Reading without a doubt is one of the most potent habits of mastering business and life, and one of the easiest habits to incorporate. An iconic investor, renowned as a humble individual as well as for having had unrepeatable success, asserts that he spends approximately 80% of his day reading. The insight he gained from reading not only shaped his portfolio but also his worldview.
So what do you reckon are the reading choices of a mind that has built one of the most iconic financial legacies in history?
If you’d like to broaden your range of financial insight, make better decisions, or understand how great leaders think, start with these seven classic reading choices. They are classics for a reason, and they contain the principles of extraordinary success.
1. The Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham
Often considered the text for modern investing, this book covers more than just stock selection. It represents the discipline of investing, thinking longer term, not making emotional decisions, and valuing value, not quick wins, but building a ship instead.
2. Common Stocks & Uncommon Profits – By Philip Fisher
Fisher’s method goes further than just numbers as he lectures on how to understand the potential of a company and its people, products, and philosophy. This book requires a real mindset shift from investor to thoughtful business.
3. Business Adventures – John Brooks
Real stories written about the real world of business, that are far from boring. Good stories about the success and failure of business, along with the leadership needed to put it all together, illustrate that buyer-driven market/management occurs — for better or worse. It’s education, but it’s entertaining too.
4. The Essays of Warren Buffett – Compiled by Lawrence Cunningham
An uncommon look into one of the most rational minds in business. This book offers insights into corporate governance, integrity, and risk, along with lasting value in several decades’ worth of shareholder letters that demonstrate no shortage of plainspoken wit and wisdom.
5. Poor Charlie’s Almanack – Charles T. Munger
This book isn’t exactly about investing but more about how to think. It is a humorous, insightful, and mental model-rich book that proposes that everybody consider how to improve upon the way we think about problems, decisions, and the world.
6. The Outsiders – William N. Thorndike
Success often doesn’t look like you think. This book highlights leaders who both quietly outperform others by being disciplined capital allocators and subsequently describe what business excellence can be and look like as they do it.
7. Tap Dancing to Work – Carol Loomis
A rich portrait of a bright mind over several decades of journalism. It captures the evolution of his thinking, the evolution of markets, and the evolution of principles through carefully selected articles and interviews – a portrait of both his financial journey and growth as a person.
These Books Continue to Be Important
Even in a fast-paced, algorithmic world, the concepts in these books continue to provide guidance to investors, entrepreneurs, and leaders. They teach lessons of resilience, clarity, and conviction – lessons that will be valuable no matter the decade we are in.
These aren’t just investing books – they are books that teach you how to think better, how to lead better, and how to live a purposeful life.
Final Thought: Let Your Thinking Compound
Don’t feel rushed to read everything all at once. Just take one book – like“The Intelligent Investor or The Essays of Warren Buffett” and focus on what resonates with you. Take it in at a sustainable pace.
Ultimately, that was Buffett’s approach he was patient, consistent, and intentional.
What book did you choose to read? Let us know in the comments!
