Theme
Business & Finance
Markets, money, and the institutions that move both — told mostly through the people who built, broke, or bet against them.
42 books
newest read first
Dear Chairman: Boardroom Battles and the Rise of Shareholder Activism
Jeff Gramm · 2016 · read Aug 2026Hedge fund manager and Columbia professor Jeff Gramm's history of shareholder activism, told through eight case studies built…
The History of Money: A Story of Humanity
David McWilliams · 2024 · read Aug 2026Irish economist David McWilliams's sweeping global history of money — from clay tablets in Mesopotamia and ancient Babylon…
The Frackers: The Outrageous Inside Story of the New Billionaire Wildcatters
Gregory Zuckerman · 2013 · read Jul 2026Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory Zuckerman's inside account of the American shale boom — how a handful of risk-addicted…
The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution
Gregory Zuckerman · 2019 · read Jul 2026Wall Street Journal reporter Gregory Zuckerman's biography of Jim Simons and Renaissance Technologies — the secretive…
The Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron
Bethany McLean, Peter Elkind · 2003 · read Jul 2026Fortune journalists Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind's definitive account of Enron's rise and collapse — growing out of McLean's…
The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy
Christopher Leonard · 2022 · read May 2026Christopher Leonard's 2022 history of the post-2008 Federal Reserve — the quantitative-easing era from Bernanke through Yellen…
Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America
Christopher Leonard · 2019 · read Apr 2026Christopher Leonard's 2019 history of Koch Industries — Charles Koch's 50-year construction of one of the largest privately-held…
Dark Towers: Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump, and an Epic Trail of Destruction
David Enrich · 2020 · read Feb 2026David Enrich's 2020 investigation of Deutsche Bank's catastrophic three-decade arc — from German blue-chip to global…
The Quants: How a New Breed of Math Whizzes Conquered Wall Street and Nearly Destroyed It
Scott Patterson · 2010 · read Jan 2026WSJ reporter Scott Patterson's history of the quantitative-finance revolution — Ed Thorp, Ken Griffin, James Simons, Cliff…
Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling
Jonathan D. Cohen · 2025 · read Oct 2025Jonathan Cohen's history-and-policy book on the explosion of American sports gambling after the 2018 Murphy v.
Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream
Megan Greenwell · 2025 · read Jul 2025Megan Greenwell's investigation of private equity's effects on American working life — told through four extended worker case…
The Man Who Broke Capitalism: How Jack Welch Gutted the Heartland and Crushed the Soul of Corporate America―and How to Undo His Legacy
David Gelles · 2022 · read Jun 2025NYT business reporter David Gelles's polemic-and-history of Jack Welch's reshaping of GE and, through its alumni and imitators,…
How Countries Go Broke: The Big Cycle (Principles)
Ray Dalio · 2025 · read Jun 2025Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio's continuation of his "Principles" series — applying his big-cycle framework to sovereign debt,…
No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson
Gardiner Harris · 2025 · read Jun 2025Veteran journalist Gardiner Harris's investigation of Johnson & Johnson — across baby powder (asbestos contamination), opioid…
Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment
Jason Schreier · 2024 · read Apr 2025Jason Schreier's institutional history of Blizzard Entertainment — Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, World of Warcraft, Overwatch —…
The Firm: The Story of McKinsey and Its Secret Influence on American Business
Duff McDonald · 2013 · read Dec 2024Duff McDonald's institutional history of McKinsey & Company — from its founding through its 21st-century controversies (Enron,…
The Death of Truth: How Social Media and the Internet Gave Snake Oil Salesmen and Demagogues the Weapons They Needed to Destroy Trust and Polarize the World – and What We Can Do About It
Steven Brill · 2024 · read Dec 2024Court TV founder and NewsGuard founder Steven Brill's argument that the collapse of trust in shared information is the…
Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing
Peter Robison · 2021 · read Dec 2024Peter Robison's institutional history of Boeing's transformation from engineer-led aerospace company into a financialized firm —…
The Art of Power: My Story as America's First Woman Speaker of the House
Nancy Pelosi · 2024 · read Aug 2024Nancy Pelosi's memoir spanning her decades in Democratic leadership — the votes she counted, the bills she passed (ACA,…
Trillion Dollar Triage: How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled a President and a Pandemic---and Prevented Economic Disaster
Nick Timiraos · 2022 · read Jun 2024WSJ Fed reporter Nick Timiraos's narrative of Jay Powell's Federal Reserve response to the COVID economic shock — the emergency…
Nuclear War: A Scenario
Annie Jacobsen · 2024 · read Apr 2024Annie Jacobsen's minute-by-minute scenario of a North Korean nuclear strike on the United States and the resulting full exchange…
Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works
A.G. Lafley · 2013 · read Apr 2024Former P&G CEO A.G.
