I’m a voracious consumer of literature on investing, finance, leadership, management, and self-improvement. Below, I’ve listed some of my favourite books and a brief thought on most books. If you’re looking for something to read or would like to discuss any of the books below, I welcome you to contact me.

Note:

• The most recent book I've read is listed first. 
• I'm always a little shocked at how many books are on the list below. If you are looking for a specific book, I'd recommend using the search function in your browser (usually Ctrl+F).

Delli’s Top Eleven List​​​​​

1. Abundance, by Peter Diamandis
2. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
3. The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America's Top Traders, by Jack Schawager
4. Atomic Habits, by James Clear
5. The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success, by William Thorndike
6. Persuasion, by Robert Cialdini
7. Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side, by Howard Marks
8. A Gift to my Children, by Jim Rogers
9. The Psychology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness, by Morgan Housel
10. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein
11. Reminiscent of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefever

You Weren’t Suppose to See That
Author: Joshua Brown
Another book that is a walks through the investment lessons learned over a lifetime observing markets. The book is written from the perspective of market historian that focuses on both data and physiology.

How to Trade Stocks
Author: Jesse Livermore
The book chronicles the investment lessons learned trading over a lifetime. The most salient comment: keep your own records, and “It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!"

Investing Amid Low Expected Returns: Making the Most When Markets Offer the Least
Author: Antti Ilmanen
A detailed and thoughtful analysis of alternative risk premia and the potential challenges in creating well diversified portfolios, especially when traditional asset classes offer historical low returns.

How Not to Invest: The ideas, numbers, and behaviours that destroy wealth—and how to avoid them
Author: Barry Ritholtz
A compendium of investing insight acquired over a lifetime. The approach is pragmatic, thoughtful, and actionable, with a couple of brief detours to confirm the author's core investment beliefs.

What Went Wrong with Capitalism
Author: Ruchir Sharma
The author argues and quantifies decades expanding government intervention that have distorted financial markets, entrenched inequality, and reduced economic dynamism. He traces how well-intentioned policies intended to stabilize economies have had the opposite impact, and concentrated political power.

How Countries Go Broke
Author: Ray Dalio
The book is largely a summary of Ray's earlier books (reviewed below; search for Dalio).  The new content is in Chapter Sixteen where Ray provides pragmatic advice for the US. If deficits are reduced to less than 3% of GDP expect a growth dividend and lower borrowing costs.  Red flags would be another round of quantitative easing or the US government taking control of the Fed.

Shareholder Yield: A Better Approach to Dividend Investing
Author: Meb Faber
A brief and easy to follow analysis of using Shareholder Yield ( = dividend yield + net share buyback yield + net debt reduction yield) to screen and identify shareholder friendly firms for investment. 

The End of the World is Just the Beginning
Author: Peter Zeihan
A thought provoking analysis of an unwinding of globalization that could lead to a more fragmented world. Human ingenuity could contribute to positive surprise relative to the author's perspective.  The book is a welcome reminder of how structurally advantaged North America, and the US in particular, is relative to the rest of the world. 

Paper Soldiers: How the Weaponization of the Dollar Changed the World Order
Author: Saleha Mohsin
An interesting and detailed analysis of US dollar policy has evolved over time, the impact of America’s strong dollar policy on global order, and the role of economic sanctions. 

How to Make a Few Billion Dollars
Author Brad Jacobs
Brad reinforces the importance of compensation and incentives to drive success across the companies he has started. The story about paying attention to your internal reaction to an employee's resignation is brilliant and insightful.  

Die With Zero 
Author: Bill Perkins 
The mantra here is to maximize life experiences and give your children money when they are young enough that it will make a material difference in their lives, rather than accumulating wealth.  

Prosperity in the Age of Decline
Author: Alan Beaulieu
Beaulieu's content and forecasts have held up incredibly well for a book that was published in 2014. Alan, an economist, is a unicorn that gives business owners pragmatic and actionable recommendations to deal with and prepare for business cycles.  

The Singularity is Nearer
Author: Ray Kurzweil
An interesting examination of the pace of development of many technologies, including AI.  The author spends a significant portion of the book praising the accuracy of predictions in his previous books.

