Bonus for Subscribers: My 25 Favorite Non-Fiction Books of All-Time

25 of the best books I've ever read

At the risk of sounding like a nerd, I LOVE to read. I was digging into the Exorcist when I was 6 years old. After reading a book on speed reading when I was young, I started ripping through books at a terrific pace and there has never been a year of my life when I’ve read less than say 15-20 books in a year. Usually? The numbers are higher. So, over the course of my life, I’ve consumed an extraordinary number of books that cover politics, economics, psychology, self-help, fantasy, communications, horror, marketing, religion, business, and health among other topics.  

Out of all those books, here are my 25 favorites that cover non-fiction in Alphabetical order along with a short description of each from Amazon. You probably won’t be interested in all of them, but if you can find a couple of good books you think are worth reading out of this, it has been well worth your time. Enjoy!

1) The 4 Hour Work Week: Forget the old concepts of retirement and a deferred life plan. There is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. For living more and working less, this book is the blueprint. This expanded edition includes dozens of practical tips and case studies from people who have doubled their income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book. Also included are templates for eliminating email and negotiating with bosses and clients, how to apply lifestyle principles in unpredictable economic times, and the latest tools, tricks, and shortcuts for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either.

2) Awaken the Giant Within: Wake up and take control of your life! From the bestselling author of Inner Strength, Unlimited Power, and MONEY Master the Game, Anthony Robbins, the nation's leader in the science of peak performance, shows you his most effective strategies and techniques for mastering your emotions, your body, your relationships, your finances, and your life. The acknowledged expert in the psychology of change, Anthony Robbins provides a step-by-step program teaching the fundamental lessons of self-mastery that will enable you to discover your true purpose, take control of your life, and harness the forces that shape your destiny.

3) Basic Economics: Basic Economics is a citizen's guide to economics, written for those who want to understand how the economy works but have no interest in jargon or equations. Bestselling economist Thomas Sowell explains the general principles underlying different economic systems: capitalist, socialist, feudal, and so on. In readable language, he shows how to critique economic policies in terms of the incentives they create, rather than the goals they proclaim. With clear explanations of the entire field, from rent control and the rise and fall of businesses to the international balance of payments, this is the first book for anyone who wishes to understand how the economy functions.

4) Can't Hurt Me:  For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare -- poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world's top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him "The Fittest (Real) Man in America." In Can't Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.

5) The Compound Effect: Do you want success? More success than you have now? And even more success than you ever imagined possible? That is what this book is about. Achieving it. No gimmicks. No hyperbole. Finally, just the truth on what it takes to earn success. As the central curator of the success media industry for over 25 years, author Darren Hardy has heard it all, seen it all, and tried most of it. This book reveals the core principles that drive success. The Compound Effect contains the essence of what every superachiever needs to know, practice, and master to obtain extraordinary success. Inside you will find strategies on:

· How to win--every time! The No. 1 strategy to achieve any goal and triumph over any competitor, even if they're smarter, more talented or more experienced.

· Eradicating your bad habits (some you might be unaware of!) that are derailing your progress.

· Painlessly installing the few key disciplines required for major breakthroughs.

· The real, lasting keys to motivation--how to get yourself to do things you don't feel like doing.

· Capturing the elusive, awesome force of momentum. Catch this, and you'll be unstoppable.

·  The acceleration secrets of superachievers. Do they have an unfair advantage? Yes, they do, and now you can too!      

If you're serious about living an extraordinary life, use the power of The Compound Effect to create the success you desire. Begin your journey today!

6) Dopamine Nation: This book is about pleasure. It’s also about pain. Most important, it’s about how to find the delicate balance between the two, and why now more than ever finding balance is essential. We’re living in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high-dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, texting, sexting, Facebooking, Instagramming, YouTubing, tweeting… The increased numbers, variety, and potency is staggering. The smartphone is the modern-day hypodermic needle, delivering digital dopamine 24/7 for a wired generation. As such we’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption.
 
In Dopamine Nation, Dr. Anna Lembke, psychiatrist and author, explores the exciting new scientific discoveries that explain why the relentless pursuit of pleasure leads to pain…and what to do about it. Condensing complex neuroscience into easy-to-understand metaphors, Lembke illustrates how finding contentment and connectedness means keeping dopamine in check. The lived experiences of her patients are the gripping fabric of her narrative. Their riveting stories of suffering and redemption give us all hope for managing our consumption and transforming our lives. In essence, Dopamine Nation shows that the secret to finding balance is combining the science of desire with the wisdom of recovery.

7) The Game: Hidden somewhere, in nearly every major city in the world, is an underground seduction lair. And in these lairs, men trade the most devastatingly effective techniques ever invented to charm women. This is not fiction. These men really exist. They live together in houses known as Projects. And Neil Strauss, the best-selling author, spent two years living among them, using the pseudonym Style to protect his real-life identity.

The result is one of the most explosive and controversial books of the year -- guaranteed to change the lives of men and transform the way women understand the opposite sex forever.

