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Great Books Distilled: Books by History's Greatest Innovators, Founders, and Investors
The page is a reading list sharing the best books written by history's greatest innovators, founders, and investors. You’ll find more than 100 good books to read, organized by category. This is a reading list for people who don’t have time for unimportant books — which should be everyone. I only list the best books I've read and recommend. So you can be sure that each will be worth your time.
Great Books by Category
These are the best books to read, listed by category. Along with a few collections of rare and hard-to-find speeches, lectures, talks, interviews, letters, and memos that are a great way to go deeper.
- Best Books on Creativity
- Best Books on Writing
- Best Business Books
- Best Investing Books
- Best Venture Capital Books
- 10 Books with the Most Page-for-Page Wisdom
- Rare and Hard-to-Find Speeches, Lectures, and Talks
- Rare and Hard-to-Find Interviews
- Rare and Hard-to-Find Letters and Memos
All Book Summaries
For the best books that I read, I go through the painstaking effort to put together and publish my personal notes including highlights, excerpts, and takeaways. You get the best 5% of the ideas in these books in a form that takes 20 minutes at most to read.
- Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger
- A Few Lessons from Sherlock Holmes: Learn to Think Like the Famous Detective
- Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business
- Damn Right! Behind the Scenes with Berkshire Hathaway Billionaire Charlie Munger
- Designed by Apple in California
- Double Your Profits In Six Months or Less: 78 Ways to Cut Costs, Increase Sales, and Dramatically Improve Your Bottom Line
- Finding the Next Steve Jobs: How to Find, Keep, and Nurture Creative Talent
- I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words
- In the Company of Giants: Candid Conversations with the Visionaries of the Digital World
- Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success
- Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in His Own Words
- Memos from the Chairman: The Famous Memos of Alan C. Greenberg
- Poor Richard's Almanack: Benjamin Franklin's Incredibly Popular Book of Aphorisms, Forecasts, and More
- Special Operations Mental Toughness: The Invincible Mindset of Delta Force Operators, Navy SEALs, & Army Rangers
- The Essays of Warren Buffett: Warren's Ideas from 50+ Years of Shareholder Letters Grouped by Topic
- The Laws of Creativity: How to Unlock Your Originality and Awaken Your Creative Genius
- The Making of the Godfather: The Real Story Behind the Iconic Film
- The Official Walt Disney Quote Book: Walt Disney's Best Quotes to Celebrate Disney's 100th Anniversary
- The Richest Man in Babylon: The Success Secrets of the Ancients
- The Science of Hitting: The Batting Strategies of the Last Baseball Player to Break the Magic .400 Barrier
- The Tao of Charlie Munger: Wisdom on Life, Business, and the Pursuit of Wealth
- The Warrior Ethos: Lessons from the Greatest Warriors in History Including the Spartans
- The Women of Berkshire Hathaway: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Female CEOs and Directors Including Rose Blumkin
- To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History
- Turning the Flywheel: Why Some Companies Build Momentum and Others Don't - A Monograph from Good to Great
- Winning Methods of the Market Wizards: Common Traits and Techniques of the Super Traders
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Looking for good books on creativity? This is my list of the best creativity books of all-time on Rick Rubin, Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Pixar, Apple, and more. If you only have time to read one or two books, I recommend looking at the Top Creativity Books section below.
You can also find recently released books that are worth your attention in the New and Notable section. I try to carefully curate all of my reading lists and you can be sure that any creativity book on this page is worth your time. Enjoy!
On This Page
New and Notable
This section features recently released books that are worth your attention.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being
by Rick Rubin
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Laws of Creativity: Unlock Your Originality and Awaken Your Creative Genius
by Joey Cofone
Print | eBook
Read my book summary →
The Top Creativity Books
This section features the all-time best books written about creativity, what it is, and how to harness it.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being
by Rick Rubin
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Laws of Creativity: Unlock Your Originality and Awaken Your Creative Genius
by Joey Cofone
Print | eBook
Read my book summary →
A handful of the all-time best books about creativity in action — including the role it played at Pixar, Apple, and the making of Prince of Persia.
Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration
by Ed Catcall
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products
by Leander Kahney
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple's Success
by Ken Segall
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Read my book summary →
Creative Selection: Inside Apple's Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs
by Ken Kocienda
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
by Tony Fadell
Print | eBook | Audiobook
The Making of Prince of Persia: Journals 1985 - 1993
by Jordan Mechner
Print | eBook | Audiobook
Related Reading Lists
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About the author
Daniel Scrivner is an award-winner designer turned founder and investor. He's led design work at Apple and Square. He is an early investor in Notion, Public.com, and Good Eggs. He's also the founder of Ligature: The Design VC and Outlier Academy. Daniel has interviewed the world’s leading founders and investors including Scott Belsky, Luke Gromen, Kevin Kelly, Gokul Rajaram, and Brian Scudamore.
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Last updated
Oct 16, 2023
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