Warren Buffett has spent his career telling people that reading is the most critical habit behind his success. In the early days, he devoured 600 to 1,000 pages a day, and even now, he reportedly spends roughly 80 percent of his time reading. Over the decades, in shareholder letters, Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings, and interviews, certain books have come up again and again.
These are not casual mentions. These are titles Buffett has returned to repeatedly, urged others to read, and credited with shaping his thinking about investing, business, and life. Here are the 10 books he has recommended the most.
1. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
No book appears more frequently in Buffett’s recommendations. He picked it up at age 19 and has called it the best book on investing ever written. In his 2011 shareholder letter, he wrote that reading Chapter 8 on market fluctuations changed everything for him, making low prices his friend rather than his enemy.
Graham’s framework for value investing, built on the concepts of intrinsic value and the margin of safety, has served as the intellectual foundation for Buffett’s investment strategy for over six decades.
2. Poor Charlie’s Almanack edited by Peter D. Kaufman
This collection of speeches, essays, and wisdom from Charlie Munger has become one of Buffett’s most consistent recommendations. He has praised it at nearly every Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting and highlighted it in his 2010 shareholder letter, joking that readers should carry it around because it would make them look urbane and erudite.
The book captures Munger’s approach to decision-making through mental models drawn from multiple disciplines. For Buffett, it represents the kind of broad thinking that complements the pure value investing he learned from Graham.
3. Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd
Often called the bible of value investing, this is the more technical companion to The Intelligent Investor. Buffett studied under Graham at Columbia Business School, where this text served as the core curriculum.
Buffett has said that Graham and Dodd laid out a roadmap for investing that he followed for over five decades, and that he never found a reason to look for another one. While The Intelligent Investor is for everyday investors, Security Analysis is the one he points serious students toward.
4. Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr.
First published in 1940, this book uses humor to expose Wall Street’s conflicts of interest. Buffett proclaimed it the funniest book ever written about investing in his 2006 shareholder letter and recommended it again in 2014.
The title comes from a story about a visitor to New York who admired the yachts of bankers and brokers and innocently asked where the customers’ yachts were. Schwed’s point, that Wall Street profits handsomely whether clients do or not, is a message Buffett has echoed throughout his career.
5. Business Adventures by John Brooks
When Bill Gates asked Warren Buffett for his favorite book in 1991, Buffett sent Him his personal copy. That recommendation alone made it legendary, but Buffett has continued to praise the book in shareholder letters and interviews for decades.
The stories cover events from the Ford Edsel disaster to the rise of Xerox. Gates later wrote that it serves as a potent reminder that the principles for building a winning business stay constant, no matter how much technology changes.
6. Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher
While Benjamin Graham taught Buffett to find undervalued companies, Philip Fisher taught him to evaluate quality. Buffett has said he sought out Fisher after reading this book and was deeply impressed by both the man and his ideas.
Fisher’s emphasis on understanding a business through conversations with its stakeholders became a key part of Buffett’s own approach. He has recommended this book consistently across interviews, letters, and annual meetings.
7. The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike
In his 2012 shareholder letter, Buffett called this an outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation. It profiles eight unconventional chief executives whose companies dramatically outperformed the market over long periods.
Berkshire Hathaway plays a significant role in the book, with one chapter focusing on Tom Murphy, whom Buffett has called the best business manager he has ever met. He has recommended it at multiple annual meetings and interviews since.
8. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
This is the one book on Buffett’s list that has nothing to do with investing or business strategy. In the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett, he revealed that he was terrified of public speaking as a young man and that a Dale Carnegie course changed his life.
He considers investing in yourself the most important investment anyone can make, and this book represents that principle. It taught him communication skills that proved just as valuable as any financial textbook in building his career.
9. The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle
John Bogle, founder of Vanguard and creator of the first index fund, wrote this as a case for low-cost, passive investing. Buffett recommended it in his 2014 shareholder letter, telling investors they should read it rather than listen to the siren songs of expensive fund managers.
Buffett has repeatedly endorsed Bogle’s philosophy, even instructing in his will that the money left to his wife be invested in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund. This book distills that strategy into a practical guide.
10. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
In his 2016 shareholder letter, Buffett called this memoir by Nike co-founder Phil Knight the best book he read that year. He praised Knight as a sagacious, intelligent, and competitive fellow, as well as a gifted storyteller.
The book chronicles Nike’s journey from a scrappy startup to one of the most recognized brands on the planet. Buffett appreciates business narratives that reveal the grit and persistence behind great companies, and Knight’s story delivers that with unusual candor.
Conclusion
The pattern in Buffett’s reading list tells you as much about his philosophy as any annual letter. The books he returns to most cluster around a few key themes: understanding the actual value of a business, thinking independently, allocating capital wisely, and communicating effectively.
What stands out is that these are not trendy picks; most are decades old. He values ideas that endure, and his reading list reflects the same long-term thinking that defines his approach to investing. For anyone looking to build wealth or make better decisions, starting with these 10 titles is one of the smartest moves you can make.