The 100 Best Books I’ve Ever Read – Updated July 2023

I love getting reading recommendations from people I respect and who have overlapping interests to mine. One day I posted a photo of my home office, which is full of books, on Twitter and a friend there asked if I had a list of my favorite books anywhere. This is that list.

I’ve organized it in two ways. First as a favorite books list ranked by order of impact they had on my life at the time I read them. Second in categories of interest that might help steer you towards something new and interesting for you.

This is the most subjective list ranked by the most subjective criteria I could possibly share. I’m not the most well-read person in the world, but I’ve probably read 500+ books in my adult life and this is the 20% or so that seem worth recommending. I’ll update this regularly and keep it to 100 books — for one to be added, another will have to be removed.

If you buy a book from this list, consider doing it from a local independent bookshop. Amazon is doing just fine and bookshops in communities are drivers of culture, learning, and accessibility. All my links are to Powells.com.

My favorite books of all time ranked

Subjectively ranked by impact on my life at the time I read them…

1. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
2. Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
3. Proverbs (Bible)
4. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
5. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
6. Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
7. Mastery by Robert Greene
8. American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee
9. Matthew (Bible)
10. Good to Great by Jim Collins
11. Give and Take by Adam Grant
12. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
13. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossaini
14. Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
15. The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
16. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
17. The Responsible Company by Yvon Chouinard
18. The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
19. No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz
20. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
21. Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community by Wendell Berry
22. The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz
23. The War of Art by Steve Pressfield
24. The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
25. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
26. Dune by Frank Herbert
27. Profiles in Courage by John F Kennedy
28. Drawdown by Paul Hawken
29. Linchpin by Seth Godin
30. Atomic Habits by James Clear
31. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
32. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
33. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
34. It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn
35. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
36. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
37. Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller
38. Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
39. Walden by Henry David Thoreau
40. Radical Candor by Kim Scott
41. The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
42. Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan
43. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
44. Figuring by Maria Popova
45. Leonard Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
46. Half Earth by Edward O Wilson
47. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
48. An Immense World by Ed Yang
49. The Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy by Edmund Morris
50. So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
51. Mindset by Carol Dweck
52. The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
53. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
54. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
55. The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant
56. Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O Wilson
57. Drive by Dan Pink
58. The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
59. Reboot by Jerry Colonna
60. Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
61. Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
62. Measure What Matters by John Doerr
63. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
64. Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey
65. The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
66. Principles by Ray Dalio
67. Tribes by Seth Godin
68. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
69. The Lost City of Z by David Grann
70. Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
71. Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull
72. The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
73. The Second Mountain by David Brooks
74. Red Notice by Bill Browder
75. Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein
76. Scientist by Richard Rhodes
77. The Carbon Almanac 
78. The 4-Hour Work-Week by Tim Ferriss
79. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
80. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
81. Return of the Sea Otter by Todd McLeish
82. The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski
83. The Lean Startup by Eric Reis
84. Speed & Scale by John Doerr
85. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
86. Trust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday
87. Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
88. American Assassin by Vince Flynn
89. Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mareas
90. Interviewing Users by Steve Portigal
91. The Minto Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto
92. Healing Back Pain by John E Sarno

My Favorite Books of All Time by Category

These categories are based on the natural way my brain organizes information. A given book easily could’ve been in more than one category. Hopefully this gives enough structure to find something interesting to you.

Business, Career, and Leadership

• Good to Great by Jim Collins
• Give and Take by Adam Grant
• Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
• The Responsible Company by Yvon Chouinard
• The Blue Sweater by Jacqueline Novogratz
• The War of Art by Steve Pressfield
• Linchpin by Seth Godin
• Every Good Endeavor by Timothy Keller
• Radical Candor by Kim Scott
• So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport
• Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey
• Principles by Ray Dalio
• Tribes by Seth Godin
• Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
• Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull
• The 4-Hour Work-Week by Tim Ferriss
• The Lean Startup by Eric Reis

Nature and Climate

• American Wolf by Nate Blakeslee
• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
• Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
• The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
• Drawdown by Paul Hawken
• Walden by Henry David Thoreau
• Half Earth by Edward O Wilson
• An Immense World by Ed Yang
• Letters to a Young Scientist by Edward O Wilson
• Scientist by Richard Rhodes
• The Carbon Almanac 
• Return of the Sea Otter by Todd McLeish
• Speed & Scale by John Doerr

Coaching and Performance

• Mastery by Robert Greene
• Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Mindset by Carol Dweck
• Drive by Dan Pink
• Reboot by Jerry Colonna
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
• The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey
• Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin

Therapy and Mental Health

• No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz
• It Didn’t Start With You by Mark Wolynn
• The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller
• Healing Back Pain by John E Sarno

History and Biography

• Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin
• Profiles in Courage by John F Kennedy
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
• Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
• Figuring by Maria Popova
• Leonard Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
• The Theodore Roosevelt Trilogy by Edmund Morris
• The Lessons of History by Will & Ariel Durant
• Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama
• Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
• The Lost City of Z by David Grann

Functional Reads

• Measure What Matters by John Doerr
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
• Trust Me I’m Lying by Ryan Holiday
• Traction by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares
• Interviewing Users by Steve Portigal
• The Minto Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto

Wisdom and Philosophy

• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Proverbs (Bible)
• Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
• Matthew (Bible)
• Sex, Economy, Freedom, and Community by Wendell Berry
• Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
• The Second Mountain by David Brooks
• The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason

Politics

• The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt
• Why We’re Polarized by Ezra Klein

Science Fiction

• Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
• Dune by Frank Herbert
• Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

Fantasy

• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
• The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
• The Witcher by Andrzej Sapkowski

Thriller

• Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark T Sullivan
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
• Red Notice by Bill Browder
• American Assassin by Vince Flynn

Other Fiction

• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossaini
• The Call of the Wild by Jack London
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
• Life of Pi by Yann Martel
• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein