ashes of my shelf
Over the years, I've read a few thousand books. Some of which were about business. This list has 44 recommendations.
Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson revolutionized the world of advertising and marketing when it first appeared by proposing bold, unconventional strategies for small businesses with limited budgets. The book’s core message is simple but powerful: creativity and energy can outperform expensive ad campaigns. Rather than relying on traditional media buys, guerrilla marketing emphasizes tactics […]
The Tools of Argument
The Tools of Argument by Joel P. Trachtman is a concise but powerful guide for mastering persuasive reasoning and structured debate. Written by a professor of international law, the book distills the techniques used by lawyers to craft airtight arguments and dismantle flawed logic. Trachtman provides readers with an accessible toolkit: how to build syllogisms, […]
Outlive
Dr. Peter Attia’s *Outlive* is not a book about living longer—it’s a blueprint for living better for longer. Blending cutting-edge science with clinical experience, Attia reframes healthspan as the real goal, focusing on preventing the chronic diseases that derail quality of life. The book introduces readers to the Four Horsemen of chronic disease—heart disease, cancer, […]
Shoe Dog
Shoe Dog is not a sanitized corporate biography; it is Phil Knight’s raw confession of the messy, exhilarating birth of Nike. Knight recounts pounding Japanese factory floors in the 1960s, selling running shoes out of his Plymouth Valiant, and facing perpetual cash-flow crises that threatened to sink the company. Alongside him is a motley crew […]
Diffusion of Innovations
In this renowned book, Everett M. Rogers, professor and chair of the Department of Communication & Journalism at the University of New Mexico, explains how new ideas spread via communication channels over time. Such innovations are initially perceived as uncertain and even risky. To overcome this uncertainty, most people seek out others like themselves who […]
Influence
Robert Cialdini’s Influence is the foundational text on why humans comply—or resist—requests. Drawing on decades of laboratory studies, undercover fieldwork, and cross-cultural examples, Cialdini distills six universal principles of persuasion: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity. Each principle is illustrated with memorable stories, from door-to-door sales tactics to cult recruitment. What […]