Ryan Holiday

97 Ryan Holiday Recommended Books

Ryan Holiday is an American author, marketer and media strategist. He is the author of multiple bestselling books on strategy and business, including The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy. Holiday has written for the New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, and The Guardian, among other publications.

97 Books recommended by Ryan Holiday

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Author :Brooks D. Simpson

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I loved [this book] a lot." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Status Anxiety

Status Anxiety

Author :Alain de Botton

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Every ambitious young person should read." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Believe in People

Believe in People

Bottom-Up Solutions for a Top-Down World

Author :Charles Koch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A provocative book for the moment. Highly recommended." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Candide

Candide

Author :Voltaire

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A light hearted satire that pokes fun at optimism, philosophy, politics, and power." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Totto-Chan

Totto-Chan

The Little Girl at the Window

Author :Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Has sold something like 5 million copies in Japan alone (an insane number). Totto-Chan is a special figure in modern Japanese culture—she is a celebrity on par with Oprah or Ellen." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Hamlet

Hamlet

Author :William Shakespeare

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Philosophy runs through this play." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Fight Club

Fight Club

A Novel

Author :Chuck Palahniuk

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I’m amazed how many young people haven’t read this book. Truly life-changing." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Letters from a Stoic

Letters from a Stoic

Author :Lucius Seneca

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"After Marcus Aurelius, this is one of my favorite books." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Hackers & Painters

Hackers & Painters

Big Ideas from the Computer Age

Author :Paul Graham

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Shadow Divers

Shadow Divers

The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II

Author :Robert Kurson

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A work of art." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

As Told to Alex Haley

Author :Malcolm X

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One] of the most inspiring men of the last 150 years." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Essays and Aphorisms

Essays and Aphorisms

Author :Arthur Schopenhauer

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A brilliant composer of quick thoughts that will help us with our problems." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Aeneid

Aeneid

Author :Virgil

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"There’s no other way to put: the story is AMAZING. Better than the Odyssey, better than Juvenal’s Satires. Inspiring, beautiful, exciting, and eminently readable, I loved this." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Sherman

Sherman

Soldier, Realist, American

Author :B. H. Liddell Hart

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"This was someone I knew little about before I read the book, and by the end of it found myself referencing and thinking of him constantly." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Mastery

Mastery

Author :Robert Greene

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Read [this book] so that you can figure your life’s task and how to dedicate yourself to it." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Tough Jews

Tough Jews

Fathers, Sons, and Gangster Dreams

Author :Rich Cohen

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Amazing book [...] about Jewish gangsters." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Here Comes Everybody

Here Comes Everybody

The Power of Organizing Without Organizations

Author :Clay Shirky

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

The New New Thing

The New New Thing

A Silicon Valley Story

Author :Michael Lewis

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

The River of Doubt

The River of Doubt

Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey

Author :Candice Millard

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I thought I knew about Theodore Roosevelt." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Sixteen Satires

Sixteen Satires

Author :Juvenal

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Bitter, sarcastic attacks on Rome." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

American Caesar

American Caesar

Douglas MacArthur 1880 - 1964

Author :William Manchester

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Up from Slavery

Up from Slavery

Author :Booker T. Washington

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Pillar of Fire

Pillar of Fire

America in the King Years 1963-65

Author :Taylor Branch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Incredible." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Fish That Ate the Whale

The Fish That Ate the Whale

The Life and Times of America's Banana King

Author :Rich Cohen

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Sucked me in completely. Everyone I’ve recommended it to loves it." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Road

The Road

Author :Cormac McCarthy

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Read it when you have kids. When I finished this book, [I] walked into my son's room when he was asleep, sat on the floor, and I just wept." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Pirate's Dilemma

The Pirate's Dilemma

How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism

Author :Matt Mason

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Range

Range

Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

Author :David J. Epstein

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Keep Going

Keep Going

10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad

Author :Austin Kleon

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Lincoln's Melancholy

Lincoln's Melancholy

How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness

Author :Joshua Wolf Shenk

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] my three favorite books about [Lincoln]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Invisible Man

Invisible Man

Author :Ralph Ellison

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"One of my favorite books." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Book of Five Rings

The Book of Five Rings

Author :Miyamoto Musashi

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Plutarch's Lives Volume 1

Plutarch's Lives Volume 1

Author :Plutarch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I strongly recommend [this book]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Lincoln

Lincoln

The Biography of a Writer

Author :Fred Kaplan

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] my three favorite books about [Lincoln]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Average Is Over

