My Book List for Making You a Better Creative

This is a list of career-advice books I give to people who want to expand their mindset and knowledge base. I might have (intentionally) missed some and haven’t included my favorite cook books and food theory books. Maybe another time.

Do you agree with this list? More importantly, do you disagree? Let me know in the comments below.

Ranked in order of importance is from Top to Bottom

So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport – best book in the world about career advice. I read this at every crossroad I have in life because the fundamentals are so important for people starting their careers. As I write this in 2020 (I published this in 2017) it makes me smile that by following the core fundamentals of the book, I was able to be in some people’s eyes, so good that I couldn’t be ignored.

The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Vision to Save the World – An amazing book about the philosophies of two scientists and how they have given us the core philosophies of solving the world’s problems. Goes into the origins of feeding 1 billion people, along with nice notes about the origins of GMOs, population control, ammonia production and more. Highly recommended for food scientists looking to solve problems in the future and how to communicate it. I loved it so much I wrote a review about it.

A More Beautiful Question by Warren Burger a book on optimizing your thinking to think in questions instead of answers. Wide applications in not just philosophy, but corporate and innovation. (Recommended by Elliot Begoun)

The Book of Beautiful Questions – A decent supplement/sequel to A More Beautiful Question. Not really much to add from the original book.

Originals by Adam Grant Anecdotes about people who are original. Lots of good facts and theories on what makes ideas pop

Anyway You Want by Derek Sivers – Short book with a lot of good life advice. Goes through the journey of the rise and fall of CDBaby. Controversial tactics to most. Best for people who are into lifestyle design.

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The Future Is Faster Than You Think – an eye-opening book about the rapid emergence of really cool technology ranging from rideshare helicopters to VR classrooms. Though there is a small section on food tech, the overarching theme is really important: the world is moving faster and faster.

The Hard Thing about Hard Things by Ben Horowitz – a relentless startup book. It’s probably only good if you are a C-suite executive or founder but when I had to decide to leave the startup I founded, it was a book that allowed me to solidify my decision.

Quirky by Melissa Schilling – A good book analyzing the top innovators like Steve Jobs, Marie Curie, Nicola Tesla, etc. There are common threads of genius, but it’s a bit depressing how far people will go to impact the world. (Recommended by Paul Shapiro)

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari Oddly addictive book about how humans have evolved into what we are today. Very well written and makes you think. Read with an open mind.

Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson a monster of a book but makes you really respect Steve Jobs. Great insight on how  Apple, Pixar and iTunes changed the world.

Creativity Inc by Ed Catmall synergies really well with Steve Job’s autobiography. It’s about making a creative environment

Tasty: The Art and Science of What we Eat– A good high level read about the evolution of why we eat and the industrialization of food and the future of it.

Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley – I wish I read this book when I first started reading about innovation. Lots of good advice on being creative, though I did not glean any new information when I read it at the time. I would recommend this book as one of the first books you need to read to be creative.

This is Marketing by Seth Godin – A pretty good small business marketing book. Big focus is about taking care of the people you serve.

How to be Like Walt by Jim Denney Great book about Walt and takeaways on how he was so innovative

Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance – A pretty good book about the endurance and tenacity of Elon Musk. Really respect the guy and learned a lot about electric cars.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century – Also by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s hard to talk about the present problems and his advice is a bit black and white.  Highly recommend reading Sapiens before tackling this books as the ideas meld.

Relentless: From Good to Great by Tim S. Grover – An extremely aggressive book about what it really takes to be the best. Spoiler: You have to work very very hard and not take no for an answer. Written by Michael Jordan’s coach.

Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb – A dense book about not being fragile, or robust, but antifragile. To sum it up, antifragile is the ability to adapt and reform when shattered.

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday – A short book on how ego can screw you over

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho– Great feel-good book about destiny and goals

The Algebra of Happiness by Scott Galloway – The book’s main theme is being grateful about your relationships. Scott was an egomaniac and successful entrepreneur and this book is a candid love letter to the people he likes. I thin his predictions on his podcasts are really valuable.

Romancing the Brand by Tim Halloran If you want to sell CPG drinks this book will give you the best marketing tactics in the world. If it’s not CPG drinks, still a great marketing book. Written by an industry veteran in Coca-Cola. Includes marketing campaign analysis from Dos Equis, Sprite, New Coke, etc. (Recommended by Hugh Thomas)

The Ultimate Sales Machine by Chet Holmes – You should always read sales books as a technical person. It makes you better as a whole

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by Jack Trout You should also read marketing books

Crush It and Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk – If you want to get into influencer marketing, highly recommend this book.

