Best Investing Books – Full List With Detailed Reviews And Summaries (MUST READS!)
Here is my view of why investing books are key for long-term wealth accumulation.
Investing Books – The Best Investment Out There
I love reading investing books as reading an investing book is the best value investment out there. For a few bucks you get one’s life investing experiences summarized within a few pages.
Even if all you get from an investing book is just one sentence of value, in the investing environment, that one sentence could create you millions of value over a life-time. Warren Buffett actually made billions thanks to Benjamin Graham’s books, so if you are looking for a place to start investing, my best suggestion is always: investing books.
To help you a bit in the investing books journey, I decided to rank my favourite investing books so that you can get a good overview of what kind of books to start with or to get insights on what investing books to focus on if you are already a more experienced investor.
Here is my investing book list, hope you enjoy it and the books within.
Best Investing Books With Detailed Summaries And Reviews
This investing books article will always be a work in progress but I’ll try to put the best investing books on top of the list. However, feel free to scroll below for more interesting or niche investing books.
1. Peter Lynch – One Up On Wall Street – BEST INVESTING BOOK
One Up On Wall Street is a must read for every investor out there. Peter Lynch delivered a return of 28% over his tenure at Magellan and even after he retired, he turned his wife’s pension fund of just $3,500 into more than $11 million over a few decades. If you wish to do something similar, Peter Lynch is the best way to start because he explains the core of investing, the simple things that make the key difference.
As Lynch’s book One Up On Wall Street is just one book, in order to explain better the concepts touched there, I have summarized the book chapter by chapter in my free stock market investing course. Feel free to check the Peter Lynch book summary or even the whole investing course if you are interested in learning more about long-term investing.
Pros: amazing investing insights clearly explaining Peter Lynch’s market beating strategy
Cons: Obviously he can’t go deep into the details, so there are a few things you have to find out yourself.
Just one example of the huge knowledge peter shares is his stock categorization. Just that will help you understand the risks and rewards of investing in certain types of businesses much better.
AMAZON LINK: PETER LYNCH – One Up On Wall Street
2. Benjamin Graham – The Intelligent Investor – BEST VALUE INVESTING BOOK
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham is the holy grail of value investing books. It is the book that Warren Buffett constantly mentions and one that has so many extremely valuable insights that it is another must read.
Unfortunately, Benjamin Graham wrote the last edition of the Intelligent Investor in 1972, so there are some things that are obsolete these days but still the core of the book is pure value. The last publication (2003) has a nice commentary by Jason Zweig which is a bit more up to date but still almost 20 years old now.
To remedy for the outdated prints, I have summarized the whole book chapter by chapter. The summary describes the details a little bit better as and adjusts to current times. Here it is:
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham Chapter by Chapter Summary (video playlist)
Pros: core value investing concepts, from valuations to Mr.Market’s behaviour
Cons: Last written in 1972, updated publication in 2003.
AMAZON LINK: The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
3. 100 To 1 In The Stock Market By Thomas A. Phelps
100 To 1 In The Stock Market by Thomas A. Phelps was written in 1972 but it discusses eternal investing concepts and therefore will forever be a fresh book. A must own, a must read and a must think about book. Keep in mind it was written in 1972 when entertainment wasn’t as developed as today and people had longer attention spans, so put all your effort into reading it and try to absorb the core concepts that work forever. If you manage to do that, wealth accumulation will be easy for you in your life.
AMAZON LINK: 100 to 1 In The Stock Market
Some compare the 2014 book 100 Baggers from Christopher Mayer as the new version of 100 to 1 from Phelps but I strongly disagree. After reading both, my feeling was 100 Baggers was written to sell books and have a good story which is a very dangerous thing when it comes to investing while 100 to 1 from Phelps was written to share everlasting investing knowledge. So, if you must pick, pick Phelps, but of course, any book about investing is a good book so read both if you can.
4. Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green
Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green is an amazing book summarizing the core investment ideas behind great investors like Pabrai, Munger, Sleep, Templeton, Marks and many more. 250 pages, no pics, small font, packed with value and most importantly with investment concepts that work constantly and can really make you rich when it comes to investing. Here are some of the concepts and investors discussed in the book:
Richer Wiser Happier on by William Green on Amazon.
Pros: amazing description of investment concepts to live by because those simply work.
Cons: A pro for me, but some might find it a hard read as it is packed with value over 250 pages with small font and requires focus – I will read it again for sure as I am sure I will learn something new everytime.
Richer, Wiser, Happier Video Summary And Review:
5. Modern Value Investing by Sven Carlin
As the best value investing books have been written a long time ago, thing of the above Intelligent Investor or the Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman (summary coming soon), I’ve decided to summarize the modern knowledge around value investing into one book.
Modern Value Investing is a book that focuses on putting the fundamentals to start one’s value investing journey.
Pros: Good overview of value investing, psychology of value investing and various investing strategies.
Cons: The next one will be even better.
AMAZON LINK: Modern Value Investing
6. The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
Many think that investing is about numbers but you couldn’t be more wrong about that. Morgan Housel touches on the soft investing skills that should come before anything else but are often overlooked.
Here you have a deeper summary and a video overview of the book. Enjoy:
The Pshycology of Money by Morgan Housel
Pros: nice read and some of the concepts might really make you think.
Cons: for some these topics are crystal clear already but it is always good to remind oneself.
AMAZON LINK: The Psychology Of Money By Morgan Housel
More Investing Books To Read
Here is a video discussing an additional 12 investing books that touch on various investing perspectives, from value investing to trading.
Margin Of Safety by Seth Klarman (core value investing book)
Margin of Safety by Seth Klarman is available on Amazon for amounts between $800 and $2000 but try googling it. This is the book for every value investor as it discusses eternal knowledge by comparing it to the current market fads. Even if the book was published in 1991, you will be able to compare the described market patterns to many current irrational environments. A must read for all investors!
Alice Schroeder – The Snowball (Best Warren Buffett BIO)
Alice Schroeder – The Snowball gives a detailed description of the complexity of what Warren Buffett has done over the last 50 years. A long read with 700 pages but well worth it, it is 700 pages of business wisdom.
Nassim Taleb – The Black Swan (crucial thinking about investing)
Nassim Taleb – The Black Swan is crucial because when it comes to investing, nobody can forecast the future. Therefore, it is good to know how to probabilistically assess what is going on, be ready for anything and be ready to take advantage when crazy things, like the 2008 financial meltdown, happen. Taleb adds huge value for all investors by teaching us how to expect the unexpected and be prepared for it.
Daniel Kahneman – Thinking Slow And Fast
Daniel Kahneman – Thinking Slow And Fast is a hard read but full of knowledge to grasp how your mind actually works and why do you to certain things.
Other notable mentions when it comes to investing books
Jim Rogers – Hot Commodities is an ok book, but worth a mention because is one of the few that discusses commodities.
Glen Arnold – The Great Investors offers amazing summaries of the greatest investors’ investing styles: Buffett, Munger, Templeton, Fisher, Lynch, Soros, etc. Excellent way to start and find the best style for you or to add some valuable tools to your existing investing arsenal.
Tony Robbins – Money, Master The Game is not mentioned here because of what Tony Robbins has to say, but the value of it is more in the interviews he made.
Mohnish Pabrai – The Dhando Investor is an excellent story on how real business investing is done with a margin of safety, no risk and huge upside. Actually, real investors take no risks and make huge gains!
Jack Schwager – Market Wizzards is a book about trading, interviewing the best traders, which is crucial to better understand how the markets work, understand risk and also the potential reward.
The Education of a Value Investor by Guy Spier – A really nice read about Guy’s value investing life story, his mistakes, his evolution into a value investor that will help you develop your soft investing skills. You will understand better how Wall Street works, the dangers of it and what you can do to remove yourself from that kind of environment.
I’ll be updating this investing book list over time so feel free to bookmark it or subscribe to my newsletter to get book summary updates and also investing updates.