Finance Books

1. Blue Blood and Mutiny: The Fight for the soul of Morgan Stanley
2. Handbook of Corporate Finance: A Business Companion to Financial Markets, Decisions and
Techniques
3. Banker to the Poor - book about the Grameen Bank and microfinance in the third world, and
delves into how capitalism and the free market can be harnessed to return value to vulnerable
communities x3
4. Liar's poker - a bit dated but its gives you a sweet intro to the S&T world x2
5. Ugly Americans (HFs)
6. When Markets Collide
7. Damn it feels good to be a banker - And Other Baller Things You Only Get to Say If You Work
On Wall Street x2 - by Leveraged Sellout (it looks brilliant if it's the same quality as the blog)

Economics Books
1. Travels of a T-shirt - is pretty fun, written by a prof at georgetown - she explores the global
economy (and the institutions that govern it) by following the creation, life, and death of your
average t-shirt.
2. The World is Flat - Do not Buy
3. Passionate Economist
4. The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More
5. The End of Poverty - Harvard Alum and Professor at Columbia's Global Earth Institute, Sachs
presents interesting, simple (perhaps even common sense) solutions to tackling the following
obsctackes we will face in the upcoming century namely: the environment, poverty (extreme -
less than $1-2/day) and population growth (in the poorest countries).
6. Common Wealth - regarding Jeffrey Sachs - as someone who works in international
development, I'd like to point out that for all his popularity among the general public, most people
working in the field think a lot of his "big ideas" are sheer lunacy. Particularly the idea of a "big
push" to massively increase the amount of official development aid to developing-world
governments. He's a very smart guy, and End of Poverty (as well as Common Wealth) are both
interesting books with a lot of good information - but the policy prescriptions they contain are
totally off the mark.
7. The White Man's Burden - t provides an outstanding analysis of not only successes and
failures of trying to develop the third world, but at lot of it also applies to life in general (politics,
economics, society, etc).
8. The Forgotten Man
9. The Chicago School - For those thinking about going to Chicago and going to economics
10. Vienna and Chicago, Friends or Foes? - For those thinking about going to Chicago and going
to economics
11. Rise and fall of great powers by Paul Kennedy. though i read it about 10 years ago(when the
book was too good for me). i immensely liked it. It beautifully captures a history of all great
powers(economic and military) from sixteenth century to mid twentieth century. wonderful
analysis and breadth in my humble opinion.
12. Freakonomics - Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything -
Mix of pop culture with economics
13. SuperFreakonomics - SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why
Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance - The sequel to the above

Leadership Books
1. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
2. We need Managers, Not MBAs - It's a scathing look at MBAs. If anyone reads this again,
please keep an eye out for the part where he reveals the statistics that something like 70% of
MBAs quit their jobs within two years of graduating (suggesting that the vast majority pick
"wrong"). I cant find the exact stats anymore, so please, if you see it, take note of the
pageBehavioral Books1. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking - There's a little pop
psychology to it, but it has some interesting insights.2.Fooled by Randomness
3. Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell: I had thought about many of the theories he exposes way before
this came out, but it's still an interesting/easy/quick read.
4. Predictably Irrational - is by a fuqua prof that is a total boy genius. it's behavioral econ.
5. Why We Buy - if you have any interest in running a business that is consumer-facing (CPG,
banking, retail, restaurants, the post office) this is a must-read. or if you just wanna know why the
bananas are where they are in the grocery store. Behavioral Econ.
6. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler -
written by a lawyer and an economist from the University of Chicago. The book sort of sits at the
intersection of public policy and business, and provides examples of how consumers can be
'nudged' towards decisions that are in their economic/physical/emotional/etc... best interest. You
get the point after the first few chapters, but it's worth finishing nonetheless. (recommended by
CS11)

Investment Banking Books
1. More than Money by Mark Albion - No, its not a rant against banking - he says thats the right
path for some - but it is a very real depiction of MANY MBA attitudes and it will make you
consider your goals. Frankly, in retrospect, this short book is probably the single most important
thing I could have read before getting my MBA. It so accurately captures exactly what so many of
us have thought or felt at some point - about jobs, about money, about careers - I virtually
promise that it will resonate with you at some level. Its also worth noting its a short and easy
read.
2. Tearing Down the Walls: How Sandy Weill Fought His Way to the Top of the Financial World. .
.and Then Nearly Lost It All - to all future investment bankers
3. Monkey Business - which was a very quick read that provides an interesting look into the IB
landscape in recent times. x2
4. Barbarians at the Gate - really is a must read. I thought it was great and included all of the
major Wall Street legends, Kravis, Wasserstein, Fortsman, Lipton, etc. x2
5. Risk Takers
6.Pioneering Portfolio Management
7. The accidental investment banker - Jonathan Knee - pretty funny; give you a very good idea
over the Ibank world. Not great though.
8. Den of Thieves - well-researched book that brings up a number of scandals involving Michael
Milken, Ivan Boesky, Martin Siegel, and others
9. 21. When Genius Failed
10. The Money Culture by Michael Lewis - It is a collection of articles published by Michael Lewis
in various magazines in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I thought it made a brilliant read not just
because Michael is a very funny guy. His articles were very insightful and, in some cases,
prophetic. He has consistently been critical of levels of debt in wall street since the 1980s (if only
everyone else took notice). He takes particular joy in poking fun at the LBO players and the value
they add to a takeover target. His criticism of the American Express card had me splitting my
sides laughing. This book will not be too much fun for those without enough knowledge of wall
street history (especially of the 80s and early 90s when Japan and not China was considered
threat #1 to US supremacy). A recommended light read for those long flights to b-school.
(recommended by BSD Lover)
11. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - This book is a timeless classic for anyone moving to
any form of trading / investment (recommended by BSD Lover)

