I love to read and have a rule that whenever someone recommends a book, I buy it ASAP.  Lately I’ve also been getting books I see referenced in other books.  There’s a ton of research and anecdotal evidence which correlates reading to success and I’m pretty convinced that there’s causality, not just correlation working there.  As such, here are some recommendations for things to read to contribute to your success.

Tools of Titans is one of the most interesting and diverse sets of interviews, pull quotes, and anecdotes I’ve ever read.  Does anyone else feel like Tim Ferriss is the next Shep Gordon?  Read this book if you’re an interesting person, or want to be an interesting person, or want to find other great stuff to read.

Extreme Ownership is referenced in Tools of Titans since Jocko Willink (one of the authors) was interviewed by Tim Ferriss. Read this book if you lead people, want to lead people, or to find out how to become a better team member.  Each chapter starts with a (literal) war story from Iraq, but if you’re not into military stuff you can actually skip to the Practice and Application to Business sections which follow.

Rands in Repose is tied with Seth’s Blog for my favorite blog. Michael Lopp is a brilliant manager with enviable writing skills.  Read this blog if you manage technical people or you are a technical person.  His book Managing Humans is also excellent, but the blog is not to be missed.

Safari Books Online is my secret weapon.  Yes, it’s $399 per year and that’s not cheap but combined with their Queue app it’s a bargain if you’re a technical person who likes to learn.  In the last year I’ve read through dozens of O’Reilly books and watched a couple of their training videos.  The books alone would have cost me triple or more.  If you are a developer and like to learn from books, this one is a no brainer.  If I were running a company with employees, buying the team version would probably be on my list for recruiting top talent.

Okay, one more just for fun: Living with a SEAL is one of my favorite books to give to people.  My friend read the entire thing on a red eye from Seattle to Miami one night after I convinced him to “give it 4 pages and see what you think”.

Enjoy!