The most recommended problem solving books

Who picked these books? Meet our 46 experts.

46 authors created a book list connected to problem solving, and here are their favorite problem solving books.
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Book cover of How to Solve It: A New Aspect of Mathematical Method

Steven S. Skiena Author Of The Algorithm Design Manual

From my list on mathematical and algorithmic thinking.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am Professor of Computer Science at Stony Brook University, and have spent the past thirty years thinking/teaching/writing about algorithms. Algorithms are the really cool thing about computer science, for they form the ideas behind any interesting computer program. And algorithms turn out to be the ideas behind many interesting aspects of life that have nothing to do with computers. I have written six books on algorithms, programming, gambling, and history –including the ranking of the historical significance of all the people in Wikipedia.

Steven's book list on mathematical and algorithmic thinking

Steven S. Skiena Why did Steven love this book?

Polya was a great mathematician who knew what counted (after all, he made major contributions to combinatorics, the mathematics of counting). He thought hard about what he was doing when working on problems in mathematics, developing a mental process that lead to creative breakthroughs and solutions. Polya’s problem-solving method is broadly applicable to domains other than mathematics, and this book features many nice puzzles to improve your thinking.

Algorithm design is challenging because it often requires flashes of sudden insight which seem to come out of the blue. But there is a way of thinking about problems that make such flashes more likely to happen. I try to teach this thought process in my books, but Polya got there first.


By George Polya,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked How to Solve It as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A perennial bestseller by eminent mathematician G. Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be "reasoned" out--from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Polya's deft--indeed, brilliant--instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of the problem.


Book cover of AntiPatterns: Refactoring Software, Architectures, and Projects in Crisis

Karl Wiegers Author Of Software Development Pearls: Lessons from Fifty Years of Software Experience

From my list on lessons about software development.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first learned to program in college in 1970. Since then I’ve spent much time as a software developer, manager, tester, process improvement leader, consultant, trainer, author, and, of course, a user. I quickly learned that I didn’t have time to make all the mistakes that every software developer before me had already made. My training and writing career has involved sharing what I and others have learned with audiences to help them quickly become more effective software development team members, regardless of their project role. This book distills insights and observations both from my own experience and from what I’ve heard from thousands of students and consulting clients.

Karl's book list on lessons about software development

Karl Wiegers Why did Karl love this book?

Most books about lessons learned and good practices tell you what you ought to be doing. AntiPatterns warns you about things you should not be doing. It points out a wide range of software project approaches that the authors believe are not advisable. The antipatterns have whimsical titles such as Poltergeists, Golden Hammer, Spaghetti Code, Stovepipe System, and Design by Committee. Each pattern describes the symptoms, causes, and consequences of that particular behavior, as well as offering a restructured approach that’s likely to yield better results. As with other lessons-learned books, this book lets you learn from the pain suffered by others to avoid stepping into the same traps on your own projects.

By William J. Brown, Raphael C. Malveau, Hays W. "Skip" McCormick III , Thomas J. Mowbray

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"The AntiPatterns authors have clearly been there and done that when it comes to managing software development efforts. I resonated with one insight after another, having witnessed too many wayward projects myself. The experience in this book is palpable." -John Vlissides, IBM Research "This book allows managers, architects, and developers to learn from the painful mistakes of others. The high-level AntiPatterns on software architecture are a particularly valuable contribution to software engineering. Highly recommended!" -Kyle Brown Author of The Design Patterns Smalltalk Companion "AntiPatterns continues the trend started in Design Patterns. The authors have discovered and named common problem situations…


Book cover of Zinnia and the Bees

Mobi Warren Author Of The Bee Maker

From my list on the magic of bees for ages 10-14.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have long been fascinated by bees. I am a retired Middle School teacher (I taught mathematics, science, and creative writing in an inner-city school district) and am a volunteer community scientist with a special interest in pollinators. I love nothing more than being outdoors, meandering through empty lots, local parks, and my own backyard observing bees of all species. As a storyteller, I am fascinated by how honeybees weave through different cultures’ myths and how they are seen as a source of mystical and transformative power. Honeybees ignite my imagination and bring together my love of science and my concern for threats to our shared environment.