Common Stocks and Common Sense
Author: Edgar Wachenheim
Excellent insight, with helpful case studies, into the process of a successful value manager. 

Broken Money: Why Our Financial System is Failing Us and How We Can Make it Better
Author: Lyn Alden
A surprisingly engaging overview of the history of money. The analysis of the intent and the actual outcomes of monetary interventions over time are insightful.  There is also an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of cryptocurrencies.

The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security
Author: Scott Galloway
A practical approach to achieving financial security for higher earners. Galloway’s approach involves focusing on your professional strengths (not passions), disciplined spending and savings, and using diversification to mitigate risk.

The Price of Time
Author: Edward Chancellor
An exploration of interest rates throughout history, shedding light on their unexpected consequences like: detrimental effects on economic growth, inequality, and financial stability.

Big Money Thinks Small: Biases, Blind Spots, and Smarter Investing
Author: Joel Tillinghast
Tillinghast walks through the lessons he learned, or the tuition he’s paid, over an investing career that spanned decades. 

Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
Author: Charles T. Munger, Peter D. Kaufman
Munger delivers gems of pragmatic wisdom in a very candid manner. There is a significant focus on the impact of psychology in investing and decision making. 

Unreasonable Hostility: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
Author: Will Guidara
An insightful perspective for a deep dive on customer service and leadership. The difference between okay and exceptional lies in the details at the margin. 

The Intelligent Quality Investor
Author: Long Equity
A straight forward system for identifying high quality companies by examining the quantified results driven by their comparative advantages over time. 

Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes
Author: Morgan Housel
Expectations need to be balanced by perspective and historical context.  There is measurable improvement in the world but our expectations are increasing faster than the pace of improvement. Risk is what's left over after everything you've already thought about.   

Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
Author: Michael Lewis
A testament to the effectiveness of time as a filter.  

Start with Why 
Author: Simon Sinek
A deep dive on the importance of organizations having a purpose and vision or a ‘why’. The focus should be on ‘why’ before the more tactical ‘what’s or ‘how’. 

The Dealmaker 
Author: Guy Hand
A case study of the benefits of being pragmatic in investing. The most succinct breakdown of how private equity creates value that I’ve ever heard. 

How Will You Measure Your Life 
Author: Clayton Christensen
Illustrates the importance of incentives and how focusing on short term goals can impede progress towards longer term objectives. 

Chinese Rules
Author: Tim Clissold
Provides an understanding of the factors that influence decision making in modern China. 

The Box
Author: Marc Levinson
A complete history of the shipping container.  The Box is steeped int he three pilars of cost reduction: standardization, utilization and automation. 

Lessons from the Titans
Author: Scott Davis
An exploration of the lessons learned from industrial giants, like Boeing, Danaher and Transdigm, that can be applied in other industries. History rhymes and there are many practices to look for in the companies we follow and invest in. The GE celebrity CEO stories are spectacular. Capital structure arbitrage is often under appreciated. 

How the World Works
Author: Vaclav Smil
An interesting comparative analysis of things we interact with daily, like the energy required to produce various proteins, or the cost of generating energy from various sources. 

What’s Our Problem?
Author: Tim Urban
The author tackles a lot of tough subjects that are making society more tribal, like short-term thinking and selectively applying todays social norms to historical persons and events. There are lots of vivid examples of how lower rung behaviors may be impacting tolerance and productivity in our society.  Suggestions are in the last chapter. 

E-Myth Mastery
Author: Michael Gerber
I prefer the original book. There are more anecdotes in this book, but the central theme remains to have a successful business you must work on your business and not work in your business. Entrepreneurs most focus on strategic planning and long-term growth rather than the daily tasks that need to be performed. 

Just Keep Buying: Proven ways to save money and build your wealth
Author: Nick Maggiulli
Another bible preaching the benefit of having an investment plan and a long term focus. Quantitative answers to questions including: 1) Should I invest my cash all at once or feather it in over time? 2) How much should you save? 3) How much of your raise should you save? … 

The Founders: The Story of PayPal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley
Author: Jimmy Soni
The book provides a play-by-play of the founding of x.com, PayPal, the merger of x and PayPal, and the acquisition by eBay. The lesson here is that smart people, working together, can achieve incredible things. 