On his journey from AFC (average frustrated chump) to PUA (pick-up artist) to PUG (pick-up guru), Strauss not only shares scores of original seduction techniques but also has unforgettable encounters with the likes of Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Heidi Fleiss, and Courtney Love. And then things really start to get strange -- and passions lead to betrayals lead to violence.

The Game is the story of one man's transformation from frog to prince to prisoner in the most unforgettable book of the year.

8) How to Win Friends and Influence People: You can go after the job you want—and get it!

You can take the job you have—and improve it!
You can take any situation—and make it work for you!

Dale Carnegie’s rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you:

-Six ways to make people like you
-Twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking
-Nine ways to change people without arousing resentment

And much more! Achieve your maximum potential—a must-read for the twenty-first century with more than 15 million copies sold!

9) Liberal Fascism: Liberal Fascism offers a startling new perspective on the theories and practices that define fascist politics. Replacing conveniently manufactured myths with surprising and enlightening research, Jonah Goldberg reminds us that the original fascists were really on the left, and that liberals from Woodrow Wilson to FDR to Hillary Clinton have advocated policies and principles remarkably similar to those of Hitler's National Socialism and Mussolini's Fascism.

… Fascism was an international movement that appeared in different forms in different countries, depending on the vagaries of national culture and temperament. In Germany, fascism appeared as genocidal racist nationalism. In America, it took a “friendlier,” more liberal form. The modern heirs of this “friendly fascist” tradition include the New York Times, the Democratic Party, the Ivy League professoriate, and the liberals of Hollywood. The quintessential Liberal Fascist isn't an SS storm trooper; it is a female grade school teacher with an education degree from Brown or Swarthmore.

These assertions may sound strange to modern ears, but that is because we have forgotten what fascism is. In this angry, funny, smart, contentious book, Jonah Goldberg turns our preconceptions inside out and shows us the true meaning of Liberal Fascism.

10): Looking Out For #1: One of the top 10 bestselling motivational books of all time.-The New York Times! Read Looking Out for #1 and join the millions of people in all walks of life who have discovered the true path to purpose, prosperity, and peace of mind by tapping into Robert Ringer’s treasure chest of profound knowledge and wisdom.

11) Man's Search for Meaning: Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America.

12) Mere Christianity: In the classic Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis, the most important writer of the 20th century, explores the common ground upon which all of those of Christian faith stand together. Bringing together Lewis’ legendary broadcast talks during World War Two from his three previous books The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity provides an unequaled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to hear this powerful apologetic for the Christian faith.

13) No More Mr. Nice Guy: A Proven Plan for Getting What You Want in Love, Sex and Life: A Nice Guy, according to Dr. Robert Glover, a pioneering expert on the Nice Guy Syndrome, is a man who believes he is not okay just as he is. He is convinced that he must become what he thinks others want him to be liked, loved, and get his needs met. He also believes that he must hide anything about himself that might trigger a negative response in others.

The Nice Guy Syndrome typically begins in infancy and childhood when a young boy inaccurately internalizes emotional messages about himself and the world. It is fueled by toxic shame and anxiety. Rapid social change in the late 20th century and early 21st century has contributed to a worldwide explosion of men struggling to find happiness, love, and purpose.

… Contrary to what the title might seem to imply, No More Mr. Nice Guy does not teach men how to be not nice. Dr. Glover shows men how to become what he calls Integrated Males. Becoming integrated does not mean becoming different or better. It means being able to accept all aspects of oneself. An integrated male can embrace everything that makes him unique - his power, his assertiveness, his humor, his courage, and his mission, as well as his fears, his imperfections, his mistakes, his rough edges, and his dark side.

14) Peace of the Soul: Sheen brilliantly examines the vast differences between the benefits of psychotherapy and true confession that leads to conversion. While one may help the patient gain some peace of mind, the Christian gains something far greater through the grace of Confession: peace of soul.

Sheen has...analyze[d] the inner troubles of frustrated post-war man...to make religion up-to-date, attractive, and necessary to the unhappy, God-repelling souls of the present.

15) The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?: Before you were born, God already planned your life. God longs for you to discover the life he uniquely created you to live--here on earth, and forever in eternity. Let The Purpose Driven Life show you how. As one of the bestselling nonfiction books in history, with more than 35 million copies sold, The Purpose Driven Life is far more than just a book; it's the road map for your spiritual journey. A journey that will transform your life.

Designed to be read in 42 days, each chapter provides a daily meditation and practical steps to help you discover and live out your purpose, starting with exploring three of life's most pressing questions:

· The Question of Existence: Why am I alive?

· The Question of Significance: Does my life matter?

· The Question of Purpose: What on earth am I here for?

16) Radical Son: Originally a radical socialist, the current driving force behind the rise of the Hollywood right recounts how he moved from one set of political convictions to another over the course of thirty years, and challenges readers to consider how they came by their own convictions.

17) The Rational Male: "The Bible of the Red Pill", The Rational Male® is a rational and pragmatic approach to intersexual dynamics, and the social and psychological underpinnings of intergender relations. The book is the compiled, ten-year core writing of author/blogger Rollo Tomassi from therationalmale.com. 

