Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki (1997)

This book is all about the lessons the rich teach their kids about money, which, according to the author, poor and middle-class parents neglect. Robert Kiyosaki's message is simple, but it holds an important financial lesson that may motivate you to start investing: the poor make money by working for it, while the rich make money by having their assets work for them. We can't think of a better financial book to buy for your kids.

Beating the Street by Peter Lynch (1994)

Peter Lynch is one of the most successful stock market investors and hedge fund managers of the 20th century. He started out as an intern at Fidelity Investments in the mid 1960s. Nearly 11 years later, he was tasked to manage the Magellan Fund, which at the time had close to $18 million in assets. By 1990, the fund had grown to a whopping $18 billion in assets with nearly 1,000 stock positions. During this time, the fund boasted average returns of more than 29% per year.

"Beating The Street" allows the reader to peek into Lynch's mind and thought processes in terms of deciding whether to buy or sell a stock. Lynch believes that an individual investor could exploit market opportunities better than Wall Street, and encourages investors to invest in what they know.

Common Stocks And Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher (1958)

Another pioneer in the world of financial analysis, Philip Fisher has had a major influence on modern investment theory. The basic idea of analyzing a stock based on growth potential is largely attributed to Fisher. "Common Stocks And Uncommon Profits" teaches investor to analyze the quality of a business and its ability to produce profits. First published in the 1950s, Fisher's lessons are just as applicable more than half a century later.

The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (1949)

Benjamin Graham is undisputedly the father of value investing. His ideas about security analysis laid the foundation for a generation of investors, including his most famous student, Warren Buffett. Published in 1949, "The Intelligent Investor" is much more readable than Graham's 1934 work entitled "Security Analysis", which is probably the most quoted, but least read, investing book. "The Intelligent Investor" won't tell you how to pick stocks, but it does teach sound, time-tested principles that every investor can use. Plus, it's worth a read based solely on Warren Buffett's testimonial: "By far the best book on investing ever written."

The Richest Man in Babylon by George Samuel Clason (1926)

The Book was written almost 100 years ago. Richest Man isn’t a true investing book, per se, but that shouldn’t hold you back from reading it if you’re a new investor. Clason writes the book in parable form set in, you guessed it, Babylon. The book itself is a collection of short pamphlets that financial institutions handed out in the 1920’s and was bound together later as a book.

What I enjoy about Richest Man is Clason covers many basic ideals that anyone wanting to grow their wealth should seek to implement. Considered a classic, Richest Man is relatively quick to read through and should be something added to anyone’s list.

Bogle On Mutual Funds : New Perspectives For The Intelligent Investor by John Bogle (1993)

Certain books have redefined the way we view the world of finance and investing—books that should be on every investor’s shelf. Bogle On Mutual Funds—the definitive work on mutual fund investing by one of finance’s great luminaries.

This updated comprehensive book provides investors with the wisdom of the pioneer of mutual funds to help you identify and execute the ideal mutual fund investment choices for your portfolio.

Security Analysis by Graham & Dodd (1934)

The first edition of Security Analysis, authored by Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, was published in 1934. Graham and Dodd are considered by many to be the fathers of value investing. This comprehensive volume (some 700 pages including the Appendix) offers the reader the nuts and bolts as to what Graham and Dodd value investing really means.

As relevant today as when they first appeared nearly 75 years ago, the teachings of Benjamin Graham, “the father of value investing,” have withstood the test of time across a wide diversity of market conditions, countries, and asset classes.

In the updated editions one would get a opportunity to read added commentary by several of Today’s Money managers from Wall Street like Seth Klarman, James Grant, Howard Marks, Warren Buffett and many more.

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit And Wisdom Of Charles T. Munger (2005)

The books is a biography written by Charles Munger. It also includes a foreword by his legendary partner from Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett.

This book is a biography that chronicles Charlie’s growth from his humble Omaha childhood to his phenomenal financial success.

The book also summarises his approach to life, decision-making, learning, and investing. It talks about his unconventional method of thinking and his astonishing work ethic, that is, the twin fonts of his remarkable success. There is a special Mungerisms: Charlie Unscripted section that holds a collection of scathing remarks he had made at Wesco Financial and Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings.

Irrational Exuberance by Robert Shiller (2000)

This book has written by Nobel Prize-winning economist Robert Shiller. The author has warned about the tech and housing bubbles, cautions that signs of irrational exuberance among investors have only increased since the 2008-9 financial crisis. Previous editions covered the stock and housing markets- and famously predicted their crashes. The newer edition includes the bond market, so that the book now addresses all of the major investment markets.

With high stock and bond prices and the rising cost of housing, the post-subprime boom may well turn out to be another illustration of Shiller's influential argument that psychologically driven volatility is an inherent characteristic of all asset markets.

