Naval Ravikant's Book Recommendations (Updated for 2026)

1

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman

4.4

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]

2

The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail

Clayton M. Christensen

4.3

Preview Summary

The bestselling classic on disruptive innovation, renowned author Clayton M. Christensen.

His work is cited by the world’s best-known thought leaders, from Steve Jobs to Malcolm Gladwell. In this classic bestseller—now updated with a fresh new package—innovation expert Clayton Christensen shows how even the most outstanding companies can do everything right—yet still lose market leadership. Read th

Recommended by Jeff Bezos, Malcolm Gladwell, Steve Jobs, and 38 others.

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

Brad Stone's new book, The Everything Store, describes how Bezos developed this strategy after reading another book called The Innovator's Dilemma by Harvard professor Clayton Christensen. [source]

Steve Jobs

Founder/Apple

It's important that we make this transformation, because of what Clayton Christensen calls "the innovator's dilemma," where people who invent something are usually the last ones to see past it, and we certainly don't want to be left behind. [source]

Drew Houston

CEO/Dropbox

About how businesses get disrupted, and a lot of those themes are why startups can succeed and thrive even when there are big competitors who you would think would just wipe ’em out. [source]

3

Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Robert B. Cialdini

4.3

Preview Summary

The author of the legendary bestseller Influence, social psychologist Robert Cialdini shines a light on effective persuasion and reveals that the secret doesn’t lie in the message itself, but in the key moment before that message is delivered.

What separates effective communicators from truly successful persuaders? Using the same combination of rigorous scientific research and accessibility that ma

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Alice Kemper, Richard H Thaler, and 1 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I just finished reading Pre-Suasion, or I should say I just finished skimming Pre-Suasion by Robert Cialdini. I don’t think I needed to read the entire book to get the point, but it was still good to read what I did. [source]

4

Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

Yuval Noah Harari

4.4

Preview Summary

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

Recommended by Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Naval Ravikant, and 15 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Harari’s new book is as challenging and readable as Sapiens. Rather than looking back, as Sapiens does, it looks to the future. I don’t agree with everything the author has to say, but he has written a thoughtful look at what may be in store for humanity. [source]

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

I certainly wouldn’t consider myself a big reader of paleontology or anthropology – not good words for us dyslexics! – but I enjoy learning about how society has unfolded and history has developed in an exciting, easy to read way. The sequel, Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, is a fascinating look into the future too. While these aren’t traditional business or leadership books, they are all about people – and learning how to work with, live with, interact with people and get the best out of them is what leadership is all about. [source]

Vinod Khosla

Co-Founder/Sun Microsystem

Not that I agree with all of it, but it is still mind-bending speculation about our future as a follow-up to a previous favorite, Sapiens. It’s directionally right. [source]

5

Siddhartha

Hermann Hesse

4.3

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

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Amir Salihefendic, Bryan Johnson, and 7 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

So good that it may as well be non-fiction. [source]

Bryan Johnson

Love this book. [source]

David Blaine

He says, 'Love is stronger than hate. Soft is stronger than hard. Water is stronger than stone.' [source]

Cover unavailable

6

The Third Wave: An Entrepreneur's Vision of the Future

Steve Case

3.9

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER

One of America’s most accomplished entrepreneurs—a pioneer who made the Internet part of everyday life and orchestrated the largest merger in the history of business—shares a roadmap for how anyone can succeed in a world of rapidly changing technology.

Steve Case’s career began when he cofounded America Online (AOL) in 1985. At the time, only t

Recommended by Brad Feld, Naval Ravikant, and Andreas Sandre.

