Here are 100 books that The Multi-Hyphen Life fans have personally recommended if you like
The Multi-Hyphen Life.
Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.
I didn’t sit down to write Carried Away with a personal sermon in my back pocket. No buried lessons or hidden curriculum—it was just a story I wanted to tell. But stories have a way of outsmarting you.
So when I chose these books, I wasn’t looking for perfect comparisons—I was looking for echoes. Some of these books will drag you through POW camps or strand you on a lifeboat with a tiger; others will lean in and whisper that you’ve been running a program and calling it personality. A few say the quiet part out loud—about grit, meaning, and purpose. Others ring you up with fable, abstractions, or science, but they leave their mark just the same.
Hell, I think I actually wore the pages out, if that’s even possible. When I was younger, I went back to it like a lab rat hitting the lever for a pellet—each parable connecting another dot. To me, the mystery was life, the teacher the universe, and I was the student—albeit a lousy one.
The Alchemist is one of those rare novels that feels both timeless and uncomfortably personal. At its foundation, it’s about following your own path—trusting the itch of intuition and chasing something bigger than yourself, even when it feels a little foolhardy in the moment.
What I love is how Coelho cuts through with fable-like simplicity: those who love walking go farther than those who love the destination—and they usually learn a hell of a lot more if they’re paying attention.
A global phenomenon, The Alchemist has been read and loved by over 62 million readers, topping bestseller lists in 74 countries worldwide. Now this magical fable is beautifully repackaged in an edition that lovers of Paulo Coelho will want to treasure forever.
Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of its readers forever. This is such a book - a beautiful parable about learning to listen to your heart, read the omens strewn along life's path and, above all, follow your dreams.
Santiago, a young shepherd living in the hills of Andalucia, feels that there is…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
When I was young, my grandmother gave me a book on reflexology, and since then, I’ve been in love with natural health and healing. I started my journey as a complementary therapist and then went on to become a homeopathic doctor, counselor, and writer. I’m fascinated by the human body as well as the natural world in which we live, with its abundance of medicines in the form of plants, foods, animal friends, and healing spaces. Over the years, I’ve gained a master’s degree in health science as well as a master’s degree in counseling and find that we cannot treat physical ailments without including mental, emotional, and spiritual care.
My mum had this book on her bookshelf for many years, and one day, I decided to read it, hoping it would help me learn to paint and draw. I didn’t learn anything about drawing or painting but instead learned how to slow down a bit and regather my energy.
This is an inspiring yet practical guide that helped me put aside my critical, doubting, worrying ‘adult’ self and allow myself to explore what I love and value in life. I found Cameron’s tools, such as the Morning Pages and Artist’s Date, so life-changing that I recommend them to many of my patients, especially those struggling with chronic illnesses, fatigue, or burnout.
"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times
"Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue
Over four million copies sold!
Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems…
I fell into freelancing when I unexpectedly got the opportunity to act in Bollywood after graduating from law school and business school. With six figure student loans, I needed to make money and still have time for auditions. Enter freelancing! A decade later, I’ve helped other people expand beyond their day jobs, change careers, or tap into a different skillset, and I’ve collected stories of over fifty freelancers who are doing the same. I hope these books inspire and support you as you venture off the beaten path to create a career that’s just right for you!
Ah, there is nothing more quintessentially freelance than riding the highs and lows.
Some months, clients are stampeding to work with you and other months you pitch your projects to a resounding chorus of crickets. This book about thriving in uncertainty helped me ground myself in moments of transition (a.k.a. always).
It also helped me understand that the more unique my career was, the better, because it helps me differentiate myself from the pack. Plus the book reads like a warm hug, and that’s exactly what you want when, well, everything is in flux.
Discover eight powerful mindset shifts that enable leaders and seekers of all ages to thrive in a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty.
Being adaptable and flexible have always been hallmarks of effective leadership and a fulfilling life. But in a world of so much—and faster-paced—change, and an ever-faster pace of change, flexibility and resilience can be stretched to their breaking points. The quest becomes how to find calm and lasting meaning in the midst of enduring chaos.
A world in flux calls for a new mindset, one that treats constant change and uncertainty as a feature, not a bug.…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I fell into freelancing when I unexpectedly got the opportunity to act in Bollywood after graduating from law school and business school. With six figure student loans, I needed to make money and still have time for auditions. Enter freelancing! A decade later, I’ve helped other people expand beyond their day jobs, change careers, or tap into a different skillset, and I’ve collected stories of over fifty freelancers who are doing the same. I hope these books inspire and support you as you venture off the beaten path to create a career that’s just right for you!