Mobi's book list on the magic of bees for ages 10-14

Mobi Warren Why did Mobi love this book?

This is a delightfully wacky book with endearing characters. Zinnia is having a bad hair day, literally. A hive of bees takes up residence in the wild and curly mane of her hair to add to her troubles—a missing brother and a mother who doesn’t seem to care. I fell in love with this book on the first page when I learned that Zinnia was about to yarn bomb a statue of her school mascot. (I’m a knitter and have fancied taking up yarn bombing myself.) Quickly-paced chapters alternate between Zinnia as narrator and the bees discussing their own perilous situation. Told with both humor and empathy, this is a book where you can’t turn the pages fast enough in order to find out how things resolve.

By Danielle Davis, Laura K. Horton (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Zinnia and the Bees as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The hive of honeybees living in Zinnia's hair is actually the least of her problems. Her best friend, who also happens to be her brother, has left home with no explanation. And the one thing that makes her happy and keeps her sane knitting has just got her detention. She's never felt more alone. But the bees have a lot to say about it starting with finding her brother.


Book cover of Learning to Use What You Already Know

Jeff Davidson Author Of Everyday Project Management

From my list on managing projects.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am the recognized expert on work-life balance, harmony, and integrative issues, and since 2009, hold the registered trademark from the USPTO as the “Work-Life Balance Expert®." I'm the author of several popular books including Breathing Space, Everyday Project Management, Simpler Living, and The 60 Second Organizer. My books have been featured in 68 of the top 75 American newspapers and, in two instances, advertised in Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal. I offer hands-on strategies for a balanced career and life to audiences from Singapore to San Diego, with clients as diverse as Novo Nordisk, Worthington Steel, Lufthansa, American Law Institute, Wells Fargo, the IRS, and more.

Jeff's book list on managing projects

Jeff Davidson Why did Jeff love this book?

The authors maintain that everybody experiences flashes of insight: those moments when an "aha!" reaction leaves us feeling enlightened and empowered. I have felt this and you probably have too. Insights are the bits of knowledge in different parts of ourselves and they can be harnessed into a more integrated and effective whole.

Learning To Use What You Already Know explains how you can encourage insight. Consider that each of us knows more than we think we do. Thus we can employ a reflective process, described in the book, that integrates our conscious and unconscious resources, and prompts our perceptions of everything from getting along with coworkers, to being a visionary leader, to coping with technological change.  

Here are what I consider to be some of the book’s amazing takeaways: Life repeats itself until we learn. Lack of fit is not failure. If you get it right the first time,…

By Stephen A. Stumpf, Joel R DeLuca, Dan Shefelman (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Learning to Use What You Already Know as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Is there a way to encourage the kind of "aha!" perceptions that leave us feeling enlightened and empowered? Are there methods for facilitating the flashes of understanding that make us holler "eureka!" or smile with quiet contentment? Though insights may feel like they come out of the blue, Stumpf and DeLuca make us aware of the process behind the flash so that we can stimulate our capacity for learning and growth.
Beginning with the premise that each of us knows more than we think we do, Stumpf and DeLuca provide a reflective process that integrates all of our conscious and…


Book cover of Ban This Book

Margriet Ruurs Author Of Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey

From my list on childrens books that everyone should read.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been devouring books for most of my life. When I was young, I read Pippi Longstocking. I wanted to be just like her – strong, free, and independent. Through books I learned about other people in other countries, times, and circumstances. I have been writing books for a long time (I wrote 40) and work in (international schools) with teachers and students on their writing. From specific stories, readers learn universal wisdom. Many books written for children should be everybody-books! Books, more than any other medium, can help you to ‘walk a mile in someone else’s moccasins'. The books I picked to share with you all do this.