Andreas Sandre

📚🌍 #WorldBookDay meets 📱🌎 #digitaldiplomacy Here some of my most favorite books of the past few years on tech, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the digital age. And congrats to @PhilipSeib for @isanet’s 2018 International Communication Book Award! 🤓👇 https://t.co/7fKIR19CUq [source]

7

Genome: The Autobiography of a Species In 23 Chapters

Matt Ridley

4.3

The human genome, the complete set of genes housed in twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, is nothing less than an autobiography of our species. Spelled out in a billion three-letter words using the four-letter alphabet of DNA, the genome has been edited, abridged, altered and added to as it has been handed down, generation to generation, over more than three billion years. With the first draft of t

Recommended by Charles T. Munger, Charlie Munger, Mark Zuckerberg, and 2 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

Getting into the more evolution, science kind of books, I really highly, highly recommend picking up Genome … . [source]

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

This book aims to tell a history of humanity from the perspective of genetics rather than sociology. This should complement the other broad histories I've read this year, as well as follow "Energy" well in focusing on science. I've wanted to read Matt Ridley's books for a while. His recent book "The Rational Optimist" about how progress and the economy evolve is also near the top of my ever-growing pile of books to read. [source]

8

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

Charles T. Munger

4.6

Preview Summary

EXPANDED THIRD EDITION includes Charlie's 2007 USC Law School Commencement address. Edited by Peter D. Kaufman. Brand New.

Recommended by Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Daniel Ek, and 2 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I always recommend this book as my top business book. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Warren Buffett

CEO/Berkshire Hathaway

From 1733 to 1758, Ben Franklin dispensed useful and timeless advice through Poor Richard's Almanack. Among the virtues extolled were thrift, duty, hard work, and simplicity. Subsequently, two centuries went by during which Ben's thoughts on these subjects were regarded as the last word. Then Charlie Munger stepped forth. [source]

9

"Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!": Adventures of a Curious Character

Richard P. Feynman

4.4

Preview Summary

A series of anecdotes, such as are included in Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman, shouldn't by rights add up to an autobiography, but that's just one of the many pieces of received wisdom that Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) cheerfully ignores in this engagingly eccentric book. Fiercely independent (read the chapter entitled "Judging Books by Their Covers"), intolerant of st

Recommended by Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, and 12 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

Learn about the inner mindset and external state of someone who was absolutely brilliant. [source]

Larry Page

Co-Founder/Google

Google co-founder has listed this book as one of his favorites. [source]

Sergey Brin

Co-Founder/Google

Brin told the Academy of Achievement: "Aside from making really big contributions in his own field, he was pretty broad-minded. I remember he had an excerpt where he was explaining how he really wanted to be a Leonardo da Vinci, an artist and a scientist. I found that pretty inspiring. I think that leads to having a fulfilling life." [source]

10

The Book of Life: Daily Meditations with Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti

4.5

365 Daily Meditations on Freedom, Personal Transformation, Living Fully, and Much More, from the Man the Dalai Lama Described as "One of the Greatest Thinkers of the Age"

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

11

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

4.5

Preview Summary

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

Recommended by Arianna Huffington, Naval Ravikant, Chip Conley, and 12 others.

Arianna Huffington

Founder/The Huffington Post

I find this book so inspirational and instructive, it lives on my nightstand. [source]

Chip Conley

I have given this book away to a number of people. [source]

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

12

Che: A Memoir

Fidel Castro

4.3

In a new, expanded edition of a best-selling Ocean classic, Castro describes a historic political partnership that changed the face of Cuba and Latin America. He vividly portrays Che—the man, the revolutionary, and the thinker—recounting in detail his last days with Che in Cuba, giving a remarkably frank assessment of the Bolivian mission.

Fidel Castro, in an unusually gentle, quite emotional mood,

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

13

The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves

Matt Ridley

4.2

Life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down — all across the globe. Though the world is far from perfect, necessities and luxuries alike are getting cheaper; population growth is slowing; Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enrichi

Recommended by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Marc Andreessen, and 7 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

Getting into the more evolution, science kind of books, I really highly, highly recommend picking up … The Rational Optimist. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

Its subject is the history of humanity, focusing on why our species has succeeded and how we should think about the future. [source]

Mark Zuckerberg

Founder/Facebook

My next book for A Year of Books is The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley. Two of the books I've read this year -- The Better Angels of Our Nature: and Why Nations Fail -- have explored how social and economic progress work together to make the world better. The Better Angels argues for that the two feed off each other, whereas Why Nations Fail argues that social and political progress ultimately controls the economic progress a society makes. This next book argues the opposite -- that economic progress is the greater force is pushing society forward. I'm interested to see which idea resonates more after exploring both frameworks. This is also the second one of Ridley's books I've read this year. Here's a photo from a few weeks back of me reading his book Genome with my dog Beast. [source]