A couple years ago, I accepted a full-time job on top of my freelancing so I could be part of a bigger team.
I thought landing the job would be the hard part, but on my first day of work I found out I was wrong. It had been years since I’d worked at a company and I had no idea how to navigate office politics. This book totally saved me.
It helped me transition from freelance to full-time, but it also made me a better freelancer because I understood my clients and what they valued more deeply, so I could communicate in a way that resonated with them. Whether you’re freelance or full-time, this book is a must.
Named one of 10 Best New Management Books for 2022 by Thinkers50
A Wall Street Journal Bestseller
"...this guide provides readers with much more than just early careers advice; it can help everyone from interns to CEOs." - a Financial Times top title
You've landed a job. Now what?
No one tells you how to navigate your first day in a new role. No one tells you how to take ownership, manage expectations, or handle workplace politics. No one tells you how to get promoted.
The answers to these professional unknowns lie in the unspoken rules-the certain ways of doing…
After receiving my doctorate in Economics at Cambridge University, I embarked on a 35-year sabbatical as a venture capitalist focused on information technology. I learned about the critical role that the American state had played by sponsoring the computer industry. When the "Dotcom Bubble" of the late 1990s grossly overpriced my companies, because I had written my PhD thesis on 1929-1931 when the Bubble of the Roaring Twenties exploded, I had seen the movie before and knew how it ended. I returned to Cambridge determined to tell this saga of innovation at the frontier and the strategic roles played by financial speculation and the state in funding economic transformation."
I value this book as a comprehensive history of high-risk investing in America, from the Whaling Industry to Silicon Valley.
Nicholas reveals the extraordinary skew and persistence in investment returns: a small number of investors are responsible for a disproportionate amount of the gains, and this holds true across widely varying institutional structures and technological domains.
And he explores the intimate relationship between the rise of the IT and Biotech industries and support from the U.S, Government.
A major exploration of venture financing, from its origins in the whaling industry to Silicon Valley, that shows how venture capital created an epicenter for the development of high-tech innovation.
VC tells the riveting story of how the industry arose from the United States' long-running orientation toward entrepreneurship. Venture capital has been driven from the start by the pull of outsized returns through a skewed distribution of payoffs-a faith in low-probability but substantial financial rewards that rarely materialize. Whether the gamble is a whaling voyage setting sail from New Bedford or the newest startup in Silicon Valley, VC is not…
How many people have had a great idea and just needed to gain support within a large organization to move ahead? I have, over and over again, along with very accomplished teams. It’s often hard work to create something new. It requires both art and science. When people understand how it works, they elevate their craft and achieve more while lifting others up. Some of them even change the world. I’ve found great wisdom and amazing stories of courage and adventure from people who have already been there, done that, and written about their experiences. I hope these book recommendations broaden your perspective and inspire your imagination!
This pioneering work shows how it is possible to innovate in a big company and introduces the term “intrapreneurship” to a broader audience. Pinchot describes intrapreneurs as “dreamers who do” and provides a wealth of specific hands-on guidance for an internal leader.
I love this book because it really ushered in a new era of thinking on the topic and laid the foundation for so many people to learn—and deliver—based on its findings. It highlights the importance of intrapreneurs and conveys a sense of possibility at the intersection of imagination and practical, tangible action.
It also includes specific stories about people and companies that remain relevant today. This book inspired me in my writing journey and conveys timeless ideas in powerful ways.
Explains how innovative employees can obtain the resources--within the framework of their corporate jobs--to develop promising ideas to benefit both the company and the employee and details how to make the concept work, with examples of the experiences of major corporations
The Duke's Christmas Redemption
by
Arietta Richmond,
A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.
Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…
I was introduced to small business when I was six years old—my parents purchased a drug store to run (that drug store, after being sold forty years ago, is still in business). When I started my agency, there were few books on how to start, grow, and stay in business that didn’t tout traditional thinking. I think outside the triangle. I never thought I would be an author, and I am writing book #6! I write books today that I wish were available when I started my business journey: unique strategies coupled with actionable steps to grow. I hope these books provide inspiration and ideas!
Sometimes we think too small when it comes to growing our business. This is one of two of Dan’s books that I have on this list, and I love Dan as a writer and storyteller.
I loved how he uses psychology to help business owners like me unlock potential growth and get over the fear of “getting too big”. This book also helped me to think about how I am approaching growth (incremental versus exponential) and how that is holding back my business.
