Recommended Reading

Henry M. Paulson: On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System

A good study in ideology versus the reality of the financial crisis. This is a story that you will not get anywhere else, and it is worth reading.

Vitaliy N. Katsenelson: The Little Book of Sideways Markets: How to Make Money in Markets that Go Nowhere (Little Books. Big Profits)

An engaging and entertaining resource for understanding markets and picking stocks.

Mark D. Wolfinger: The Rookie's Guide to Options: The Beginner's Handbook of Trading Equity Options

Michael Lewis: The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

A captivating story of the crisis, told from the perspective of the winners, but with lessons for all.

Barry Ritholtz: Bailout Nation, with New Post-Crisis Update: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy

An informative and entertaining account of the financial crisis. Almost anyone will find this stimulating and useful.

David Alan Stockman: Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed

Leonard Mlodinow: The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage)

Great insight for investors seeking to distinguish real indicators from random noise.

Kate Kelly: Street Fighters: The Last 72 Hours of Bear Stearns, the Toughest Firm on Wall Street

Good read, good info -- a building block for anyone trying to figure it out. What the heck happened!??

Michael Shermer: Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

Graham T. Allison: Essence of Decision: Explaining the Cuban Missile Crisis (2nd Edition)

A seminal work on decision-making.

Mancur Olson: The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups, Second printing with new preface and appendix (Harvard Economic Studies)

Andy Kessler: Wall Street Meat: My Narrow Escape from the Stock Market Grinder

Roger Lowenstein: When Genius Failed: The Rise and Fall of Long-Term Capital Management

Robert A. Caro: Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, (Vintage)

Ken Uston: Million Dollar Blackjack

Edwin Lefèvre: Reminiscences of a Stock Operator (A Marketplace Book)

Neil Browne: Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking (8th Edition)

Ralph Vince: Portfolio Management Formulas : Mathematical Trading Methods for the Futures, Options, and Stock Markets

Malcolm Gladwell: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Brett N. Steenbarger: Enhancing Trader Performance: Proven Strategies From the Cutting Edge of Trading Psychology (Wiley Trading)

Robert J. Shiller: Irrational Exuberance

Gene Epstein: Econospinning: How to Read Between the Lines When the Media Manipulate the Numbers

Edward R. Tufte: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
The authoritative work on the subject.

Murray Edelman: The Symbolic Uses of Politics

Gary Belsky: Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes And How To Correct Them: Lessons From The New Science Of Behavioral Economics

Laurence H. Meyer: A Term at the Fed : An Insider's View

James Altucher: Trade Like a Hedge Fund : 20 Successful Uncorrelated Strategies & Techniques to Winning Profits 

Janet Lowe: Warren Buffett Speaks : Wit and Wisdom from the World's Greatest Investor

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

William Poundstone: Fortune's Formula : The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street

Backstage Wall Street: An Insider's Guide to Knowing Who to Trust, Who to Run From, and How to Maximize Your Investments

Abnormal Returns: Winning Strategies from the Frontlines of the Investment Blogosphere