Have you ever picked up a book, started reading, and found you couldn’t put it down?

Have you ever read a book and constantly recommend that book to other people because it impacted your life so much?

It’s rare for me to find a book that has this strong of an impact, but occasionally I’ll find a diamond in the rough.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve started to put together a list of my all-time favorite books.

These are the books where I started reading and was immediately hooked with a desire to continue to read more, or I found them so useful I use them as reference and give them away as gifts to this day. These books cover topics in entrepreneurship, leadership, finance, apologetics and philosophy, and other helpful areas to live a better life.

These are the books you won’t want to put down. These are the books that will challenge you to become a better person, to discover truth, to do more for yourself, and to help more people and the world around you. These are the books that will spark a fire within you to be more, do more, and have more.

In the near future I’ll also write more targeted books for particular industries and professionals. For example, I’ll most likely write a list of my favorite personal finance, web development and programming, and/or entrepreneurship or business books.

If that interests you please let me know so I can share it with you when it goes live. :)

So, without further adieu, let’s jump into this list in no particular order:

Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferriss

Tim describes the purpose of writing the book by asking himself a number of questions. “Were my goals my own, or simply what I thought I should want? How much of life had I missed from underplanning or overplanning? How could I be kinder to myself? How could I better say “no” to the trivial many to better say “yes” to the critical few? How could I best reassess my priorities and my purpose in this world? To find answers, I reached out to the most impressive world-class performers in the world, ranging from wunderkinds in their 20s to icons in their 70s and 80s. No stone was left unturned. This book contains their answers.”

Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss

Tim describes this book as containing, “the distilled tools, tactics, and ‘inside baseball’ you won’t find anywhere else. It also includes new tips from past guests on the Tim Ferriss Podcast, and life lessons from new ‘guests’ you haven’t met.” These are tools, tactics, and techniques from some of the best experts in the world in their respective areas.

The 4 Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss

One of my all-time favorite books! If you haven’t read this book you need to grab a copy. The book description from Amazon says: “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, or earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, The 4-Hour Workweek is the blueprint.”

Outliers: The Story of Success By Malcom Gladwell

From Amazon: “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?”

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

From Amazon: “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 the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship.”

Start with Why by Simon Sinek

From Amazon: “Sinek starts with a fundamental question: 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?”

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

From Amazon: “Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs — in companies of all sizes — a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.”

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future by Chris Guillebeau

From Amazon, “Chris tells you exactly how many dollars his group of unexpected entrepreneurs required to get their projects up and running; what these individuals did in the first weeks and months to generate significant cash; some of the key mistakes they made along the way, and the crucial insights that made the business stick. Among Chris’s key principles: if you’re good at one thing, you’re probably good at something else; never teach a man to fish — sell him the fish instead; and in the battle between planning and action, action wins.”

Zero to One Peter Thiel

This is one of my favorite books written by a billionaire. Description from Amazon: “The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, legendary entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel shows how we can find singular ways to create those new things.”

How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Description from Amazon: “Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. This book is one of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time.”

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki

I remember the first time I read this book. It definitely changed my life from that point on! Description from Amazon: “Rich Dad Poor Dad, the #1 Personal Finance book of all time, tells the story of Robert Kiyosaki and his two dads — his real father and the father of his best friend, his rich dad — and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.”

The Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki

Description from Amazon: “CASHFLOW Quadrant was written for those who are ready to move beyond job security and enter the world of financial freedom. It’s for those who want to make significant changes in their lives and take control of their financial future. This book will change the way you think about jobs, careers, and owning your own business and inspire you to learn the rules of money that the rich use to build and grow their wealth.”

Conspiracy of the Rich by Robert Kiyosaki

Description from Amazon: “In Rich Dad’s Conspiracy of the Rich, Robert Kiyosaki explores why many people are waiting for the political and financial systems of the world to change. He shares his opinion that it’s easier to change yourself than to wait for our leaders and systems to change. The old economy, the economy as we knew it, is not coming back. A new economy is being born, an economy that will be led by kids born after 1990, young people who only know the invisible, high-speed world of the future.”

