100 Books Like How to Master the Art of Selling

We’re Neil and Ruchin Kansal—builders, innovators, car lovers, and travelers at heart. In 2020, during the pandemic, we chased a dream: we bought a battered 1998 Acura Integra and, working in our garage, transformed it into a striking lime green showpiece. To celebrate Ruchin’s 50th birthday and Neil’s high school graduation in 2021, we drove it 5,000 miles to the summit of Mt. Evans, Colorado—the highest paved road in North America—learning along the way that, like life, the road demands resilience, adaptability, and courage to act. Our adventures are about more than cars—they’re about pushing boundaries, embracing challenges, and discovering what’s possible together.

I’ve been in the construction industry my entire life; I began estimating construction as a teenager, helping my father in his electrical contracting business. I’ve been in residential remodeling sales, spent time as a licensed plumber, and ran my own successful remodeling business for many years. I’ve made all the mistakes any business owner can make, and my passion now is to help other business owners avoid those same mistakes. Most contractors go into business because they know their trade, but no one has taught them how to price their work or run a business. My goal is to help these contractors succeed.

I’ve been in the construction industry my entire life; I began estimating construction as a teenager, helping my father in his electrical contracting business. I’ve been in residential remodeling sales, spent time as a licensed plumber, and ran my own successful remodeling business for many years. I’ve made all the mistakes any business owner can make, and my passion now is to help other business owners avoid those same mistakes. Most contractors go into business because they know their trade, but no one has taught them how to price their work or run a business. My goal is to help these contractors succeed.

I’ve been in the construction industry my entire life; I began estimating construction as a teenager, helping my father in his electrical contracting business. I’ve been in residential remodeling sales, spent time as a licensed plumber, and ran my own successful remodeling business for many years. I’ve made all the mistakes any business owner can make, and my passion now is to help other business owners avoid those same mistakes. Most contractors go into business because they know their trade, but no one has taught them how to price their work or run a business. My goal is to help these contractors succeed.

For as long I can remember, I’ve been an ideas guy. I even like the idea of ideas…I guess that makes me a meta-idea guy. But not just any ideas. Ideas that achieve the maximum impact with the minimum means. Oliver Wendell Holmes once wrote, “I wouldn’t give a fig for simplicity on this side of complexity, but I’d give my life for simplicity on the other side of complexity.” Creative ideas are the main event of the imagination, and the simpler the better. I've written and published several books, hundreds of articles and blogs, and even had dozens of songs published. But by far my favorite creative accomplishment is winning the New Yorker cartoon caption contest in 2008.

I am an Australian who lives in France, and has worked and lived on three continents, and drawn inspiration for every location. Through this, I have developed a fascination about the way we all think in creatively different ways about the same things. All this cross-referencing has shown me that all responses to the need for change go better with a base of a few things: trust in your own people and those whose businesses support yours, discovery of assets hidden in plain sight, and fun. All these books share these themes. I hope they inspire you to think more creatively and to constantly value the value of values.

I am a former book publishing professional turned full-time children’s book author. I’ve never swallowed a frog, battled imaginary bears, or had a slime war with ghosts like my character, Roosevelt Banks, but I have written more than fifty books for children. These range from beginning readers (You Should Meet Misty Copeland) and chapter books (Roosevelt Banks, Good-Kid-in-Training) to middle grade historical novels (Daniel at the Siege of Boston, 1775).

I’ve founded companies, shut them down (then rebuilt my life), and coached hundreds of executives and founders through their own turning points. Those experiences taught me that resilience isn’t about bouncing back after hard things happen to you. It’s about being open to what can happen through you, including growth, clarity, curiosity, and conviction. That’s why I wrote Rethinking Resilience and why I return to these books often. Each one has helped me see strength, adaptability, and curiosity as intentional and sustainable traits—not something we summon only after crisis. I’m passionate about helping leaders move from reaction to intention and turn pressure into power, and I think this list captures that shift perfectly.

My family moved to Italy when I was six, and I attended Italian first grade in a fishing village where I had to rely on reading body language as I didn’t grasp the language for a bit. Fortunately for me, Italians have lots of body language to read so I could navigate the inevitable cliques and power dynamics evident even at the elementary school level. From that experience to being taken to view the Dachau concentration camp a year later, I’ve always been sensitive to how “the other” gets treated—often unfairly—and the role leaders can play for good or evil.

My main goal and purpose in life is to make a difference in people’s lives by helping you overcome obstacles that hold you back, so you can make more money, work less, and enjoy having even better work-life balance. Helping you realize how you can get around roadblocks that hold you back from achieving what you truly want in life gets me excited. I think many people make business and life so much harder than it needs to be and I like to share powerful books and resources that help you focus on how you can more easily realize your potential, accelerate your results, and fulfill what's truly important to you in life.