Book Summaries, Reviews, and Notes of the Best Books


Welcome to the largest, most comprehensive list of book summaries on the web. Here you’ll find the best resource online of summaries, reviews, and notes on some of the greatest non-fiction books out there (and some fiction sprinkled in. What? I’m not a monster). Hundreds of book summaries. All in one place. All free. All yours.

Why? Because in 2020, I hit rock bottom. Then, in 2021, I found out that there was one more layer underneath rock bottom. Reading saved me. Books saved me. Now I hope these summaries get you reading, or at the very least, they inspire you and give you the highlights needed to help you improve – to pick up the heavy-ass burden of responsibility that comes with changing your life and becoming a better human.

This page is the gateway into some of the greatest minds: from Roman Emperors to today’s, and yesterday’s, most prolific thinkers. From self-improvement to business, from game theory to Zen theory. It’s all here.

You can browse the book summaries based on the category below, the best of, or pick a title from the list below. Or you can use Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F on a Mac) for a quicky-search, if you’re into that kind of thing. Enjoy.


BEST BOOKS OF ALL TIME


  • Best Nonfiction Books of All Time
  • Best Fiction Books of All Time
  • My Favorite Books of All Time

BEST BOOKS OF ALL TIME BY TOPIC


BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

BUSINESS

  • Creativity, Inc.
  • Influence
  • The 4-Hour Workweek
  • Anything You Want

CREATIVITY

  • The War of Art
  • Show Your Work

CULTURE & SOCIETY

  • Sapiens
  • Guns, Germs and Steel

DATING & RELATIONSHIPS

  • How To Not Die Alone
  • The Way of the Superior Man
  • The Game
  • Models

DECISION MAKING & GAME THEORY

  • Thinking in Bets
  • The Biggest Bluff

FICTION

FINANCE & INVESTING

HABITS, FOCUS, PRODUCTIVITY

  • Atomic Habits
  • Deep Work
  • The ONE Thing

HAPPINESS

  • The Happiness Hypothesis

HEALTH

  • Breath
  • The 4-Hour Body

LIFE PURPOSE

  • Everything is F*cked
  • Man’s Search for Meaning
  • The Untethered Soul
  • The Last Lecture

MOTIVATION

PHILOSOPHY

  • Meditations
  • The Obstacle is the Way
  • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

PSYCHOLOGY

  • How Emotions Are Made
  • Stumbling on Happiness
  • Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents

SELF-IMPROVEMENT

THE HUMAN MIND

  • Mindset
  • Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself
  • Becoming Supernatural

TRAVEL & ADVENTURE

  • Vagabonding

WRITING, LEARNING, READING

  • On Writing
  • Speed Reading for Dummies

MORE BEST BOOKS OF ALL TIME BY TOPIC


Here you’ll find all the book summaries organized by topic and for each topic I summarize the best books that outshine the rest.

  • Biography and Memoir Book Summaries: Not only are these some of the most captivating books that entertain and inspire, but they also reveal the secret behind what it truly takes to reach greatness.
  • Business Book Summaries:
  • Creativity Book Summaries:
  • Culture and Society Book Summaries:
  • Dating and Relationship Book Summaries:
  • Decision-Making and Game Theory Book Summaries:
  • Fiction Book Summaries:
  • Finance and Investing Book Summaries:
  • Habits, Focus, and Productivity Book Summaries:
  • Happiness Book Summaries:
  • Health Book Summaries:
  • Life Purpose Book Summaries:
  • Motivation Book Summaries:
  • Philosophy Book Summaries:
  • Psychology Book Summaries:
  • Self-Improvement Book Summaries:
  • The Human Mind Book Summaries:
  • Travel and Adventure Book Summaries:
  • Writing, Learning, and Reading Book Summaries:
  • The “Couples” Page:

BOOK SUMMARIES BY RATING


7 habits of highly effective people summary book cover

First and foremost, you need to understand yourself. And the most effective way to do that is to take 100% responsibility for everything in your life. You need to focus on what you can control – yourself. Then go to work. Be proactive. Now.

Rich Dad Poor Dad Summary for books

Well, you’ve probably already heard of this book. My two cents: I found it to be more of a mindset book, than a finance or investing book. And that’s a good thing. It’s a perfect place to start when re-organizing your mindset around money.

The hobbit book cover for the hobbit summary

A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins unwillingly joins a motley crew of Dwarves on an adventure through Middle Earth in the hopes of reclaiming a long-lost treasure that belongs to the Dwarves – but it is guarded by a dragon named Smaug.

Greenlights Summary: A biography of Matthew McConaughey

Life is just a process of moments and he outlines some of his biggest, most influential, and pivotal moments to really say one thing: death is coming for us all, and choosing to live with values is what makes for a meaningful life.

Unfuck yourself book cover

Gary John Bishop is intense. He’s not for everyone, but if you need someone to yell at you to get your ass motivated, he’s your guy. In this book, he tells you, in no uncertain terms, that you are the problem.

MY BOOK REVIEWS


Hopefully, you can find something that sparks your curiosity and gets you reading something good…and, hopefully, life-changing.

  • 5 Random Books I Didn’t Expect to Like But Did
  • 6 Psychology Books to Understand Yourself (and Others) Better
  • 5 Best Books for Dealing With Anxiety and Depression
  • 6 Books That Will Help You Grow From Your Pain
  • 5 Relationship Books Everyone Should Read
  • 4 Modern Philosophy Books You Should Read
  • 5 Books That Explain Why It Seems the World Is So Fucked
  • 114 Books Reviewed in (About) One Paragraph
  • 9 Books That Explain How the World Works
  • 6 Books That Make You Less of a Horrible Person
  • 5 Massive Books That Are Worth Your Time
  • 7 Books That Will Change How You See the World

MY YEARLY READING LIST


As I read throughout the year, I continuously add to the “Yearly Reading List” so you can see what I’m currently reading and the topics I’m exploring. (Coming Soon: I will make these summaries more accessible and more current by sharing my massive library of Notion book summaries, reviews, and notes.)


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My Book-Rating Scale


My reading rating of books and book summaries
So we are on the same page.

*If you use the affiliate links in here a magic genie will suddenly appear in front of me granting me unlimited wishes, at which point I will then immediately wish for something like 100 billion dollars, a submarine, a funny hat, or something cool like that. So just assume that if you use the links to buy anything I make tons of money and become filthy rich. Besides this last statement, I practice radical honesty, and anything I ever recommend is something I stand by.