81 books Elon Musk mentioned, ranked!

Elon Musk
Credit: Daniel Oberhaus
I encourage people to read a lot of books. Try to ingest as much information as you can, and try to also develop a good general knowledge, so you at least have a rough lay of the land, of the knowledge landscape. Try to learn a little bit about a lot of things, because you might not know what you're really interested in. How would you know what you're really interested in if you at least aren't like doing a peripheral exploration broadly of the knowledge landscape?

— Elon Musk

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This list is curated from 167 mentions and sorted by most mentioned, then by date of most recent mention. The more a book is mentioned, the more likely it's recommended and a favorite... or they just like talking about it a lot!

Last updated: .

  1. Foundation (7 books)
    by Isaac Asimov

    In terms of sci-fi books, I think Isaac Asimov is really great. I like the Foundation series, probably one of the all-time best.

    — Elon Musk

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  2. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    by Douglas Adams

    I read Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and basically what Douglas Adams was saying is: we don't really know what the right questions are to ask. The question is not "What's the meaning of life?" [...] In that book, which is really sort of an existential philosophy book disguised as as humor, they come to the conclusion that the real problem is trying to formulate the question. And to really have the right question you need a much bigger computer than earth. I think one way of characterizing this would be: The universe is the answer. What are the questions? The more we can expand the scope and scale of consciousness the better we can understand what questions to ask about the answer that is the universe. The more we expand consciousness to become a multi-planet species and ultimately a multi-stellar species, the more we have a chance of figuring out what the hell is going on.

    — Elon Musk

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  3. The Story of Civilization (11 books)
    by Will Durant, Ariel Durant

    Age of Napoleon [is my favorite], so far. The first books are a little dry. Gets much better when Ariel is co-author.

    — Elon Musk

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  4. Culture (10 books)
    by Iain Banks

    If you must know, I am a utopian anarchist of the kind best described by Iain Banks

    — Elon Musk

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  5. The Illiad
    by Homer

    For maximum alpha, complete with fighting for princesses, the Iliad. Penguin audiobook at 1.25X speed is best. It was meant to be a spoken, not written, story. https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/the-odyssey/id1479199452

    — Elon Musk

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  6. Lord of the Rings (3 books)
    by J. R. R. Tolkien

    Lord of the Rings [was my favorite book growing up]

    — Elon Musk

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  7. The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
    by Robert A. Heinlein

    I think [The Moon is a Harsh Mistress] is Heinlein's best book, honestly.

    — Elon Musk

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  8. Dune (6 books)
    by Frank Herbert

    Dune series by Herbert also brilliant. He advocates placing limits on machine intelligence.

    — Elon Musk

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  9. Benjamin Franklin
    by Walter Isaacson

    I really liked [Isaacson's] biography of Benjamin Franklin who I would say is certainly one of my heroes. He seemed like a really great guy. I think in the case of Franklin he did what needed to be done at the time it needed to be done, so he was in different fields. He sort of thought about what's the most important thing that needs to be accomplished right now and then worked that.

    — Elon Musk

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  10. Das Kapital
    by Karl Marx

    Marx was a capitalist. He even wrote a book about it.

    — Elon Musk

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  11. The Machine Stops
    by Edward Morgan Forster

    Worth reading The Machine Stops, an old story by E. M. Forster

    — Elon Musk

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  12. Ignition!
    by John Drury Clark

    There is a good book on rocket stuff called 'Ignition!' by John Clark, that’s a really fun one.

    — Elon Musk

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  13. The Parasitic Mind
    by Gad Saad

    Read The Parasitic Mind

    — Elon Musk

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  14. Lying
    by Sam Harris

    Sam Harris is a pompous hypocrite (writes book about how lying is terrible and then advocates lying to keep Trump from being elected) who is visibly and audibly detached from reality. How far he has fallen.

    — Elon Musk

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  15. Masters of Doom
    by David Kushner

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View all 3 sources

  16. Storm of Steel
    by Ernst Jünger

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View all 3 sources

  17. The fifteen decisive battles of the world
    by Creasy, Edward Shepherd Sir

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View all 3 sources

  18. The Fault in Our Stars
    by John Green

    Must admit to liking "The Fault in Our Stars" too. Sad, romantic and beautifully named

    — Elon Musk

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  19. The Road to Serfdom
    by Friedrich A. von Hayek

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View all 2 sources

  20. American Caesar
    by William Manchester

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View all 2 sources

  21. Wages of Destruction
    by Adam Tooze

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View all 2 sources

  22. Twelve Against the Gods
    by William Bolitho

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View all 2 sources

  23. Stalin
    by Simon Sebag Montefiore

    Stalin: Court of the Red Czar by Montefiore (If you want some real nightmares)

    — Elon Musk

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  24. Bad Therapy
    by Abigail Shrier

    Every parent should read this https://twitter.com/anymanfitness/status/1765817754538348633

    — Elon Musk

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  25. The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe
    by Steven Novella

    The @SkepticsGuide book is 👍

    — Elon Musk

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  26. Liftoff
    by Eric Berger

    Just read it. Book is accurate.