Perennial Seller by Ryan Holliday – A holistic book about what makes things like Star Wars and Ballpoint pens stick to society. Applies to some industries better than others.

Zero to One by Peter ThielGreat book about how to make an unstoppable product. Main takeaway is to make your product 10x better than your competitor.

Blue Ocean Strategy by Renee Mauborgne and W Chan Kim – Same vibe as Zero to One. Make your own niche and avoid competition. Easiest way to do this is to combine niches.

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries – Good book about start ups and innovation the concept of a Minimum Viable Product is vital in life

Every Tool’s A Hammer by Adam Savage (Mythbusters guy) – If you’re a creative who gets distracted, this is an amazing book to teach you the value or organizing. Savage does a great job talking about the importance or organizing along with some really cool creative stories cosplaying and myth busting.

Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups by Jason Calacanis – A book that teaches you how Angel Investing works

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill- This is a classic. It’s big on mindset. Gets weird at the end.

The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. WattlesVery interesting book of the same vein as Think and Grow Rich. Much of the book is about the abundance mindset

The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz – Cheezy advice that if you imagine it, you can do it

Thirst: Biography of Charity Water by Scott Harrison – A great biography of an amazing non-profit. Extremely inspiring and a story about the good in humanity.

Deep Work by Cal Newport – About how to achieve “flow” and be productive in a short amount of time. Not as good as I thought.

Tools of Titan by Tim Ferriss Monster of a book. Has a lot of good info but it can be overwhelming to read

Principles by Ray Dalio The core tenants of the book are important, but the tactics are hard to apply. A great C-level executive book, not a great book for the average joe.

Bold: How to Go Big, Create Wealth and Impact the World by Peter H Diamands and Steve Kolter Great book about how things eventually become commoditized and now is the perfect time to be creative

Give and Take by Adam Grant – A book that convinces you it’s better to give than to take. But there’s a certain way to give: don’t be a doormat.

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely – A book explaining why we do dumb things

The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb – Very dense book with nuggets of info and you have to dig deep to really find its value

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell – Recommended by Ray Dalio. It’s a book you ahve to trudge through and you can get all of the info from wikipedia or Dan Harmon. It’s interesting to learn how myths and movies follow the same structure.

What I Learned Losing a Million Dollars by Jim Paul – Entertaining first half, ok advice in the second half. See Ego is the Enemy

The Art of Start 2.0 Very good startup book if you’re into that. Also a good innovation sparking book

Stumbling Upon Happiness – A book about the science of happiness. The takeaways are very controversial

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World – The book was difficult to read for me. Boring stories. The message is good: diversify your team

The Virgin Way by Richard Branson –A nice book, but I couldn’t take away much from this. Good stories

How Music Works by David BurkeFood and music are more similar than you think. It’s a good book, but very dense on the music info

Loonshots by Safi Bahcall – I personally couldn’t finish it. The issue with doing crazy things (why it’s called Loonshots) is that there are only stories, not tactics

Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis BradberryA personality test book. It’s a good info book but that’s all.

The War of Art by Steven Pressfield Highly recommended book according to others, but didn’t resonate with me.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki – Baby’s first finance book. I didn’t like it that he sold out but whatever

Added books July 2018
Quirky by Melissa Schilling
A More Beautiful Question by Warren Burger
Romancing the Brand by Tim Halloran
Relentless: From Good to Great by Tim S. Grover
Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
Blue Ocean Strategy by Renee Mauborgne and W Chan Kim
Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance
The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
Principles by Ray Dalio
Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups by Jason Calacanis
Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk
Crushing It by Gary Vaynerchuk
Perennial Seller by Ryan Holliday
Give and Take by Adam M Grant
Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Added books May 2020

The Future Is Faster Than You Think
The Hard Thing about Hard Things
The Algebra of Happiness by Scott Galloway
Loonshots by Safi Bahcall
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Every Tool’s A Hammer by Adam Savage
Tasty: The Art and Science of What we Eat
Thirst: Biography of Charity Water by Scott Harrison
This is Marketing by Seth Godin
The Book of Beautiful Questions

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