Best Books: Read, Learn, and Live Better

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin

Reading great books is one of the most effective and reliable ways to transform your life. If you know how to use books to learn new ideas, solve problems, and improve your thinking, you are well-positioned to create the life that you want.

If you want to read more often, you need to choose the right books. The “right” book depends on your interests – do you want to be entertained, to learn something, to solve a specific problem, or to immerse yourself in beautiful writing? There are books for all of these things. The key is to know what you want and then find books that fulfill that desire.

Below, I’ve curated a number of best book lists and resources to help you find great books. These lists include many of the hundreds of books that I’ve encountered over the years, and I’ve tried to do the work of categorizing and selecting the best books so that you can save some time.

I. Best Book Lists

II. Book Summaries

I rate, summarize, and publish key insights for all of the best books that I’ve read. You can check out all of the published notes and sort by category on my book summaries page.

To create these summaries, I love to use Readwise, a knowledge organization tool that helps me easily import notes and highlights from the books I read.

III. Resources for Reading More Books

  • How to Read a Nonfiction Book: Nonfiction books can radically transform your life. This article teaches you a simple system that will allow you to understand, retain, and apply the key lessons and insights from the nonfiction books you read.
  • Check out Foundations, a growing digital notebook with summaries and lessons from 100+ timeless books across categories.
  • I think everyone should own a Kindle, so if you don’t already, consider getting one. I’ve read 5x more books thanks to my Kindle, and it’s super helpful for when you’re traveling.
  • If you struggle to read, try listening to audiobooks with Amazon Audible.