6 Warren Buffett Book Recommendations to Make You Smarter
Warren Buffett is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, one of the world’s richest people, and perhaps the best investor of all time. What’s his secret? Reading.
– Warren Buffett
The story goes that in the early days of Buffett’s career, he’d read 600 to 1000 pages a day. He’s even been known to spend 80% of his day reading.
Don’t have time to read that much? You can learn from these Warren Buffett book recommendations in a fraction of the time with Blinkist, an award-winning knowledge app that shares the key insights from bestselling nonfiction books in 15-minute audio and text explainers.
Buffett says you should go to bed a little smarter each day. And as he says about reading: “All of you can do it, but I guarantee not many of you will do it.”
Here are 6 Warren Buffett book recommendations to learn about investing, communication, and the world
1.How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
How to Win Friends & Influence People
- 18 min reading time
- audio version available
Originally published in 1936, How to Win Friends and Influence People is a handbook for navigating relationships. Readers can learn how to avoid arguments, get people to agree with you, motivate others, and make sales.
One quick tip? If you’re trying to motivate your team, try sparking a bit of friendly competition. There doesn’t even need to be a prize. You may find that just by highlighting the top worker publicly, others will suddenly feel more motivation to work harder and get closer to the top spot themselves.
In the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett, Buffett admits Carnagie’s ideas helped him overcome his fear of public speaking, and he regularly recommends the book.
“In my office, you will not see the degree that I got from the University of Nebraska. You will not see the master’s degree I got from Columbia University. But you will see the award certificate I got from the Dale Carnegie Course,” said. Buffett.
2.The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham and comments by Jason Zweig
The Intelligent Investor
- 21 min reading time
- audio version available
If you’re a fan of Warren Buffett, you may be interested in getting into investing, or wanting to improve your investing skills if you’ve already started. Buffett himself recommends this book to help.
Buffett credits this book with changing the way he looked at the stock market. “Picking up that book was one of the luckiest moments in my life,” he said.
The Intelligent Investor shares everything Benjamin Graham knows. He was an investor who became successful after the financial crash of 1929. The book shares how investors should evaluate companies, the three principles of intelligent investing, and how to diversify your portfolio.
As Buffett says: “Of all the investments I ever made, buying Ben’s book was the best.”
3.The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks
The Most Important Thing
- 17 min reading time
- audio version available
Buffett is a fan of two books from Howard Marks: The Most Important Thing and The Most Important Thing Illuminated.
Marks is the co-founder and co-chairman of the investment company Oaktree Capital Management. His book shares his views on how successful investors can read the market in ways others don’t to help them decide where to invest.
– Warren Buffett
4. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
A Short History of Nearly Everything
- 38 min reading time
- audio version available
It’s not all investing advice, though. Buffett has shown he reads much wider, and said how interesting some of the facts were in this book by Bill Bryson.
A Short History of Nearly Everything is exactly what it sounds like. Bryson covers everything from how tiny bacteria work to what caused the big bang, from Einstein’s special theory of relativity to what we know—and have left to find out—about the ocean.
– Bill Bryson
5. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings by Philip A. Fisher
Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits and Other Writings
- 18 min reading time
- audio version available
This book is for those working in investment or simply anyone looking to improve their investment strategy. It shares practical tips like how to determine if a company’s stock is overvalued, how to find the right time to buy, and where to get little-known information about companies when doing research.
Readers can also learn the different types of investors—conservative and high-risk—and which one they are.
Here’s what Buffett had to say about the book: “I sought out Phil Fisher after reading his Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits…When I met him, I was impressed by the man as by his ideas. A thorough understanding of the business, obtained by using Phil’s techniques…enables one to make intelligent investment commitments.”
6. The Moment of Lift by Melinda Gates
The Moment of Lift
- 22 min reading time
- audio version available
Buffett called this book one of the best books he’d ever read, but it’s not about investing.
The Moment of Lift shares Melinda Gates’s journey into becoming a fierce advocate for women’s and girl’s rights. It shares stories of people she’s met through her philanthropic work, anecdotes from others about gender issues, and why the only way for the world to progress as a whole is to solve them.
– Warren Buffett
Looking for book recommendations from other leaders in their fields? We’ve rounded up book recommendations from the likes of Steve Jobs, Tim Ferriss, and Oprah Winfrey.