7 Mistakes Every Investor Makes (And How To Avoid Them)
Author: Joachim Klement
Identify your investment philosophy, document your investment process and work to iteratively improve process, play to your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses. Leave forecasts directional. 

The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower
Author: Michael Pillsbury
An interesting and insightful perspective on China, its ambitions, its actions, and how China has successfully managed Western perceptions. 

An Economist Walks into a Brothel
Author: Allison Schrager
Interesting anecdotes that look at strategies for managing risk used in many professions (like prostitution, surfing or paparazzi) that we don’t think about from a risk perspective.  Our instinctual wiring wasn’t designed to help us manage financial risks. 

Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness
Author: Richard Thaler & Cass Sunstein
Become a Choice Architect and the practice setting up defaults that help guide people to decision that are in their best interest without restricting freedom of choice.

Influence, New and Expanded
Author: Robert Cialdini
The most recent update to an old favorite, Persuasion is number six on my top ten list. The ‘new’ principle explored in this book is Unity - the shared identity that the influencer shares with the influencee. This is a must read user manual for your brain.

Thinking in Bets
Author: Annie Duke
Just because something is unlikely, it can still happen. Focus on process, reflect on outcomes and be pragmatic in attributing a result to yourself or others and determining the impact of good or bad luck.

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars
Author: Jim Paul, Brendan Moynihan, and Jack Schwager
One of the few investing books that focuses on when to sell and highlights how investors talk themselves into staying in trades that aren’t working.

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
Author: Walter Isaacson
The Code Breaker examines the history, application, and potential of CRISPR.  CRISPR is a platform that will continue to enable significant advances in life science and will be the subject of intense ethical debates. If you're looking for a silver lining from COVID, it's likely the pace, scale, and reoccurring benefits of global scientific collaboration to help deal with the pandemic.

Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity
Author: Scott Galloway
Post Corona is a rapid fire survey of current events, social issues, corporations and market structure with many opinions on what needs be addressed and occasionally how problems should be addressed. Galloway argue that virus has acted as a catalyst accelerating trends that were already underway.

Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Author: Nassim Nicholas Taleb
We are all familiar with fragile (easily harmed), and resilient/robust (difficult to harm) but antifragile is less intuitive. Antifragile organisms, things and systems benefit from harm (think of a muscle fibre that grows stronger after being placed under stress). Taleb discusses barbell strategies and provides frameworks for better understanding investment risk and opportunities.

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Author: David Epstein
In an increasingly specialized world, generalists can add value by solving problems by drawing upon seemingly unrelated analogies and outside knowledge.  The book is full of eloquent solutions that appear obvious in retrospect.  Chapter Four looks at learning strategies and is a must-read for parents with school-age children.

The Phycology of Money: Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness
Author: Morgan Housel
Another trip to the altar of compounding. Notably, the author focuses on the time horizon for investment rather than the annual rate of return, which investors tend to fixate upon. It's not intuitive, but over a long enough time, a portfolio's return will converge with the return of the best investments in that portfolio. Human's don't have a lot of wiring for investing since the concept of saving for a dignified retirement has only been with us for about two generations.

Aftermath: Seven Secrets of the Wealth Preservation in the Coming Chaos
Author: James Rickards
Jim discusses the coming crises that will be caused by excess leverage in financial systems, the potential fall of the US dollar as the global reserve currency, and the virtues of gold. Jim’s banged this drum for more than a decade, and there is very little insight into when events will occur which makes the book read like a sermon. There is some interesting discussion about the ascension of the USD to reserve currency status. The last chapter is a spoiler for Lionel Shriver’s The Mandibles.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
Author: Yuval Harari
An unexpectedly entertaining read that spans all of human history to help understand: who we are and how we have evolved.  The language is straightforward, and the mirror we gaze into isn't always kind, but the perspective is useful and often counterintuitive.

The Price of Tomorrow
Author: Jeff Booth
Deflationary pressures from current and evolving technologies, like artificial intelligence, are under-appreciated.  These pressures will cause enormous structural changes in industries, economies, and how we will live our lives. Technology related deflation may also hold the key to alleviate the financial stress of social programs like universal basic income.

