Some good books worth reading...

"A man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cant read!" So says Mark Twain.. And it is so very true. There is a world of knowledge out there. And its yours if you choose to.
Personally, I love to read. Due to time limitations, I read books about investing and psychology only. These books have taught me a lot. They have awed me, humbled me and I have communicated with the greatest minds on earth through these books! Here is a list of good books you also can read and learn from. For simplicity sake, I have categorized them based on various criteria. The order in which the books are mentioned has no significance whatsoever.

The Buffett/Graham/Munger category:

1) Security Analysis - Graham & Dodd
The original text of value investing, first published in 1934. The book is currently in its sixth edition and it is still on the best-sellers list. It is proof that investing is indeed timeless. The book is extremely technical in nature. Readers who are not serious will find it daunting. (To be frank, boring!)

2) The Intelligent Investor - Graham
The follow-up to the Security Analysis book, The Intelligent Investor is yet another classic. Much more simplistically written, I believe it is a must-read for any budding investor.

3) Buffettology/The New Buffettology - Mary Buffett
An excellent book to read about Warren Buffett. Written in simple language.

4) The Snowball - Alice Schroeder
Size-wise, this is the biggest book on Buffett! :-) Personally, it was not big on value addition, for me. After reading this book, one's respect for Buffett as a human being and family man (not as an investor) would surely come down.

5) Poor Charlie's Almanack - Munger
Reading this book has been quite an experience. It takes a huge amount of mental effort to understand and absorb this book. Munger is amazingly smart, equally funny and kinda whimsical.

6) How to pick stocks like Warren Buffett - Timothy Vick
Gives a step-by-step and simplified analysis of Warren Buffett's stock picking approach. But, do remember that understanding Buffett is comparatively easy, implementing Buffett is damn difficult.

There are countless books written on Buffett. Be careful about choosing which one to read. Most of them contain the 'Buffett' name just to sell the book.

The Value Investing/Investing category:

1) Common Stocks & Uncommon Profits - Phil Fisher
One of the best books on investing, imho. Fisher should be called as the Father of Simplicity! Reading this book will change your whole outlook towards investing and how you look at companies.

2) Value Investing: From Graham to Buffett and beyond - Bruce Greenwald
Another amazing book. I have been fortunate enough to attend a seminar by Prof. Greenwald and hear him talk. It was a great experience. Definitely a book worth reading.

3) Value Investing - James Montier
For me, Montier is a rockstar! He is one of the world's leading authorities on Behavioural Finance, a subject close to my heart. Montier's work on value investing is also very much worth reading.

4) The Little Book of Value Investing - Christopher Browne
An amazing book. Simplifies the 'investing in a business' approach to a great extent.

5) The Focus Investor - Rockwood
Though not strictly a book on value investing, this book provides an altogether different approach to investing by combining varied investing philosophies. Surely worth reading.

6) The Dhando Investor - Pabrai
For me, this is a coffee table kinda book. Imho, the book is over-rated.

7) Margin of Safety - Klarman
This has to be on your must-read list. An amazingly written book on the concept of margin of safety, which is central to the value investing philosophy.

8) One up on Wall Street - Peter Lynch
9) Beating the Street - Peter Lynch
Both are good books by a very street-smart investor. Lynch was not at all in the value-investing camp, but he earned phenomenal returns (the best ever) as a mutual fund manager.

10) Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - Edwin Leferve
This is not a book on investing as such, its written by a hard-core trader. But its an amazing and wonderful read. One can learn a great deal about the psychology of the markets from this book.

11) Its when you sell that counts - Cassidy
One of the very few books written on the art of selling! Contains a lot of stuff on behavioural finance too.


The Behavioural Finance/Psychology category

1) Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely
A superb book for anyone interested in psychology. Full of examples and experiments.

2) SWAY - The irresistible pull of Irrational Behaviour - Braffman
Well, the title says it all, doesn't it?

3) Panic - Michael Lewis
A history of how markets panic. Will help you to be ready next time!

4) Behavioural Investing - Montier
Another excellent book on the application of behavioural finance in investing.

5) Seeking wisdom: From Darwin to Munger - Peter Bevelin
Another fascinating book, written in an interesting way.

6) Chaos - James Gleick
A very very complicated book imho. Not directly related to investing, but covers multiple fields and aspects.

7) The (mis)behaviour of markets - Mandelbrot
This book takes a look at the classical financial and valuation models and theories and then takes them apart!


The Entertaining Category

1) Liar's Poker - Michael Lewis
A hilarious look at what happens in a typical investment bank. Amazing book.

2) Where are the Customers' Yachts - Fred Schwed
Another excellent and entertaining take on how Wall Street operates. A must-read.

3) Fooled by Randomness - Taleb
4) The Black Swan - Taleb
Taleb's books take time to understand and digest. But are very absorbing. These two books always help me remain within my aukaad! :-)

5) Damn Right - Janet Lowe
This shouldn't really be in the entertaining category, but I personally found it amazingly entertaining. Anyways, anything on Munger has to be witty and entertaining! Do take a look.


These are few of the books I have read and I would recommend that you also take them up. It would be a life-altering experience. I am in the process of reading more books and would update any good books I come across.. Currently, after going through a Montier phase, I am taking up The Art of Strategy which was sent by my good friend Carlos. Btw, Carlos, if you are reading this, I expect a huge number of comments (a.k.a. brickbats) from you, since 'books' is a matter close to your heart. :-)

Cheers and happy reading!!


P.S. I do not have a soft copy of any of the books, so kindly do not ask me to email soft copies n stuff..