183 books Naval Ravikant mentioned, ranked!

I've got dozens of other books that I'm reading. It's almost not useful for me to go through them because what will happen is, someone in the audience would be like, oh I should read the same books Naval is reading, and they go read them. And then they'll end up on some "Naval recommended" lists, but the reality is that 80 of them are not very good and there's only a few that I could actually unequivocally recommend. I would unequivocally recommend David Deutsch's books.

— Naval Ravikant

This list is curated from 807 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: 17 August 2024.

1. 38
   mentions

   

   The Beginning of Infinity
   by David Deutsch

   We are not running out of resources. Sustainability is an emotional argument easily countered by history, physics and knowledge but it has become a virtue-signaling religion and people refuse to educate themselves. Read “The Beginning of Infinity,” rewrite your brain, and become…

   — Naval Ravikant

   View all 38 sources

2. 31
   mentions

   

   Skin in the Game
   by Nassim Taleb

   Nasim Talab had that great blog post and chapter in his book Skin in the Game about the intolerant minority.

   — Naval Ravikant

   View all 31 sources

3. 29
   mentions

   

   Ficciones
   by Jorge Luis Borges

   Try Borges’ short stories next, in “Collected Fictions” or “Labyrinths.”

   — Naval Ravikant

   View all 29 sources

4. 28
   mentions

   

   The Book of Life
   by Jiddu Krishnamurti

   Jiddu Krishnamurti, who is a lesser known guy, an Indian philosopher who lived at the turn of the last century is extremely influential to me. he’s an uncompromising, very direct person who basically tells you to look at your own mind at all times. So I have been hugely influenced by him. Probably the best book of his that I like is one called The Book of Life, which is excerpts from his various speeches and books that are stitched together.

   — Naval Ravikant

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5. 26
   mentions

   

   Stories of Your Life and Others
   by Ted Chiang

   Love Ted Chiang, but don’t think he needs my ideas.

   — Naval Ravikant

   View all 26 sources

6. 26
   mentions

   

   The Great Challenge
   by Osho

   Popper, Deutsch, Schopenhauer, Osho, Krishnamurti, DeMello, Seneca, Kapil Gupta, Taleb, there are too many...

   — Naval Ravikant

   View all 26 sources

7. 25
   mentions

   

   Total Freedom
   by Jiddu Krishnamurti

   From “Total Freedom.” It’s all over but particularly “A Dynamic Society” and “Living in Ecstasy.” pic.twitter.com/sPhZSMwxPh

   — Naval Ravikant

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8. 25
   mentions

   

   The Rational Optimist
   by Matt Ridley

   Fantastic. Also read Matt Ridley. 🙏

   — Naval Ravikant

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9. 21
   mentions

   

   Snow Crash
   by Neal Stephenson

   Lord of Light, Snow Crash, Borges and Ted Chiang short stories.

   — Naval Ravikant

   View all 21 sources

10. 21
    mentions

    

    Sapiens
    by Yuval Noah Harari

    I love that book so much.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 21 sources

11. 20
    mentions

    

    Spiritual Enlightenment
    by Jed McKenna

    Read everything Jed McKenna ever wrote and you're going to get your fill on this stuff.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 20 sources

12. 19
    mentions

    

    Siddhartha
    by Hermann Hesse

    Depends what you want. Science or philosophy or...? Beginning of Infinity, Rational Optimist, Skin in the Game are all amazing. If you want more eastern philosophy, try Siddhartha, I am That, Jed McKenna.

    — Naval Ravikant

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13. 18
    mentions

    

    Influence
    by Robert B. Cialdini

    Robert Cialdini and Scott Adams.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 18 sources

14. 15
    mentions

    

    Awareness
    by Anthony de Mello

    Popper, Deutsch, Schopenhauer, Osho, Krishnamurti, DeMello, Seneca, Kapil Gupta, Taleb, there are too many...

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 15 sources

15. 14
    mentions

    

    Think on These Things
    by Jiddu Krishnamurti

    Popper, Deutsch, Schopenhauer, Osho, Krishnamurti, DeMello, Seneca, Kapil Gupta, Taleb, there are too many...

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 14 sources

16. 14
    mentions

    

    Six Easy Pieces
    by Richard P. Feynman

    Start with The Beginning of Infinity. Then read Matt Ridley, Nick Szabo, David Deutsch, Nassim Taleb, Schopenhauer, Peter Thiel, Popper, Feynman, Art DeVany, Scott Adams, Jed McKenna. Recognize them when they challenge socially enforced mass-delusions with science and logic.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 14 sources

17. 13
    mentions

    

    Direct Truth
    by Kapil Gupta

    It moves around. Keep coming back to I Am That, Direct Truth, Vasistha's Yoga, Jed McKenna, and Ashtavakra Gita.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 13 sources

18. 13
    mentions

    

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

    I loved him because Feynman was one of the first characters that I encountered that did science and serious work and was accomplished in so-called real life. He was a character, he was a happy person. He was deeply philosophical, he didn’t take himself nor life too seriously. He appreciated the mysteries of life, he appreciated living life and he had a lot of fun along the way. To me, he was like a full-stack intellectual hacker of life. And was just very inspirational to me as a kid, growing up.