The Mandibles
Author: Lionel Shriver
The first by-design economic fiction that I've read; I didn't even know it was a genre. I'm flagging it here, since the book provides an interesting thought experiment about how the US dollar could lose its status as the global reserve currency, the implications for American society, how the US could recover, and what the potential implications would be from settling debts and birthing a new currency.

The 4-Hour Workweek
Author: Timothy Ferris
I've been skeptical of the title of this book but found many of Tim's suggestions like doing the highest priority activity first (it's usually the activity you fear doing the most) and thinking through your actual worst-case scenario. I firmly believe, "success can be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations you've had." The second half of the book is case studies, a how-to guide for building an automated direct-to-consumer business and traveling in a minimalist fashion.  Tim and Ray Dalio appear to share a love for codifying their lives.

The Future is Faster Than you Think: How Converging Technologies are Changing Business, Industries and Our Lives

Author: Peter Diamandis and Steven Cotler

The book is the third collaboration between the authors and an extension of their work in Abundance (on my top ten list above).  The book provides a helpful update on advances in technology that have the potential to significantly change the world, industry structures and investment returns. 

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended on It

Author: Chris Voss

Negotiating starts with no.  Avoid the empty yes. Treat people the way THEY want to be treated.  Ask calibrated reporter-questions (who, how, what, ...) to invite others to pause and solve your problem. Learn to say no without saying no. Use your soothing late night DJ voice to get your counterpart from "you're right" to "that's right".

Billion Dollar Whale

Author: Tom Wright & Bradley Hope

It’s incredible how little conviction people have in situations, where they know they are correct, when there is both uncertainty and a potential economic penalty. I never appreciated the role that art and jewelry could play in financial malfeasance.

Talking to Strangers

Author: Malcom Gladwell

People see and hear what they expect or want to see and hear and not necessarily what is right in front of them. 

The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck

Author: Mark Manson

To be happy and successful you need to make big bets on yourself and when you fail, fail forward. The density of profanity is unnecessarily high.  The Picasso storey in chapter seven is excellent.

The Man who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution

Author: Gregory Zuckerman

An interesting read that reinforces that amount of persistence that is required to build and refine a trading system.  Even the most successful trading firm in history struggles to adhere to its own system at times.

Atomic Habits

Author: James Clear

Change habits and behaviours to drive consistent small incremental improvements (+1%) can lead to extraordinary results due to positive compounding over time. Habits are most sustainable when they are aligned with your identity; the easiest way to change who you are is to change what you do. Create environments that make good habits more attractive.

Mastering the Market Cycle: Getting the Odds on Your Side

Author: Howard Marks

Forecast is incredibly difficult but careful study and help an investor achieve and understanding of cycles. Investors can tilt the odds in their favour by investing (or building cash) when cycles are at extremes.

A Gift to My Children

Author: Jim Rogers

Shockingly, my girls enjoyed listening to this book when they were twelve and eight years old.  Question everything, decide what is important to you before consulting other, never follow the crowd, travel and see things for yourself, and don’t trust boys (Jim also has two girls).

The e Myth Revisited

Author: Michael Gerber

Work on your business and not in your business and remember, the purpose of a business is to attract and retain clients.

How to Make Money in Stocks: A Winning System in Good Times and Bad

Author: William O'Neil

Very focused on technical analysts. One of the few investment books that dedicates significant effort to providing investors with a process for selling stocks.

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Author: John Carreyou

Be suspicious of companies that are very secretive.  You need to do your own due diligence.

The Family Board Meeting: You Have 18 Summers to Create a Lasting Connection with your Children

Author: Jim Sheils

It's amazing what one four-hour one-on-one meeting with each of your children every 90 days can do to build a lasting connection with your children. The rules: schedule the meeting in your calendar, no electronics, the kid picks the activity, reflect after the meeting, take a picture at the end of the activity.

Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are

Author: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz

People may be their most honest self when typing into a search bar.

How to be a Great Boss

Author: Gino Wickman

A set of tools, process and cadences for improving employee engagement and remaining focused on goals.

Big Debt Crises

Author: Ray Dalio

Ray created architypes for categorizing and analysing debt crises.  The level is detail is incredible.  The perspective provided in the case studies were particularly helpful.

