“Do people even read anymore?!”
This was the response I got recently when I mentioned that I have a bit of a reading obsession. I set a goal for 2020 to finish 2 books a week, giving me a grand total of 104 books read in a year. (I documented the results here)
I asked for recommendations on LinkedIn & Facebook for the last 10 books to finish off my list with the caveat that only life-changing books be recommended.
I needed 10, I got 50… then 60… then 70… now we’re at 89!
Since I now have a whole list of books to read, I figured some of you may be interested in a list of life-changing books…. so… here is the list.
Title – Author – Recommended by
Bolded titles are books I have read (and also recommend).
Title | Author | Recommended by | |
1 | The Spy and Traitor | Ben Macintyre | Mort Jorgensen |
2 | Good to Great | Jim Collins | Devin Peterson |
3 | Sapiens | Yuval Noah Harari | Andrew Merino |
4 | The Audit Principal | Arbinger Institute | Michael Deru |
5 | How Will You Measure Your Life | Clayton Christensen | Ian Shields, Mike Zahajko |
6 | The Undoing Project | Michael Lewis | Ian Shields, Jack Saunders |
7 | The Obstacle is the Way | Ryan Holiday | Joe Chacon |
8 | Ego is the Enemy | Ryan Holiday | Kyle Ivins |
9 | Stillness is the Key | Ryan Holiday | Kyle Ivins |
10 | Range | David Epstein | Kyle Ivins |
11 | Leading an Inspired Life | Jim Rohn | Etu Moli |
12 | The Hard Thing About Hard Things | Ben Horowitz | Etu Moli |
13 | The Slight Edge | Jeff Olson | Etu Moli, Aaron Livingston |
14 | The Alchemist | Paulo Coelho | Jordan Hanks, Sam Christensen, Dylan Anderson |
15 | When Breath Becomes Air | Paul Kalanithi | Lauren Colby |
16 | Being Mortal | Atul Gawande | Lauren Colby |
17 | 12 Rules for Life | Jordan Peterson | Lauren Colby |
18 | Leadership and Self-Deception | The Arbinger Institute | Lauren Colby, Mike Zahajko |
19 | Bonds that Make Us Free | C. Terry Warner | Lauren Colby |
20 | Essentialism | Greg McKeown | Lauren Colby, Laura Stewart |
21 | Unbroken | Laura Hillenbrand | Lauren Colby, Melissa Macleod, Rachel Ray |
22 | Born to Run | Christopher McDougall | Lauren Colby, Jeff Larson |
23 | Natural Born Heroes | Christopher McDougall | Lauren Colby |
24 | The Way of Kings | Brandon Sanderson | Jonathan Slaven |
25 | The Boys in the Boat | Daniel James | Jordyn Parry, Chrissy VanLeeuwen |
26 | The Day The World Came to Town | Jim DeFede | Jordyn Parry |
27 | The Year of Less | Cait Flanders | Jordyn Parry |
28 | Seabiscuit | Laura Hillenbrand | Melissa Macleod |
29 | Think Like a Monk | Jay Shetty | Drew Worth |
30 | Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah | Richard Bach | Stephanie Cannon |
31 | Educated | Tara Westover | Tobi Bishop |
32 | Watership Down | Richard Adams | Tobi Bishop |
33 | Enlightenment Now | Steven Pinker | Jack Saunders |
34 | The Righteous Mind | Jonathan Haidt | Jack Saunders |
35 | The Coddling of the American Mind | Jonathan Haidt | Jack Saunders |
36 | Something Deeply Hidden | Sean Carroll | Jack Saunders |
37 | Breath | James Nestor | Jack Saunders |
38 | The Bible | Many | Ryan Ray, Tom Burton |
39 | The Apocrypha | Many | Ryan Ray |
40 | The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah | Mia Sliwoski |
41 | Born a Crime | Trevor Noah | Melissa Macleod |
42 | Factfulness | Hans Rosling | Melissa Macleod |
43 | The Moment of Lift | Melinda Gates | Melissa Macleod |
44 | The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle | Stuart Turton | Melissa Macleod |
45 | Dune | Frank Herbert | Ron Case, Mike Zahajko |
46 | Happiness Advantage | Shawn Achor | Mike Zahajko |
47 | Never Split the Difference | Chriss Voss | Mike Zahajko |
48 | Great by Choice | Jim Collins | Mike Zahajko |
49 | The Last Lecture | Randy Pausch | Mike Zahajko |
50 | The Book of Mormon | Many | Erik Soderborg, Tom Burton |
51 | A Short History of Nearly Everything | Bill Bryson | Erik Soderborg |
52 | The Fountainhead | Ayn Rand | Erik Soderborg |
53 | Atlas Shrugged | Ayn Rand | Erik Soderborg |
54 | Small Great Things | Jodi Picoult | Erik Soderborg |
55 | Alexander Hamilton | Ron Chernow | Erik Soderborg |
56 | Enemy at the Gates | William Craig | Erik Soderborg |
57 | Why We Sleep | Matthew Walker | Evelina Petrova |
58 | The 8th Habit | Stephen Covey | Kat Keddington |
