The more recently read books have rough dates associated with them. The older ones… I forget exactly when I read those.

The Alchemy of Finance, by George Soros
Make no mistake, this book is not an easy read. It's well written but deals with some difficult concepts. But it is definitely worth the effort for one simple reason: Soros is smart. Very smart. And when the opportunity to peer inside a very smart person's skull presents itself, you're a fool not to take it. Surprisingly though, given Soros' background, this is not a book about picking stocks, or even about picking markets: What it will do is give you a very good understanding of markets: How the valued entities affect their market valuation, and also, more importantly, how the market valuation affects the valued entities. This latter influence is often ignored, yet it can play such a crucial role. Simply the realisation of this influence is profound - but to understand it? Ahh, for that you must read Soros.

Compassionate Capitalism, by Richard Devos
A very interesting book. Rich Devos is perhaps a little unlucky in his name - it immediately makes me think “Rich and Devious” - but he has some fascinating ideas. At the core of this book is the idea that showing compassion will lead to greater success. Not only is “compassionate capitalism” nice - he claims it's smart too. While many of his examples are based around Amway (which he started along with another guy), he doesn't seem to be out there to convert anyone to Amway, or to Christianity, which is another theme of his book. If you're rabidly against either of these groups, then perhaps this book isn't for you, but if you can look past the examples he uses, you'll probably find the same very interesting philosophy that I did. (NB: I'm not a Christian - obviously! - and I'm not affiliated with Amway in any way. Nor do I plan to be.)

ReCreating Strategy, by Stephen Cummings
To qualify as one of the few best books I have ever read a book must at least challenge and change how I think about its subject matter. Alone though this is not sufficient: there are plenty of books like this out there. Therefore it must also be well written and change how I think in a much broader context than its subject might initially suggest. So it is perhaps a little confusing for a reader of this website that I'm ranking a textbook on corporate strategy (because that is what ReCreating Strategy is) as one of the best books I have ever read. Prior to your assuming that I truly have lost my mind though I'd like to just stress that ReCreating Strategy is well written, with the orderly flow you would expect of a textbook and the deft writing you would not. Unsurprisingly it has also significantly changed how I think about business strategy. What truly makes Stephen Cummings' book rank so highly though is that has gone beyond business strategy and forced me to reevaluate at the most fundamental level how I think, why I think this way and whether or not it is actually the best way to think. Most books challenge you at a fairly narrow and superficial level at best - when one can go so much more deeply, as this book has, it ranks very highly indeed.