14

Tao Te Ching: By Lao Tzu - Illustrated

Lao Tse

4.4

A lucid translation of the well-known Taoist classic by a leading scholar-now in a Shambhala Pocket Library edition.
Written more than two thousand years ago, the Tao Teh Ching, or -The Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, - is one of the true classics of the world of spiritual literature. Traditionally attributed to the legendary -Old Master, - Lao Tzu, the Tao Teh Ching teaches that the qualities o

Recommended by Jack Dorsey, Jack Ma, Naval Ravikant, and 11 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

In the philosophy side, I’ve been rereading the Tao Te Ching. [source]

Jack Dorsey

Co-Founder/Twitter

Q: What are the books that had a major influence on you? Or simply the ones you like the most. : Tao te Ching, score takes care of itself, between the world and me, the four agreements, the old man and the sea...I love reading! [source]

Jack Ma

Founder/Alibaba

According to a Yibada interview with Chen Wei, who wrote Ma’s 2014 authorized biography, the Alibaba founder and executive chairman always carries the Tao Te Ching, the foundational text of Taoist philosophy, religion and ethics composed by Lao Tzu in the sixth century B.C. [source]

15

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

Yuval Noah Harari

4.5

Preview Summary

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.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’m rereading Sapiens again, because I love that book so much. [source]

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]

16

Stories of Your Life and Others

Ted Chiang

4.4

Ted Chiang's first published story, "Tower of Babylon," won the Nebula Award in 1990. Subsequent stories have won the Asimov's SF Magazine reader poll, a second Nebula Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and the Sidewise Award for alternate history. He won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1992. Story for story, he is the most honored young writer in modern SF.

Now, collect

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Meltem Demirors, and Ryan Len.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’m rereading Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. It’s one of my favorite sci-fi novels. [source]

Meltem Demirors

finally reading Ted Chiang’s Stories of Your Life and i have basically been crying since i opened my kindle such a beautiful writer and such profound topics. division by zero was my favorite of the collection, but the story the book is titled after is stunning 😍 https://t.co/2c5SuDEfkh [source]

Ryan Len

One of the best sci-fi books I’ve read in my life! [source]

17

The Prophet

Kahlil Gibran

4.5

Kahlil Gibran’s masterpiece, The Prophet, is one of the most beloved classics of our time. Published in 1923, it has been translated into more than twenty languages, and the American editions alone have sold more than nine million copies.

The Prophet is a collection of poetic essays that are philosophical, spiritual, and, above all, inspirational. Gibran’s musings are divided into twenty-eight chap

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Daylon Soh, Jason Nemer, and 3 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

It actually read like a modern-day poetic religious tome. Up there with the Bhagavad-gita, the Tao Te Ching, The Bible, The Qur’an. It was written in that style where it had that feel of religiosity and truth, but it was very approachable and beautiful and non-denominational and non-secretarian. I really liked that. I loved that book. He has a gift for poetically describing what children are like, what lovers are like, what marriage should be like, how you should treat your enemies and your friends, how you should work with money, what can you think of every time you have to kill something to eat it. I felt, like the great religious books, it gave a very deep, very philosophical, but very true answer to how to approach the major problems in life. I recommend The Prophet to anybody, whether you’re religious or not. Whether you are Christian or Hindu or Jewish or Atheist. I think it’s a beautiful book, and it’s worth reading. [source]

Daylon Soh

The non-business book that has connected to my being most deeply would be poems in The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. [source]

Jason Nemer

I love really condensed, shakti empowerment-filled, energy-filled statements - something that you can read in a few minutes or you can read for your whole life. [source]

18

What Every Body is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People

Joe Navarro and Marvin Karlins

4.3

Preview Summary

He says that's his best offer. Is it?

She says she agrees. Does she?

The interview went great—or did it?

He said he'd never do it again. But he did.