Margriet's book list on childrens books that everyone should read

Margriet Ruurs Why did Margriet love this book?

I love that Alan Gratz, a skillful storyteller, takes the important topic of banning and censoring books for children, and shows its dangerous side effects from a child’s point of view. We meet a well-meaning mother who wants to protect her child from, what she feels, are unsuited books in the school library. But one of those is Amy Anne’s most beloved book. She is not going to let these books disappear without a fight. In a respectful but effective manner she ends up showing the adults the importance of letting children make their own choices. 

By Alan Gratz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ban This Book as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Amy Anne is shy and soft-spoken, but don't mess with her when it comes to her favorite book in the whole world. Amy Anne and her lieutenants wage a battle for the books that will make readers laugh and pump their fists as they start a secret banned books locker library, make up ridiculous reasons to ban every single book in the library to make a point, and take a stand against censorship.

Reminiscent of the classic novel Frindle by Andrew Clements, Ban This Book is a love letter to the written word and its power to give kids a…


Book cover of The Process: A New Foundation in Art and Design

David Airey Author Of Identity Designed: The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding

From my list on visual branding.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a graphic designer, writer, and brand consultant. I work with clients of all sizes, from multinationals to companies of one. Since opening my business in 2005 I’ve created logos and visual identities for brands in more than 30 countries. I run two design blogs Logo Design Love and Identity Designed. They resulted in publishing deals to write their accompanying books, and their pages now get millions of views each year.

David's book list on visual branding

David Airey Why did David love this book?

If any book can explain why there’s always more than one way to solve a visual problem, this is it. The book shares a compendium of 13 experimental projects, each designed to teach conceptual thinking and problem solving to art and design students.

By Richard Wilde, Judith Wilde,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The Process is a compendium of 17 experimental art and design projects geared toward teaching college art students what is needed to become an artist.

The projects, created by Judith Wilde and Richard Wilde, focus on developing formal excellence and a strong sense of aesthetics, along with the ability to generate new ideas.


Book cover of The Net And The Butterfly

Linda Rising Author Of More Fearless Change: Strategies for Making Your Ideas Happen

From Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Curious Open Evidence-seeking Listens Optimistic

Linda's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Linda Rising Why did Linda love this book?

There are so many “patterns” in this book about breakthrough thinking. One that has stayed with me is thinking of failure as “tuition.”

I have become a student of “metta.” I was never very good at meditation, but this practice has helped me through some rough times. It might work for you. You’ll enjoy the stories and the quirky way the authors lead you to better thinking.

By Olivia Fox Cabane, Judah Pollack,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Net And The Butterfly as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In The Charisma Myth, Olivia Fox Cabane offered a groundbreaking approach to becoming more charismatic. Now she teams up with Judah Pollack to reveal how anyone can train their brain to have more eureka insights.

The creative mode in your brain is like a butterfly. It's beautiful and erratic, hard to catch and highly valued as a result. If you want to capture it, you need a net. Enter the executive mode, the task-oriented network in your brain that help you tie your shoes, run a meeting, or pitch a client. To succeed, you need both modes to work together--your…


Book cover of Creating Great Choices: A Leader's Guide to Integrative Thinking

Michael Bungay Stanier Author Of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

From my list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coaching is a wonderful technology that can help people be a force for change… and is often wrapped up in mystic and woo-woo and privilege that makes it inaccessible and/or unattractive to too many. I want being more coach-like—by which I mean staying curious a little longer, and rushing to action and advice-giving—to be an everyday way of being with one another. Driven by this, I’ve written the best-selling book on coaching this century (The Coaching Habit) and have created training that’s been used around the world by more than a quarter of a million people. I’m on a mission to unweird coaching.

Michael's book list on unexpectedly useful books about coaching

Michael Bungay Stanier Why did Michael love this book?

