The Investor's Shelf — one person
PO
Patrick O'Shaughnessy
CEO of Positive Sum and host of the Invest Like the Best podcast
164 books they recommend
Books they recommend 164
O'Shaughnessy surfaces books through "Invest Like the Best" episodes, his "Reading" recommendations, and frequent Twitter threads (including curated "5 books for…" lists he has promoted). He ranges far beyond finance into history, creativity, psychology, and adventure narrative. Note: "What Works on Wall Street" is his father Jim O'Shaughnessy's book, not Patrick's own pick, so it's excluded here.
Full Reading List (PDF) — The Investor's Field Guide, archived 92
Philosophy 10
David Whyte · not in an entry yet
Nassim Nicholas Taleb · not in an entry yet
Fiction 9
Not yet given a topic 9
Psychology and Behaviour 8
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi · not in an entry yet
Adam Alter · not in an entry yet
Julian Jaynes · not in an entry yet
Step (Perennial Library) by Edward de Bono · not in an entry yet
William Poundstone · not in an entry yet
Investing 7
Edward Chancellor · not in an entry yet
Lawrence A. Cunningham, Torkell T. Eide, Patrick Hargreaves · not in an entry yet
“Adam Smith” (aka George Goodman) · not in an entry yet
Jacques Lussier · not in an entry yet
Travel and Exploration 4
Robert Kurson · not in an entry yet
Religion and Spirituality 4
Parker J. Palmer · not in an entry yet
Biography and Memoir 3
Paul Cronin · not in an entry yet
Science 3
Carl Sagan · not in an entry yet
Sales and Marketing 3
Financial History 3
Productivity and Habits 3
Scott Adams · not in an entry yet
Decision Making 2
General History 2
War and Strategy 2
Business and Management 2
Writing and Communication 2
Steven Pressfield · not in an entry yet
Sociology and Culture 2
Wade Davis · not in an entry yet
Finance and Markets 2
Alfred Rappaport · not in an entry yet
Technology and Computing 2
Entrepreneurship and Startups 1
Environment and Energy 1
Mathematics and Statistics 1
Adam Kucharski · not in an entry yet
Reference Works 1
Lars Mytting · not in an entry yet
Negotiation and Persuasion 1
Blair Warren · not in an entry yet
Art and Design 1
Not a Book 1
Sport 1
Jonathan Gottschall · not in an entry yet
Politics and Government 1
John Micklethwait, Adrian Wooldridge · not in an entry yet
Company Histories 1
Ed Catmull, Amy Wallace · not in an entry yet
Book recommendations listed on their Good Books profile 38
Psychology and Behaviour 6
Investing 4
Philosophy 4
Science 3
Biography and Memoir 3
Business and Management 2
Technology and Computing 2
Fiction 2
Travel and Exploration 2
Negotiation and Persuasion 2
Sport 2
Art and Design 1
General History 1
Entrepreneurship and Startups 1
Decision Making 1
Artificial Intelligence 1
Finance and Markets 1
Books O'Shaughnessy has recommended on Invest Like the Best and in his newsletter 21
Business and Management 4
Psychology and Behaviour 2
Biography and Memoir 2
Philosophy 2
General History 1
Politics and Government 1
Productivity and Habits 1
Entrepreneurship and Startups 1
Sociology and Culture 1
Science 1
Technology and Computing 1
Company Histories 1
Financial History 1
Fiction 1
Sales and Marketing 1
Superbook reading list 13
Not yet given a topic 3
Hamilton Helmer
“Featured on his entrepreneurs reading list as a rigorous framework for durable competitive advantage.”
Edward Chancellor
“He calls it essential reading for investors, on the capital-cycle approach.”
Peter L. Bernstein
“Featured on his "global perspective" reading list as the definitive popular history of risk.”
Psychology and Behaviour 2
Arthur Koestler · not in an entry yet
“O'Shaughnessy calls it his favorite book on creativity.”
Eric Hoffer
“He recommends it because "so much of investing is herd behavior" and it teaches you to think against the crowd.”
General History 2
Yuval Noah Harari · not in an entry yet
“He praises it as "entertaining and useful" for understanding the evolved psychology behind investor behavior.”
Will Durant, Ariel Durant
“He calls the audiobook "incredible" and the Durants "among the best historians ever."”
Business and Management 1
William N. Thorndike
“O'Shaughnessy repeatedly recommends it for its lessons on capital allocation — a core theme he says every investor should internalize.”
Entrepreneurship and Startups 1
Peter Thiel
“A staple of his "books for would-be entrepreneurs" list; he highlights its contrarian, monopoly-building thinking.”
Environment and Energy 1
Investing 1
Scott Davis, Carter Copeland, Rob Wertheimer
“A direct "I highly recommend this book" endorsement on industrial-company case studies.”
Biography and Memoir 1
Phil Knight · not in an entry yet
“He recommends Knight's Nike memoir as a near-perfect business-story hybrid.”
Travel and Exploration 1
Peter Matthiessen · not in an entry yet
“Among his adventure/philosophy recommendations, for readers who like travel and meaning.”