Press "Enter" to skip to content

World’s Best Business Books

By Jerry Grzegorzek on October 26, 2023 |

BUSINESS EDUCATION

 

The world’s best business books are those that provide timeless insights and advice that can be applied to any business, regardless of industry or business size. They are written by experts who have a proven track record of success, and they offer practical advice that can be implemented immediately.

In general, high quality business publications can help you with studying business management.

Follow the best managers. Avoid costly mistakes. Learn from the best companies. Achieve success starting and managing a successful business.

Here is a list of some of the world’s best business books, based on my knowledge:

INVESTING:
  1. ‘The Intelligent Investor‘ by Benjamin Graham
  2. ‘One Up On Wall Street‘ by Peter Lynch
  3. ‘Security Analysis‘ by Benjamin Graham
  4. ‘A Beginner’s Guide to the Stock Market‘ by Matthew R. Kratter
  5. ‘The Little Book of Common Sense Investing‘ by John C. Bogle
  6. ‘A Random Walk Down Wall Street‘ by Burton G. Malkiel
  7. ‘The Four Pillars of Investing‘ by William Bernstein
  8. ‘Value Investing: From Graham to Buffet and Beyond‘ by Bruce C. Greenwald and Judd Kahn
  9. ‘Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits‘ by Philip A. Fisher
  10. ‘Warren Buffet and the Interpretation of Financial Statements‘ by Mary Buffet
PERSONAL FINANCE:
  1. ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad‘ by Robert T. Kiyosaki
  2. ‘Think and Grow Rich‘ by Napoleon Hill
  3. ‘The Simple Path to Wealth‘ by J L Collins
  4. ‘I Will Teach You to Be Rich‘ by Ramit Sethi
  5. ‘The Total Money Makeover‘ by Dave Ramsey
  6. ‘The Psychology of Money‘ by Morgan House
  7. ‘Personal Finance For Dummies‘ by Eric Tyson
  8. ‘Grow Rich with the Power of Your Subconscious Mind‘ by Joseph Murphy
  9. ‘MONEY Master the Game‘ by Tony Robbins
  10. ‘The Millionaire Next Door‘ by Thomas J. Stanley
MARKETING & SALES:
  1. ‘Principles of Marketing‘ by Gary Armstrong 
  2. ‘Marketing Management‘ by Philip T. Kotler 
  3. ‘Marketing 3.0: From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit‘ by Philip T. Kotler 
  4. ‘Marketing 4.0: Moving from Traditional to Digital‘ by Philip T. Kotler 
  5. ‘Marketing 5.0: Technology for Humanity‘ by Philip T. Kotler
  6. ‘The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing‘ by Al Ries and Jack Trout 
  7. ‘Marketing Secrets‘ by Peter Spalton
  8. ‘This is Marketing‘ by Seth Godin
  9. ‘Purple Cow‘ by Seth Godin
  10. ‘Marketing Made Simple‘ by Donald Miller and Dr. J.J. Peterson
  11. ‘The 1-Page Marketing Plan‘ by Allan Dib
REAL ESTATE:
  1. ‘Real Estate Riches‘ by Dolf de Roos
  2. ‘The Book on Investing In Real Estate with No (and Low) Money Down‘ by Brandon Turner
  3. ‘The Book on Rental Property Investing‘ by Brandon Turner
  4. ‘The Book on Managing Rental Properties‘ by Brandon Turner
  5. ‘The Real Book of Real Estate‘ by Robert T. Kiyosaki and William LeRoy
  6. ‘Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat‘ by David M Greene
  7. ‘The Millionaire Real Estate Investor‘ by Gary Keller and Dave Jenks
  8. ‘The Millionaire Real Estate Agent‘ by Gary Keller, Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan
  9. ‘Real Estate License Exams For Dummies‘ by John Yoegel
  10. ‘Your First 365 Days in Real Estate‘ by Shelley Zavitz
SMALL BUSINESS:
  1. ‘The $100 Startup‘ by Chris Guillebeau
  2. ‘50 Best Business Ideas of the past 50 years‘ by Ian Wallis
  3. ‘The Art of the Start’ by Guy Kawasaki
  4. ‘The Art of the Start 2.0‘ by Guy Kawasaki
  5. ‘The Success Factor‘ by Ernane Iung
  6. ‘Zero to One‘ by Peter Thiel and Blake Masters
  7. ‘The Lean Startup‘ by Eric Ries
  8. ‘The 7 Day Startup‘ by Dan Norris
  9. ‘Start-up Nation‘ by Dan Senor and Saul Singer
  10. ‘Starting a Business QuickStart Guide‘ by Ken Colwell
ENTREPRENEURSHIP:
  1. ‘CRUSH IT!‘ by Gary Vaynerchuk
  2. ‘Steve Jobs‘ by Walter Isaacson and Dylan Baker
  3. ‘The Art of Non-Conformity‘ by Chris Guillebeau
  4. ‘Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life Without Losing Its Soul‘ by Howard Schultz
