45 Books for Self Improvement and Learning

Similar to my other blog post about books for Product Managers and those desirous of founding their own startup… there are no “explanations” for any of these books. Suffice it to say, some are better than others. Some books that are listed here are also on the other list.

The best way to use this list is: if there’s a book you’ve been thinking about reading and see its title here, then let its appearing here be your call to action.

Books are listed alphabetically by title.

A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) By Barbara Oakley
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder By Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Beyond the Goal: Theory of Constraints By Eliyahu M. Goldratt
Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain – for Life By David Perlmutter, Kristin Loberg
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World By Cal Newport
Grit By Angela Duckworth
How Life Imitates Chess: Making the Right Moves, from the Board to the Boardroom by Garry Kasparov
How to Learn & Memorize a Randomized Deck of Playing Cards: Using a Memory Palace and Image-Association System Specifically Designed for Card Memorization Mastery By Anthony Metivier
How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci by Michael Gelb
Knowledge and Decisions by Thomas Sowell
Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens By Barbara Oakley PhD , Terrence Sejnowski PhD, Alistair McConville
Leonardo da Vinci By: Walter Isaacson
Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America By Scott Adams
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning By Peter C. Brown
Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs By John Doerr , Larry Page – foreword
Mind Over Machine by Hubert Dreyfus
Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought By: Barbara Tversky
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success By Carol S. Dweck
Mindshift: Break Through Obstacles to Learning and Discover Your Hidden Potential By Barbara Oakley PhD
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything By Joshua Foer
Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise By Robert Pool, Anders Ericsson
Remember It!: The Names of People You Meet, All of Your Passwords, Where You Left Your Keys, and Everything Else You Tend to Forget By Nelson Dellis , Sanjay Gupta MD – foreword
Rhetoric, Poetics and Logic By Aristotle
Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life By Nassim Nicholas Taleb
So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love By Cal Newport
Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action By Simon Sinek
The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo By Irving Stone
The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance By Josh Waitzkin
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (AmazonClassics Edition) By Benjamin Franklin
The Complete Book of Five Rings By Miyamoto Musashi, Kenji Tokitsu Translation
The Complete Sherlock Holmes: The Heirloom Collection By Arthur Conan Doyle
The Deep Learning Revolution By Terrence J. Sejnowski
The Kingdom of Speech By Tom Wolfe
The Law of Success By Napoleon Hill
The Logical Leap: Induction in Physics By David Harriman
The Power of Positive Thinking: A Practical Guide to Mastering the Problems of Everyday Living By Norman Vincent Peale
The Start-Up of You: Adapt to the Future, Invest in Yourself, and Transform Your Career By Reid Hoffman , Ben Casnocha
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions By Thomas S. Kuhn
The Traveler’s Gift By Andy Andrews
The Unfettered Mind: Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman By Takuan Soho , William Scott Wilson (translator)
Think Like a Rocket Scientist By Ozan Varol
Thinking, Fast and Slow By Daniel Kahneman
Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell By Eric Schmidt , Jonathan Rosenberg, Alan Eagle
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future By Peter Thiel , Blake Masters