    — Naval Ravikant

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19. 12
    mentions

    

    The Lessons of History
    by Will Durant, Ariel Durant

    It's a great little book.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 12 sources

20. 11
    mentions

    

    Perfectly Reasonable Deviations From the Beaten Track
    by Richard P. Feynman

    Start with The Beginning of Infinity. Then read Matt Ridley, Nick Szabo, David Deutsch, Nassim Taleb, Schopenhauer, Peter Thiel, Popper, Feynman, Art DeVany, Scott Adams, Jed McKenna. Recognize them when they challenge socially enforced mass-delusions with science and logic.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 11 sources

21. 10
    mentions

    

    The Origins of Virtue
    by Matt Ridley

    The Origins of Virtue, The Evolution of Cooperation, The Strategy of Conflict. Or just play multiplayer negotiation games like Diplomacy.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 10 sources

22. 10
    mentions

    

    Meditations
    by Marcus Aurelius

    Best classic book philosophy, intro, someone starting out? I love Siddhartha, Herman Hesse’s book. For someone who’s more advanced, Jiddu Krishnamurti; I like his Total Freedom book. Osho’s Great Challenge, Michael Singer’s Untethered Soul. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.

    — Naval Ravikant

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23. 9
    mentions

    

    Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
    by Carlo Rovelli

    Deutsch, Taleb, and Feynman mainly. Also Bohr, Schrödinger, Mandelbrot, Chait, Gödel, Rovelli, others (I know, some are mathematicians and some have never written a formal book on philosophy). On the non-physicist Western side, currently reading Schopenhauer.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 9 sources

24. 9
    mentions

    

    The Origin of Species
    by Charles Darwin

    For example, instead of reading a business book, pick up Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. Instead of reading a book on biology or evolution that’s written today, I would pick up Darwin’s Origin of the Species. Instead of reading a book on biotech right now that may be very advanced, I would just pick up The Eighth Day of Creation by Watson and Crick. Instead of reading advanced books on what cosmology and what Neil Degrasse Tyson and Stephen Hawking have been saying, you can pick up Richard Feynman’s Six Easy Pieces and start with basic physics.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 9 sources

25. 9
    mentions

    

    Poor Charlie's Almanack
    by Charles T. Munger

    [The five wisest people living today are] Jed McKenna, @KapilGuptaMD, Charlie Munger, @nntaleb One, and one who won’t want to be named

    — Naval Ravikant

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26. 8
    mentions

    

    The Fabric of Reality
    by David Deutsch

    “The next thing I would do is read The Fabric of Reality by David Deutsch. It's the best explanation of existence in existence…”https://getairchat.com/s/oUN9MCU1

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 8 sources

27. 8
    mentions

    

    The Logic of Scientific Discovery
    by Karl Popper

    Nobody agrees on what the right philosophy is and they contradict each other. So I would say read Deutsch / Popper and leave it at that.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 8 sources

28. 8
    mentions

    

    The Untethered Soul
    by Michael A. Singer

    Michael Singer, by the way, he has a good book called The Untethered Soul.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 8 sources

29. 8
    mentions

    

    The Power of Now
    by Eckhart Tolle

    Hard on Twitter. You can read DeMello, J Krishnamurti, Jed McKenna, Michael Singer, Rupert Spira, Osho, Tolle, etc.. Different ones appeal to different people.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 8 sources

30. 8
    mentions

    

    Permutation City
    by Greg Egan

    Current reading list. Most into “The Beginning of Infinity” and “What is Life?” at the moment. pic.twitter.com/L1JncsXiIL

    — Naval Ravikant

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31. 8
    mentions

    

    The Sovereign Individual
    by James Dale Davidson, William Rees-Mogg

    I think what does happen is that we're moving to the age of the sovereign individual. If you haven't read that book, I highly recommend it, even though it's almost 20 years old. It's very prophetic.

    — Naval Ravikant

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32. 7
    mentions

    

    Vasistha's Yoga
    by Vālmīki

    It moves around. Keep coming back to I Am That, Direct Truth, Vasistha's Yoga, Jed McKenna, and Ashtavakra Gita.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 7 sources

33. 7
    mentions

    

    Tao Te Ching
    by Lao Tzu

    Siddhartha, Vasistha’s Yoga, Bhagavad Gita, Tao Te Ching. I’m always going through one of these books at any given time and usually rereading for inspiration.