Rollo Tomassi is one of the leading voices in the globally growing, male-focused online consortium known as the "Manosphere".

Outlined are the concepts of positive masculinity, the feminine imperative, plate theory, operative social conventions and the core psychological theory behind Game awareness and "red pill" ideology. Tomassi explains and outlines the principles of intergender social dynamics and foundational reasoning behind them.

18) The Screwtape Letters: The Screwtape Letters by C.S.  Lewis is a classic masterpiece of religious satire that entertains readers with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to "Our Father Below." At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written. 

19) The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements: A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophical treatises in his spare time while living in the railroad yards. The True Believer—the first and most famous of his books—was made into a bestseller when President Eisenhower cited it during one of the earliest television press conferences.

Called a “brilliant and original inquiry” and “a genuine contribution to our social thought” by Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., this landmark in the field of social psychology is completely relevant and essential for understanding the world today as it delivers a visionary, highly provocative look into the mind of the fanatic and a penetrating study of how an individual becomes one.

20) Unlimited Power : If you have ever dreamed of a better life, Unlimited Power will show you how to achieve the extraordinary quality of life you desire and deserve, and how to master your personal and professional life. Anthony Robbins has proven to millions through his books, tapes, and seminars that by harnessing the power of the mind you can do, have, achieve, and create anything you want for your life. He has shown heads of state, royalty, Olympic and professional athletes, movie stars, and children how to achieve. With Unlimited Power, he passionately and eloquently reveals the science of personal achievement and teaches you:
* How to find out what you really want
* The Seven Lies of Success
* How to reprogram your mind in minutes to eliminate fears and phobias
* The secret of creating instant rapport with anyone you meet
* How to duplicate the success of others
* The Five Keys to Wealth and Happiness
Unlimited Power is a revolutionary fitness book for the mind. It will show you, step by step, how to perform at your peak while gaining emotional and financial freedom, attaining leadership and self-confidence, and winning the cooperation of others. It will give you the knowledge and the courage to remake yourself and your world. Unlimited Power is a guidebook to superior performance in an age of success.

21) The Wars of America: "Leckie treats not the causes of our wars, nor the controversies that have always attended them, nor their results, so often equivocal, debatable, or flatly disappointing, but the manner in which they were fought, their leadership, their pages of glory and of shame."--Allan Nevins, Saturday Review.

22) The Way of the Superior Man: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Women, Work, and Sexual Desire: Though much has changed in society since the first publication of The Way of the Superior Man, men of all ages still "tussle with the challenges of women, work, and sexual desire." Including an all-new preface by author David Deida, this 20th-anniversary edition of the classic guide to male spirituality offers the next generation the opportunity to cultivate trust in the moment and put forth the best versions of themselves in an ever-changing world.

In The Way of the Superior Man, Deida explores the most important issues in men’s lives―from career and family to women and intimacy to love and spirituality―to offer a practical guidebook for living a masculine life of integrity, authenticity, and freedom. Join this bestselling author and internationally renowned expert on sexual spirituality for straightforward advice, empowering skills, body practices, and more to help you realize a life of fulfillment, immediately and without compromise.

23) Why Men are the Way They Are: Why Men Are the Way they Are is what women don't know about men - and men don't know about themselves. Dr. Warren Farrell is a pioneer of both the women's and men's movements. He started more than 300 men's and women's groups - joined by men from John Lennon to John Gray….

24) Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy: Since its first publication nearly twenty years ago, G. Gordon Liddy's extraordinary autobiography has shocked, moved, and inspired millions of readers with its startlingly candid depiction of a man who is hero to some, villain to others, and fascinating to all. From his involvement in Watergate to his controversial radio program, Will explores the making of an American legend in vivid, intimate detail.

Now updated with new information that brings Liddy's amazing story to the present day, Will is sure to remain a classic volume for generations to come.

25) Winning through Intimidation: How to Be the Victor, Not the Victim, in Business and in Life: Believe it or not, the results a person obtains are inversely proportionate to the degree to which he is intimidated; it's not what you say or do that counts, but what your posture is when you say or do it! Those who choose to be ostriches and believe they can wish away these realities invite an enormous amount of unnecessary pain and frustration into their lives. If you heed the truths set forth in Winning through Intimidation, there will be fewer occasions when you find yourself scratching your head and trying to figure out why a situation you thought you had under control ended up falling apart at the seams.  

By learning and implementing the unique ideas, strategies, and techniques that Robert Ringer teaches in Winning Through Intimidation, you'll be in a position to join the millions of entrepreneurs, business owners, and individuals in all walks of life who have elevated their business and personal lives to a whole new level of success.  

Find out for yourself why the realities set forth in this classic work have continued to inspire and elevate millions of listeners to a whole new level of success for more than three decades.

PS: If you’re looking for one more good book, I wrote, 101 Things All Young Adults Should Know. If you’re looking to help get a young adult you know 25 years ahead of everyone else in their age bracket, it’s a good book to give to them.

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