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

Description from Amazon: “In Think and Grow Rich, Hill draws on stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and other millionaires of his generation to illustrate his principles. This book will teach you the secrets that could bring you a fortune. It will show you not only what to do but how to do it. Once you learn and apply the simple, basic techniques revealed here, you will have mastered the secret of true and lasting success.”

Failing Forward: Turning Mistakes Into Stepping Stones for Success by John Maxwell

Description from Amazon: “The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure. Most people are never prepared to deal with failure. Maxwell says that if you are like him, coming out of school, you feared it, misunderstood it, and ran away from it. But Maxwell has learned to make failure his friend, and he can teach you to do the same.”

21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell

The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is one of the best leadership books of all time. This book completely changed my outlook on failure. Many people have a negative connotation when it comes to failure, but this book flips the idea of failure on its head. Definitely recommend!

Thinking for a Change by John Maxwell

Description from Amazon: “To do well in life, we must first think well. But can we actually learn new mental habits? Thinking for a Change answers that with a resounding “yes” — and shows how changing your thinking can indeed change your life. Drawing on the words and deeds of many of the world’s greatest leaders and using interactive quizzes, this empowering book helps you assess your thinking style, guides you to new ones, and step by step teaches you the secrets of: Big-Picture Thinking — seeing the world beyond your own needs and how that leads to great ideas. Focused Thinking — removing mental clutter and distractions to realize your full potential. Creative Thinking — stepping out of the “box” and making breakthroughs. Shared Thinking — working with others to compound results. — Reflective Thinking — looking at the past to gain a better understanding of the future …and much more. Here America’s most trusted and admired motivational teacher examines the very foundation of success and self-transformation.”

Winning With People by John Maxwell

Description from Amazon: “Relationships are at the heart of every positive human experience. Maxwell, a master communicator and relational expert, makes learning about relationships accessible to everyone. The most sophisticated leaders and salespeople will pick up on skills that will make them even better, and relational novices will learn skills that can transform them into relational dynamos.”

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t by Jim Collins

Description from Amazon: “Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?” This book answers that question. It helps you learn how to literally go from good to great.

Ask by Ryan Levesque

I’ve had the privilege of working with Ryan on two different occasions for different projects. His book is one of my all-time favorites. Here’s the description from Amazon: “Do you know how to find out what people really want to buy? (Not what you think they want, not what they say they want, but what they really want?) The secret is asking the right questions — and the right questions are not what you might expect. Ask is based on the compelling premise that you should NEVER have to guess what your prospects and customers are thinking. The Ask Formula revealed in this book has been used to help build multi-million dollar businesses in 23 different industries, generating over $100 million dollars in sales in the process.”

Expert Secrets by Russell Brunson

I love Russell’s books! He’s one of the best experts when it comes to branding and digital marketing. Book description from Amazon: “Your message has the ability to change someone’s life. The impact that the right message can have on someone at the right time in their life is immeasurable. It could help to save marriages, repair families, change someone’s health, grow a company or more… But only if you know how to get it into the hands of the people whose lives you have been called to change. Expert Secrets will put your message into the hands of people who need it.”

DotCom Secrets by Russell Brunson

Another great book from Russell! This book is specifically for digital marketing. Check out the book description from Amazon: “If you are currently struggling with getting traffic to your website, or converting that traffic when it shows up, you may think you’ve got a traffic or conversion problem. In Russell Brunson’s experience, after working with thousands of businesses, he has found that’s rarely the case. Low traffic and weak conversion numbers are just symptoms of a much greater problem, a problem that’s a little harder to see (that’s the bad news), but a lot easier to fix (that’s the good news). DotComSecrets will give you the marketing funnels and the sales scripts you need to be able to turn on a flood of new leads into your business.”

Secrets of Closing the Sale by Zig Ziglar

One of my favorite books from the late great Zig Ziglar. “Whether presenting a product or principle, service or idea, we all engage in sales. Zig Ziglar presents winning techniques for getting a positive response and establishing dynamic relationships.” Everything is selling whether we like it or not. So learn how to sell yourself, your idea, your product, or your service in the most effective way possible.

