Invest in yourself first.

The founder of Vanguard makes the case for owning the whole market through low-cost index funds instead of trying to beat it.

A long-running guide to how markets price assets, why beating them is so hard, and how an ordinary investor can build a diversified portfolio.

A plain-spoken guide to spending less than you earn, investing in broad low-cost funds and working toward financial independence, grown out of letters to the author’s daughter.

A practical handbook built on the Bogleheads philosophy: keep costs low, diversify broadly and stay the course.

Covers the theory, history, psychology and business of investing, then turns them into a framework for building a portfolio.

Examines long-term returns of stocks, bonds and other assets to explain why patient equity investors have historically been rewarded.

The former Fidelity Magellan manager explains how everyday investors can spot promising companies in the world around them.

The foundational text of value investing. It introduces the margin of safety and the parable of Mr. Market, and separates investing from speculation.

The dense original framework for analysing financial statements and valuing securities. A reference more than a quick read.

Fisher’s approach to finding outstanding growth companies through qualitative research, including his well-known checklist of what to look for.

Buffett’s shareholder letters organized by theme, covering investing, corporate governance, valuation and more.

Short chapters on risk, market cycles, second-level thinking and why investors cannot predict the future with confidence.

Klarman’s detailed case for disciplined, risk-averse, bottom-up value investing. Out of print, so new copies are scarce and used prices vary widely; compare listings before you buy.

Explains the “magic formula,” a simple screen that ranks companies by earnings yield and return on capital.

Breaks down Buffett’s approach into business, management, financial and value tenets, with case studies.

A collection of Charlie Munger’s talks and writing on mental models and worldly wisdom.

Yale’s longtime chief investment officer explains the endowment model of diversified, equity-oriented institutional investing.

A comprehensive reference on chart patterns, trends, indicators and intermarket analysis.

A widely used guide to trend, momentum and sentiment indicators and how analysts combine them.

The book that introduced candlestick charting to many Western traders, with patterns and how to use them alongside other tools.

Interviews with successful traders about how they think about risk, discipline and edge.

A further collection of trader interviews in Schwager’s long-running Market Wizards series.

An introduction to day-trading tools, setups and risk management. Day trading is high-risk, and most people who try it lose money.

Focuses on the mindset of consistency: thinking in probabilities, accepting risk and following your plan.

A fictionalized account widely understood to be based on the speculator Jesse Livermore, and one of the most quoted trading books ever written.

Covers position sizing, expectancy and the psychology of building and following a trading system.

A practical look at systematic trend following in futures markets, including how such strategies behave in good and bad periods.

A long-standing reference on options strategies, pricing concepts and risk.

Short stories about how people think about money, risk and luck, arguing that behavior matters more than intelligence.

Short essays on the things that stay constant through changing times, and how to plan with that in mind.

A Nobel laureate explains the two systems of thought and the biases that shape judgment and decisions.

Treats emotional mistakes such as tilt, fear and overconfidence as problems you can diagnose and fix.

A trader’s view that how you handle losing matters more than any entry strategy.

Explores how luck is mistaken for skill and why we underestimate randomness in markets and careers.

Argues that rare, high-impact events shape history and markets far more than forecasts allow for.

A catalog of short chapters on common thinking errors, from confirmation bias to sunk costs.

A practical system for building good habits and breaking bad ones through small, consistent changes.

Makes the case for focused, distraction-free work and offers ways to build the habit.

Introduces the difference between fixed and growth mindsets and how beliefs about ability shape effort and learning.

The founder of Bridgewater shares his approach to decision-making, goals and radical transparency.

Reframes money as life energy and walks through a step-by-step program toward financial independence.

A practical six-week program for automating savings, investing and spending on what you value.

Research on how many American millionaires actually live: frugally, with steady habits and without flashy spending.

Short essays with simple sketches on why we do the wrong thing with money and how to close the gap.

Argues that the goal is to maximize life experiences, not just net worth, and to spend money at the right time of life.

Boils personal finance down to a short list of rules that fit on an index card, with the reasoning behind each.

A classic history of financial crises and the recurring pattern of boom, overextension and bust.

A short, sharp essay on speculative manias through the centuries and why they keep recurring.

A memoir of the author’s time as a bond salesman at Salomon Brothers in the 1980s.

Follows the investors who bet against the US housing market before the 2008 financial crisis.

The rise and 1998 collapse of hedge fund Long-Term Capital Management and what leverage can do.

A history of how people came to understand and measure risk, from early probability to modern finance.

Examines how market valuations and psychology fed bubbles in stocks and housing.

Soros sets out his theory of reflexivity, the feedback between market participants’ beliefs and reality.

The story of the 1988 leveraged buyout battle for RJR Nabisco.

A short introduction to economic reasoning that urges looking at long-run and unseen effects of policies. Written from a free-market perspective.

A history of money, credit, bonds, stocks, insurance and property and how they shaped the world.