 When was the last time you read a book? Was it a novel, a test book, or an e-book? Did you enjoy reading it or were you curious to read it? Books are essential tools for leadership in any field of interest. For example, according to Forbes in 2019, every entrepreneur needs two things, a reliable internet connection and a stash of go-to business books. Reading stimulates the mind and reduces stress, impacts knowledge and improves the memory. Strong analytical skills and improved writing skills are also associated with reading. According to the World Street Journal, reading books remains one of the best ways to engage with the world, become a better person and understand life's questions big and small. All world leaders in business, government and finance have all one thing in common, and that is reading. Bill Gates, the second richest man in the world and co-founder of Microsoft currently reads 50 books a year. Business moguls and billionaires like Elon Musk, Max Zuckerberg and David Rubinstein all have healthy reading habits. There is hardly a man successful at anything that doesn't read. Oprah, the world-renowned speaker, uses what many busy leaders refer to as the five-hour rule. It enables them to put aside five hours weekly from their busy schedules to learn something new. Of course, one of the key ways you can learn is through reading. Digital technology has made reading books easy today. With one tap on your smartphone, you can have access to millions of books, sometimes at no cost at all. So, why have you not been reading? In this video, we will explore nine books recommended by Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and the current fourth richest man in the world. Considered as one of the most successful investors in the world, he has a net worth of $88.9 billion as of December 2019. 1. The Intelligent Investor It was a book written in 1949 by Benjamin Graham who was a mentor to Warren Buffett and considered the most successful investor of his time. The book is about value investing. In the book, Graham proposes some investment principles that if followed would lead to steady returns for the investors. The principles are 1. Know the business you are investing in. 2. Know who runs the business. 3. Invest for profit over time, not for quick buy and sell transaction profits. 4. Choose investments for their fundamental value, not popularity. 5. Always invest with a margin of safety. 6. Have confidence in your own analysis and observations. An intelligent investor, as identified by Graham, approaches investment the same way he or she would look at buying into a business or partnership. The sixth principle is covered in detail in Graham's book and reiterates the responsibility of the investor to understand how to value company's interest based on sound financial analysis. This essentially means more reading. Little wonder, Warren Buffett recommends it. It is probably impossible to succeed in investing without reading investment and financial books. No successful investor till date has come forward to claim he succeeded without reading. 2. Security analysis, also written by Benjamin Graham. Security analysis was written in 1943. It contains investment principles so sound. Warren Buffett refers to it as his investment bible. In the book, Graham advises us to check a firm's soundness before investing, buy securities that sell below intrinsic value, diversify investment portfolio, analyze stocks before investment, and ensure all bonds invested in pass all safety tests required of bonds. He explores in detail the circumstances in which a person may profit if an investment is made. Graham's book is a guide to investing in stocks and has been relevant for over seven decades. 3. Common stocks and uncommon profits, Philip Fisher wrote this book in 1958. Phil Fisher is an investment legend. His philosophies has had a deep influence on Warren Buffett's investment style. In his book, Common stocks and uncommon profit, Philip Fisher explored the concept of deferred dividends. The concept was an investment approach in which investors defer their claims to immediate dividends to gain strong short-term and medium-term capital appreciation and a bigger return from deferred dividends. According to Warren Buffett, after reading this book, he said, I sought out Philip Fisher. After reading his Common stocks and uncommon profits, a thorough understanding of the business obtained by using Phil's techniques enables one to make intelligent investment commitments. The book also covers 15 things to look out for in Common stocks. What to buy, when to buy, when to sell, and when not to. It also included the dance for investors and how Philip found growth stocks to invest in. The book is a treasure trip for everyone interested in investing in stocks. 4. Stress Test, Reflections and Financial Crisis This book, written by Timothy Geithner, a former US Secretary of the Treasury, was written in 2014. Contained in the book is a memoir of Timothy Geithner's administration as Secretary of the US Treasury in a time when US banks were in a crisis. The White House had advocated nationalizing the banks, as Sweden has done, to help cure the financial panic. Geithner resisted and proposed a stress test to be conducted by the Federal Reserve. The goal was to go through the books of effective banks and then inform the markets on how well they could withstand a further economic downturn. The results showed that the capital needs of the banks were manageable and this induced a renewed flow of private investment. 5. The Essays of Warren Buffett, Lessons for Corporate America This book, compiled by Lawrence A. Cunningham, was first published in 1997. In this book, Lawrence compiles the key learning from Berkshire Hathaway annual letters from 1979 to 2006. Every year, Buffett writes a letter to Berkshire Hathaway stakeholders. In this letter, he explains his decisions, the direction of the business, and the long-term outlook of the company. The book embodies the letters in essence. Lawrence arranged the letters by themes for easier comprehension. Warren Buffett calls this book his favorite. The book also discusses business investment and risk management in great detail. It is not surprising at all that Warren Buffett recommends this book. 6. Jack, Straight from the Got Authored by the now late Jack Welch, who was the former chairman and CEO of General Electric in 2001, Jack Welch had a net worth of $750 million at the time of his death in 2020 and was the CEO of General Electric for two decades. In his book, he outlined vital management strategies he employed while in General Electric. Unlike the other books recommended, this book is not about investment, but people management. 7. Outsiders, 8 unconventional CEOs and their radically rational blueprints for success. Written by William Thorndike, the book was published in 2012. The book is about 8 CEOs who successfully moved their respective businesses forward. They were each new at the job, but each exhibited high levels of skills in capital and time allocation, where Tom Murphy of Capital Cities, Henry Singleton of Teledyne, Bill Anders of General Dynamics, John Malone of TCI, Catherine Graham, Investment vs. Speculation. Written by John C. Boyle and also published in 2012. The book, rather than focusing cost concerns, explained the challenges of active management do not work for long-term profit in publicly traded companies. He argues that it turns managers into spectators and not investors. He recommended a cultural approach in which managers act the stewards of the shareholders' capital and help them focus on long-term investing and in effect, more profit. 9. Business Adventures It was written by John Brooks and published in 1969. It explores 12 cases of business incidents in American industrial history. He then notes key lessons that could be learned from each of the incidents. This recommended books by Warren Buffett could add significant value to your life if you read them. Why not start with one?