Worldly Wisdom - An Investor's Reading List

Books investors need to read on business, philosophy, life, religion, and real estate

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Worldly Wisdom for intelligent investors comes from reading books. Image Source: ChatGPT

The concept of “Worldly Wisdom” is a phrase Charlie Munger used to describe his idea: to be a truly great investor one must have an understanding outside of just general business topics. Through reading great novels, biographies, historical books, and texts, one can amass wisdom that allows oneself to holistically analyze and identify opportunities others miss.

I whole heartedly agree with Charlie Munger on our need to embrace the accumulation of knowledge and experience to grow as an executive. A philosophy of continuous learning allows us to grow as humans and leaders. To execute this concept it is crucial to read daily. Not every once in awhile, but everyday. If you’re not currently doing this, that’s ok, but I suggest you get started.

Everyone has their preferred subjects. I’d love to hear about yours. Mine include business and investments, classic literature, philosophy, and personal improvement. These subjects have all provided me with perspective and insights beyond what can be gathered on social media, the internet, and legacy media (tv).

Not only do books provide perspective, but the best books engage and challenge your most fundamental concepts. Through reading, we become deeper thinkers and expand our impact.

I am fortunate that as a child my mother only allowed me 30 minutes of tv and 30 minutes of video games per day. Needless to say I was neither good at video games nor very interested in sitcoms. That led me to books. Yes, I prefer a comfortable chair and a good book over any other option of media consumption. Call me old-fashioned.

With all that background below in a categorized list are books I’ve read that I recommend to you because I found them particularly insightful. They include books that provide practical guidance on business, life, interpersonal skills, and relationship building. They also include well-written novels that allow you to experience another person’s story.

Perspective-taking is the act of perceiving a situation or understanding a concept from an alternative point of view, such as that of another individual.^[1]

A vast amount of scientific literature suggests that perspective-taking is crucial to human development^[2] and that it may lead to a variety of beneficial outcomes.^{[ -} Source: Wikipedia

Perspective taking - This is a topic my wife speaks with me about regularly as she is a speech language pathologist (SLP). One of her primary focuses is to work with children with autism and special needs, with social and speech issues, to learn how to understand social cues. Perspective taking is a concept they discuss frequently and it requires stepping outside of yourself.

The concept of perspective taking is one of the most important roles books play in our world. Reading stories allows us to understand other people’s experiences, hear their narratives, and see them through their eyes. The stories might be tragic or heroic, inspiring or terrifying. Either way, books enrich our lives and allow us to more easily connect with people of a plurality of people, societies, and cultures.

Nothing can do more to bring us together as a human race. We could all use this right now in these challenging times.

So with no further ado, below are the books you should check out for enrichment of both your personal and business lives. I’ve read them all and hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Cheers, John

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Books for Worldy Wisdom:

Business

• The Buffett Way - Robert Hagstrom

• What It Takes - Stephen Schwartzman

• Poor Charlie’s Almanac - Charlie Munger, et al.

• Who Not How - Dan Sullivan

• How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie

• The War of Art - Steven Pressfield

• Security Analysis - Benjamin Graham

• The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham

• Influence - Robert Cialdini

• The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg

• The Lean Start-Up - Eric Ries

• Traction - Gino Wickman

• The One Thing - Gary Keller

• Blue Ocean Strategy - W. Chan Kim

• Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable - Seth Godin

• Zero to One: Notes on Start-Ups, or How to Build the Future - Peter Thiel

• The Big Short - Michael Lewis

• Business Adventures - John Brooks

• Am I Being Too Subtle - Sam Zell

• Monkey Business: Swinging Through the Wall Street Jungle - John Rolfe & Peter Troob

• Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - Edwin Lefevre

• Market Wizards: Interview with Top Traders (#1 & 2) - Jack Schwager

Classic Literature & Novels

• 1984 - George Orwell

• Animal Farm - George Orwell

• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

• Moby Dick - Herman Melville

• Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

• The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper

• The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky

• Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky

• The Idiot - Fyodor Doestoevsky

• War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

• For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway

• The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway

• The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

• Far From the Maddening Crowd - Thomas Hardy

• Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

• The Return of the Native - Thomas Hardy

• David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

• Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

• Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo

• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

• On the Road - Jack Kerouac

• Oedipus the King - Sophocles

• Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Philosophy & Religion

• The Bible

• The Blank Slate - Steven Pinker

• Meditations - Marcus Aurelius

• The Will To Power - Friedrich Nietzsche

• The Art of War - Sun Tzu

• Self Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Aristotle - The Complete Works of Aristotle

• Plato - The Republic

History

• Guns, Germs, and Steel - Jared Diamond

• The Clockwork Universe - Edward Dolnick

• The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo - Edward Creasy

• The Ascent of Money - Niall Ferguson

• Triumph of the City - Edward Glaeser

• Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk - Peter Bernstein

Biographies

• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. - Ron Chernow

• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life - Walter Isaacson

• Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow

• George Washington: A Life - Ron Chernow

• The First Tycoon The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt - T.J. Stiles

• The House of (JP) Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance - Ron Chernow

• The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt - Edmund Morris

• The Last Lion: Winston Churchill - Paul Reid, William Manchester

• Steve Jobs- Walter Isaacson

• Elon Musk - Walter Isaacson

Personal Improvement

• The Miracle Morning - Hal Elrod

• Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

• Your Next Five Moves: Master the Art of Business Strategy - Patrick Bet-David

• Awaken the Power Within - Tony Robbins

• The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Meditation - Joan Budilovsky, Eve Adamson

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