  5. ‘Elon Musk‘ by Ashlee Vance and Fred Sanders
  6. ‘The Mackintosh Way‘ by Guy Kawasaki
  7. ‘American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company‘ by Bryce G. Hoffman
  8. ‘How to Drive Your Competition Crazy?’ by Guy Kawasaki
  9. ‘Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike‘ by Phil Night
  10. ‘The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company‘ by Robert Iger
PRODUCTIVITY:
  1. ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People‘ by Stephen R. Covey
  2. ‘The 4-Hour Workweek‘ by Timothy Ferris
  3. ‘Monday Morning Choices‘ by David Cottrell
  4. ‘The Power of Habit’ by Charles Duhigg and Mike Chamberlain
  5. ‘Getting Things Done‘ by David Allen
  6. ‘Atomic Habits‘ by James Clear
  7. ‘The High 5 Habit‘ by Mel Robbins
  8. ‘52 Changes‘ by Leo Babauta
  9. ‘Essential Zen Habits‘ by Leo Babauta
  10. ‘Smarter. Faster. Better‘ by Charles Duhigg
INNOVATION:
  1. ‘Where Stuff Comes From‘ by Harvey Molotch
  2. ‘The Innovator’s Dilemma‘ by Clayton M. Christensen
  3. ‘RE:Think Innovation‘ by Carla Johnson
  4. ‘Where Good Ideas Come From?’ by Steven Johnson and Eric Singer
  5. ‘How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom‘ by Matt Ridley
  6. ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship‘ by Peter F. Drucker
  7. ‘10 Types of Innovation‘ by Larry Keeley, Helen Walters and Ryan Pikkel
  8. ‘The Innovation Stack‘ by Jim McKelvey
  9. ‘Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs‘ by Carmine Gallo
  10. ‘Tactics for Disruptive Thinking‘ by Jemery Gutsche
BUSINESS WRITING:
  1. ‘Be a Brilliant Business Writer‘ by Jane Curry and Diana Young
  2. ‘The Only Business Writing Book You’ll Ever Need‘ by Laura Brown and Rich Karlgaard
  3. ‘Simple & Direct: A Rhetoric for Writers‘ by Jacques Barazun
  4. ‘Writing That Works‘ by Kenneth Roman and Joel Raphaelson 
  5. ‘The Business Writer’s Handbook‘ by Gerald J. Alred and Charles T. Brusaw
MANAGEMENT:
  1. ‘The Essential Drucker‘ by Peter F. Drucker
  2. ‘How to Act Like a CEO?‘ by D. A. Benton 
  3. ‘The Making of a Manager‘ by Julie Zhuo 
  4. ‘The New One Minute Manager‘ by Blanchard, Ken, Johnson and Spencer
  5. ‘The First-Time Manager‘ by Jim McCormick
  6. ‘The Successful Manager‘ by James Potter and Mike Kavanagh
  7. ‘The Manager’s Path‘ by Camille Fournier 
  8. ‘It’s the Manager: Moving From Boss to Coach‘ by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter
  9. ‘The Dream Manager‘ by Matthew Kelly
  10. ‘How to Not Suck as a Manager?‘ by A. Grow
JOB HUNTING & CAREERS:
  1. ‘The Graduate Jobs Formula‘ by Paul Redmond
  2. ‘Lean In for Graduates‘ by Sheryl Sandberg
  3. ‘Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 3.0‘ by Jay Conrad Levinson and David E. Perry 
  4. ‘The Reverse Job Search Method‘ by James H. Whittaker
  5. ‘Get the Right Job!’ by Jeff Magnuson
  6. ‘Unlock the Hidden Job Market‘ by Duncan Mathison and Martha Finney
  7. ‘The 2-Hour Job Search‘ by Steve Dalton
  8. ‘Career Development Interventions‘ by Spencer Niles and JoAnn Harris-Bowlsbey
  9. ‘Own Your Career Own Your Life‘ by Andy Storch
  10. ‘What Color Is Your Parachute?‘ by Richard N. Bolles
LEADERSHIP:
  1. ‘How Successful People Think?‘ by John C. Maxwell
  2. ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People?‘ by Dale Carnegie
  3. ‘Start with Why‘ by Simon Sinek
  4. ‘The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership’ by John Maxwell 
  5. ‘Dare to Lead‘ by Brené Brown
  6. ‘Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us‘ by Seth Godin
  7. ‘Extreme Ownership‘ by Jocko Willink
  8. ‘The Leadership Space‘ by Brian Kurbjeweit
  9. ‘5 Levels of Leadership‘ by John C. Maxwell
  10. ‘Leadership: In Turbulent Times‘ by Doris Kearns Goodwin
WOMEN IN BUSINESS:
  1. ‘Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead‘ by Sheryl Sandberg
  2. ‘Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office‘ by Lois P. Frankel
  3. ‘Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide’ by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever
  4. ‘Secrets of Six-Figure Women‘ by Barbara Stanny and Vanessa Daniels
