77 Books That Changed My Life and 3 Recommendations to Help You Read More

Reading has always been one of my greatest passions. A good book can transport you to new worlds, introduce you to unforgettable characters, and leave you with insights that stay with you for a lifetime. Not long ago I wrote a blog post highlighting some of the most impactful books I’ve come across so far on my reading journey. That post seemed to really resonate with people, being shared thousands of times. So I’ve decided to re-share that list here again in hopes that it may inspire you to pick up one or two new reads. Having these stories enter your life can be truly transformative. I invite you to browse the list of 77 books that changed my life, and please feel free to share with fellow bookworm friends as well! I’d also love for you to reply with 1-2 books that have made a difference for you. Here’s to the power of books and the magic of reading!

Make sure you download the free PDF copy of this list so you can refer back to it! Click here to get your copy.

As originally posted on LifeHack.

If you want your life to be different… READ!

Words are thoughts that when shared are accepted as good ideas or bad ideas. Every single word you hear or read consciously or subconsciously shapes your beliefs and therefore they shape your life. Below you will find seventy-seven books from my personal recommended reading list. These books have changed my life. I am grateful to each author whose words shaped my soul. If you want your life to be different… read!

My Top 10 Must Read Books

1. Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Acct of Operation Redwing & the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Lutrell
2. Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankle
3. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
4. The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge
5. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
6. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
7. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
8. The Go-Giver: A Little Story About a Powerful Business Idea by Bob Burg and John Mann
9. The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
10. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Biography

Who do you admire? Imagine what you can learn from reading the biographies of some of the best and worst men and women in history.

1. Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
2. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
3. Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters by Major (Ret.) Dick Winters & Cole C. Kingseed
4. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen Ambrose
5. D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches by Stephen Ambrose
6. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin
7. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
8. John Adams by David McCullough
9. Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris
10. Abraham Lincoln (Pocket Biographies) by H. G. Pitt
11. Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden
12. Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson
13. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
14. The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

Attention / Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity: the brain is plastic or changeable. Do not miss this section! Yes, some of these books read like text books.   The brain science of neuroplasticity has fascinated me since the moment I first read about how you can re-wire your brain to increase your attention span and sharpen your concentration and ability to focus.

• The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science by Norman Doidge

  

  This 8-minute video about neuroplasticity by Norman Doidge is stunningly compelling!

• Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter by David Rock
• Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher
• Find Your Focus Zone: An Effective New Plan to Defeat Distraction and Overload by Lucy Jo Palladino
• My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey by Jill Bolte Taylor
• Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness by Daniel Amen
• Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John J. Ratey
• How We Decide by Johan Lehrer
• Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Calahan

Personal Development

You can be different tomorrow than you are today. Reading books is one of the best ways to learn from the wisdom of others.

• Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerrichs
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Steven Covey
• Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
• The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino
• Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else by Geoff Colvin
• The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale
• The Greatest Discovery: Six Words that Changed the Author’s Life Can Ensure Success to Anyone Who Uses Them by Earl Nightingale
• The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life by Laurie Beth Jones
• The Art of Exceptional Living, (audio only) by Jim Rohn
• Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want — Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible by Brian Tracy
• The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
• The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success by Andy Andrews
• Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More by Jason Womack
• The Radical Leap: A Personal Lesson in Extreme Leadership by Steve Farber

Psychology

Happiness, sadness, creativity, logical thinking, planning, dealing with anxiety, stress, depression, courage, motivation, new challenges. This set of books will inspire and educate you.

• Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
• A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Will Rule the World by Daniel Pink
• Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
• Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
• Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
• The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor
• The How of Happiness: A New Approach to Getting the Life You Want by Sonja Lyubomirsky
• Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
• Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter So Much More Than IQ by Daniel Gilbert
• Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples by Harville Hendrix
• Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Cloud and Townsend
• What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Speed-Reading People by Joe Navarro & Marvin Karlins
• Signals: How To Use Body Language For Power, Success, And Love by Allan Pease
• How we Decide byJonah Leher
• On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society by Lt. Col. (Ret.) Dave Grossman

Business

The business world changes at the speed of light… but, some of these books are decades old.

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t by Jim Collins
• The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience by Carmine Gallo
• Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by Kim and Maugorgne
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
• Organizing from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life by Julie Morgensturn
• Taming the Paper Tiger at Work by Barbara Hemphill
• Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
• Do It! Marketing: 77 Instant-Action Ideas to Boost Sales, Maximize Profits, and Crush Your Competition by David Newman
• The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino

Fiction

What novels will you read to sweep you away?

• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Shaffer and Barrows

Faith

We all believe something. These are books that have inspired hundreds of thousands. Slow down and enjoy a book to reconnect with your soul.

• The Bible
• My Utmost for His Highest: An Updated Edition in Today’s Language by Oswald Chambers
• Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence by Sarah Young
• The Five Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts by Gary Chapman
• Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together by Hall and Moore
• The Shack by Wm. Paul Young
• The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus by Lee Strobel
• Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
• The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

3 Recommendations to Help You Read More

As a time management strategist, I offer three recommendations to help you find the time to read more books.

1. Read 10 Pages a Day

Books are not usually intended to be read in a single setting. Create a daily reading strategy, set a time where you will read ten pages of a book every day. If you want to learn more about leadership, read ten pages of a biography a great leader. I you want to be inspired, read ten pages of an inspirational book.

2. Listen to Books

Some people have difficulty sitting and reading.  Therefore, my second recommendation is for you to download books to your smart phone or to your computer and list to books as you exercise or clean house or while you are waiting in a doctor’s office.  Many libraries now allow you to download books electronically for a couple of weeks at no charge.  And, there are several other great ways to download books like Audible.com.

3. Read Books Aloud

This is one of my favorite recommendations to help you read more books.  This idea came from a friend of mine, Lindsay Penn, who said when she and her husband go on a trip she will pick a book and read it aloud. I have strong memories of my elementary teachers reading books aloud to our class and when reading time was over we would collectively beg for her not to stop reading.

Learn more about how you can build a daily habit of reading to become a high achiever in the blog post “Mastering Your Daily Routine: 7 Proven Habits of Successful High Achievers.”