Books & Reading

Bryson brings his irresistible combination of wonder and comedy to Australia — a country where almost everything can kill you but where the people and landscapes are extraordinary. A genuine education disguised as very good fun.

Krakauer was on Everest during the 1996 disaster that killed eight climbers and wrote about it with unflinching honesty. The most gripping piece of mountain writing ever produced — and a profound examination of the line between ambition and recklessness.

De Botton meditates on why we travel and what we actually bring back — drawing on Flaubert, Van Gogh and Wordsworth. Gentle, intelligent and genuinely illuminating about what we're really looking for when we leave home. Perfect pre-trip reading.

Bryson attempts the Appalachian Trail with his ill-prepared friend Katz — and the result is one of the funniest, most companionable adventure books ever written. As much about friendship and middle age as hiking, it's genuinely hard to put down.

Gilbert's year across Italy, India and Bali became a cultural phenomenon for good reason. Whatever your view of the genre, the Bali section is genuinely moving and her portrait of that island's magic is hard to forget. Perfect holiday reading.

Strayed hiked 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone after her life fell apart — and wrote about it with extraordinary candour and beauty. A book about grief, renewal and the restorative power of landscape that leaves most travel memoirs far behind.

Graham's masterpiece that turned countless smart people into serious investors. Buffett still calls it the best investing book ever written. If you only read one book on value investing, make it this one — your future self will thank you.

The heavyweight text that serious investors treat as scripture. Dense and demanding, but if you want to understand how to truly analyse a business and its securities, there's nothing more rigorous. A genuine competitive edge for those who do the work.

Howard Marks thinks about risk differently from almost everyone else — and this book explains exactly why. His concept of 'second-level thinking' alone is worth the price. Essential reading before you deploy serious capital into any asset class.

The rarest book in investing — out of print and trading at $500+ for a reason. Klarman's obsession with downside protection will reshape how you think about every investment decision. If you can find a copy, read it immediately.

Pabrai distils investing wisdom into a beautiful framework: 'heads I win, tails I don't lose much.' His concentrated, high-conviction approach — inspired by Patel motel owners — is a masterclass in intelligent risk-taking that any investor can adapt.

The best academic bridge between classic Graham and modern practice. Greenwald and colleagues show how to think about franchise value and earnings power — exactly the right framework for evaluating premium real assets and businesses.

The book that taught Buffett to think about quality, not just price. Fisher's 'scuttlebutt' approach — talking to competitors, suppliers and customers — applies brilliantly to real estate markets and alternative investment due diligence too.

Munger's collected wisdom across a lifetime of investing is extraordinary. His 'mental models' framework for tackling complex decisions is one of the most practical thinking tools available to any serious investor. Expensive, but worth every penny.

Thorndike profiles eight unconventional CEOs who quietly generated extraordinary returns. The common thread? They thought about capital allocation differently from everyone else. A short, sharp book that permanently changes how you evaluate any investment or business.

Hagstrom distils Buffett's investment philosophy into a clear, teachable framework. Perfect if you've read the Berkshire letters but want a structured synthesis. The sections on business principles and financial tenets are especially useful as a valuation checklist.

O'Shaughnessy analysed 50 years of market data to identify what factors actually predict stock returns — and the results are both rigorous and actionable. Essential reading for any investor who wants evidence rather than narrative behind their portfolio decisions.

Browne of Tweedy Browne — one of the great value investing firms — distils the Graham-Dodd approach into a slender, powerful guide. Short enough to read in a morning, deep enough to inform a lifetime of investing. A gem of the genre.

Feld and Mendelson demystify VC term sheets with practical clarity — liquidation preferences, anti-dilution, board control and everything else investors need to understand. If you're investing in or alongside VC funds, this is essential homework.

Andreessen Horowitz's managing partner explains VC from the inside — term sheets, fund economics, board dynamics and what VCs are actually thinking. Invaluable for anyone doing business with the VC ecosystem or considering it as an asset class.

The definitive account of how Steve Schwarzman built Blackstone into the world's largest alternative asset manager. A gripping corporate narrative with deep insight into deal-making, fund strategy and the institutionalisation of private equity as an asset class.

The greatest business drama ever written — the RJR Nabisco LBO is still the template for understanding how ego, leverage and dealmaking interact. Reads like a thriller while teaching you more about private equity deal psychology than almost any textbook.

Coffey has run multiple PE-backed businesses and shares the inside view — how sponsors think, what they measure, and how to navigate the intense pressure to create value quickly. Essential if you're ever likely to partner with a PE-backed company.

Mallaby spent years researching the VC world and produced the definitive history — from Arthur Rock through Sequoia and a16z. A masterful narrative that illuminates how venture capital shaped the modern economy and became the most powerful capital allocator of our era.