The most recommended business books

Who picked these books? Meet our 1,753 experts.

1,753 authors created a book list connected to business, and here are their favorite business books.
When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

What type of business book?

Loading...
Loading...

Book cover of Classical Political Economy and Rise to Dominance of Supply and Demand Theories

Alex M. Thomas Author Of Macroeconomics: An Introduction

From my list on becoming a critical economist.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about the dissemination of economic ideas both inside and outside university spaces. In addition to classroom lectures at my university, I give a lot of public lectures on economics. Through these talks, I introduce the audience to the tradition of doing economics using a critical perspective. I have an MA and MPhil in Economics from the University of Hyderabad and a PhD in Economics from the University of Sydney.

Alex's book list on becoming a critical economist

Alex M. Thomas Why did Alex love this book?

I first purchased and read this book as a senior undergraduate student not knowing anything about the author.

Little did I know that this book would later play an important role in not only understanding the limitations of mainstream economics but also in providing me with an alternative approach to make sense of our economic surroundings. 

Bharadwaj’s book is truly a classic and one that I always recommend to my students. 

Her book continues to inspire and educate me.

Book cover of Human Action: A Treatise on Economics

Brian Balfour Author Of Economics in Action

From my list on books to learn Austrian economics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve spent the last 17 years leveraging my Master’s degree in economics as a public policy analyst focusing on educating legislators and the public about the consequences of economic public policy. I’ve also taught several economic courses as an adjunct at a small university and area community college. Spreading sound economic knowledge is important to me. History–and the present day–is full of tragic tales of suffering in societies that failed to heed the lessons of sound economics. Sadly, however, the majority of Americans are either uneducated or mis-educated in economics. My passion is to advance economic understanding among citizens–especially young people–in order to correct that.

Brian's book list on books to learn Austrian economics

Brian Balfour Why did Brian love this book?

Mises was often referred to as the “godfather of Austrian Economics” for his voluminous contributions to economic science. This book is his most well-known and hefty treatise. 

Mises expertly walks the reader through his explanation of economics being a branch of praxeology, the study of the implications of human action. With a passionate writing style, Mises pulls no punches on his critics while providing the reader with a graduate-level economic education without the often-confusing technical jargon academic courses often impose on students.

Mises uses explanatory language rather than mathematical equations and graphs to make his points. The book is not light reading, however, and should not be attempted without first gaining some understanding of the Austrian School of Economics. And weighing in at nearly 900 pages, expect to set aside some time to get through it. But it will be time well spent.

By Ludwig von Mises,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In Human Action, Mises starts from the ideas set forth in his Theory and History that all actions and decisions are based on human needs, wants, and desires and continues deeper and further to explain how studying this human action is not only a legitimate science (praxeology) but how that science is based on the foundation of free-market economics.

Mises presents and discusses all existing economic theories and then proceeds to explain how the only sensible, realistic, and feasible theory of economics is one based on how the needs and desires of human beings dictate trends, affect profits and losses,…


Ad

Book cover of The Squiggly Line Career: How Changing Professions Can Advance a Career in Unexpected Ways

The Squiggly Line Career By Angela Champ,

When we're children, we're asked what we want to be when we grow up. But what if there isn't just one career for us in our lifetime? What if we can have a squiggly line career that spans professions and industries?

This book will guide job seekers on the traits…

Book cover of High-Value Writing: Real Strategies for Real-World Writing

Anne H. Janzer Author Of 33 Ways Not to Screw Up Your Business Emails

From my list on for boosting business writing skills.

Why am I passionate about this?

After spending years as a freelance writer and content marketer, I turned my attention to exploring the inner workings of why writing works and how it fails. I’m an unabashed nonfiction geek on a mission to help people make a positive impact with their words—whether they’re writing emails, blog posts, or nonfiction books. 

Anne's book list on for boosting business writing skills

Anne H. Janzer Why did Anne love this book?

Erin Lebacqz is an experienced business writing teacher, and her practical and practiced bent shows in this book. It offers solid advice for clear and effective writing, covering topics like word choice, sentence structure, and more. The numerous examples will serve people new on the job as well as those who simply want to sharpen their skills and tighten their prose.

Even as someone who writes about writing, I found fresh approaches and ideas in this book. For example, Lebacqz suggests that as writers, we should act like “hosts” for our readers. I love that. 

By Erin Lebacqz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked High-Value Writing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Write to both inform and connect, and use intentional word choice to avoid misunderstandings and build strong relationships. Get confident about your business writing, emailing, posting on socials, and all the other ways you connect with the people you know through writing.

