Students have often requested that I list 'enjoyable' books to read that relate to our class topics. The popular press books listed below are related to various topics in business, finance, and economics that I've enjoyed (some more than others). Some are written for people without a background in finance or economics, while others assume strong training. I don't provide links, but I'm sure you can find book descriptions easily enough at amazon or any other on-line book retailer.
Finance:
A Random Walk Down Wall Street, by Burton G. Malkiel
Bogle on Mutual Funds, by John C. Bogle
Capital Ideas, by Peter Bernstein
Grande Expectations, A Year in the Life of Starbucks' Stock, by Karen Blumenthal
Inefficient Markets, by Andrei Shliefer (not a popular press book)
Motley Fool Investment Guide, by David and Tom Gardner.
The Intelligent Investor, by Benjamin Graham
The Money of Invention, by Paul Gompers and Josh Lerner
The Wall Street Journal Guide to Understanding Money and Investing, by Kenneth Morris and Alan Siegel
Trading & Exchanges, by Lawrence Harris
Stocks for the Long Run, by Jeremy Siegel
Finance History:
A Short History of Financial Euphoria, by John K. Galbraith
Against the Gods, The Remarkable Story of Risk, by Peter Bernstein
Den of Thieves, by James B. Stewart
How Genius Failed, by Roger Lowenstein
Investment Banking, by Alan Morrison and William Wilhelm
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator, by Edwin Lefevre
The Death of the Banker: The Decline and Fall of the Great Financial Dynasties and the Triumph of the Small Investor, by Ron Chernow
The Great Crash of 1929, by John K. Galbraith
The Man Who Made Wall Street: Anthony J. Drexel and the Rise of Modern Finance, by Dan Rottenberg
The Tycoons: How Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan Invented the American Supereconomy, by Charles Morris
Leadership and Strategy
Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, by Doris Goodwin.
Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr., by Ron Chernow
Truman, by David McCullough
1776, by David McCullough
To Try Men's Souls, by Gingrich and Forstchen
Economics:
Basic Economics, by Thomas Sowell
Essays on Economics and Economists, by R. H. Coase
Freakonomics, by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubnar
Free to Choose, by Milton Friedman
The Firm, the Market, and the Law, by R. H. Coase
The Power of Gold, by Peter Bernstein
The Road to Serfdom, by F. A. Hayek
Education and Scholarship:
Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World, by David Berlinski (about a lifetime of research - an interest in calculus is helpful)
The Map that Changed the World, by Simon Winchester (about one research project that took about a lifetime to complete - an interest in geology is helpful).
What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know, by E. D. Hirsh and John Holdren
Books to avoid:
Almost any finance book that has 'how to make money,' 'how to beat the market' or similar type phrases in the title.
Almost any finance book that has the word 'technical' in its title or subtitle - this is especially true when combined with the phrases 'how to make money' or 'how to beat the market'. Technical analysis may be of value, but not in any manner described in popular press texts.