Bookmark this page to find reading recommendations to suit any reading desire. Shopping via the links below (all of which are affiliates) helps support our community’s growth (and doesn’t cost ya a damn thing!)

Books for new founders

 

• The Partnership Charter: How To Start Out Right With Your New Business Partnership (or Fix The One You’re In), David Gage – A detailed framework for making everything visible in a new partnership via @khemaridh.
• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity, Kim Scott – A 2×2 matrix for communication, without holding back but still being kind via @LexyHorowitz.
• Difficult Conversations, Doug Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen – An incredible “business book” on identity, feedback and getting in front of difficult conversations via @khemaridh @auren.
• Principles: Life and Work, Ray Dalio – The systemetization of life, management, economics, and investing.

 

? March’s Best

 

• A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara – (Editor’s Note: This is the best book I’ve read in years)
• Company of One: Why Staying Small is the Next Big Thing, Paul Jarvis
• From Third World to First: The Singapore Story, Lee Kuan Yew
• The Courage to Be Disliked: The Japanese Phenomenon That Shows You How to Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness, Ichiro Kishimi
• No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work, Liz and Mollie
• Full Circle: A memoir of leaning in too far and the journey back, Erin Callan
• Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence, Esther Perel
• The Partnership Charter: How To Start Out Right With Your New Business Partnership (or Fix The One You’re In), David Gage

 

? Ring in January!

 

• How to Change your Mind, Michael Pollan – A science-based investigation into psychedelics via @fortelabs
• How to Raise an Adult, Julie Haims – A manifesto on the dangers of helicopter parenting via @auren
• Own the Day, Aubrey Marcus – A pragmatic (and sometimes a bit inspirational-cheesy) playbook on getting the most out of our body and mind each day via @brandviewinc @khemaridh
• Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life, Hector Garcia – What can the world’s longest-living population teach us about finding supreme joy via @sarakalick
• The Pleasures of Reading in the Age of Distraction, Alan Jacobs – Despite the onslaught of tech and free online content, book reading is up. Why? via @claytondorge
• Mistakes were Made (But not by Me), Caroll Tavris – How do we calm the cognitive dissonance that leads us to cling to outdated attitudes via @natkoh.

 

Coaching and consulting

 

• McKinsey’s Marvin Bower: Vision, Leadership, and the Creation of Management Consulting, Elizabeth Edershein – The history of the iconic consulting firm will help anyone starting a consulting practice. via @paulmillerd
• The Consulting Bible, Alan Weiss – Learn how to write proposals, price your product, and win new customers (as an individual or a boutique firm). via @brandviewcap
• The Prosperous Coach, Steve Chandler and Rich Litivn – How to build a coaching practice with a small group of high-paying clients via @paulmillerd

 

Is there a new paradigm in economics?

 

• Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition, Charles Eisenstein – How can economics transition to a more connected, ecological, and sustainable way of being via @cahillry
• Debt: The First 5,000 Years, David Graeber – Reconsidering the role of credit in the modern economy via @philipsimon
• Conscious Business: How to build value through values, Fred Kofman – How to shift away from shareholder capitalism to stakeholder capitalism.

 

New models in philanthropy

 

• Winners Take All: The elite charade of changing the world, Anand Giriharadas – Is philanthropy just a facade to maintain existing inequalities? via @swhnorton
• Doing Good Better: How Effective Altruism Can Help You Help Others, Do Work that Matters, and Make Smarter Choices about Giving Back, William MacAskill – The effective altruism movement is about achieving the highest ROI from your giving via @dcoolican

 

Life design

 

• Atomic Habits, James Clear – The inability to launch new habits is a systems failure, not a willpower failure via @patricksouth (and many others).
• Designing your life, Bill Burnett – The founders of Stanford’s D.School on how to live with intention via @meganneely.
• How to fail at almost anything and still win, Scott Adams – Simple (and contrarian) frameworks for a more fulfilling life and career via @kylemanley.
• A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, William Irvine – What stoicism can teach us about minimizing worry, how to let go of the past and focus our efforts on the things we can control, and how to deal with insults, grief, old age, and the distracting temptations of fame and fortune via @samandrew.

 

Personal Finance

 

• You Need A Budget, Jesse Meachem – A RadReader favorite on shifting your money habits and budgeting.
• Dollars and Sense: How we Misthink Money and how to Spend Better, Dan Ariely – The behavioral scientist on how emotions shape our spending decision

 

The psychology of money

 

• Your Money or Your Life, Vicki Robin – The 1970s book that serves as FIRE’s bible via @mikekarnj
• The Soul of Money: Transforming your Relationship with Money and Life, Lynne Twist – The definitive guide on shaking “scarcity thinking” – the belief that we don’t have enough via Oliver Guinness

 

Work, Leadership, and Management

 

• It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work by Jason Fried – The anti-hustle porn founders have created a thriving company culture that bucks being always on via @peternguyen
• Difficult Conversations, Doug Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen – An incredible “business book” on identity, feedback and getting in front of difficult conversations via @khemaridh @auren.

 

Creativity

 

• The Elements of Eloquence: Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase, Mark Forsyth – How to make a phrase memorable in a world full of noise via @khemaridh

 

Politics and society

 

• Why Liberalism Failed, Patrick Deneen – This isn’t about right or left politics, but about the roots (and consequences) of individual autonomy being a central tenet of our belief systems via @khemaridh
• The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York, Robert Caro – The classic tome on the “fourth branch of government” and how power works

 

❤️ The Love Library

In response to the recent post of Relationship Resentment, you suggested some of your favorite relationship reads:

 

• The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work, John Gottman – The “love lab” researcher shares the results of observing hundreds of marriages.
• Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most, Doug Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen – A business book that cuts to the heart of our fragile identities.
• The Five Love Languages, Gary Chapman –  Learn to express love in your spouse’s language.
• Art of Loving, Erich Fromm – How economics and our need to “make a living” undermine our desire to build lasting relationships
• Normal Chaos of Love, Ulrich Beck

 

Biographies

 

• Who is Michael Ovitz by Michael Ovitz – Super-Agent and CAA-founder reflects on his relentless pursuit of money and success.

 

Lifestyle and Culture

 

• Salt, Fat, Heat, Acid: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking, Samin Nosrat – First principles (and delightful illustrations) to get anyone started on cooking via @swhnorton

 

Fiction

 

• The Sympathizer: A novel, Viet Than Nguyen – This Pulitzer prize winner is the subject of the NYC book club via @philipsimon.