The Learning Tree: Books, Blogs and Podcasts that Changed Me

Last Updated: 2022.02.10

There are far too many books out there than any of us have time to read and fully digest. Add to that podcasts and blogs, and you know you’ll have to be picky!

I’m hoping by sharing my list, folks reading it will have another reference.

I aim to update this list annually. There are books, blogs and podcasts that have had a dramatic effect on me. They’ve helped shape my view of the world and how I interpret what I perceive.

Here are the shortcuts to each section:

• Books
• Blogs
• Podcasts

Enjoy!

Books

You may find some books listed multiple times, albeit, under different categories. These books have multiple applications and if you’re looking under just one heading, I want to make sure you don’t lose the opportunity to read them.

All links are directed to Amazon Kindle versions of the books using the Amazon Smile links so that your purchases will benefit your charity of choice. 

Business / Management

• Building a Story Brand, by Donald Miller
• Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
• Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, by Alex Hutchinson
• Negotiating Your Salary: How to Make $1000 a Minute, by Jack Chapman
• Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss
• Principles: Life and Work, by Ray Dalio
• Rising to Power: The Journey of Exceptional Executives, by Ron A. Carucci and Eric C Hansen
• Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer, by Margo Morrell, Stephanie Capparell, and Alexandra Shackleton
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sinek
• StrengthFinder 2.0, by Tim Rath
• Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models, by Gabriel Weinberg, Lauren McCann 
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
• The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, by Michael Bungay Stanier
• The First 90 Days, by Michael Watkins
• The Four Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss
• The One Minute Manager, by Ken Blanchard
• The One Thing, by Gary Keller
• The Psychology of Human Misjudgment, by Charlie Munger (link to Farnam Street blog with sound recording as well as transcript of the talk Charlie Munger gave in 1995)
• The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell
• Think and Grow Rich, by Napolean Hill
• Think Like a Freak, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
• Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers, by Tim Ferriss
• Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard
• Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great: The Art of Leadership and War, by Xenophon

Entrepreneurship

• Building a Story Brand, by Donald Miller
• Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss
• Shackleton’s Way: Leadership Lessons from the Great Antarctic Explorer, by Margo Morrell, Stephanie Capparell, and Alexandra Shackleton
• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, by Simon Sine
• Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models, by Gabriel Weinberg, Lauren McCann 
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
• The $100 Startup, by Chris Guillebeau
• The Four Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss
• The One Thing, by Gary Keller
• The Psychology of Human Misjudgment, by Charlie Munger (link to Farnam Street blog with sound recording as well as transcript of the talk Charlie Munger gave in 1995)
• The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell

Fiction / Fantasy

• The Hobbit & Lord of the Rings series, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Wheel of Time series, by Robert Jordan (only available in paperback now)
• Zorba, The Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis

Health

• Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, by Alex Hutchinson
• Overcoming Gravity: A Systematic Approach to Gymnastics and Bodyweight Strength (Second Edition), by Steven Low

History / Philosophy / Science / Social Psychology / Sociology 

• A Brief History of Time, by Stephen Hawking
• Animal Farm, by George Orwell
• David & Goliath, by Malcolm Gladwell
• Ego is the Enemy, by Ryan Holiday
• Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World, by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlund
• Gandhi, His Life and Message for the World, by Louis Fischer
• How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
• Ideas & Opinions, by Albert Einstein
• Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Differences, by John R. Hibbing, Kevin B. Smith and John R. Alford
• Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari
• The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread, by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall
• The Republic, Plato
• Tomorrowland: Our Journey From Science Fiction to Science Fact, by Steven Kotler21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari
• Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom
• Who Moved My Cheese, by Spencer Johnson and Ken Blanchard
• Xenophon’s Cyrus the Great: The Art of Leadership and War, by Xenophon
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pirsig
• Zorba, The Greek, by Nikos Kazantzakis

Poetry

• Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman
• A Collection of Poems by Robert Frost, by Robert Frost

Politics

• Beyond Contempt: How Liberals Can Communicate Across the Great Divide, by Erica Etelson 
• On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, by Timothy Snyder
• People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent, by Joseph E. Stiglitz
• Predisposed: Liberals, Conservatives, and the Biology of Political Differences, by John R. Hibbing, Kevin B. Smith and John R. Alford
• The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread, by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall
• The US Constitution

Self-Improvement

• Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, Second Edition, by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
• How to Read a Book, by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren
• How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie
• Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!, by Robert Kiyosaki
• StrengthFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath
• Super Thinking: The Big Book of Mental Models, by Gabriel Weinberg, Lauren McCann 
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
• The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever, by Michael Bungay Stanier
• The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results, by Gary Keller  and Jay Papasan
• The Psychology of Human Misjudgement, by Charles Munger (fs blog with transcript and embedded audio of the presentation)
• Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers, by Tim Ferriss
• What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question, by Po Bronson (one of the books that helped me get out of a terrible company position and donward spiral)

Blogs

• Brain Pickings, by Maria Popova
• Design Luck, by Zat Rana
• Farnam Street, by Shane Parrish
• Principled Perspective Newsletter, by Ray Dalio
• Seth’s Blog, by Seth Godin
• Wait But Why, by Tim Urban

Podcasts

• Bag Man, by Rachel Maddow
• Duolingo Podcast, Improve your language skills and gain new perspectives on the world by listening to easy-to-follow, fascinating true stories.
• Hidden Brain, by Shankar Vedantam
• Making Sense, by Sam Harris
• Startup School, by Seth Godin

Favorite Reading or Listening Tools

• AllSides: Best news aggregator that determines what bias each news source has and presents the same story from Left, Center, and Right perspectives
• Medium, Great for exploring new authors, articles, topics
• Pocket, save articles to read later
• Podcast Addict, best tool I found for…wait for it..wait for it..for finding, saving and listening to podcasts