I love reading. Over the years, I learn a lot of ideas to optimize different aspects of my life through reading. While I mention many books on this site, here I pick 10 of them that meet different kinds of needs. Here is my list of recommended books to read (in no particular order):

1. Success Built to Last

Who need this book: those who want to live a life that matters

This book gives you the essence of living a life that matters. The advice given here is based on interviews with many successful people. Among others, it talks about finding your passion, finding the courage to pursue them, and dealing with failure.

Based on this book I wrote the post 37 Lessons to Help You Live a Life that Matters.

2. Never Eat Alone

Who need this book: those who want to succeed through their relationships

Relationships are essential for success. Who you know is just as important as what you know. This book gives you a lot of practical tips on how to build relationships and win people’s heart. It covers practically all aspects of relationship building, such as how to know the right people, how to increase your influence, how to handle cold calls, and how to strengthen your personal brand.

Based on this book I wrote the post 106 Tips to Become a Master Connector.

3. Now, Discover Your Strengths

Who need this book: those who want to achieve their maximum potential

We will waste a lot of time and energy if we do things which are not our strengths. On the other hand, focusing on our strengths allows us to move beyond the average and achieve near perfect performance in what we do. This book shows you how to identify your strengths and build your life around them.

Based on this book I wrote the post 12 Essential Lessons to Maximize Your Personal Strengths.

4. Getting Things Done

Who need this book: those who want to increase their personal productivity

This book is a popular personal productivity book with devout followers all around the world for a simple reason: it works. It goes right to the core of personal productivity problems and gives us the tools and mindsets to overcome them. The goal of the book is to make us productive without being stressed. That’s why the subtitle of the book is The Art of Stress-free Productivity.

5. Influence: Science and Practice

Who need this book: those want to avoid being exploited by others

This book gives you detail explanation about six weapons of influence (reciprocation, consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity) and how they can be used against you. It also gives you tips on how you can defend yourself.

Based on this book I wrote the post Review: Influence - Science and Practice.

6. Made to Stick

Who need this book: those who want to successfully sell their ideas

Whether you are a writer, a speaker, or a professional, chance is you need to make other people grasp and act on your ideas. Unfortunately, it becomes increasingly difficult to win people’s attention in a crowded world we now live. This book shows you how to create ideas that stick so that people will remember them and change the way they act.

Based on this book I wrote the post Review: Made to Stick.

7. The 4-Hour Workweek

Who need this book: those who want to live their dream lifestyle

This book made a buzz around the blogosphere for a good reason: it gives us the much needed idea on how to live our dream lifestyle. Too many of us become the “slave” of our work without ever thinking about the lifestyle we actually want. This book shows you how to have the time and mobility you need to design your dream lifestyle.

Based on this book I wrote the post 63 Life-Changing Quotes on Lifestyle Design.

8. Thinkertoys

Who need this book: those who want to get creative ideas

Many of us need creative ideas for our work and life. Fortunately, there are a lot of techniques you can use to come up with creative ideas. This book gives you a ready-to-use collection of such techniques. It’s the best book I’ve found so far that collects creative thinking techniques in one place.

Based on this book I wrote the post Thinkertoys’ 10 Tips to Become an Idea Person.

9. Fire Them Up!

Who need this book: those who want to inspire others

If you want other people to work with you enthusiastically, you need to inspire them. It’s one of the most difficult things to do though. This book gives you seven secrets to inspire others based on interviews with many successful people. The seven secrets are ignite your enthusiasm, navigate the way, sell the benefit, paint a picture, invite participation, reinforce an optimistic outlook, and encourage their potential.

Based on this book I wrote the post What is Your One-Liner? and How to Become a Chief Inspiration Officer

10. Breakthrough Rapid Reading

Who need this book: those who want to improve their reading speed and comprehension

Since I love to read, I always try to improve my reading skill. This book is the best I’ve found so far on improving reading skill. It’s very practical and contains a lot of exercise to give you not only the theory but also the necessary practice.

11. The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing

Who need this book: those who want to increase their wealth through effective investing

Investing may look like a complicated matter, but this book shows that investing is actually simple. In fact, a simple method in investing often outperforms the complicated ones. This book gives you a simple method of investing and the way to organize your financial life around it.

Based on this book I wrote the post 13 Essential Rules for Investing.