CEChibuzor Ezeamaku
Books

The shelf.

250+In my library
50Picked here
4On the desk

I own more than 250 books. These are the fifty I would hand you first. Engineering taught me how things work. These taught me why people buy, build and decide.

On the desk

Cover of AI Engineering

AI Engineering

Chip Huyen

A practical guide to building production applications on top of foundation models.

Agentic Design Patterns

Antonio Gulli

A hands-on catalog of patterns for designing and building agentic AI systems.

Cover of Poor Charlie's Almanack

Poor Charlie's Almanack

Charles T. Munger

Munger's collected talks on mental models, rationality, and lifelong learning.

Cover of The Pragmatic Programmer

The Pragmatic Programmer

David Thomas & Andrew Hunt

Timeless principles and habits for becoming a more deliberate programmer.

The ones I reread

7 books I keep going back to.

Strategy, persuasion, ownership and how to learn. Each one changed how I work, not just what I know.

Cover of Gap Selling

Gap Selling

Keenan

A problem-centric sales method built on diagnosing the gap between a buyer's current and desired state.

Cover of Influence, New and Expanded

Influence, New and Expanded

Robert B. Cialdini

The expanded edition of the classic on the psychology of why people say yes.

Cover of The Art of Strategy

The Art of Strategy

Nalebuff & Dixit

Game theory for everyday decisions — anticipating others' moves in business and life.

Cover of Ultralearning

Ultralearning

Scott H. Young

An aggressive, self-directed strategy for mastering hard skills fast.

Cover of Competitive Strategy

Competitive Strategy

Michael E. Porter

Porter's foundational framework for analyzing industries and competitors.

Cover of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini

The original classic on the six principles of persuasion.

Cover of Extreme Ownership

Extreme Ownership

Willink & Babin

Navy SEAL principles on taking total responsibility to lead and win.

