--- description: Take your bookshelf to the next level title: 10 Books Everyone Should Read, According to Successful People image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1be6c24f9b10c85/69887b42524fc00183df6838/balancing-work-career-home-cellphone-tablet-goals.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [motto](/tag/motto/) ## motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 10 Books Everyone Should Read, According to the World's Most Successful People by [The Editors of Motto](/author/the-editors-of-motto/) ## The Editors of Motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 6, 2016 1:00 PM CUT  Peechaya Burroughs for TIME by [The Editors of Motto](/author/the-editors-of-motto/) ## The Editors of Motto Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 6, 2016 1:00 PM CUT There are about a million and one “Best Books” lists out there, so it’s easy to get lost in the library (or the e-book store) with pages of suggestions that are impossible to prioritize. What’s the best way to narrow it down? Easy: Ask some of the most important influencers in the world to share their _one_ must-read. Sheryl Sandberg, Bill Gates, [Barack Obama](http://motto.time.com/4199637/barack-obama-daughters/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), J.K. Rowling, Tory Burch and other innovators give you the keys to their success: The best book they’ve ever read. Even Oprah, famous for her widely followed book club, limited her pick to just one. Stock up on everything from Doris Kearns Goodwin to Lao-Tzu to make your morning commute a little more life-changing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4210027/books-everyone-should-read/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4210027/books-everyone-should-read/"},"headline":"10 Books Everyone Should Read, According to the World's Most Successful People","datePublished":"2016-02-06T13:00:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:01:47.992Z","description":"Take your bookshelf to the next level","url":"https://time.com/4210027/books-everyone-should-read/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1be6c24f9b10c85/69887b42524fc00183df6838/balancing-work-career-home-cellphone-tablet-goals.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Editors of Motto","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-editors-of-motto/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf1be6c24f9b10c85/69887b42524fc00183df6838/balancing-work-career-home-cellphone-tablet-goals.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"balancing-work-career-home-cellphone-tablet-goals-motto-stock","caption":"balancing work career home cellphone tablet goals motto stock","creditText":"Peechaya Burroughs for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4210027/books-everyone-should-read/","name":"10 Books Everyone Should Read, According to the World's Most Successful People"}}]}] ```