The best Warren Buffett books on investing and life

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m an investor from three perspectives or dimensions. First, I manage money for individuals and institutions as Chief Investment Officer of Beacon Trust, a $4 billion registered investment advisor based in NY/NJ. Second, I teach MBA classes in investing at Rutgers Business School, Columbia Business School, London Business School, and Hong Kong University (HKU) Business School. Third, I write articles and books on investing, including The Art of Investing: Lesson’s from History’s Greatest Traders and Buffett’s Tips: A Guide to Financial Literacy and Life. I’ve personally met Warren Buffett on four separate occasions and think he is an excellent role model from both investing and personal perspectives.  


I wrote...

Buffett's Tips: A Guide to Financial Literacy and Life

By John M. Longo, Tyler J. Longo,

Book cover of Buffett's Tips: A Guide to Financial Literacy and Life

What is my book about?

Finance is a language like any other: the more fluently you speak it, the further you travel. If you want to improve your financial literacy, what better teacher could you have than Warren Buffett? Often described as the greatest investor of all time, Warren Buffett started his investment firm with $100 in the 1950s and went on to become the centibillionaire we know today. Along the way he’s reaped huge profits for fellow investors in Berkshire Hathaway and remains one of the most sought-after and closely watched figures in the business world.

In Buffett’s Tips, award-winning professor and professional investor, John M. Longo, working with his son, demonstrates just how by translating decades of Buffett’s writings and media appearances into a 100 straightforward tips and strategies for enhanced financial literacy and independence.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist

John M. Longo Why did I love this book?

Roger Lowenstein is an outstanding journalist who co-authored another one of my favorite investment books, When Genius Failed: The Rise of Fall of Long-Term Capital Management.

Lowenstein authored one of the earlier Buffett biographies. Meticulously researched, I learned much about the young Buffett and his early forays in business. The book discusses some insightful and hilarious stories. For example, Lowenstein notes that one of Buffett’s all-time favorite managers, Tom Murphy of Capital Cities, painted only the front of his corporate headquarters to save money. A fun and insightful read.

By Roger Lowenstein,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Buffett as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Since its hardcover publication in August of 1995, Buffett has appeared on the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Newsday and Business Week bestseller lists.

Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Warren Buffett amassed one of the epochal fortunes of the twentieth century—an astounding net worth of $10 billion, and counting. His awesome investment record has made him a cult figure popularly known for his seeming contradictions: a billionaire who has a modest lifestyle, a phenomenally successful investor who eschews the revolving-door trading of modern Wall Street,…


Book cover of Buffettology

John M. Longo Why did I love this book?

Buffett is probably not thrilled with this book, written by his ex-daughter-in-law, but I think it provides the best insight into his investment process. Mary Buffett was married to Buffett’s son Peter, and David Clark is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) that skillfully explains some of the more technical aspects of investing. For example, the book discussed how Buffett values a stock. He primarily considers companies with a “moat” so he has confidence in forecasting their cash flows. He then projects these cash flows out at least ten years and discounts them back to the present to estimate their value. He will only buy at a significant discount to this estimated or “intrinsic” value.

By Mary Buffett, David Clark,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Buffettology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Here at last is a book that reveals what the public really wants to know about this legendary investor: how he determines where he puts his money. From a team with privileged insight, Mary Buffett, a savvy CEO and Warren Buffett's former daughter-in-law, and David Clark, a successful portfolio analyst, comes Buffettology, the most detailed explanation ever of the billionaire's unique investment techniques. Using Warren Buffett's system to access a company's potential economic excellence and the right price to pay for its stock, Buffettology demonstrates the actual mathematical models and equations, revolving around three variables: the yearly per share earnings…


Book cover of The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

John M. Longo Why did I love this book?

The Snowball is the only biography that Buffett explicitly cooperated on, so it is the closest we will get to an autobiography, besides his detailed shareholder letters and interviews. Given Buffett’s close collaboration on the project, Schroeder uncovers some stories that we would most likely never read about from other sources. For example, as a teenager, Buffett shoplifted from Sears. Schroeder also makes the often overlooked point that Buffett is not only a great investor, but also a splendid businessman. For an 832-page book, I wish she would have spent more time going into the details of Buffett’s investment philosophy, so I view the book as more of a traditional biography than investment treatise.

By Alice Schroeder,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Snowball as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha”—for fans of the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett

Here is the book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom.

Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His…


Book cover of The Warren Buffett Way

John M. Longo Why did I love this book?

Books written about Warren Buffett have become a cottage industry, one of which I am a part of. The first bestselling book in the space was written by Robert Hagstrom, which sold more than a million copies. Hagstrom’s book provides several pithy summaries of Buffett’s investment approach. For example:

Step 1: Turn off the stock market. Step 2: Don’t worry about the economy. Step 3: Buy a business not a stock. Step 4: Manage a portfolio of businesses.

By Robert G. Hagstrom,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Warren Buffett Way as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Warren Buffett is the most famous investor of all time and one of today s most admired business leaders. He became a billionaire and investment sage by looking at companies as businesses rather than prices on a stock screen. The first two editions of The Warren Buffett Way gave investors their first in-depth look at the innovative investment and business strategies behind Buffett s spectacular success. The new edition updates readers on the latest investments by Buffett. And, more importantly, it draws on the new field of behavioral finance to explain how investors can overcome the common obstacles that prevent…


Book cover of Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2013

John M. Longo Why did I love this book?

Carol Loomis has edited Buffett’s widely read Letter to Shareholders for many decades. She is also an outstanding journalist who was a writer and editor at Fortune for 60 years. Her book is a compilation of many of her interviews with Buffett over the years, with some additional commentary. As the book subtitle indicates, the book covers “practically everything” in a conversational format so it is sort of a quasi-biography of Buffett.

By Carol J. Loomis,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tap Dancing to Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Tap Dancing to Work compiles six decades of writing on legendary investor Warren Buffett, from Carol Loomis, the reporter who knows him best.

Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into something remarkable - and Fortune had a front-row seat

When Fortune writer Carole Loomis first mentioned a little-known Omaha hedge fund manager in a 1966 article, she didn't dream that Warren Buffett would become the world's greatest investor. Nor did she imagine that she and Buffett would be close friends.

As Buffett's fortune and reputation grew, Loomis used her unique insight into his thinking to chronicle his work, writing scores of…


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Book cover of Leora's Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II

Joy Neal Kidney Author Of What Leora Never Knew: A Granddaughter's Quest for Answers

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm the oldest granddaughter of Leora, who lost three sons during WWII. To learn what happened to them, I studied casualty and missing aircraft reports, missions reports, and read unit histories. I’ve corresponded with veterans who knew one of the brothers, who witnessed the bomber hit the water off New Guinea, and who accompanied one brother’s body home. I’m still in contact with the family members of two crew members on the bomber. The companion book, Leora’s Letters, is the family story of the five Wilson brothers who served, but only two came home.

Joy's book list on research of World War II casualties

What is my book about?

The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by one; all five sons were serving their country in the military–two in the Navy and three as Army Air Force pilots.

Only two sons came home.

Leora’s Letters is the compelling true account of a woman whose most tender hopes were disrupted by great losses. Yet she lived out four…

By Joy Neal Kidney, Robin Grunder,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Leora's Letters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by one, all five sons were serving their country in the military. The oldest son re-enlisted in the Navy. The younger three became U.S. Army Air Force pilots. As the family optimist, Leora wrote hundreds of letters, among all her regular chores, dispensing news and keeping up the morale of the…


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