The fifty

  • Cover of AI Engineering
    AIReading now
    AI Engineering
    Chip Huyen
    A practical guide to building production applications on top of foundation models.
  • AIReading now
    Agentic Design Patterns
    Antonio Gulli
    A hands-on catalog of patterns for designing and building agentic AI systems.
  • Cover of Poor Charlie's Almanack
    InvestingReading now
    Poor Charlie's Almanack
    Charles T. Munger
    Munger's collected talks on mental models, rationality, and lifelong learning.
  • Cover of The Pragmatic Programmer
    SoftwareReading now
    The Pragmatic Programmer
    David Thomas & Andrew Hunt
    Timeless principles and habits for becoming a more deliberate programmer.
  • Cover of Gap Selling
    SalesFavorite
    Gap Selling
    Keenan
    A problem-centric sales method built on diagnosing the gap between a buyer's current and desired state.
  • Cover of Fanatical Prospecting
    Sales
    Fanatical Prospecting
    Jeb Blount
    A direct playbook for keeping the pipeline full through relentless, multi-channel prospecting.
  • Cover of Influence, New and Expanded
    PersuasionFavorite
    Influence, New and Expanded
    Robert B. Cialdini
    The expanded edition of the classic on the psychology of why people say yes.
  • Cover of The Art of Strategy
    StrategyFavorite
    The Art of Strategy
    Nalebuff & Dixit
    Game theory for everyday decisions — anticipating others' moves in business and life.
  • Cover of Will It Fly?
    Startups
    Will It Fly?
    Pat Flynn
    A framework for validating a business idea before sinking time and money into it.
  • Cover of Small Giants
    Business
    Small Giants
    Bo Burlingham
    Profiles of companies that chose to be great rather than big.
  • Cover of The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie
    Biography
    The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie
    Andrew Carnegie
    The steel magnate's life and his gospel of wealth and philanthropy.
  • Cover of Unlearn
    Growth
    Unlearn
    Humble the Poet
    Short, contrarian truths for rethinking the defaults that hold you back.
  • Cover of The Innovator's Dilemma
    Strategy
    The Innovator's Dilemma
    Clayton M. Christensen
    Why great companies fail by doing everything right in the face of disruption.
  • Cover of Ultralearning
    LearningFavorite
    Ultralearning
    Scott H. Young
    An aggressive, self-directed strategy for mastering hard skills fast.
  • Cover of The Dichotomy of Leadership
    Leadership
    The Dichotomy of Leadership
    Willink & Babin
    Balancing the competing tensions every leader must hold to lead and win.
  • Cover of Never Split the Difference
    Negotiation
    Never Split the Difference
    Chris Voss & Tahl Raz
    A former FBI hostage negotiator's field-tested approach to high-stakes negotiation.
  • Cover of Boundaries
    Growth
    Boundaries
    Cloud & Townsend
    When to say yes and how to say no to take control of your life.
  • Cover of Grit
    Psychology
    Grit
    Angela Duckworth
    The case that passion and perseverance, not talent, drive outstanding achievement.
  • Cover of How to Win Friends & Influence People
    Communication
    How to Win Friends & Influence People
    Dale Carnegie
    The enduring classic on relationships, influence, and dealing with people.
  • Cover of Mindset
    Psychology
    Mindset
    Carol S. Dweck
    How a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset shapes success.
  • Cover of Tools of Titans
    Habits
    Tools of Titans
    Tim Ferriss
    Tactics, routines, and habits distilled from world-class performers.
  • Cover of Blue Ocean Strategy
    Strategy
    Blue Ocean Strategy
    Kim & Mauborgne
    Create uncontested market space instead of fighting in bloody red oceans.
  • Cover of Sam Walton: Made in America
    Biography
    Sam Walton: Made in America
    Sam Walton & John Huey
    The Walmart founder's own account of building a retail empire from a single dime store.
  • Cover of Competitive Strategy
    StrategyFavorite
    Competitive Strategy
    Michael E. Porter
    Porter's foundational framework for analyzing industries and competitors.
  • Cover of Competitive Advantage
    Strategy
    Competitive Advantage
    Michael E. Porter
    The companion to Competitive Strategy — building durable advantage through the value chain.
  • Cover of Zero to One
    Startups
    Zero to One
    Thiel & Masters
    Building genuinely new things, and why monopolies — not competition — create value.
  • Cover of The Wealth of Nations
    Economics
    The Wealth of Nations
    Adam Smith
    The founding text of modern economics.
  • Cover of The Intelligent Investor
    Investing
    The Intelligent Investor
    Benjamin Graham
    The classic on value investing and the margin of safety.
  • Cover of Titan
    Biography
    Titan
    Ron Chernow
    The definitive life of John D. Rockefeller, history's first billionaire.
  • Cover of The Charisma Myth
    Communication
    The Charisma Myth
    Olivia Fox Cabane
    Charisma broken down into the learnable behaviors of presence, power, and warmth.
  • Cover of Deep Work
    Focus
    Deep Work
    Cal Newport
    The value of distraction-free concentration in a fractured world.
  • Cover of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
    Biography
    The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
    Benjamin Franklin
    Franklin's account of self-improvement, industry, and a remarkable American life.
  • Cover of Atomic Habits
    Habits
    Atomic Habits
    James Clear
    Tiny, compounding changes as the engine of remarkable results.
  • Cover of The Hard Thing About Hard Things
    Startups
    The Hard Thing About Hard Things
    Ben Horowitz
    Honest advice on the brutal problems of building and running a company.
  • Cover of Good to Great
    Business
    Good to Great
    Jim Collins
    What separates companies that make the leap to greatness from those that don't.
  • Cover of Thinking, Fast and Slow
    Psychology
    Thinking, Fast and Slow
    Daniel Kahneman
    The two systems that drive how we think, judge, and err.
  • Cover of The Machine That Changed the World
    Business
    The Machine That Changed the World
    Womack, Jones & Roos
    The book that first articulated lean production to the world.
  • Cover of Emotional Intelligence
    Psychology
    Emotional Intelligence
    Daniel Goleman
    Why emotional intelligence can matter more than IQ.
  • Cover of Man's Search for Meaning
    Philosophy
    Man's Search for Meaning
    Viktor E. Frankl
    Finding purpose through suffering, from a Holocaust survivor and psychiatrist.
  • Cover of A Random Walk Down Wall Street
    Investing
    A Random Walk Down Wall Street
    Burton G. Malkiel
    The case for index investing and a skeptic's guide to beating the market.
  • Cover of Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
    Strategy
    Good Strategy/Bad Strategy
    Richard P. Rumelt
    What real strategy is — and the fluff that masquerades as it.
  • Cover of The Magic of Thinking Big
    Growth
    The Magic of Thinking Big
    David Schwartz
    How belief and the scale of your thinking shape your results.
  • Cover of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
    PersuasionFavorite
    Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
    Robert B. Cialdini
    The original classic on the six principles of persuasion.
  • Cover of SPIN Selling
    Sales
    SPIN Selling
    Neil Rackham
    A research-backed questioning method for complex, high-value sales.
  • Cover of Start with Why
    Leadership
    Start with Why
    Simon Sinek
    How the greatest leaders inspire action by starting with purpose.
  • Cover of Extreme Ownership
    LeadershipFavorite
    Extreme Ownership
    Willink & Babin
    Navy SEAL principles on taking total responsibility to lead and win.
  • Cover of Negotiation Genius
    Negotiation
    Negotiation Genius
    Malhotra & Bazerman
    Harvard frameworks for negotiating brilliant outcomes at the table and beyond.
  • Cover of The Lean Startup
    Startups
    The Lean Startup
    Eric Ries
    Build-measure-learn and validated learning for new ventures.
  • Cover of The Power of Habit
    Habits
    The Power of Habit
    Charles Duhigg
    The science of how habits form — and how to change them.
  • Cover of The Founder's Dilemmas
    Startups
    The Founder's Dilemmas
    Noam Wasserman
    The early people-and-equity decisions that make or break startups.

The other two hundred live on the real shelf. More of them will make it here, with notes.