Marc Andreessen's Recommended Reading List 2018

If you're looking for some good summer reads, here you go.  Marc Andreessen, founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz recently tweeted a list of books he's read and recommends. 

It's a diverse list and isn't filled with finance books like so many other recommended reading lists we post, so this will certainly broaden your horizons.  Here's the list with his tweeted comments about each book.


Marc Andreessen's Recommended Reading List 2018


Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It?  How Can We Know? by Phil Tetlock:  "Is the future knowable, and by whom?  All pundits and commentators should publish their prediction track records, yet don't.  What to pay attention to and what to ignore."


Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman:  "Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate.  Will stand as a cautionary tale?"


Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke:  "Compact guide to probabilistic domains like poker, or venture capital.  Best articulation of 'resulting', drawing bad conclusions from confusing process and outcome.  Recommend for people operating in the real world."


The Spider Network by David Enrich: " 'Billions'-esque saga of global financial market manipulation, at mind-boggling scale and hiding in plain sight, by a small cabal of bankers in London."


A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William B. Irvine: "Best (?) walk through the ancient/current philosophy of Stoicism.  You can't control other people but you can control yourself, so do that."


The Courage to Be Disliked by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga:  "Smash hit in Japan, and easy to see why.  Adlerian psychology meets Stoic philosophy in Socratic dialogue.  Compelling from front to back.   Highly recommended."


All Out War: The Full Story of How Brexit Sank Britain's Political Class by Tim Shipman:  "Inside story of how Britain decided to exit the EU.  Economic self-destruction or national liberation?  Repercussions to play out for decades."


When the Wolves Bite: Two Billionaires, One Company, and an Epic Wall Street Battle by Scott Wapner.  " 'Wall Street'-esque battle between Bill Ackman and Carl Icahn over unlikely target Herbalife.  Sip a delicious Herbal Aloe Shake while reading."


But What If We're Wrong?: Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman:  "Wide-ranging meditation on how to think about the reality that we're probably wrong about most things we believe.  Hard to read and not emerge humbled."


Chasing Hillary:  Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling by Amy Chozick:  "On the bus/in the plane with the Hillary campaign.  Revealing in many dimensions at once, and highly entertaining.  Best book on the 2016 campaign so far?"


The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray: "One perspective on the politics of immigration in Europe, playing out in real time, e.g. Merkel almost getting deposed days ago.  Confusing on multiple levels from US perspective."


A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership by James Comey:  "Certainly the story is well known, but given author's propensity to post photos of himself wearing running shoes in Iowa, potentially relevant again starting next year?"


Conspiracy:  Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, and the Anatomy of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday: "Startlingly deep cultural history of conspiracies, examined through the lens of the brutally effective Gawker takedown, with full access to the main players."


Skin in the Game by Nicholas Taleb:  "Skin in the game as conflict of interest, or as attaching one's livelihood to one's speech?  Who to listen to, and why.  Ideal counterpart to Phil Tetlock's Expert Political Judgment."


12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan Peterson: "A bracing disassembly and reconstruction of a theory of individual progress in the modern world.  Fascinating compare and contrast with The Courage To Be Disliked."


Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle between Marvel and DC by Reed Tucker: "Spellbinding creative and business history of the incredibly imaginative comic book industry in the decades before it ate Hollywood."


Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump in the White House by Donna Brazile: "Visceral, raw, you-are-there recounting of living through the hack attacks and resulting meltdown of the DNC in 2016."


Days of Rage: America's Radical Underground, the FBI, and the Forgotten Age of Revolutionary Violence by Bryan Burrough: "How 1960s racial politics descended into 1970s terrorist bombings, thanks to privileged college students breaking very bad."


Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater by Erik Prince: "The founding and growth of military contractor Blackwater as told by its founder and CEO; newly relevant due to the Mueller investigation."


The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance by Steve Kotler: "Startling walk through a series of domains where peak human performance is rising at remarkable rates due to 'flow state'.  Thought provoking and then some."


Devil's Bargain: Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, and the Storming of the Presidency by Joshua Green: "Best (?) book so far on the Republican side of the 2016 race, and a deep dive into the intellectual origins of Bannonism and to some extent Trumpism."


Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen & Amie Parnes: "Best (?) book so far on the Democratic side of the 2016 race, most provocatively on the impact of the press coverage of the email hacks on the last stages of the race."


Living with a SEAL: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet by Jesse Itzler: "What's it like to train with a Navy SEAL in winter in New York for a whole month?  Featuring the truly remarkable American hero David Goggins."


The Myth of the Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan: "The median American is a moderate national socialist - statist to the core on both economic and social policy.  Given public opinion, the policies of First World democracies are surprisingly libertarian."


A Very Expensive Poison: The Assassination of Alexander Litvinenko by Luke Harding: "The astonishing story of the Litvinenko and Perepilichnyy assassinations in the UK; reads like a Lee Child thriller; plenty topical now."


Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 by Marcus Luttrell: "The film was fine but the book is unreal; incredibly vivid story of superlative American heroes."


How to Live: A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Blakewell: " 'How to get along with people, how to deal with violence, how to adjust to losing someone you love - All versions of a bigger question: How do you live?' "



If you're looking for even more books, be sure to also check out Ray Dalio's recommended reading list, as well as Mohnish Pabrai's recommended reading list, or any of the others we've linked on the right sidebar of the MarketFolly homepage.