M&A Books
1. M&A Titans M&A Titans: The Pioneers Who Shaped Wall Street's Mergers and Acquisitions
Industry - about some of the legendary dealmakers in Wall Street's golden era (recommended by
JB32)
2. Deals from Hell: M&A Lessons that Rise Above the Ashes - (especially relevant for future
Darden IB's since it was written by a Darden prof.) - case study about 10 of the worst deals of all
time. (recommended by JB32)
3. The Big Deal by Bruce Wasserstein - The book is loooooooooonnnngggg (like 1,000+ pages),
but provides a history of deal making by industry from the 1950's up through 2001 (published in
2002). It's amazing how much M&A shaped many of the familiar brands we know today. Then,
the second half of the book chronicles how a deal gets done and who the main players are. I
would recommend this book for anyone that wants to be a dealmaker. (recommended by JB32)

Design Thinking Books
1. The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage - Martin
shows how leading companies such as Procter & Gamble, Cirque du Soleil, RIM, and others use
design thinking to push knowledge through the stages in ways that produce breakthrough
innovations and competitive advantage.
2. Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation -
Tim Brown, CEO of IDEO, introduces the idea of design thinking and its a humancentered
approach to problem solving that helps people and organizations become more innovative and
more creative.

Accounting Books
1. The Portable MBA in Finance and Accounting

Marketing Books
1. Why We Shop: The Science of Shopping" by Paco Underhill. I found it very interesting
especially for those with an interest in CPG, brand management, marketing, retail and even
consulting. Its a quick read and very entertaining. I definitely find myself thinking differently every
time I walk into a store now.

Management Books
1. How Would You Move Mount Fuji?: Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle -- How the World's Smartest
Companies Select the Most Creative Thinkers - to all future Management Consultants...
2. The Halo Effect:... and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers - Wow!
Good book. It pretty much blows apart a lot of the analysis people do to find out what makes a
company "successful".International Relations and Policy Books1. confessions of an economic hit
man2. Rise and Fall of Empires
3. Shock Doctrine - Naomi Klein: Must read. it opened my mind to sooo many things. please go
read it, it gets long but towards the end it's amazing.
4. Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism - Sixty
percent of the world's population live on 6% of the world's income. The author argues that
capitalism, if it accepts a social conscience out of self-preservation, can eventually develop a
world where poverty is on the decline.
5. The Post American World - By far one of the most accessible poly-sci books around. Zakaria
presents brutally honest opinions on the state of the U.S. in contrast to the rest of the World. He
brings forth the challenges that face the U.S. and the world in the 21st century. Good read, not
heavy at all.
6. No Logo is a bit dated but a lovely attack on globalization. if i weren't already too old, i'd grow
up to be naomi klein.
7. Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. by Dr CK Prahalad. a must read for all those interested
in social entrepreneurship and non-profit careers.

Career and Networking Books
1. Ahead of the Curve x2 - best book I've read on business school - more specifically HBS -
looking at a top bschool from the pov of a non-business candidate gave me an amazing idea of
the whole thing.
2. Never Eat Alone - Its a great book about the power of networking and how to build a strong
network

Green Books
1. Hot, Flat, and Crowded - which is about why we need a green revolution. While i'm just 1/3 of
the way through, it's excellent so far... He's got some hard facts scientifically, politically, and
economically about why we need to care about our planet and makes it easier for me to explain
to another layperson why we need a green revolution.
2. Green to Gold by Daniel Esty x2

IT and Operations
1. Black Swan - not recommended (I read part of the book when it came out but just got sick of it
and never finished. If true "black swan" events by definition cannot be predicted or foreseen in
any way, what's the point of it?)
2. The Goal - is something you'll probably read in your ops class. the best textbook ever, the
worst novel ever. i'm a closet ops geek, so i dug it.

Poker and Gambling Books
1. Harrington on Hold 'em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments - Dan Harrington
2. Read 'em and reap 'em
3. Bringing down the house

Fiction and Other
1. The prince - Niccolo Machiavelli: I don't know why but I recently picked it up and it's full of
pretty interesting stuff. It is not about business but it gives you an idea of how Power was seen in
the 1500.
2. Guns, Germs, and Steel - overview of Human Civilization, focusing on the question why
Eurasians took over other continents rather than inhabitants of other continents - a bit repetitive
but a good read - a lot of interesting information
3. Nathan McCall's Them - t's an interesting read, and a great book to invoke discussion
amongst peers who view the world differently.
4. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - (not for the faint-hearted; story of a young boy
in Africa). A diary/journal of sorts of a young boy who escaped the "recruitment" of rebels in
Sierra Leone. Witness of death and consumed by drugs at a young age, he manages to escape
through a very graphic yet inspiring story. Now in the U.S.
5. The snowball - Biography about Warren Buffet - I got this one as a present and thought it
would be amazing, however I still haven't really started loving it (ive read around 25% of it- its
looong) but I guess if you like biographies then you'll like it. x2
6. The Last Tycoons - Cohan's thoroughnesshe interviewed over 100 current and former
bankers and assorted bigwigsunearths a trove of colourful titbits, many quite racy . . .
Illuminating are Mr. Cohans descriptions of the scheming, politicking, and general dysfunction
that was Lazard.Economist
7. Atlas Shrugged - the last and best of Ayn Rand's books - beware 1,000 pages and not really a
travel size.