Books Paul Graham has recommended
Books Paul Graham has recommended in his essays and on X, each linked to the essay or post where he said it.
Paul Graham has no affiliation with this site and does not endorse it. Recommendations are quoted from public sources listed at the bottom. Background: Wikipedia.
Paul Graham has no single books page (paulgraham.com/books lists exactly three), so his recommendations live in essays and posts. The pattern is clear once collected: beautifully written non-fiction, history that explains how things came to be, and a few books about what it feels like to do hard creative work.
Each entry links to the essay or post where he said it. Quotes are his.
The list
Founders at Work
Jessica Livingston · 2007
"Probably the single most valuable book a startup founder could read." Interviews with founders about the early days, by his co-founder at YC.
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life
William Finnegan · 2015
"One of those rare books that divide your life into two parts: before you read it, and after."
A Sense of Where You Are
John McPhee · 1965
His answer when asked for the most beautiful book he had ever read: McPhee's profile of Bill Bradley as a Princeton basketball player.
A Mathematician's Apology
G. H. Hardy · 1940
"Among the most inspiring books I know." Hardy on why mathematics is worth doing for its own sake.
Medieval Technology and Social Change
Lynn White Jr. · 1962
"The most fabulous book." How the stirrup, the heavy plough and the crank reshaped medieval society.
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
Harold Abelson & Gerald Jay Sussman · 1984
"One of the great classics of computer science." The MIT text that taught a generation to think in abstractions.
The Making of Europe
Robert Bartlett · 1993
"So good I have to recommend it again." Conquest, colonization and cultural change from 950 to 1350.
On Bullshit
Harry G. Frankfurt · 2005
A short philosophical essay on the difference between lying and not caring whether what you say is true; praised on his feed.
The German Generals Talk
B. H. Liddell Hart · 1948
One of his 'favorite little-known books': postwar interviews with the Wehrmacht's commanders.
Mathematician's Delight
W. W. Sawyer · 1943
Recommended in his essay on college as the book to read to learn what mathematics is actually about.
Questions people ask
Does Paul Graham have a reading list?
Only a tiny one: paulgraham.com/books lists three titles (including SICP). The rest of his recommendations are scattered through his essays and his X posts, which is what this page gathers.
What does Paul Graham say about how to read?
In his essays he argues for reading the originals rather than summaries, for re-reading, and for noticing that the best books change how you see your own work rather than just informing you.
Sources
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Keep going
Patrick Collison
Stripe co-founder and CEO
Books Patrick Collison flags as particularly great on his personal bookshelf page, several of which Stripe Press later republished.
Naval Ravikant
AngelList founder, investor
The books Naval Ravikant recommends in the Almanack of Naval Ravikant's reading list, with his own one-line reasons.
Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder
The books Jeff Bezos assigned to Amazon's executives and named as favorites, from Brad Stone's reporting and Bezos' own interviews.
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Monitor at eye height, a chair that fits, a desk that lets you stand. Buy those first; cheap out on the rest until it bugs you.
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Monitor at eye height, a chair that fits, a desk that lets you stand. Buy those first; cheap out on the rest until it bugs you.