Broyhill's Recommended Reading List

Numerous successful investors have noted how important it is to constantly be reading and learning.  Warren Buffett's business partner Charlie Munger once said, "You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads - at how much I read.  My children laugh at me.  They think I'm a book with a couple of legs sticking out."


Broyhill's Book Recommendations


Recently, we came across Broyhill Asset Management's Book Club where they share their favorite books of the past year.  It's a free curated list of their top recent recommendations.  It's quite comprehensive and had many titles we'd never read or even heard of. You can click here to view Broyhill's book recommendations.

If you're looking for some good summer reads, look no further.  While investing books are obviously useful, you might be surprised what kind of lessons you can learn from biographies and other genres as well.

While we'll occasionally highlight a book in our "What We're Reading" posts, this is a large compilation of recommendations from another trusted source.  They also provide a quick blurb on why a specific book was worth reading or what they learned from it.

Check out Broyhill's book recommendations for investors

Ray Dalio's Reading List

Ray Dalio, the founder of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, has penned a book called Principles.  He's been doing various interviews about it and recently joined Tim Ferriss' podcast.  During the interview, Dalio outlined some of the books he's read and enjoyed, as well as others he has stacked up in a pile that he's going to read.  He said curiosity is the driving force behind him reading so much.


Ray Dalio's Reading List

  Einstein's Mistakes: The Human Failings of Genius by Hans Ohanian: A book Dalio's already read and enjoyed.

  Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari: #1 international bestseller by a renowned historian.

  The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis: A look at Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky's studies on the decision-making process.

  The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class by Edward Conard: The scourge of America's economy isn't the success of the 1%.

  The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters by Sean Carroll: Award winning biologist examines questions about how the natural world is regulated.

  From Bacteria to Bach and Back: The Evolution of Minds by Daniel Dennett: A look at how the human mind has developed its ability to crate, imagine, and explain.



Dalio was also asked to list books he would give to anyone graduating high school or college.  Here were his 3 picks:



  The Lessons of History by Will and Ariel Durant: A concise survey of the culture and civilization of mankind from Pulitzer Prize winning historians.

  River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life by Richard Dawkins: How did life begin and where is it heading?

  The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell: Combining the insights of modern psychology with comparative mythology.



Be sure to also check out Dalio's own new book, Principles, about all he's learned over the years.

And if you're looking for recommendations from more smart investors, check out Charlie Munger's recommended reading list, as well as many others linked in the right sidebar of Market Folly.

Mohnish Pabrai's Recommended Reading List

Investor Mohnish Pabrai recently recommended a few books at his talk at Google which we just highlighted.


Mohnish Pabrai's Recommended Reading List

  Am I Being Too Subtle? by Sam Zell.  Pabrai said it was great and personally preferred to listen to the audiobook.


  Damn Right: Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger by Janet Lowe. The other biography on Charlie Munger that Pabrai said included interesting tidbits not seen before.


  The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time by Jonathan Weiner.  Mohnish said he was fascinated by it.  "Unrelated to investing but a great read."


And in the past, Pabrai has also frequently recommended books such as:

  Poor Charlie's Almanack by Charlie Munger.  The classic text that any follower of his should read.


  The Essays of Warren Buffett by Warren Buffett.  Another classic.


And while he didn't recommend his own book, it's worth noting Pabrai has authored The Dhando Investor: The Low-Risk Value Method to High Returns.


For more book recommendations from top investors check out the right sidebar of Market Folly as we've posted many lists.

Market Folly's Summer Reading List

If you've got a vacation / holiday coming up and need some reading material, here are some recommended books on investing, hedge funds, business, decision making, and life in general.  Some are newer books, others are classics you might have missed and should catch up on.

Have any other suggestions?  Hit the comments below.  Enjoy!

2017 Summer Reading List


  Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street by Sheelah Kolhatkar.  If you're looking for a financial thriller centered around the hedge fund world, this is it.


  Competition Demystified: A Radically Simplified Approach to Business Strategy by Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn.  Classic text on important concepts. 


  Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business by Aswath Damodaran.  New book from the NYU Stern Professor. 


  The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires by Tim Wu.  Relevant read in this day and age. 


  Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight.  Recommended by Warren Buffett recently.  


  The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance by Ron Chernow. Biography that's been recommended by many.   


  Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant.  New book from the Facebook COO and the Wharton professor.  


  Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.  Learn how to stop being busy and start being productive.

Elon Musk's Recommended Reading List

If you haven't noticed before, on the right sidebar of the website we've catalogued various recommended reading lists from top investors.  Many of these investors have recommended expanding your horizons beyond just books on investing.

So this time around we're taking a look at a recommendations from an entrepreneur.  Elon Musk is the founder of electric car company Tesla (TSLA), space exploration company SpaceX, and he also previously co-founded online payments firm PayPal (PYPL).

Here are books Elon Musk has recommended over the years, as well as books he said shaped him into who he is today.


Elon Musk's Recommended Reading List

  Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel

  Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies by Nick Bostrom

  Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Orestes and Erik M. Conway

  Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down by J.E. Gordon

  Nikola Tesla Biographies: Musk didn't specify which one but there's The Tesla Autobiography as well as Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age by W. Bernard Carlson

  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin

  Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

  Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson

  Howard Hughes: His Life and Madness by Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele

  Ignition!: An Informal History of Liquid Rocket Propellants by John D. Clark  


Musk has also recommended various fiction books such as The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, as well as The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams, and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.


If you're looking for more investing-focused books, be sure to check out Charlie Munger's recommended reading list as well as Seth Klarman's favorite books.