How Markets Fail: The Logic of Economic Calamities
John Cassidy · 2009 · read Mar 2024New Yorker writer John Cassidy's history-and-analysis of how efficient-markets theory captured economics, blinded regulators to…
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Eliyahu M. Goldratt · 2004 · read Oct 2023Eli Goldratt's 1984 business novel — a struggling plant manager learns the Theory of Constraints from a mysterious mentor — that…
The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness
Morgan Housel · 2020 · read Aug 2023Morgan Housel's collection of 20 short essays arguing that financial outcomes are mostly behavior, not intelligence — and that…
Debt: The First 5,000 Years
David Graeber · 2011 · read Jul 2023Anthropologist David Graeber's sweeping argument that the standard economic origin story (barter → money → credit) is exactly…
Little Black Book of Entrepreneurship
Fernando Trías de Bes · 2008 · read Jun 2023Spanish business writer Trías de Bes's compact, unsentimental field guide to entrepreneurship — focused on the predictable…
The Lost Bank: The Story of Washington Mutual-The Biggest Bank Failure in American History
Kirsten Grind · 2012 · read Mar 2023A Wall Street Journal reporter's inside narrative of Washington Mutual's rise from Seattle thrift to national mortgage giant and…
How Clients Buy: A Practical Guide to Business Development for Consulting and Professional Services
Tom McMakin · 2018 · read Jan 2023McMakin and Fletcher's research-based framework for what actually drives consulting and professional-services buyers — built from…
How to Win Client Business When You Don't Know Where to Start: A Rainmaking Guide for Consulting and Professional Services
Doug Fletcher · 2021 · read Jan 2023Fletcher's companion to How Clients Buy (his co-authored book with McMakin), aimed specifically at consultants who deliver well…
Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company's Future - and What to Do About It
Tien Tzuo · 2018 · read Jan 2023Zuora founder Tien Tzuo's case for the subscription economy as a structural business-model shift — not a pricing tactic but a…
I Moved Your Cheese: For Those Who Refuse to Live as Mice in Someone Else's Maze (Bk Business)
Deepak Malhotra · 2011 · read Jan 2023A short parable written as a direct response/rebuttal to Who Moved My Cheese?
The Snowball System: How to Win More Business and Turn Clients into Raving Fans
Mo Bunnell · 2018 · read Jan 2023Bunnell's framework for systematic business development in professional services, organized around the idea that BD is a…
Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry
Jacquie McNish · 2015 · read Dec 2022The inside story of Research in Motion's rise to global smartphone dominance and its rapid collapse after the iPhone — told…
The Infinite Game
Simon Sinek · 2017 · read Aug 2022Sinek's application of James Carse's finite/infinite games distinction to business — arguing that companies in pursuit of a "win"…
The Membership Economy
Robbie Kellman Baxter · 2015 · read Jun 2022Robbie Kellman Baxter's framework for membership-based businesses — distinguishing membership from subscription, from loyalty…
The Art Of Less Doing: One Entrepreneur's Formula for a Beautiful Life
Ari R. Meisel · 2016 · read Jan 2022Ari Meisel's compact framework book on his "Less Doing" methodology — a three-step optimize-automate-outsource progression…
Leveraged Learning: How the Disruption of Education Helps Lifelong Learners, and Experts with Something to Teach
Danny Iny · 2018 · read Jan 2021Danny Iny's framework book on the online-education economy — for both lifelong learners navigating the proliferation of courses…
Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors
Michael E. Porter · 1980 · read Feb 2020The 1980 book that defined modern strategic analysis, introducing the Five Forces framework for industry structure and the three…
Content Inc.: How Entrepreneurs Use Content to Build Massive Audiences and Create Radically Successful Businesses
Joe Pulizzi · 2015 · read Feb 2020A reverse-order playbook for building a business: build an audience first via consistent niche content, then figure out what to…
Building A Story Brand
Donald Miller · 2017 · read Feb 2020A marketing framework that applies classic narrative structure (the hero's journey) to how a brand talks about itself: the…
Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money—That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!
Robert T. Kiyosaki · 1997 · read Oct 2019A semi-autobiographical contrast between two father figures — one credentialed and salaried, one entrepreneurial — to make the…