Down-to-earth, conversational, and brief, High-Value Writing: Real Strategies for Real-World Writing helps you manage the writing challenges you face at work and elsewhere in life. The book provides strategies, tips and tricks, examples, revision examples, and lots of practical advice you can apply in your writing this week.

Learn to make writing choices you feel good about; and…


Book cover of How to Market a Book

Joel Stafford Author Of The First 100 Days of Your Book: Book Marketing for Self-Published Authors

From my list on marketing for self-publishing authors.

Why am I passionate about this?

A very good friend of mine wrote a great non-fiction book – I know it’s great because I read it –, and he sincerely asked for help saying “Joel you learned a bit about marketing, how can I get some traffic?”. I checked several “book promotion” websites and I was shocked how awful they were that day. I learned UI design so I decided that I can start my own book recommendation website, which will be at least user/reader friendly. Continuing my friend's story, I helped him trying the most popular promotion methods and I was surprised that there were a lot that simply don’t work and of course we found some that were nearly unknown. 

Joel's book list on marketing for self-publishing authors

Joel Stafford Why did Joel love this book?

Writing a book is not the hardest part in the process, but marketing and selling it. This is one of the best marketing books for self-published authors and you will love how clear, concise and straightforward it is – no general stuff, but straight to the point.

You will find out how to alter your mindset in order to boost sales, how to write books and turn this venture into a career, how to get Amazon to actually market the book for you, how to get potential readers on the mailing list before releasing the book and so on.

By Ricardo Fayet,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked How to Market a Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Writing a book is hard. Marketing it can be even harder.

Marketing a book in 2022 can seem like a full-time job, what with the crazy number of things authors seem to be expected to do: social media, blog tours, advertising, price promotions, mailing lists, giveaways, you name it.

But here’s a little secret: you don’t need to do all those things to successfully set your book on the path to success. What you need is a solid plan to find the one or two tactics that will work, and start to drive sales… in a minimum amount of time.…


Book cover of What Could Go Right: Designing Our Ideal Future to Emerge from Continual Crises to a Thriving World

Zoë Routh Author Of People Stuff: Beyond Personality Problems: an Advanced Handbook for Leadership

From my list on leaders who want to lead for the future.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated with the future ever since I watched 2001 Space Odyssey. An amazing spaceship that could help us explore other planets! Then all that weird stuff about an A.I. gone crazy and apes banging sticks around monoliths. What the…? That curiosity smashed into a major concern at the age of fifteen on a canoe trip where I was trying to work out how to live and work closely with other humans - and failing. It turns out humans are crazy creatures. We love being together, and doing amazing things together, but that can be really hard. So leadership and the future fused into a lifelong passionate pursuit.

Zoë's book list on leaders who want to lead for the future

Zoë Routh Why did Zoë love this book?

I absolutely loved the optimism and excitement of this book.

Justin unpacks six megatrends that will shape and affect every sector, all of which are leading to a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative world. 

I cited this book at a recent event I ran called The Future of Leadership and one of the participants asked me why I was so positive about the trends that Justin featured.

"What about all the negatives and downsides?" I answered, "we go naturally to what could go wrong, it’s actually an effort to see what might go right," as the book title indicates.

But this book is not just a Pollyanna look at the future technologies, it’s a call to action for leaders to create the future we want by first imagining it.

When I interviewed Justin for my podcast, I was struck by how much foresight and deep thinking he brings to the…

By Justin Bean,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked What Could Go Right as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What Could Go Right invites you to ditch cynicism about the future, and build the one you want.

Instead of worst-case scenarios or Pollyanna optimism, you can envision an ideal world and be empowered to build it. The opportunity of our era is to transition to a sustainable, equitable, abundant global economy. When you rethink your mindset, understand tech and social trends, and design a future you want to live in, you can thrive by building a better future for us all.

Packed with insights, tools, and ideas for what an ideal future might look like and how to build…


Book cover of Milton Friedman on Economics: Selected Papers

Blaine Stewart Author Of Hourglass Socioeconomics: Vol. 1, Principles & Fundamentals

From my list on reads that are almost economics.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm addicted to discovering what lies within the unknown. The biggest mystery, I believe, that baffles us today is not necessarily what lies at the edge of the universe but what lives within this one here. I enjoy attempting to solve large problems and if I can’t compute a result at least understand what the problem suggests. In the realm of the unknown, I'm an expert of nothing. In hours of research and reading and writing, one comes to a point in their process of learning with the realization that it does not matter how much one learns, there will always be that much more, logarithmically multiplied exponentially by the rate of acceleration, to learn.