In other words, Irrational Exuberance is as relevant as ever.

When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management (2001)

Roger Lowenstein, the bestselling author of Buffett, captures Long-Term's roller-coaster ride in gripping detail. Drawing on confidential internal memos and interviews with dozens of key players, Lowenstein crafts a story that reads like a first-rate thriller from beginning to end. He explains not just how the fund made and lost its money, but what it was about the personalities of Long-Term's partners, the arrogance of their mathematical certainties, and the late-nineties culture of Wall Street that made it all possible.

When Genius Failed is the cautionary financial tale of our time, the gripping saga of what happened when an elite group of investors believed they could actually deconstruct risk and use virtually limitless leverage to create limitless wealth. In Roger Lowenstein's hands, it is a brilliant tale peppered with fast money, vivid characters, and high drama.

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2007)

This book is about luck–or more precisely, about how we perceive and deal with luck in life and business. Set against the backdrop of the most conspicuous forum in which luck is mistaken for skill–the world of trading–Fooled by Randomness provides captivating insight into one of the least understood factors in all our lives. Writing in an entertaining narrative style, the author tackles major intellectual issues related to the underestimation of the influence of happenstance on our lives.

The book is populated with an array of characters, some of whom have grasped, in their own way, the significance of chance: the baseball legend Yogi Berra; the philosopher of knowledge Karl Popper; the ancient world’s wisest man, Solon; the modern financier George Soros; and the Greek voyager Odysseus. We also meet the fictional Nero, who seems to understand the role of randomness in his professional life but falls victim to his own superstitious foolishness.

However, the most recognizable character of all remains unnamed–the lucky fool who happens to be in the right place at the right time–he embodies the “survival of the least fit.” Such individuals attract devoted followers who believe in their guru’s insights and methods. But no one can replicate what is obtained by chance.

The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable by Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2008)

A Black Swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of religions to events in our own personal lives.

Why do we not acknowledge the phenomenon of black swans until after they occur? Part of the answer, according to Taleb, is that humans are hardwired to learn specifics when they should be focused on generalities. We concentrate on things we already know and time and time again fail to take into consideration what we don’t know. We are, therefore, unable to truly estimate opportunities, too vulnerable to the impulse to simplify, narrate, and categorize, and not open enough to rewarding those who can imagine the “impossible.”

Elegant, startling, and universal in its applications, The Black Swan will change the way you look at the world. Taleb is a vastly entertaining writer, with wit, irreverence, and unusual stories to tell. He has a polymathic command of subjects ranging from cognitive science to business to probability theory.

Manias, Panics, and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Charles Kindleberger (1978)

In “Manias, Panics and Crashes”, Mr Kindleberger provided a comprehensive history of financial crises, stretching back to before the South Sea bubble. He argued, not wholly originally, that several common threads linked these different disasters over the centuries in almost all corners of the financial world. Manias, or bubbles, have typically occurred in the markets following unexpected good news, and so reflect progress of sorts. “New opportunities for profit are seized, and overdone.” When this eventually dawns on investors, the financial system may experience distress and often panic.

His book first appeared in 1978, when most economists who studied finance were in thrall to efficient-markets theory, which in its purest form rules out the possibility of bubbles. In so far as it acknowledged past bubbles, the theory blamed them on immature, fraud-prone markets and argued that they were unlikely to occur in sophisticated, well-regulated, modern settings

It remains an Investment Classic with several editions published since it’s first publication in 1978.

This Time Is Different – Eight Centuries of Financial Folly by Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff (2011)

Covering sixty-six countries across five continents, This Time Is Different presents a comprehensive look at the varieties of financial crises, and guides us through eight astonishing centuries of government defaults, banking panics, and inflationary spikes--from medieval currency debasements to today's subprime catastrophe. The authors are leading economists whose work has been influential in the policy debate concerning the current financial crisis, provocatively argue that financial combustions are universal rites of passage for emerging and established market nations.

They examine the patterns of currency crashes, high and hyperinflation, and government defaults on international and domestic debts--as well as the cycles in housing and equity prices, capital flows, unemployment, and government revenues around these crises. While countries do weather their financial storms, Reinhart and Rogoff prove that short memories make it all too easy for crises to recur. An important book that will affect policy discussions for a long time to come, This Time Is Different exposes centuries of financial missteps.

Mad Money Journey: A Financial Adventure by Mehrab Irani (2014)

Disclaimer - This isn’t a classic or must read Investment book. It is a light read in fiction style trying to capture the essence of saving mostly for beginners.

It is a beautifully written book about how to secure a financially independent and secure life. The book deals with the financial emancipation of an average Joe. The book imparts these valuable lessons in the form of a story. It is a story filled with adventure and mystery that delves into the very soul of the relationship between man and money.