Average Is Over

Powering America Beyond the Age of the Great Stagnation

Author :Tyler Cowen

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Changes how you see the future and help explain real pain points in our new economy–both good and bad." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

President Lincoln

President Lincoln

The Duty of a Statesman

Author :William Lee Miller

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] my three favorite books about [Lincoln]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Woman's Hour

The Woman's Hour

The Great Fight to Win the Vote

Author :Elaine Weiss

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451

A Novel

Author :Ray Bradbury

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday mentioned this book on Twitter. [Source]

Boyd

Boyd

The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War

Author :Robert Coram

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Probably the greatest post-WWII military strategist; he developed the F-15 and F-16, revolutionized ground tactics in war and covertly designed the US battle plans for the Gulf War." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Bird by Bird

Bird by Bird

Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Author :Anne Lamott

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Ostensibly about the art of writing, but really it too is about life and how to tackle the problems, temptations and opportunities life throws at us." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Meditations

Meditations

Author :Marcus Aurelius

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"The private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world, admonishing himself on how to be better, more just, more immune to temptation, wiser." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Fragments

Fragments

Author :Heraclitus

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A bit poetic. But those beautiful lines are really the same direct advice and timeless, perspective-changing observations." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Leadership: In Turbulent Times

Leadership: In Turbulent Times

Author :Doris Kearns Goodwin

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[The author]'s masterwork." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Endurance

Endurance

Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Author :Alfred Lansing

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"This book (and his life) were living proof of his family motto: 'Fortitudine vincimus' (By endurance we conquer)." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Reveille for Radicals

Reveille for Radicals

Author :Saul D. Alinsky

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"This is the '48 Laws of Power' written in more of an idealist, activist tone." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

No Hiding Place

No Hiding Place

An Autobiography

Author :William Seabrook

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Titan

Titan

The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr.

Author :Ron Chernow

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I found Rockefeller to be strangely stoic, incredibly resilient, and, despite his reputation as a robber baron, humble and compassionate." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Cathedral & the Bazaar

The Cathedral & the Bazaar

Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary

Author :Eric S. Raymond

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

My Life and Battles

My Life and Battles

Author :Jack Johnson

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

The 48 Laws of Power

The 48 Laws of Power

Author :Robert Greene

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Critical for anyone trying to accomplish anything." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Wikinomics

Wikinomics

How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything

Author :Don Tapscott

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Essays

Essays

Author :Plutarch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I strongly recommend [this book]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus

The Moral Sayings Of Publius Syrus

A Roman Slave (1855)

Author :Publius Syrus

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A Syrian slave in the first century BC, Publius Syrus is a fountain of quick, helpful wisdom that you cannot help but recall and apply to your life." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Prince

The Prince

Author :Niccolò Machiavelli

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

Author :F. Scott Fitzgerald

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I’ve read and re-read many times." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

How to Live

How to Live

Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

Author :Sarah Bakewell

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A series of essays about Montaigne, who invented the essay." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman

Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman

Author :The Earl of Chesterfield

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[The author] wrote his letters to his illegitimate son, tutoring him on how to learn, how to think, how to act, how to deal with important people. I don’t agree with all his advice but most of it is great." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Fishing For Fun

Fishing For Fun

And To Wash Your Soul

Author :Herbert Hoover

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The 33 Strategies of War

The 33 Strategies of War

Author :Robert Greene

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

What Makes Sammy Run?

What Makes Sammy Run?

Author :Budd Schulberg

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Ari Gold before Ari Gold existed" - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Lone Star

Lone Star

A History Of Texas And The Texans

Author :T. R. Fehrenbach

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Tiny Beautiful Things

Tiny Beautiful Things

Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar

Author :Cheryl Strayed

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Contains some of the most cogent insights on life, pain, loss, love, success, youth that I have ever seen." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Harder They Fall

The Harder They Fall

Author :Budd Schulberg

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"About boxing and loosely based on the Primo Carnera scandal." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Edison

Edison

A Biography

Author :Matthew Josephson

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A really good biography." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Moviegoer

The Moviegoer

Author :Walker Percy

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"The novel that every young kid stuck in their own head needs to read." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Second Mountain

The Second Mountain

The Quest for a Moral Life

Author :David Brooks

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

My Bondage and My Freedom

My Bondage and My Freedom

Author :Frederick Douglass

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One] of the most inspiring men of the last 150 years." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Makers of Rome

The Makers of Rome

Nine Lives

Author :Plutarch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I strongly recommend [this book]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Power Broker