Read this book and send your nonverbal intelligence soaring. Joe Navarro, a former FBI counterintelligence officer and a recognized expert on nonverbal behavior, explains how to "speed-read" people: decode sentiments and behaviors, avoid hidden pitfalls,

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

19

The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature

Matt Ridley

4.2

Referring to Lewis Carroll's Red Queen from Through the Looking-Glass, a character who has to keep running to stay in the same place, Matt Ridley demonstrates why sex is humanity's best strategy for outwitting its constantly mutating internal predators. The Red Queen answers dozens of other riddles of human nature and culture -- including why men propose marriage, the method behind our maddening n

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Seth Godin, and Aubrey Marcus.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

Getting into the more evolution, science kind of books, I really highly, highly recommend picking up … The Red Queen. [source]

Cover unavailable

20

Total Freedom: The Essential Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti

4.5

Counted among his admirers are Jonas Salk, Aldous Huxley, David Hockney, and Van Morrison, along with countless other philosophers, artist, writers and students of the spiritual path. Now the trustees of Krishnamurti’s work have gathered his very best and most illuminating writings and talks to present in one volume the truly essential ideas of this great spiritual thinker.Total Freedom includes s

Recommended by Naval Ravikant and Henry Medine.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’m always reading something by Krishnamurti. Usually, it’s Total Freedom, which is the book that I just reread over and over again. Doesn’t necessarily make sense, but when you’re ready for it, there’s nothing else like it. [source]

Henry Medine

Anxiety and stress have always burdened me. Several books have provided me with temporary relief and more importantly tools to refer back to for the long run. I look at these books as foundational, they help me develop a broad perspective and solidify my core beliefs. I I'd suggest: Total Freedom by Jiddu Krishnamurti. [source]

21

Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness Using the lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength

Paul Wade

4.4

How to Train As If Your VERY LIFE Depended on Your Degree of REAL Strength, Power and ToughnessMost physical training systems are designed for the domesticated human animal. That is to say, for us humans who live lives of such relative security that we cultivate our strength and power more out of pride and for a sense of accomplishment than out of an absolute need to survive in the wild. The profe

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

22

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

Charles Duhigg

4.3

Preview Summary

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

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Blake Irving, Alden Mills, and 15 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I also recently finished The Power of Habit, or close to finish as I get. That one was interesting, not because of its content necessarily, but because it’s good for me to always keep on top of mind how powerful my habits are. … I think learning how to break habits is a very important meta-skill that can serve you better in life than almost anything else. Although you can read tons of books on it, the reality is you’re never going to learn how to break bad habits until you just break them. [source]

Blake Irving

CEO/GoDaddy

You know, there's a book called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Simple read book about just how to build positive habits that can be I think I what I'd call you know whether in your personal life or whether in your business life to help you build you know, have a loop that can build your success and that's one I mean there are so many great books out there. [source]

Alden Mills

More recent books that have had a significant impact on me are The Power of Habit and The Diamond Cutter. Both represent different forces for me – the former helps me tactically with making incremental improvements in my life. [source]

23

The Lessons of History

Will Durant

4.3

Preview Summary

Will Durant once wrote that "most history is guessing, & the rest is prejudice." Now, 33 years later, the Durants, in this peroration to their monumental "Story of Civilization," look back to record the lessons & conclusions of their 10-volume excursion into human folly & achievement--&, coincidentally, to determine what value historical guesswork & historians' predispositions may have in understa

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Ray Dalio, Kevin Systrom, and 2 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

Great book. I really like how it summarizes some of the larger themes of history. Very incisive and, unlike most history books, is actually kind of small and it covers a lot of ground. [source]

Ray Dalio

Founder/Bridgewater Associates

The book I’d give every graduating senior in college or high school would be 'Lessons From History'. This is the Durants, they were maybe the greatest historians of all time. Anyway, of 5,000 years of history, probably wrote 5,000 pages on it, and they took this book - I think it’s 104 pages - and they took the themes of history, it could be from religion, natural resources, who knows, each one of these things, and they looked at it for themes of history through history. I think that, that would be great. [source]

Kevin Systrom

A great book. [source]

24

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Carlo Rovelli

4.2

All the beauty of modern physics in fewer than a hundred pages.