Expanding upon one of his high-level foundational teachings: Strategic Coach co-founder Dan Sullivan explains why achieving 10X growth is easier than going for 2X growth.
Dan Sullivan, the world's leading coach for highly successful entrepreneurs, wants you to know that achieving 10X growth is exponentially easier than striving for 2X growth. Most find this idea confusing at first because simply imagining 10X growth causes them to think they need to do 10X more work to achieve it. However, being a 10X entrepreneur is nothing like what most people think.
10X is not the outcome; it's a counterintuitive process you can…
For the last 25 years, I have been a coach to business founders, leaders, and leadership teams. My work has taken me to every continent from my base in London. A lot of my work is done behind closed doors, but I have been instrumental in building two unicorns in the last decade. I’m a founder myself and have always been fascinated by what it takes to succeed as a founder. I have a powerful conviction that learning to lead is the heart of it. The books I love are either based on real-world research or deeply practical and based on hands-on experience. Practice trumps theory every time in my world!
I have listened to Steven Bartlett’s podcast for years. He has interviewed an impressive and eclectic range of people, especially founders, and has pulled together much of what he has learned, both from his own business success and that of his guests.
I like the practicality of the “33 laws” in the book. I don’t agree with all of them. For example, I take issue with “Create a cult mentality,” but many of these laws are very sound indeed, including “Ask who not how” and “You must out-fail the competition.”
I like Steven’s persuasive and punchy style and the fact that he came from humble beginnings and has achieved so much.
I am a self-taught guy, having started in my first job at IBM Oslo, when I was 18 years old, as punched card machine operator, and plug-board ‘programmer'. I did night studies in sociology/philosophy for 10 years at University of Oslo. I read about 30 books a year, and I’m 82 in 2023. I have spent most of my career as an independent international consultant to corporations and governments, while building up my ideas of useful methods to solve problems. In retirement, I love to spread my ideas, and learn more. I also write about 5 new books a year, when at my Oslofjord Summer cabin. They're all digital and free or free samples.
No surprises. Self-made businessperson, with persistence and imagination.
This book is unusual. It is literally written by Bezos over decades of developing Amazon. It is mainly his annual reports to the shareholders! So it gives a continuous picture of the growth of the empire.
My favourite practical tip, is his executive meeting process. Meeting begins with a 6-page (with a 1-page summary) briefing, to reread for the first 20 minutes of as meeting in silence, then discussed. No presentation with slides and pretty pictures, and soothing ambiguous words.
The briefing is the result of hard work, in advance, crafting it to be useful. Wow!
In Jeff Bezos's own words, the core principles and philosophy that have guided him in creating, building, and leading Amazon and Blue Origin.
In this collection of Jeff Bezos's writings—his unique and strikingly original annual shareholder letters, plus numerous speeches and interviews that provide insight into his background, his work, and the evolution of his ideas—you'll gain an insider's view of the why and how of his success. Spanning a range of topics across business and public policy, from innovation and customer obsession to climate change and outer space, this book provides a rare glimpse into how Bezos thinks about…
This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.
In these and other intimate conversations, the book…
I love to read books. I read over 100 books a year and really try to implement principles and tips from those that I love. I also hate traditional sales advice and have worked on building my business differently from the typical salesperson, trying to serve my clients better by learning and practicing in a different way. Nothing happens until somebody sells something, but there is a better way. That’s why I wrote my book, The Mental Game of Real Estate, about the same principles that I teach my agents every day.
I love this book and re-read it at least every couple of years. All of Dan Kennedy’s books are fantastic, but this one is special.
As a real estate agent, I didn’t realize how much my view of the world and the economy held me back. This book helped shift my perspective, and I now see the world from an abundance mindset instead of a scarcity mindset. I give this to anyone who is stuck in an "if I win, then someone loses" mindset, and it will shake them out of it. I also love his chapters on the magic of generosity and on learning to expect "the phenomenon" at least once every few years (you will have to read it to learn more).
I love how this book has freed me up to go after my goals without hesitation because, as an entrepreneur, it is my job to grow…
The old economy is shattered, and GONE FOREVER. It's never coming back as it was, and in its place a generally tougher, more demanding marketplace is emerging. The realities of the business and financial landscape that you knew have been forced to change.
HOWEVER, when it comes to wealth, one instrumental reality is unchanged: No matter the economic conditions-booms or recessions, including the fast-emerging New Economy-there is wealth. And who better to show you how to lure, bait, attract, and become a magnet for it than "Millionaire Maker" Dan S. Kennedy?