Principals: Life and Work

Author: Ray Dalio

Ray has codified most elements of his work and personal life.  These frameworks allow for decisions to be evaluated and incrementally improved.  The discipline is incredible. The story on page 193 is terrifying and worth taking a moment to read. Think of the resources Dalio has at his disposal as you read it.

The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon

Author: Brad Stone

I can't believe how much money I cost myself, and could have made for my clients, by reading this book in 2013 instead of 2018.

Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade

Author: Robert Cialdini

It's incredible how subtle changes in language can impact the effectiveness of out communication.

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World

Author: Peter Diamandis

This book is focused on providing instructions for how entrepreneurs to raise capital to support their exponential and disruptive activities.

Abundance: The Future is Better than You Think

Author: Peter Diamandis

This is one of the most feel good books I've ever read.  The world is becoming a better place for humans.  This book does an excellent job of helping investors identify structural changes that can drive outsized returns for extended periods of time.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Author: Jared Diamond

Structural changes are important to understand and can create significant and durable competitive advantages.  These changes are often counter intuitive.  For example, growing row crops can support a standing army and increase the pace of innovation, making life significantly more difficult for nomads.

You Can be a Stock Market Genius

Author: Joel Greenblatt

The book highlights the importance of having a system and illustrates the importance of valuation and returns.

Talent is Overrated: What really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

Author: Geoff Colvin

Just like compounding in investing, the benefits of years of practice can be seen in elite performers.

The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

Author: William Thorndike

While roll-up stories get a bad reputation, they have created an incredible amount of wealth (Capital Cities/ABC/Disney is a great example) and drive structural change in industries.

Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt

Author: Michael Lewis

Wholesale and retail markets are appropriate and individuals wishing to purchase more of a good are entitled to a discount.  When they asset trades on multiple of venues simultaneously, individuals will work very hard to exploit the arbitrage opportunities. 

The Demographic Cliff: How to Survive and Prosper During the Great Deflation of 2014-2019

Author: Harry Dent

The impact of demographics takes longer to materialize than most expect.

Civilization: The West and the Rest

Author: Niall Ferguson

The success of western civilization can be attributed to competition, science, the rule of law, consumerism, modern medicine, and the work ethic.

The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Author: Ron Chernow

I had no idea how prominent JP Morgan was in North American and European banking.

The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J.P. Morgan Invented the American Supercompany

Author: Charles Morris

It is incredible how much capital North American railroads destroyed before the industries market structure improved. Few people remember.

The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail-but Some Don't

Author: Nate Silver

The effectiveness of communication should be evaluated by whether it elicits the desired response from its audience.

This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly

Author: Carmen Reinhard

It's never different.

Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle

Author: Chris Hedges

Society is increasing loosing perspective and the ability for individuals to draw well-informed pragmatic conclusions.

The Little Book of Behavioral Investing: How not to be your own worst enemy

Author: James Montier

Our mentality and physiology weren’t designed for investing and the instincts that kept our ancestors alive in the wild, are unlikely to help you beat the market.

Steve Jobs

Author: Walter Isaacson

As smart as Steve Jobs was, it is truly incredible how intellectual inflexible he was with respect to his illness until it was clearly too late.  The maniacal focus on product quality were consistent with my expectations.

Confidence Game: How Hedge Fund Manager Bill Ackman called Wall Street's Bluff

Author: Christine Richard

The level of conviction that Ackman had in his short call was incredibly impressive/scary.  The risk management around the single position was equally scary.

Reminiscence of a Stock Operator

Author: Edwin Lefever

The market had knack for making every investor feel like they are the absolute epicenter of the universe. It’s unfortunate that we don’t describe position big positions as ‘swinging a big line’.

The New Market Wizards: Conversations with America's Top Traders

Author: Jack Schawager

There are several ways to make money in financial markets. Investors must find an approach that is consistent with their mentality and interactively improve their process over time.

Fooling Some of the People All of the Time: A Long Short Story

Author: David Einhorn

Shorting stocks is difficult, requires an incredible amount of conviction, and can have large social consequences; even if you’re thesis is ultimately proven to be correct.

Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk

Author: Peter Bernstein

Risk management and probability weighted outcomes have made the world a significantly better and more sophisticated place since risk is in the eye of the beholder.