This is a book about the joy of discovery. A playful, entertaining, and mind-bending introduction to modern physics, it's already a major bestseller in Italy and the United Kingdom. Carlo Rovelli offers surprising—and surprisingly easy to grasp—explanations of general relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary particles, gravity, black

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’ve read that one at least twice. [source]

Cover unavailable

25

The Evolution of Everything: How New Ideas Emerge

Matt Ridley

4.2

Human society evolves. Change in technology, language, morality, and society is incremental, inexorable, gradual, and spontaneous. It follows a narrative, going from one stage to the next, and it largely happens by trial and error—a version of natural selection. Much of the human world is the result of human action but not of human design: it emerges from the interactions of millions, not from the

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley, one of my favorite authors. I’ve read everything of his, and reread everything of his. [source]

Cover unavailable

26

Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart

Gordon Livingston, Elizabeth Edwards

4.2

Psychiatrist Gordon Livingston presents 30 truths about life and human relationships he has gleaned from more than 30 years of experience listening to his patients' trials and tribulations. Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart addresses the nature of personal success and the many ways to avoid the entanglements of self-imposed unhappiness. From serving in Vietnam to experiencing the deaths of two children

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

That was a fun, light read. [source]

27

Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha: An Unusually Hardcore Dharma Book

Daniel M Ingram

4.5

• Author posits that enlightenment is an attainable goal* Argues that meditation is a method for examining reality. The very idea that the teachings of meditation can be mastered will arouse controversy within Buddhist circles. Even so, Ingram insists that enlightenment is an attainable goal, once our fanciful notions of it are stripped away, and we have learned to use meditation as a method for e

Recommended by Naval Ravikant and Joel Gascoigne.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

That’s a great book. Recommended to me by a friend. It’s available online. I would get that one. If you’re interested in Buddhism, meditation, insight, I thought that one brought everything together, while leaving the mysticism out of it. That should give you the indication. [source]

Joel Gascoigne

My co-founder Leo and I discovered this book, essentially the Bible of Buddhism, when we were on vacation together in Hawaii. We found it in the hotel rooms and we ended up taking it around the resort with us and discussing the wisdom and stories over lunch. It was fascinating. There are some religious teachings in the Teaching of Buddha. At the same time, there are just as many philosophical teachings and stories that would be enjoyable for anyone to read. [source]

28

God’s Debris: A Thought Experiment

Scott Adams

4.1

God's Debris is the first non-humor book by best-selling author Scott Adams. Adams describes God's Debris as a thought experiment wrapped in a story. It's designed to make your brain spin around inside your skull. Imagine that you meet a very old man who you eventually realize knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life: quantum physics, evolution, God,

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

God’s Debris by Scott Adams, very interesting. [source]

Cover unavailable

29

Falling into Grace: Insights on the End of Suffering

Adyashanti

4.5

In the same way that we fall into the arms of a loved one or drop our heads on the pillow before sleep, we can let go into the beauty and truth of who and what we really are. Falling into Grace presents Adyashanti's response to anyone looking for a way out of suffering and into the freedom of spiritual awakening. With his first introductory book, he offers what he considers the fundamental teachin

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

In the philosophy side, … I just finished Falling Into Grace by Adyashanti, which I thought was very good. [source]

30

Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman

James Gleick

4.3

An illuminating portrayal of Richard Feynman—a giant of twentieth century physics—from his childhood tinkering with radios, to his vital work on the Manhattan Project and beyond

Raised in Depression-era Rockaway Beach, physicist Richard Feynman was irreverent, eccentric, and childishly enthusiastic—a new kind of scientist in a field that was in its infancy. His quick mastery of quantum mechanics ea

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’ve been reading Perfectly Reasonable Deviations, and I’ve also been rereading Genius. [source]

Cover unavailable

31

Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman

Richard P. Feynman, Michelle Feynman, Timothy Ferris

4.3

A Nobel Prize-winning physicist, a loving husband and father, an enthusiastic teacher, a surprisingly accomplished bongo player, and a genius of the highest caliber---Richard P. Feynman was all these and more. Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track--collecting over forty years' worth of Feynman's letters--offers an unprecedented look at the writer and thinker whose scientific mind a

