The 25 best self-help and business books
The 25 highest-ranked self-help and business books in our ranking of 2,816, scored on how much readers love them, their prize, best-list and bestseller record, and current buzz. We rank 85 self-help and business books in all. How we rank
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Atomic Habits91.0Must-Read ScoreAtomic Habits
James Clear's argument is that if you're struggling to change, the problem isn't you, it's your system.
Why it made the listOne of the ten best-selling books of 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 (Publishers Weekly)416 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2018 - 2
How to Win Friends and Influence People89.7Must-Read ScoreHow to Win Friends and Influence People
Dale Carnegie's 1936 guide to getting along with people is built on a few simple, practical principles: show genuine interest in others, remember their names, listen more than you talk, let people save face, and never criticize when you can encourage instead.
Why it made the listOne of the best-selling books ever (about 37 million copies)#1 New York Times bestseller (32 weeks at #1)TIME All-TIME 100 NonfictionGuardian 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time - 3
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty89.2Must-Read ScoreEmpire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
The Sackler family's name was once on museum wings and university buildings around the world.
Why it made the listBaillie Gifford Prize winner (2021)Goodreads Choice (history biography) winner (2021)40 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2021NBCC Award (Nonfiction) finalist (2021) - 4
Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It86.9Must-Read ScoreNever Split the Difference: Negotiating as If Your Life Depended on It
Chris Voss went from policing the streets of Kansas City to becoming the FBI's lead international kidnapping negotiator, facing bank robbers and terrorists across the table.
Why it made the list48 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2025 - 5
Thinking, Fast and Slow86.8Must-Read ScoreThinking, Fast and Slow
Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman explains the two systems that drive how we think.
Why it made the list545 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2011Guardian 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 6
Tuesdays with Morrie83.6Must-Read ScoreTuesdays with Morrie
Sportswriter Mitch Albom hadn't spoken to his favorite college professor, Morrie Schwartz, in sixteen years when he saw him on television, dying of ALS.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (55 weeks at #1) - 7
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup83.5Must-Read ScoreBad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
In 2014, Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes was hailed as the next Steve Jobs: a Stanford dropout whose startup promised to run a whole range of lab tests from a single drop of blood, and whose company was valued at more than $9 billion.
Why it made the list84 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2018 - 8
The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine83.4Must-Read ScoreThe Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
Michael Lewis tells the story of the 2008 financial crash through the handful of oddballs who saw it coming and bet against the housing market: in the obscure markets for mortgage bonds and derivatives, where Wall Street built securities no one understood, they realized the whole system was built on loans that would never be repaid.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (6 weeks at #1)101 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2010 - 9
Outliers: The Story of Success83.4Must-Read ScoreOutliers: The Story of Success
Malcolm Gladwell argues that success isn't just about talent and hard work, but about hidden advantages: when and where you were born, your family's culture, and the opportunities you happened to get.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (15 weeks at #1)534 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2008 - 10
Unreasonable Hospitality83.3Must-Read ScoreUnreasonable Hospitality
Will Guidara was 26 when he took over Eleven Madison Park, a struggling two-star New York brasserie.
Why it made the list120 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2024 - 11
The Simple Path to Wealth83.0Must-Read ScoreThe Simple Path to Wealth
JL Collins began writing to his daughter about money, and those letters became this book.
Why it made the list33 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2025 - 12
Moneyball83.0Must-Read ScoreMoneyball
In 2002, the Oakland A's had one of the smallest payrolls in baseball and kept winning anyway.
Why it made the list22 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2011Guardian 100 Best Books of the 21st Century - 13
Shoe Dog82.9Must-Read ScoreShoe Dog
In 1962, fresh out of business school, Phil Knight borrowed $50 from his father and started a company with a simple mission: import high-quality, low-cost running shoes from Japan.
Why it made the list105 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2016 - 14
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End82.9Must-Read ScoreBeing Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
Modern medicine has made birth, injury and infection manageable, but surgeon Atul Gawande argues it often fails us at the end of life: nursing homes that put safety ahead of happiness, hospitals that isolate the dying, and treatments that extend suffering long after a cure is possible.
Why it made the list101 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2014 - 15
Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China81.9Must-Read ScoreAge of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China
Evan Osnos, a New Yorker correspondent in Beijing for eight years, tells the story of China's transformation through ordinary and extraordinary people: an entrepreneur who started an online dating site, an artist who became the country's best-known dissident, an economist who defected from Taiwan, and young people chasing wealth, truth and faith in a country changing at breakneck speed.
Why it made the listNational Book Award (Nonfiction) winner (2014)Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) finalist (2015) - 16
The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times81.4Must-Read ScoreThe Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times
In this follow-up to her memoir Becoming, Michelle Obama shares the habits, relationships and ways of thinking that have helped her stay hopeful and steady through uncertain times.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (8 weeks at #1)38 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2022 - 17
What Happened to You?80.7Must-Read ScoreWhat Happened to You?
Bruce Perry, a psychiatrist who studies childhood trauma, and Oprah Winfrey, who survived abuse as a child, talk about how early experiences shape our brains and lives.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)121 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2021Goodreads Choice (nonfiction) finalist (2021) - 18
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives80.4Must-Read ScoreCobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
Almost every smartphone, laptop and electric car battery contains cobalt, and most of the world's cobalt comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Why it made the listPulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) finalist (2024)Goodreads Choice (nonfiction) finalist (2023) - 19
Steve Jobs80.1Must-Read ScoreSteve Jobs
Steve Jobs asked Walter Isaacson to write his biography and gave him more than forty interviews in the last years of his life, as did his family, friends, rivals and colleagues.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (2 weeks at #1)75 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2011 - 20
Elon Musk80.0Must-Read ScoreElon Musk
Walter Isaacson shadowed Elon Musk for two years, sitting in on meetings and interviewing his family, friends and enemies.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)59 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2023Goodreads Choice (history biography) finalist (2023) - 21
Have a Little Faith: A True Story79.9Must-Read ScoreHave a Little Faith: A True Story
Albert Lewis, the rabbi of Mitch Albom's childhood, asked Albom to deliver his eulogy.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (6 weeks at #1)55 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2009 - 22
The Ride of a Lifetime79.8Must-Read ScoreThe Ride of a Lifetime
Robert Iger started at ABC in a low-level job and rose to become CEO of the Walt Disney Company, where in fifteen years he bought Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox and transformed the company.
Why it made the list45 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2019 - 23
Will78.6Must-Read ScoreWill
Will Smith tells his life story with writer Mark Manson: growing up in West Philadelphia with a violent father, becoming a rap star as a teenager, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Hollywood superstardom, and his marriage and family.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (1 week at #1)28 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2021 - 24
192977.9Must-Read Score1929
Andrew Ross Sorkin, the author of Too Big to Fail, tells the story of the 1929 stock market crash.
Why it made the list#1 New York Times bestseller (6 weeks at #1)39 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2025Goodreads Choice (history biography) finalist (2025) - 25
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World77.4Must-Read ScoreRange: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
Experts often say the path to success is to start early, specialize and practice relentlessly.
Why it made the list38 weeks on the New York Times bestseller lists since 2019
