My virtual bookshelf
I love reading. Here’s a collection of all my favorite non-fiction books!
What I’m reading right now
Author Noah Kagan needs no introduction to the Startup world. He was a very early Facebook employee and later founded Lifetime deals giant AppSumo.
This book is targeted at first-time entrepreneurs, and the whole goal is to give you the right mindset, break the think-think-think pattern, and have you do-do-do.
We’re living in the golden era of entrepreneurship. Starting a new business is easier than ever, with very few barriers to entry in most markets. This book will guide you from validating your idea to actual execution.
I’ll keep you posted on how I like it as I get further in the book!
Best Marketing Books
Marketing is by far my favorite reading category and the one that more often has hidden gems.
In this post, you’ll find all my favorite marketing books. Of course, I have a bit of bias towards B2B SaaS, but most books are just great, no matter what your industry is.
I keep this list always up to date and add new readworthy books every couple of months. The last update is from January 2024.
Best Startup Books
Since I started AdEspresso, I’ve also started reading every book about startups I could find.
Over the years, I’ve read hundreds of books on how to build a successful startup from every point of view: how to fundraise, how to hire, and how to define a mission and company culture.
In this always up-to-date list, you’ll find all my recommendations for anyone planning to enter the startup world.
My dirty secret to read more books in less time
Let’s be honest; there are more books to read than hours in the day. As much as we might love reading, time is always a huge constraint. Plus, some books are very interesting but damn boring.
A few years ago, I discovered Book Summary apps. Over time, I’ve developed a process to use them to quickly validate if a book is interesting enough to read or to complete full books I had started reading but were too boring/ not interesting enough for me.
Nowadays, these apps have huge catalogs, and you can easily find at least 50% of the titles you are interested in. I’ve done an in-depth test of all the best apps to find the perfect one for me, with a large enough catalog and high-quality summaries.
Great Books I’ve recently read
If you have a specific topic in mind, I have a couple more curated lists of my all-time favorite books. Here they are: Personal Growth Books, Leadership Books, and Sales Books. If you’re looking for more random reading recommendations, here’s the list of the latest books I’ve finished reading:
Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal
I’ve followed Ali Abdaal on YouTube for a long time and always enjoyed his productivity-focused content. No wonder how he racked up more than 5M followers on the platform and decided to quit his career as a doctor to go all-in as a content creator.
He recently launched his first book, and I immediately started reading it… so far, I love it. It’s well-written, enjoyable, and full of references to behavioral science studies … I also love the philosophy behind it, which can be summarized this way: “The secret to productivity isn’t discipline. It’s joy.“
Pages: 292 – Price: $14.99 – Year: 2023 – Get on Amazon
Misbelief: What Makes Rational People Believe Irrational Things by Dan Ariely
Ariely is a world-renowned behavioral scientist. I loved all of his books, and usually, his explanations of how the human mind behaves are also very useful for marketers and product people. This book is an exception as it digs into the world of misinformation that got a huge boost during COVID-19.
How can rational people believe clearly fake information? How can close friends we respect start to see plots everywhere?
This book is fully packed with tons of experiments to explain this could happen to anyone. A very fascinating (and sad) read.
Pages: 320 – Price: $15.99 – Year: 2023 – Get on Amazon
How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life by Massimo Pagliucci
An unusual read for me. I started reading this book in a tough personal period, full of thoughts, decisions to be made, and things to be done. I want to learn more about the stoic approach to life.
This book does a great job of explaining the stoic philosophy and how to put it into practice in modern life. My key takeaway from the book is to focus on what you can change and don’t waste time / get stressed out by things that are out of your control. Not an easy read, but a very interesting one.
Pages: 289 – Price: $12.99 – Year: 2017 – Get on Amazon