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’ve been reading Perfectly Reasonable Deviations, and I’ve also been rereading Genius. [source]

32

Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It

Kamal Ravikant

4.2

THE SELF-PUBLISHED PHENOMENON —NOW FULLY REVISED AND EXPANDED

I almost didn’t publish Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It. Here I was, a CEO who’d fallen apart after his company failed, writing a book about how loving himself saved him. I thought I’d be a laughingstock and my career would be finished. But I stepped through the fears and shared my truth with the world. The book went viral. Am

Recommended by Naval Ravikant and James Altucher.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’ve actually been reading my brother’s book, How to Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It. I thought it was very succinctly written. Obviously a plug for my bro. [source]

James Altucher

Founder/StockPickr

One of the most important books I've read this year. [source]

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33

The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

4.0

The Bed of Procrustes is a standalone book in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s landmark Incerto series, an investigation of opacity, luck, uncertainty, probability, human error, risk, and decision-making in a world we don’t understand. The other books in the series are Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan, and Antifragile.

By the author of the modern classic The Black Swan, this collection of aphorisms and

Recommended by Naval Ravikant and Anant Jain.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’m reading … The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms, by Nassim Taleb, who is famous for The Black Swan and Fooled by Randomness. I sort of like his collection of ancient wisdom, In the Bed of Procrustes. [source]

Anant Jain

The five-book series, "Incerto", by Nassim Nicholas Taleb has had a profound impact on how I think about the world. There’s some overlap across the books — but you'll likely find the repetition helpful in retaining the content better. [source]

34

The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation

Matt Ridley

4.1

If, as Darwin suggests, evolution relentlessly encourages the survival of the fittest, why are humans compelled to live in cooperative, complex societies? In this fascinating examination of the roots of human trust and virtue, a zoologist and former American editor of the Economist reveals the results of recent studies that suggest that self-interest and mutual aid are not at all incompatible. In

Recommended by Naval Ravikant and Paul Seabright.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

Getting into the more evolution, science kind of books, I really highly, highly recommend picking up … Origins of Virtue. [source]

Paul Seabright

Yes, exactly. In one sense Matt Ridley was restating the message which was already there in The Descent of Man but which had rather been forgotten. What this book did was popularise the idea that cooperation can indeed be favoured by natural selection. [source]

35

The Boys, Vol. 1: The Name of the Game

Garth Ennis

4.3

Dynamite Entertainment is proud to welcome Gath Ennis and Darick Robertson's The Boys as they present the first trade paperback collection of the comic book series everyone is talking about!!

Collecting the first 6 issues of the controversial new series from PREACHER writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson (TRANSMETROPOLITAN)! Don't miss this dark, twisted look at superpowers, super - people

Recommended by Naval Ravikant.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I love graphic novels. I’ve been rereading The Boys recently. [source]

36

The Power of Myth

Joseph Campbell

4.4

The Power Of Myth launched an extraordinary resurgence of interest in Joseph Campbell and his work. A preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, he has had a profound influence on millions of people. To him, mythology was the "song of the universe, the music of the spheres." With Bill Moyers, one of America's most prominent journalists, as his thoughtful and engaging interviewer, The Power Of Myth t

Recommended by Naval Ravikant, Ashley Hathaway, Bryan Callen, and 2 others.

Naval Ravikant

CEO & Co-Founder/AngelList

I’m rereading The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell. Sometimes I think it’s better to just to reread the greats than it is to read something that’s not as great. [source]

Ashley Hathaway

The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell has got to be at least one of my all-time favorites. I reference it constantly. If you’re not familiar the book is just a conversation between the journalist Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, who worked in comparative mythology and religious studies. It so beautifully brings every human experience together from the beginning of time. The world is basically explained through archetypes of people and the stories we tell. I highly recommend it and re-read parts regularly. [source]

Bryan Callen

Joseph Campbell was the first person to really open my eyes to the compassionate side of life, or of thought... Campbell was the guy who really kind of put it all together for me, and not in a way I could put my finger on... It made you just glad to be alive, realizing how vast this world is, and how similar and how different we are. [source]