Blaine's book list on reads that are almost economics

Blaine Stewart Why did Blaine love this book?

Ultimately, I am recommending this book to you because Milton Friedman is one of the founders of Capitalism and winner of the Nobel. I enjoyed reading this book in college for the significant impact it holds. Truly, in a free market society based on survival of the fittest, one is forced to outlive the other. However, a great author will combine the two polar dynamic ideologies into one. While Milton Friedman’s work has historical implications on modern society, it is out of date. 

By Milton Friedman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Milton Friedman on Economics as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Upon his death in the autumn of 2006, Milton Friedman was lauded as "the grandmaster of free-market economic theory in the postwar era" by the "New York Times" and "the most influential economist of the second half of the twentieth century" by the "Economist". Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1976, Friedman was both a highly respected economist and a prominent public intellectual, the leader of a revolution in economic and political thought that argued robustly in favor of the virtues of free markets and laissez-faire policies. "Milton Friedman on Economics" collects a variety of Friedman's papers on…


Ad

Book cover of Wealth Odyssey: The Essential Road Map for Your Financial Journey Where Is It You Are Really Trying to Go with Money?

Wealth Odyssey By Larry R. Frank Sr., Maxwell Limanowski (editor), Peter Sander (editor)

What are you trying to do with your money?

Few of us take the time to analyze our financial needs and goals to answer that pressing question. In Wealth Odyssey, author Larry R. Frank Sr. uses his extensive financial background to provide a universal road map that will help…

Book cover of Accounting for M&A: Uses and Abuses of Accounting in Monitoring and Promoting Merger

Geoff Meeks Author Of The Merger Mystery: Why Spend Ever More on Mergers When so Many Fail?

From my list on accounting for M&A.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an economics student I was told that corporate merger would typically enhance financial performance, because of scale economies, market power or the acquirer’s superior management. As an auditor of recently acquired firms I found disorganization, demoralised staff, and weak profits. As a researcher I found that most mergers had failed to boost profitability, a finding that was mostly replicated by researchers over the subsequent 40 years. In the meantime, helped by my co-author, one of my aims has been to provide an explanation of this evidence, recounted in ‘my book.’ I’m an academic ‘lifer’ at Cambridge University – latterly Professor of Financial Accounting and Acting Dean of Cambridge’s Judge Business School. 

Geoff's book list on accounting for M&A

Geoff Meeks Why did Geoff love this book?

This brings together 9 specialists in accounting, economics, or statistics – from academe or practice – to tackle questions such as: does accounting manipulation affect the terms on which acquirers buy targets; are the post-merger accounts projected by bidders to be trusted; did the way targets were incorporated in the combine’s accounts affect share price?

It’s not a relaxing read – some heavy statistical work and disturbing conclusions: clever accountants have often been able to hoodwink investors before, during and after M&A transactions.

By Geoff Meeks (editor), Amir Amel-Zadeh (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Accounting for M&A as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Spending on M&A has, in aggregate, grown so fast that it has even overtaken capital expenditure on increasing and maintaining physical assets. Yet McKinsey, the leading management consultancy, reports that "Anyone who has researched merger success rates knows that roughly 70% fail". The idea that businesses might be using huge and increasing sums of shareholders' money for an activity that more often than not leads to failure calls into question the information on which M&A decisions are based.

This book presents statistical studies, case material, and standard-setters' opinions on company accounting before, during, and after M&A. It documents the manipulation…


Book cover of "Shakespeare" Identified in Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford

Lena Einhorn Author Of A Shift in Time: How Historical Documents Reveal the Surprising Truth about Jesus

From my list on ancient religious texts and actual history.

Why am I passionate about this?

Lena Einhorn is a writer and filmmaker, with a background in medicine. She has portrayed Greta Garbo’s life before the breakthrough, in the novel Blekinge Street 32, and in Nina’s Journey, she told the story of her mother, one of the last to leave the Warsaw ghetto alive. Nina’s Journey also became a feature film, written and directed by Einhorn. The book received the National Book Award of Sweden, and the film received the National Film Award for best picture and best script, as well as a number of international awards. In 2019 the critically acclaimed autobiographical novel The Thin Ice came out.

Lena's book list on ancient religious texts and actual history

Lena Einhorn Why did Lena love this book?