The Power Broker

Robert Moses and the Fall of New York

Author :Robert A. Caro

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"One of the most magnificent books I’ve ever read." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

On Sparta

On Sparta

Author :Plutarch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A collection of biographies (and aphorisms) from the famous Spartans." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt, Book 1

Author :Edmund Morris

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Spectacular. He’s my favorite president." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

Author :Mordecai Richler

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"What a book." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Selected Epigrams

Selected Epigrams

Author :Martial

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Hilarious. I have one hanging on the gate in front of my house." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Author :Anonymous

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I read this on my honeymoon (probably the only person on the beach reading it, if I had to guess)." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Tiger

The Tiger

A True Story of Vengeance and Survival

Author :John Vaillant

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Holy shit, this book is good. Just holy shit." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

Author :George Horace Lorimer

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"The (supposedly) preserved correspondence between Old Gorgon Graham, a self-made millionaire in Chicago, and his son who is coming of age and entering the family business." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Sex on the Brain

Sex on the Brain

The Biological Differences Between Men and Women

Author :Deborah Blum

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"One of the better books on evolutionary biology that focuses almost entirely on the biological and psychological differences between men and women." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Asylum

Asylum

Author :William Seabrook

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I actually ended up helping get [this book] back in print." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Empire State of Mind

Empire State of Mind

How Jay Z Went from Street Corner to Corner Office

Author :Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Great book." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Founders at Work

Founders at Work

Stories of Startups' Early Days

Author :Jessica Livingston

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Interviews with technology founders from one of the best investors of all time." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Net Delusion

The Net Delusion

The Dark Side of Internet Freedom

Author :Evgeny Morozov

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Xenophon's Cyrus the Great

Xenophon's Cyrus the Great

The Arts of Leadership and War

Author :Xenophon

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Every ambitious young person should read." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Rules for Radicals

Rules for Radicals

A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals

Author :Saul D. Alinsky

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"This is the '48 Laws of Power' written in more of an idealist, activist tone." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Score Takes Care of Itself

The Score Takes Care of Itself

My Philosophy of Leadership

Author :Bill Walsh

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Even if you’ve never watched a down of football, you’ll get something out of this book." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Library Book

The Library Book

Author :Susan Orlean

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

On War

On War

Author :Carl von Clausewitz

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

The War of Art

The War of Art

Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Author :Steven Pressfield

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

One of Ryan Holiday's 2 answers to "what book are you most likely to give out as a gift?" [Source]

Lincoln's Virtues

Lincoln's Virtues

An Ethical Biography

Author :William Lee Miller

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"MUST READ." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Brave New War

Brave New War

The Next Stage of Terrorism and the End of Globalization

Author :John Robb

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects

The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects

Author :Giorgio Vasari

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"A friend and peer of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael Titian and all the other great minds of the Renaissance sat down in 1550 and wrote biographical sketches of the people he knew or had influenced him." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Memoirs of Hadrian

Memoirs of Hadrian

Author :Marguerite Yourcenar

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"[One of] the best books I read [in 2019]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

You Are Not a Gadget

You Are Not a Gadget

A Manifesto

Author :Jaron Lanier

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

History of the Peloponnesian War

History of the Peloponnesian War

Author :Thucydides

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"An obligation for every student of history." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

Plutarch's Lives Volume 2

Plutarch's Lives Volume 2

Author :Plutarch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"I strongly recommend [this book]." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Moral Animal

The Moral Animal

Why We Are, the Way We Are

Author :Robert Wright

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"The definitive beginner text on evolutionary psychology and one of the easiest to get into." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

The Strategy Paradox

The Strategy Paradox

Why Committing to Success Leads to Failure (And What to do About It)

Author :Michael E. Raynor

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

Ryan Holiday recommended this book on his blog. [Source]

Parting the Waters

Parting the Waters

America in the King Years 1954-63

Author :Taylor Branch

Ryan Holiday- Ryan Holiday

"Epic." - Ryan Holiday [Source]

FAQs

Q1: What type of books does Ryan Holiday recommend?

Ryan Holiday recommends many books on philosophy, classic literature, biographies and other books on general knowledge such as history and economics.

Ryan Holiday specifically recommends books such as 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius, 'The Odyssey' by Homer, and 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu.

Ryan Holiday recommends these books because he believes they contain timeless insights and lessons, and are applicable to various aspects of life.

Yes, aside from gaining insights into life, reading such books can also help to improve reading comprehension skills and the ability to think critically.