This week's recommendation 17 Aug 2026

Magic
Words

Years of experience as a magician taught Tim David that real magic is all about words, and the way they influence the minds of the audience. What sets a professional magician apart from an amateur are people skills like communication, influence, and engagement—skills that are also effective in the workplace. By applying seven “magic” words […]

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so good it's unfair
ashes of my shelf

Over the years, I've read a few thousand books. Some of which were about business. This list has 44 recommendations.

Mind Master

Few people know better than Viswanathan Anand how to think strategically at lightning speed and work under immense pressure to overcome the toughest odds. From the time he learnt to move pieces on a chessboard as a six-year-old, Vishy – as Anand is fondly called – has racked up innumerable accolades. The first World Chess […]

The Goal

Alex rogo is a harried plant manager working ever more desperately to try and improve performance. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant – or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting with […]

$100M Offers

In *$100M Offers*, entrepreneur Alex Hormozi lays out a tactical playbook for crafting offers so irresistible that customers feel ‘stupid saying no.’ Fusing psychology with hands-on business experience, Hormozi dissects how to maximize perceived value while minimizing customer friction. He introduces frameworks like the Value Equation and pricing psychology, providing a blueprint for designing offers […]

Seeking Wisdom

Seeking Wisdom by Peter Bevelin is an intellectual odyssey into the mind’s workings, drawing on insights from Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett, and a wide range of disciplines including biology, psychology, and philosophy. It’s not a book to be read in one sitting—it’s one to be studied and savored. The book dissects human misjudgment and mental […]

Baking a Dream

Anyone who’s tried Theobroma brownies knows that they are literally food for the gods. What most people don’t know is that the recipe was born in a small Colaba kitchen, on a neighbour’s request. Baking a Dream: The Theobroma Story is the story of a ‘food-obsessed’ family that made their culinary dreams come true. Theobroma […]

Insanely Simple

Ken Segall put the ‘i’ in iPad. Now he explains why simplicity is the secret of Apple’s success in Insanely Simple. To Steve Jobs, Simplicity wasn’t just a design principle. It was a religion and a weapon. The obsession with Simplicity is what separates Apple from other technology companies. It’s what helped Apple recover from […]