This is one of the many books that have delved into the old question of who William Shakespeare really was. And it is one of the more clever ones, drawing clear parallels between Shakespeare's texts, on the one hand, and the travels, experiences, opinions, and facilities of the main suspect, the Earl of Oxford, on the other. Looney’s book was the first one to propose and present exhaustive evidence that the Earl of Oxford was the sole author of all of Shakespeare’s works – a hypothesis that is now dominant among those who doubt the role of the relatively uneducated and untravelled “Stratford-man”.

By J. Thomas Looney,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked "Shakespeare" Identified in Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Excerpt from "Shakespeare" Identified in Edward De Vere, the Seventeenth Earl of Oxford (Classic Reprint)

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books.

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to…


Book cover of Information Anxiety

Jeff Davidson Author Of Breathing Space: Living and Working at a Comfortable Pace in a Sped-Up Society

From my list on to help you have more breathing space.

Why am I passionate about this?

I hold the registered trademark as "The Work-Life Balance Expert®," and work with organizations that seek to enhance their productivity by improving the effectiveness of their people. I've spoken to Fortune 50 companies such as IBM, Cardinal Health Group, Lockheed, American Express, the IRS, Wells Fargo, and Westinghouse. My books have been published in 19 languages and have been featured in 68 of the top 75 American newspapers, as well as Time Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. At heart, I'm a simpler living advocate. I believe in giving back to his community and am an active volunteer for Art Space in downtown Raleigh, and the North Carolina Museum of Art.


Jeff's book list on to help you have more breathing space

Jeff Davidson Why did Jeff love this book?

This book took me and the business world by storm. Wurman truly nailed a feeling that was widely experienced but had not yet been named. He explained how information anxiety resulted from constant overstimulation, especially when we don't have the time or opportunity to make an orderly transition from one idea to the next.

He explained how no one functions well when figuratively gasping for breath. Learning, he said, requires ‘way-stations’ where we have the chance to stop and think about an idea or subject matter before moving on to the next. So true! I particularly like his analogy that basing your view of the world on isolated events is like basing you knowledge of music on what you hear in an elevator.

Most important to me are the five ways to organize information as laid out in the book. If you're wondering, they include by category, time, location,…

By Richard Saul Wurman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Information Anxiety as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Tackling the problem of the ever widening gap between "what we understand - and what we think we should understand", the book offers tools to sort through daily data and offers suggestions for print media, meaningful charts, graphics and statistics. From the author of the "Access" guides.


Ad

Book cover of Bad Blood

Bad Blood By K.B. Thorne,

Bad Blood is paranormal suspense in First Person Snark, so if you like sarcastic, strong female characters set in a world where the preternatural is run amok (i.e., legal citizens in the United States), then this book and series are for you.

Follow Sadie Stanton–"poster girl for the preternatural"–as she…

Book cover of Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Bully Pulpit

David Tindell Author Of The Heights of Valor

From my list on most charismatic President in U.S. History.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by our 26th president for a long time. Most of us would be content with being known for one or two good things in our lifetime; TR was many things, and his work still impacts us over a century after his death. I wondered, who was this guy? He is relatively short, stocky, near-sighted, and not your typical action hero, yet he accomplished so much in a life that barely got through 60 years. I found so much more than I expected, and you will, too. Roll up your sleeves, get in the arena with TR, and, as he often said, “Get action!”

David's book list on most charismatic President in U.S. History

David Tindell Why did David love this book?

“Far and away, life's best prize is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” I loved this book because it tells us exactly what we should be doing now: rolling up our sleeves and getting into the arena. The federal bureaucracy of the early 20th century was smaller but no less entrenched than it is here in the 21st. And Congress was, if anything, even harder to deal with then than it is now (despite the lack of TV cameras).

How can any president hope to get anything important accomplished? TR shows us how. His instructions to his cabinet secretaries often include three words: “I want results.” He also shows us how to work with, and sometimes around or even through, the titans of industry to build the economy and avoid labor strife. This book should be a must-read for anybody who wants to lead anything, be it…

By James M. Strock,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Harness the Power of TR's Charisma
Theodore Roosevelt was a leader of uncommon strength who, through the sheer force of his extraordinary will, turned America into a modern world power. Thrown headfirst into the presidency by the assassination of his predecessor, he led with courage, character, and vision in the face of overwhelming challenges, whether busting corporate trusts or building the Panama Canal. Roosevelt has been a hero to millions of Americans for over a century and is a splendid model to help you master today's turbulent marketplace and be a hero and a leader in your own organization.


Book cover of Classical Political Economy and Rise to Dominance of Supply and Demand Theories
Book cover of Human Action: A Treatise on Economics
Book cover of High-Value Writing: Real Strategies for Real-World Writing

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,593

readers submitted
so far, will you?