59 | David and Goliath | Malcolm Gladwell | Michael Ryan |
60 | Moby Dick | Herman Melville | Carl Ellis |
61 | Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage | Alfred Lansing | Bogdan Gnatyshyn |
62 | Atomic Habits | James Clear | Pam Massey, Jeff Larson |
63 | The 4 Agreements | Jan Miguel Ruiz | Pam Massey, Reg Spittle |
64 | The Innovator’s Dilemma | Clayton Christensen | TJ Lokboj |
65 | Principles | Ray Dalio | TJ Lokboj |
66 | Cashflow Quadrant | Robert Kiyosaki | TJ Lokboj |
67 | American Dirt | Jeanine Cummins | Laura Stewart |
68 | Siddhartha | Hermann Hesse | Reg Spittle |
69 | On the Shortness of Life | Seneca | Reg Spittle |
70 | The Catcher in the Rye | JD Salinger | Reg Spittle |
71 | Peace Like a River | Leif Enger | Phillip Pay |
72 | Ishmael | Kurt Vonnegut | Holly Ojalehto |
73 | The Power of Now | Eckhart Tolle | Holly Ojalehto, Will Bowman |
74 | Man’s Search for Meaning | Viktor Frankl | Holly Ojalehto |
75 | I Know This Much is True | Wally Lamb | Jeff Larson |
76 | Unscripted | Ernie Johnson Jr. | Scott Child |
77 | Trillion Dollar Coach | Eric Schmidt | Christopher Corbett |
78 | The Promise to the One | Jason Hewlett | Mark & Kris Marshall |
79 | The Lost Secret: Unlocking the Hidden Chapters of Napoleon Hill’s think and Grow Rich | Monica Main | Mark & Kris Marshall |
80 | You are the Guru | Gabrielle Bernstein | Mark & Kris Marshall |
81 | The Lincoln Hypothesis | Timothy Ballard | Mark & Kris Marshall |
82 | How to Win Friends and Influence People | Dale Carnegie | Brad Ball |
83 | Americana: A 400 Year History of Capitalism in America | Bhu Srinivasan | Brad Ball |
84 | Caste | Isabel Wilkerson | Lisa Bonta Sumii |
85 | Be Our Guest | James Allworth & Karen Dillon | Tom Burton |
86 | Get a Grip | Gene Wickman & Mike Paton | Tom Burton |
87 | Traction | Gene Wickman | Tom Burton |
88 | Value Proposition Designer | Alex Osterwalder | Tom Burton |
89 | Extreme Ownership | Jocko Willink and Leif Babin | Nathan MacDonald |
What books am I missing?
Great list! For me, three life-changing books have been The Innovator’s Dilemma By Clayton Christensen, Principles by Ray Dalio, and Cashflow Quadrant by Robert Kiyosaki. – TJ Lokboj
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I agree on Principles! I need to check out the other 2!
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I enjoyed Atomic Habits by James Clear and The 4 Agreements by Miguel Ruiz.
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Just added them to the list, thank you! I am on a wait list for Atomic Habits 🙂
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I have a copy of The 4 Agreements if you want to borrow it, it is a short easy read.
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That’d be great. Another person recommended that book as well after you commented.
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Nice list…Two I would add: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse and The Four Agreements by Jan Miguel Ruiz. Alright, two more: On the Shortness of Life by Seneca and The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger. Thanks for the list.
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I just added your to the list! Thank you for the recommendations!
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Oops, just saw you had Ruiz’ book.
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Not a problem. Added your name to the recommenders 🙂
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Can you share what your strategy is for finishing 2 books/week? I have found it difficult to hold myself accountable of a similar goal in the past. Thanks!
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Hi Rachel, I will absolutely share my strategy. I will likely make a quick blog post out of it and post it a bit later this evening if that is okay.
The short answer is audiobooks and physical paper books. I’m usually in the middle of at least one of each any given day and then blocking out specific times to dedicate to reading.
I’ll share more details, tips and tricks in the post this evening. Deal?
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As promised 🙂
Hope this helps.
https://eriksoderborg.com/2020/10/29/how-to-read-2-or-more-books-a-week/
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