your personal emotion and empathy to the story you’re reading). The only difference is that when I’m reading, panic is far away from me, in a safe place. Nevertheless, the words below helped me rewrite and think twice before adding an exclamation point: On Writing by Stephen King. [source]

Andrew Cowan

Yes. It is a surprise to a lot of people that this book is so widely read on university campuses and so widely recommended by teachers of writing. Students love it. It’s bracing: there’s no nonsense. He says somewhere in the foreword or preface that it is a short book because most books are filled with bullshit and he is determined not to offer bullshit but to tell it like it is. [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

I read a bunch of books on writing before I wrote my first book and the two that stuck with me were Stephen King’s book and “On Writing Well” by Zinsser (which is a bit on the technical side). [source]

Tim O'Reilly

Founder/O'Reilly Media

On Writing Well, by William Zinsser. I wouldn't say this book influenced me, since my principles of writing were established long before I read it. However, it does capture many things that I believe about effective writing. [source]

Derek Sivers

Great blunt advice about writing better non-fiction. So inspiring. [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

The kids aren’t alright. No, really—I know every generation says that, but this time it’s true. Kids who grew up with smartphones (and have begun to enter the university system) are emotionally stunted, overly fragile, and exhibiting mental health issues at alarming rates. I expected this book to be another, “Let’s all shit on social media together,” party, but it’s not. Social media, of course, does get its own chapter. But most of the book is focused on cultural shifts that have happened over the past couple generations. [source]

Max Levchin

Co-founder/PayPal, CEO/Affirm, Investor

Highlights the need to continue to have such discussions about sensitive topics instead of ignoring them for the sake of comfort. [source]

Bryan Johnson

Excited to read this new book by my friends. [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

With our modern obsessions of freedom and equality and happiness, Nichols argues that we’ve taken these rights and applied them to a domain where they don’t belong: truth. People feel “the right” to have their opinions and beliefs respected, even though they are not qualified, have no credentials or offer no expertise. Pundits on TV claim that their beliefs that climate change doesn’t exist, or that vaccinations are harmful, are just as valid — and should be respected just as much — as their scientific counterparts. Nichols’ blame is scattershot. Everything from the usual internet gripes, to cable television, to the grade inflation happening in school, to school bureaucracies treating students as customers rather than, well, students. [source]

Jim Hanson

@RadioFreeTom wrote a book called the Death of Expertise He proves it by pushing the absurd notion @realDonaldTrump is a Russian agent/asset or something since the 80s The only "proof" is contacts common to intl business & no direct handling by anyone Brilliant https://t.co/qYTgKjkfQS [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

The problem is that modern society requires community engagement to function well. When everyone is just off doing their own thing, a lot of institutions and social necessities begin to fall apart. My own takeaway from this, having studied human happiness for years, is that people rely on a sense of community and shared effort to maintain healthy and stable lives. The fact that people are opting out of these opportunities for community and local impact, in a ceaseless obsession of online media and global fame, likely explains a lot of the social changes going on today. And a lot of the drops in mental health, as well. [source]

Trevor Phillips

Bowling Alone is really important. What Putnam gave us with this book was the idea of social capital. When I was head of the Commission for Racial Equality now merged into the Equality and Human Rights Commission I always put it that the two great challenges that face humankind are how we live with the planet and how we live together. Those two collide because climate change is moving vast populations across continents. It means that this year, if you are in Pakistan or some parts of India or various African countries, several hundred thousand people might show up on your doorstep. You don’t just have to find them food and water, you have to find a way of allowing them to exist without being constantly at odds with the people who have been there for centuries. If we think we have problems with immigration in Europe, try being Sudan, Uganda or Kenya. We’ve now got about 200 million people who live outside the country of their birth and that is about double what it was 30 years ago. That number will continue to multiply. So the great challenge is probably not climate change, it is what to do about the fact that more people can move further and faster across the globe than ever before in human history. And people don’t just show up and everybody loves them, it doesn’t work like that. [source]

Mark Manson

Founder/MarkManson.net

I read a bunch of books on writing before I wrote my first book and the two that stuck with me were Stephen King’s book and “On Writing Well” by Zinsser (which is a bit on the technical side). I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic.” [source]

Chelsea Frank

I read everything with an open mind, often challenging myself by choosing books with an odd perspective or religious/spiritual views. These books do not reflect my personal feelings but are books that helped shape my perspective on life, love, and happiness. [source]