My mentor Peter Block taught me that the ultimate act of being an adult, the ultimate act of taking responsibility for your own freedom, was making choices. Some choices of course are easyI’ll have a double espresso, pleasebut plenty are difficult. You don’t have all the data, it’s too close to call, and you can feel the combination of anxiety and guilt that can come with committing. This book adds some structure and discipline to how to make the best possible choice, and by doing so makes it easier to be more courageous and bold.

By Jennifer Riel, Roger L. Martin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Creating Great Choices as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Move Beyond Trade-Off Thinking

When it comes to our hardest choices, it can seem as though making trade-offs is inevitable. But what about those crucial times when accepting the obvious trade-off just isn't good enough? What do we do when the choices in front of us don't get us what we need? In those cases, rather than choosing the least worst option, we can use the models in front of us to create a new and superior answer. This is integrative thinking.

First introduced by world-renowned strategic thinker Roger Martin in The Opposable Mind, integrative thinking is an approach to…


Book cover of Ben And Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos

Betty G. Birney Author Of Happiness According to Humphrey

From my list on childrens books featuring helpful, lovable problem-solving animal friends.

Why am I passionate about this?

I fell deeply in love with books as a child, wrote oodles of stories growing up, majored in English literature, and built a writing career in advertising and TV. But my deep love of children’s books never faded. Somewhere in my 30s, I had an epiphany sitting on the couch one day: I clearly saw that writing children’s books was what I wanted to build my life around. It took a lot of time and effort to accomplish that, but with the aid of a helpful hamster named Humphrey – and his friend Og - I found my happy place, and I hope I never, ever “grow up.”

Betty's book list on childrens books featuring helpful, lovable problem-solving animal friends

Betty G. Birney Why did Betty love this book?

When I first read this as a child, it blew my mind. What a great idea! Whoever thought of a clever mouse who helped Ben Franklin develop his best ideas, like bifocals and the kite ride that led to the discovery of electricity?

It was pure delight to me, and that’s when I knew I wanted to be a writer and come up with such marvelous flights of fancy.

By Robert Lawson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Ben And Me as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Did you ever wonder where inventors get their ideas? Benjamin Franklin was one of the most famous inventors in American history, and according to this amusing book, he got most of his ideas--the good ones at any rate-from a mouse! Funny, interesting and wise, Ben and Me is a classic American story that has been read by generations of young people. Once you've met Amos the mouse, you'll always remember Benjamin Franklin a little differently than the history books do.


Book cover of Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen

Larry R. Frank Sr. Author Of Wealth Odyssey: The Essential Road Map for Your Financial Journey Where Is It You Are Really Trying to Go with Money?

From Larry's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Father Grandfather Business founder Planner and thinker Income and longevity researcher

Larry's 3 favorite reads in 2023

Larry R. Frank Sr. Why did Larry love this book?

Paraphrasing: A group of picnickers rush to a nearby river to pull struggling kids out. There are more and more kids coming downstream, almost too many for the group. Suddenly, while overwhelmed with too many kids, one takes off. “Where are you going?” “I’m going upstream to tackle the guy who’s throwing all these kids in the water.”

I found the concepts in this work to apply to almost all aspects of life, personal and at work. Who hasn’t had a persistent problem in their life? The problem with many problems is we tend to get so focused or busy with them that they never get solved! Or worse, papered over with band-aids.

I found the Three Barriers discussion insightful. Epiphany: Search upstream for causes of problems.

By Dan Heath,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath asks what happens when we take our thinking upstream and try to prevent problems before they happen.

When we shift our energies upstream, we stop dealing with the symptoms of problems and we start fixing problems.

If we can stop crimes from being committed, we do not need to work to 'solve' crimes.
If we can prevent chronic diseases from developing, we do not need to treat these diseases.
If we can provide affordable housing, we do not need to provide shelter for the homeless.
Looking to business, politics, and society, Dan Heath…