Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker

Bill Gates’ new favourite book tries to answer the question of “Why should I live?” with the ways the world is a lot better place than it seems sometimes.

Recommended by Frank

Ubiquity by Mark Buchanan

Scientists recently discovered a new law of nature and its footprints are virtually everywhere – in the spread of forest fires, mass extinctions, traffic jams, earthquakes, stock market fluctuations, the rise and fall of nations and even trends in fashion, music and art. Wherever we look, the world is modelled on a simple template; like a steep pile of sand, it’s poised on the brink of instability. From avalanches to events, ideas or whatever, the world seems to follow a universal pattern of change.

Recommended by Ted

The Only Rule Is It Has To Work by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller

Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller, two of baseball’s leading analytics writers, put their beliefs on the line by taking over an actual minor league baseball team and trying to implement their unorthodox theories.

Recommended by Jason

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock

Why are expert predictions only slightly better than chance? Drawing from the results of a decade-long forecasting tournament involving thousands of ordinary people, this book attempts to understand what makes a higher probability forecast and a stronger overall forecaster.

Masters in Business - Conversation with Annie Duke

For decades, Annie Duke has been one of the top-ranked poker players in the world. This podcast is a good introduction to someone who wants to understand decision making.

Recommended by George

The Money Game by “Adam Smith” (a pseudonym for George Goodman)

A collection of stories that illuminate the ridiculousness of Wall Street, markets and investor psychology – this is a book written before its time. In 1968, “Adam Smith” had momentum stocks and algorithms all figured out:

“We live in an age of charts and computers, and the thing about charts and computer studies is that they show what is moving, and if everybody plays this game, then what moves is what is already moving.”

Recommended by Derek

Hidden Forest: The Biography of an Ecosystem by Jon R. Luoma

Easy to read and short. Luoma does an exceptional job describing the different ecosystems within the Andrews Experimental Forest. Any reader looking to find parallels with the business world won’t be disappointed.

Recommended by Syd

WorkLife with Adam Grant

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant looks at different workplaces to find lessons that can improve their own job experiences.

Invest Like the Best with Pat O’Shaugnessy

Asset management CEO discusses life stories with a variety of people to help

Recommended by Andrew

The Great Depression: A Diary by Benjamin Rother

An insightful firsthand account of the Great Depression. The author was a young lawyer in Youngstown, Ohio and decided to write a diary about the daily economic occurrences happening both locally and the rest of the U.S. The intent for his diary was to educate himself about the significant economic volatility he witnessed and read about. Unlike all other accounts I’ve read on the Great Depression, the writer had no knowledge of when the Depression would end. Just a long list of daily facts, day after day, with no sense for when things would get better, mixed with many false hopes for a recovery. It’s a great book for young investors to read, especially before their first investment. It will likely add prudence to the stocks or bonds they select, and they’ll stay away from leveraging those investments.

Recommended by Geoff

The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail by Clayton M. Christensen

This was first published over 20 years ago. Given the rate of disruptive innovation, it’s even more important today to understand the concepts outlined in this book.

Recommended by Tye