  5. ‘Female Entrepreneur’s Playbook‘ by Patricia Wooster and LIndsey Ardmore
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT:
  1. ‘In Search of Excellence‘ by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr.
  2. ‘Good to Great‘ by Jim Collins
  3. ‘New Sales Simplified‘ by Mike Weinberg
  4. ‘Built to Last‘ by Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras
  5. ‘BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0)‘ by Jim Collins
  6. ‘How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting‘ by Doug Fletcher and Tom McMakin
  7. ‘Great by Choice‘ by Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen
  8. ‘Business Model Generation‘ by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur
  9. ‘How the Mighty Fall?‘ by Jim Collins
  10. ‘Whatever It Takes‘ by Brandon Bornancin
NEGOTIATIONS:
  1. ‘Trump: The Art of the Deal‘ by Donald J. Trump and Tony Schwartz
  2. ‘Never Split the Difference‘ by Chris Voss and Michael Kramer
  3. ‘Negotiate Without Fear‘ by Victoria Medvec
  4. ‘Getting to YES‘ by Roger Fisher and William Ury
  5. ‘Ask for More: 10 Questions to Negotiate Anything‘ by Alexandra Carter
  6. ‘You Can Negotiate Anything‘ by Herb Cohen
  7. ‘Bargaining for Advantage‘ by Richard Shell
  8. ‘Negotiation Genius‘ by Deepak Malhotra and Max Bazerman
  9. ‘Ask For It‘ by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever
  10. ‘Negotiation‘ by Brian Tracy
ECONOMICS:
  1. ‘Principles of Economics‘ by N. Gregory Mankiw
  2. ‘Freakonomics‘ by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J Dubner 
  3. ‘Doughnut Economics‘ by Kate Raworth
  4. ‘The End of Money‘ by David Buckham
  5. ‘Good Economics for Hard Times‘ by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo 
  6. ‘The Economics Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained‘ by DK
  7. ‘Principles of Microeconomics‘ by N. Gregory Mankiw
  8. ‘Principles of Macroeconomics‘ by N. Gregory Mankiw
  9. ‘Economics for Dummies‘ by Sean Masaki Flynn
  10. ‘Economics in One Lesson‘ by Henry Hazlitt
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT:
  1. ‘Rules of Thumb: A Life Manual‘ by Tom Parker
  2. ‘Wise Guy: Lessons from a Life‘ by Guy Kawasaki
  3. ‘The Monocle Guide to Better Living‘ by Andrew Tuck and Santiago Rodriguez Tarditi
  4. ‘The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin‘ by Benjamin Franklin
  5. ‘Leonardo’s Shadow‘ by Christopher Grey
  6. ‘A Whole New Mind‘ by Daniel H. Pink
  7. ‘Justice: What’s The Right Thing To Do?‘ by Michael J. Sandel
  8. ‘The Future of the Mind‘ by Michio Kaku
  9. ‘Successful NLP‘ by Jeremy Lazarus
  10. ‘You Are a Badass‘ by Jen Sincero
SPACE ECONOMY:
  1. ‘How We’ll Live on Mars‘ by Stephen Petranek
  2. ‘The Space Economy‘ by George S Pullen and Samson Williams
  3. ‘The Overview Effect‘ by Frank White
  4. ‘The Cosmos Economy: The Industrialization of Space‘ by Jack Gregg
  5. ‘The Martian‘ by Andy Weir
  6. ‘The 12th Planet‘ by Zecharia Sitchin
  7. ‘Blockchain & The Space Economy‘ by George Pullen and Samson Williams
  8. ‘Liftoff‘ by Eric Berger
  9. ‘Space 2.0.‘ by Rod Pyle
  10. ‘The Space Barons‘ by Christian Davenport

These books cover a wide range of business topics, from leadership and innovation to marketing and sales. They are all well-written and informative, and they offer valuable insights that can help businesses of all sizes succeed. No matter which books you choose, you are sure to learn something valuable that can help you improve your business.

 

Jerry Grzegorzek
Jerry Grzegorzek | BA (Hons), MA, PGCert, PGDip

Hi! I am Jerry. I am the owner and Editor-in-Chief of this website. I am experienced Lecturer and Researcher in Business Management, Head of Business and Economics, and IB Examiner for DP Business Management at International Baccalaureate (IB). I make business education accessible to everyone in the world by providing high-quality business resources for CEOs, directors, business managers, business owners, investors, entrepreneurs, business journalists, business teachers and business students. Privately, I live with my family in China from where I run a vlog Nie Te Chiny about my family life. MORE »