    — Elon Musk

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  27. The Wealth of Nations
    by Adam Smith

    Marx vs Adam Smith -> Adam Smith for the win. Not even close.

    — Elon Musk

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  28. A Song of Ice and Fire (6 books)
    by George R. R. Martin

    Love the show and GRRM’s books.

    — Elon Musk

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  29. Catherine the Great
    by Robert K. Massie

    Just finished Massie's book on Catherine. An amazingly expansive and compelling portrait of an incredible woman. Highly recommend.

    — Elon Musk

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  30. Elon Musk
    by Ashlee Vance

    I actually asked Ashlee Vance not to write the book several times. Inevitably, some things are wrong and then those errors are repeated for years.

    — Elon Musk

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  31. The Guns of August
    by Barbara W. Tuchman

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View source

  32. De bello Gallico
    by Gaius Julius Caesar

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View source

  33. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
    by Jack Weatherford

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View source

  34. The Encyclopedia of Military History
    by Richard Ernest Dupuy

    Some audiobook recommendations: The Story of Civilization by Durant Iliad (Penguin Edition) The Road to Serfdom by Hayek American Caesar by Manchester Masters of Doom by Kushner The Wages of Destruction by Tooze The Storm of Steel by Junger The Guns of August by Tuchman The Gallic Wars by Caesar Twelve Against the Gods by Bolitho Genghis Khan by Weatherford The first one on the list will take a while to get through, but is very much worthwhile. Admittedly, this is a list that appeals to those who think about Rome every day. I hope someone makes an audiobook of The Encyclopedia of Military History by Dupuy and The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Creasy.

    — Elon Musk

    View source

  35. Homage to Catalonia
    by George Orwell

    It is interesting to read Orwell’s account of the Spanish civil war. He started out fighting for the communists …

    — Elon Musk

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  36. Facing Up to Scarcity
    by Barbara H. Fried

    SBF’s Mom wrote a book about how being a moral squiggly worm is ok and his Dad teaches people how to avoid taxes while simultaneously writing Sen Karen’s evil tax policy! pic.twitter.com/Xq17G5J0Cv

    — Elon Musk

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  37. The Odyssey
    by Homer

    Love the Iliad and Odyssey

    — Elon Musk

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  38. The Capitalist Manifesto
    by Johan Norberg

    This book is an excellent explanation of why capitalism is not just successful, but morally right, especially chapter 4 https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=1688749502

    — Elon Musk

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  39. Quran
    by Anonymous

    I read a translation of the Quran when I was around 12. Helpful to understand.https://quran.com/en

    — Elon Musk

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  40. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!
    by Richard P. Feynman

    People should read Feynman’s books

    — Elon Musk

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  41. Destined For War
    by Graham Allison

    Again, could not recommend this book more. Audio version is great. https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAudiobook?id=1641134711

    — Elon Musk

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  42. Elon Musk
    by Walter Isaacson

    Walter is incredibly thorough in his research. Highly recommend his other books! https://twitter.com/walterisaacson/status/1659246428164587545

    — Elon Musk

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  43. Not Much of an Engineer
    by Stanley Hooker

    Rereading The Life of Greece by Durant. In recent months, read American Caesar, Masters of Doom, Not Much of an Engineer, Wages of Destruction and Storm of Steel. Not much book fiction lately. Video games seem to have better stories these days.

    — Elon Musk

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  44. The Quickening
    by Talulah Riley

    Congratulations on your new book! pic.twitter.com/rSVM7zRBAh

    — Elon Musk

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  45. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
    by Britannica Editors

    Maybe read through the condensed version of the Encyclopedia Britannica, I'd recommend that. You can always skip subjects, so you read a few paragraphs, and if you know you're not interested, just jump to the next one.

    — Elon Musk

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  46. Founders
    by Jimmy Soni

    I haven’t read the book, but Soni’s questions were incredibly insightful & his attention to detail was superlative

    — Elon Musk

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  47. The Art of War
    by Sun Tzu

    There is no chapter on technology. I mean that's an interesting book. I've read that many times. Lots of interesting elements to it. Lot of wisdom there. [...] There should be a chapter saying that if you have a decisive technology advantage you can actually win with minimal casualties, to your side at least.

    — Elon Musk

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  48. Only the Paranoid Survive
    by Andrew S. Grove

    If a severe global recession were to dry up capital availability / liquidity while SpaceX was losing billions on Starlink & Starship, then bankruptcy, while still unlikely, is not impossible. GM & Chrysler went BK last recession. “Only the paranoid survive.” – Grove

    — Elon Musk

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  49. Fallen Leaves
    by Will Durant

    “We are choked with news and starved of history” – Durant

    — Elon Musk

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  50. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
    by Edward Gibbon

    There's obviously Gibbon's famous book about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and how they had advanced technology in terms of roads, aqueducts, plumbing and so forth and then they basically forgot about it.

    — Elon Musk

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