Best Books to Read

Codie Sanchez says if people frequently ask you the same question, write an article about it and send it to them. For me, those questions are about health and wellness, investing, and book group recommendations.

So here it goes:

• Health and Wellness: The primary question is, “What do I need to eat?” I haven’t written an article on that yet, but it’s coming.

• Investing: People often ask, “What should I do with the extra money I have?” or “How do I invest for some passive income?” For that, I wrote an article titled “Boring Investing, Crazy Wealth”.

• Book Recommendations: The third most common question I get is about what books to read.

This article is about that.

Reading is a superpower—especially reading for personal growth, it can offer you so much while calming your spirit and slowing you down. It’s a skill and habit you’ll need to exercise for life. Despite 42% of college graduates not reading another book post-graduation, reading for just six minutes daily can reduce stress by 68%. Put down the Xanax and grab a book.

Book Guilt: I used to think that if I started a book, I HAD to finish it. Naval Ravikant says to take each book, subtract your age from 100, and read that many pages before deciding whether to continue. For example, I’m 44 years old. Take 100 - 44, which equals 56. I need to give each book 56 pages before deciding to put it down.

This is all personal. I don’t typically read fiction—it’s just my personality. My reading focuses on learning and improving in areas like life, parenting, spiritual well-being, and business. Most of what you see here falls into those categories.

For my book group recommendations, I’ll emphasize categories that resonate most for personal growth and improvement, featuring books I revisit often, always finding new insights.

I’ll do my best to share the books that have had the greatest impact on me personally. Let’s look at this in sections:

Best Overall Books I Have Read

These personal growth books have impacted me deeply. I could read them all once a year and still gain new insights. Each is worth reading more than once with a pen in hand because you’ll want to underline and take notes on almost every page.

• The Wealthy Gardener by John Soforic

• The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson

• The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson

• The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews

• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel

Best Business Books

This section ranges across the entire business spectrum, offering a wealth of knowledge.

• The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan

• Getting Everything You Can Out of All You've Got by Jay Abraham

• Built to Sell by John Warrillow

• $100M Leads by Alex Hormozi

• Becoming Your Own Banker by R. Nelson Nash

• Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

• Giftology by John Ruhlin

• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

• The Almanac of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson

Best Books to Be Better at Life

This is a mix of books for your soul and practical advice for daily living. All of these can also be read multiple times.

• The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy

• Atomic Habits by James Clear

• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

• The Blessed Life by Robert Morris

• Becoming a King by Morgan Snyder

• Deep Work by Cal Newport

• The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

• Mindset by Carol S. Dweck

Parenting

• Man Maker Project by Chris Bruno

• Parenting by Paul David Tripp

• Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley

• The Family Board Meeting by Jim and Jamie Sheils

• Raising Giant-Killers by Bill and Beni Johnson

• Raising Burning Hearts by Patricia Bootsma

Enjoyment (Some Biography, Some Fiction)

• Educated by Tara Westover

• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (The book is better than the movie—lots more detail.)

• American Kingpin by Nick Bilton

These are my top books by category. I have also listed all the books I have read with links here in this document.

Alex Hormozi says, "Don’t be in a race to read as many books as you can. Find the best books you can and read them multiple times." The more I read, the more I find this to be true. Like many people, I used to get a little shiny object syndrome, wanting to learn more and improve. I have slowed down a bit on the volume of books but increased the depth of my reading. I was in a race to read as many books as I could. That was a mistake.

Most of what I read now comes from recommendations by people I know and trust. Over the years, I've learned that good writers are consistently good, and their words compel you to keep reading. Therefore, I will read new books by authors who have written great ones in the past.

Here are some authors I will read regardless of what they write:

• Mark Batterson: A Christian writer who tells great stories and interweaves truths and principles like no one else.

• Morgan Housel: I've only read two of his books, but both were outstanding.

• Alex Hormozi: An excellent business writer who puts a lot of effort into his books, full of illustrations and examples.

• Cal Newport: A deep thinker who writes a lot, making it hard to keep up. You need a quiet place to read his work.

• Andy Andrews: An amazing storyteller. "The Traveler's Gift" is one of the best books I have ever read.

I hope this helps and gives you a start on your reading journey. Got a great book? Email me. I would love to dive in. thomas@thomascox.co