See You At the Top by Zig Ziglar

Here’s another book from Zig Ziglar, however this book deals with personal development. Book description from Amazon: “Offering advice on how to succeed, this guide teaches how to build a solid attitude foundation, promoting the value of a healthy self-image and showing how to build such an image. It clarifies why goals are important, and advises how to set them and how to reach them.”

The Art of War by Sun Tzu

One of the most recommended leadership books of all time, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, has shared important principles in warfare, business, negotiation, and strategy. Book description from Amazon: “The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the 5th century BC. Attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu the text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of the art of war. It is commonly thought of as a definitive work on military strategy and tactics. It was placed at the head of China’s Seven Military Classics upon the collection’s creation in 1080 by Emperor Shenzong of Song, and has long been the most influential strategy text in East Asia. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond.”

Anointed for Business by Ed Silvoso

This is definitely one of my favorite business books! I highly recommend reading this book. Book description from Amazon: “Ed Silvoso focuses on the heart of our cities, which is the marketplace. Yet the perceived wall between commercial pursuit and service to God continues to be a barrier to advancing His kingdom. Silvoso shows Christians how to knock down that wall — and participate in an unparalleled marketplace transformation. Only then can we see God’s kingdom invade every corner of our world. Readers will appreciate Silvoso’s passionate call to men and women in the workplace to rise to their God-appointed positions.”

Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by W. Bernard Carlson

My favorite inventor, engineer, and scientist of all time, the one and only Nikola Tesla. Book description from Amazon: “Nikola Tesla was a major contributor to the electrical revolution that transformed daily life at the turn of the twentieth century. His inventions, patents, and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electricity, and contributed to the development of radio and television. Like his competitor Thomas Edison, Tesla was one of America’s first celebrity scientists, enjoying the company of New York high society and dazzling the likes of Mark Twain with his electrical demonstrations. An astute self-promoter and gifted showman, he cultivated a public image of the eccentric genius. Even at the end of his life when he was living in poverty, Tesla still attracted reporters to his annual birthday interview, regaling them with claims that he had invented a particle-beam weapon capable of bringing down enemy aircraft.”

Gaining Favor with God and Man by William Thayer

This is hands-down one of the best leadership books I’ve ever read. Thayer shares great information on morality, character qualities, and ethics you can use to live a better life. Definitely recommend adding this book to your library.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

Book description from Amazon: “Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, charged with towering questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus: a philosophical revolution told in the form of an action thriller — nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.”

Sam Walton: Made in America

Book description from Amazon: “Meet a genuine American folk hero cut from the homespun cloth of America’s heartland: Sam Walton, who parlayed a single dime store in a hardscrabble cotton town into Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world. The undisputed merchant king of the late twentieth century, Sam never lost the common touch. Here, finally, inimitable words. Genuinely modest, but always sure if his ambitions and achievements. Sam shares his thinking in a candid, straight-from-the-shoulder style.”

The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Book description from Amazon: “The Wealth of Nations was published 9 March 1776, during the Scottish Enlightenment and the Scottish Agricultural Revolution. It influenced a number of authors and economists, as well as governments and organizations. For example, Alexander Hamilton was influenced in part by The Wealth of Nations to write his Report on Manufactures, in which he argued against many of Smith’s policies. Interestingly, Hamilton based much of this report on the ideas of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, and it was, in part, Colbert’s ideas that Smith responded to with The Wealth of Nations. Many other authors were influenced by the book and used it as a starting point in their own work, including Jean-Baptiste Say, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus and, later, Ludwig von Mises.”

Michio Kaku: The Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku

Book description from Amazon: “Teleportation, time machines, force fields, and interstellar space ships — the stuff of science fiction or potentially attainable future technologies? Inspired by the fantastic worlds of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Back to the Future, renowned theoretical physicist and bestselling author Michio Kaku takes an informed, serious, and often surprising look at what our current understanding of the universe’s physical laws may permit in the near and distant future.”

Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

Book description from Amazon: “How did his mind work? What made him a genius? Isaacson’s biography shows how his scientific imagination sprang from the rebellious nature of his personality. His fascinating story is a testament to the connection between creativity and freedom. Based on newly released personal letters of Einstein, this book explores how an imaginative, impertinent patent clerk — a struggling father in a difficult marriage who couldn’t get a teaching job or a doctorate — became the mind reader of the creator of the cosmos, the locksmith of the mysteries of the atom, and the universe.”

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

Description from Amazon: “Michael Gerber dispels the myths surrounding starting your own business and shows how commonplace assumptions can get in the way of running a business. He walks you through the steps in the life of a business from entrepreneurial infancy, through adolescent growing pains, to the mature entrepreneurial perspective, the guiding light of all businesses that succeed. He then shows how to apply the lessons of franchising to any business whether or not it is a franchise. Finally, Gerber draws the vital, often overlooked distinction between working on your business and working in your business. After you have read The E-Myth Revisited, you will truly be able to grow your business in a predictable and productive way.”

Influence the Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini

Description from Amazon: “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 acclaimed book. You’ll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader — and how to defend yourself against them. Perfect for people in all walks of life, the principles of Influence will move you toward profound personal change and act as a driving force for your success.”

Doing the Right Thing: Making Moral Choices in a World Full of Options by Scott Rae

Book description from Amazon: “Looking specifically at the areas of medicine, the marketplace, public life, education, and the family, Rae shows how foundational ethical principles can guide you in making moral day-to-day decisions. Informed by Scripture and calling for a renewed understanding of the importance of the Christian faith in moral training, Doing the Right Thing issues a call for cultivated virtue that can bring about both better lives and a better society. You will find yourself examining the ways in which ethical and character issues relate to your life. As a result, you will be better equipped to promote virtue in your own spheres of influence and the culture at large.”

Finding God at Harvard: Spiritual Journeys of Thinking Christians by Kelly Monroe Kullberg

Kelly Kullberg is a dear friend of mine, and this particular book is one of the favorites I’ve ever read. Definitely recommend picking it up for a very enlightening read! Book description from Amazon: “The Boston Globe bestseller! Ari Goldman’s best-selling book, The Search for God at Harvard, chronicled his search for signs of genuine religious faith at Harvard Divinity School. He concluded that God was not very evident at the prestigious Ivy League campus. In Finding God at Harvard, Kelly Monroe Kullberg reveals a different picture of Christian faith in a secular intellectual setting. She presents the compelling testimonies of forty-two faculty members, former students, and distinguished orators at Harvard. Their candid reflections explode the myth that Christian faith cannot survive a rigorous intellectual atmosphere. Finding God at Harvard speaks to the emptiness that haunts college campuses across the country — an emptiness that only Truth can fill. As Monroe’s contributors so vividly show, that Truth is available to everyone. With contributions from Robert Coles, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Armand Nicholi, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lamin Sanneh, Elizabeth Dole, Owen Gingerich and Mother Teresa.”

The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin

This particular book has been one of the most eye-opening books I’ve ever read! Completely turned my understanding of the world on its head. Book description from Amazon: “Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magicians’ secrets are unveiled. We get a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, their pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money. A dry and boring subject? Just wait! You’ll be hooked in five minutes. Reads like a detective story — which it really is. But it’s all true. This book is about the most blatant scam of all history. It’s all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity. Creature from Jekyll Island is a “must read.” Your world view will definitely change.”

This Is Not the End, But the Beginning

Well there you have it! These are some of the best books I’ve read that I recommend to other people to read to improve their life, have a better understanding of the world around them, and to help them accomplish their goals. I hope these books have the same impact on you as they have for me.

I would not be who I am today without reading these books.

Do you have any questions, comments, or concerns about what I shared? Feel free to let me know in the comment section below, and I’ll do my best to respond to you in a timely fashion.

Do you feel like there’s any books that I left out that should be included in this list? Please let me know in the comment section below. :)

I’ll be writing more articles like this in the near future hand-picking some of my favorite books in particular niches like business, philosophy, literature, etc., but I wanted to do this one first as a general list.

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