    — Naval Ravikant

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34. 7
    mentions

    

    The Order of Time
    by Carlo Rovelli

    Deutsch, Taleb, and Feynman mainly. Also Bohr, Schrödinger, Mandelbrot, Chait, Gödel, Rovelli, others (I know, some are mathematicians and some have never written a formal book on philosophy). On the non-physicist Western side, currently reading Schopenhauer.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 7 sources

35. 7
    mentions

    

    Transmetropolitan
    by Warren Ellis

    No single favorite, but I liked V for Vendetta, Watchmen, The Boys, Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Sandman, and The Unwritten.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 7 sources

36. 6
    mentions

    

    Counsels and Maxims
    by Arthur Schopenhauer

    Popper, Deutsch, Schopenhauer, Osho, Krishnamurti, DeMello, Seneca, Kapil Gupta, Taleb, there are too many...

    — Naval Ravikant

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37. 6
    mentions

    

    Illusions
    by Richard Bach

    Great book!

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 6 sources

38. 6
    mentions

    

    Reality is Not What it Seems
    by Carlo Rovelli

    Deutsch, Taleb, and Feynman mainly. Also Bohr, Schrödinger, Mandelbrot, Chait, Gödel, Rovelli, others (I know, some are mathematicians and some have never written a formal book on philosophy). On the non-physicist Western side, currently reading Schopenhauer.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 6 sources

39. 6
    mentions

    

    The Boys
    by Garth Ennis

    No single favorite, but I liked V for Vendetta, Watchmen, The Boys, Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Sandman, and The Unwritten.

    — Naval Ravikant

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40. 5
    mentions

    

    The Three-Body Problem
    by Liu Cixin

    There's a trilogy by Liu Cixin, a physics-based sci-fi thriller. [Talk about the dark forest hypothesis]

    — Naval Ravikant

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41. 5
    mentions

    

    The Wealth of Nations
    by Adam Smith

    For example, instead of reading a business book, pick up Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. Instead of reading a book on biology or evolution that’s written today, I would pick up Darwin’s Origin of the Species. Instead of reading a book on biotech right now that may be very advanced, I would just pick up The Eighth Day of Creation by Watson and Crick. Instead of reading advanced books on what cosmology and what Neil Degrasse Tyson and Stephen Hawking have been saying, you can pick up Richard Feynman’s Six Easy Pieces and start with basic physics.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 5 sources

42. 5
    mentions

    

    V for Vendetta
    by Steve Moore

    No single favorite, but I liked V for Vendetta, Watchmen, The Boys, Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Sandman, and The Unwritten.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 5 sources

43. 5
    mentions

    

    Planetary
    by Warren Ellis

    No single favorite, but I liked V for Vendetta, Watchmen, The Boys, Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Sandman, and The Unwritten.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 5 sources

44. 5
    mentions

    

    The Sun Rises in the Evening
    by Osho

    Can I recommend one Osho book? I would recommend a book called "The Sun Rises in the Evening". I haven't read all of it yet, I've been going through it, but it's my favorite one so far and I'm savoring it. I've literally been half highlighting half of every page.

    — Naval Ravikant

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45. 4
    mentions

    

    How to Change Your Mind
    by Michael Pollan

    “Baruch asks, if I were to write a protocol for myself, what would it be to become enlightened? The first thing I would do is start meditating, and then I would read, concurrently I would read Objective Knowledge by Karl Popper. The reason for that is because this journey could… pic.twitter.com/oIYEgHKIj0

    — Naval Ravikant

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46. 4
    mentions

    

    Bhagavad-Gita
    by Vyasa

    This is the oldest wisdom in the book. Go to the Bhagavad-Gita. It says you are entitled to your labor but not to the fruits of your labor.

    — Naval Ravikant

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47. 4
    mentions

    

    Letters from a Stoic
    by Seneca

    Popper, Deutsch, Schopenhauer, Osho, Krishnamurti, DeMello, Seneca, Kapil Gupta, Taleb, there are too many...

    — Naval Ravikant

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48. 4
    mentions

    

    Lord of Light
    by Roger Zelazny

    Lord of Light, Snow Crash, Borges and Ted Chiang short stories.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 4 sources

49. 4
    mentions

    

    Being Aware of Being Aware
    by Rupert Spira

    Krishnamurti, I don’t know, Kapil Gupta, Rupert Spira.

    — Naval Ravikant

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50. 4
    mentions

    

    Genome
    by Matt Ridley

    Matt had a bigger influence on pulling me into science, and a love of science, than almost any other author. His first book that I read was called Genome. I must have six or seven dog-eared copies of it lying around in various boxes. It helped me define what life is, how it works, why it’s important, and placed evolution as a binding principle in the center of my worldview. That’s a common theme that runs across Matt’s books.

    — Naval Ravikant

    View all 4 sources