23 books Wall Streeters think everyone should read

Surprisingly, most books recommended have nothing or little to do with finance and business, spanning topics from history to psychology.

Here are the 23 recommendations we received.

"Open: An Autobiography" by Andre Agassi

Wall Streeter: Heidi Ridley, CEO of Rosenberg Equities at AXA Investment Managers

"I have always been a huge fan of Andre Agassi. I really enjoy watching tennis and feel he is one of the best players in history. I love that he is true to himself, even if that means going against the norm. Exuding that kind of confidence even when you are facing internal/personal challenges is remarkable.

"Importantly, both are stories of people with immense passion for something, who embrace challenges with determination and commitment and achieve success with authenticity and humility."

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Price: $14

"Off The Planet" by Jerry Linenger

Wall Streeter: Heidi Ridley, CEO of Rosenberg Equities at AXA Investment Managers

"I had the opportunity to meet Jerry Linenger and hear him speak at one of our client conferences many years ago. I was so impressed by how intelligent, worldly, and personable he was. He was also a tremendous speaker — a skill I hold in high regard — and an amazing family man, who incidentally published a book of all the letters he wrote to his then-unborn child called 'Letters from Mir.'"

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Price: $9

"Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" by Yuval Noah Harari

Wall Streeter: Virginie Morgon, deputy CEO of Eurazeo and president and CEO of Eurazeo North America

"It's undeniable that Harari is a visionary. 'Homo Deus' is inspiring because it reminds us that humans are limitless and we should strive to be our best in life, business, and society.

"At the same time, the book and theories in it ask questions we — as leaders — must address as technology continues to advance at an accelerating pace. How are we adapting our companies and human capital to embrace and leverage technology? In what ways are we reengineering ourselves to prepare for the world of the future?

"We have a responsibility to anticipate these changes, think ahead of them, and provide answers to the questions our colleagues, partners, and peers will be asking. It's an unbelievably thought-provoking read for current and future leaders alike."

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Price: $20

"Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World" by Adam Grant

Wall Streeter: Ashish Shah, head of fixed income at AllianceBernstein

"A must-read for those that want to foster innovative and independent thinking in their organizations."

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Price: $12

"The Road to Wigan Pier" by George Orwell

Wall Streeter: Simon Bound, global director of research at Morgan Stanley

"'The Road to Wigan Pier' by George Orwell gives insight into inequality in northern England in the 1930s and is relevant to the inequality debate today."

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Price: $12

"Janesville: An American Story" by Amy Goldstein

Wall Streeter: Carolyn Dolan, head of direct client investments at Fiera Capital

"'Janesville: An American Story' by Amy Goldstein, which is about GM's efforts to close a Janesville, WI, factory and place employees. It is an empirical study which compares the success of three groups — one that stayed in Janesville and were trained in other jobs, the ones that left and looked for jobs in Janesville, and the third which commuted to jobs in Indiana.

"I find the story interesting as it speaks to the problems that companies and people have in restructuring their careers."

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Price: $18

"The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World's Greatest Teams" by Sam Walker

Wall Streeter: Pete Cherecwich, president of corporate and institutional services at Northern Trust

"An easy read about the consistent key factor that exists in great sports teams. A great book on leadership which is made even better if you are a sports fan."

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Price: $19

"The Civil War: A Narrative" by Shelby Foote

Wall Streeter: Robert Morier, managing director and head of North America at Global Evolution

"I can't help but turn to the classic works when trying to better understand current events. I educate clients and prospective investors on the historical context of the events that take place in emerging and frontier economies and how these can impact their investments.

"What may look like a relatively acute event (a failed political coup in Turkey or humanitarian crisis in Myanmar) can be years or decades in the making. Taking a 'top-down' view has helped me better understand various investment opportunities, risks, and lessons learned."

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Price: $21

"A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market" by Edward Thorp

Wall Streeter: John Spallanzani, chief macro strategist at GFI Group

"Thorp invented a wearable computer in the 1960s to beat the casinos, unheard of in that era. He took that knowledge and experience to Wall Street to start one of the first hedge funds, he pitched Warren Buffett, and was a great bridge player as well."

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Price: $20

"Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen" by Christopher McDougall

Wall Streeter: Vlad Khandros, global head of market structure and liquidity strategy at UBS

"'Born to Run' is inspiring and in many ways argues we can be our biggest limitation, but said differently, we can achieve whatever we set ourselves out to if we work together and work hard."

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Price: $10

"You Say More than You Think: A 7-Day Plan for Using the New Body Language to Get What You Want" by Janine Driver

Wall Streeter: Vlad Khandros, global head of market structure and liquidity strategy at UBS

"'You Say More Than You Think' shows how important communication is in all facets of life, and how much impact one person, even seemingly minor actions, can potentially have on someone else."

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Price: $12

"Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance" by Angela Duckworth

Wall Streeter: Sebastien Page, head of multiasset investing at T. Rowe Price

"In her eye-opening book, Angela Duckworth explains that perseverance trumps talent. One of the key lessons: We should not overreact to setbacks. The importance of grit applies to many areas in life, from our work, to how we raise our kids. Ultimately, sticking to your goals when things get tough matters a lot more than intelligence and natural talent."

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Price: $12

"Grant" by Ron Chernow

Wall Streeter: Jason Ader, CEO and founder of SpringOwl Asset Management

"He was a very unconventional leader, and he had no political experience before becoming president. (Sound familiar?) There was so much about his life that was never taught in school. History always repeats itself. The book provides a great summary about the causes of the Panic of 1873 as well as the impact the event had on the nation. The book is a fantastic overview of his life and all his remarkable accomplishments."

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Price: $24

"Leonardo Da Vinci" by Walter Isaacson

Wall Streeter: Jason Ader, CEO and founder of SpringOwl Asset Management

"A painting of his just sold for $450 million, and of course he painted 'The Last Supper' and the 'Mona Lisa.' He was an inventor of concepts like a flying machine, helicopter, parachute, armored car, scuba gear, and more well over 500 years ago. As one of the greatest geniuses of all time, who doesn't want to learn about his life and all the things that made him so unique."

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Price: $17

"The Fama Portfolio" by Eugene Fama

Wall Streeter: Cliff Asness, managing and founding principal at AQR Capital Management

"I'm about as far from unbiased as one can be without having a blood relation. I was Gene's teaching assistant for two years starting in the antediluvian late 1980s. He was cochair of my dissertation committee. Finally, along with my partner and coauthor John Liew, I have an entry in the recommended book.

"Consider all this as you will. I stand by my recommendation of 'Are you crazy? Go buy this right now and read it!' As we say in my and John's chapter (a reprint of our survey of the efficient market debate in Institutional Investor after Gene shared the Nobel Prize in Economics) we think Gene is the 'MVP of modern finance and perhaps economics as a whole for the past almost half century.' As such, any collection of his works is self-recommending.

"But this is more than a simple collection. It's a curated collection, with the curation done by professors John Cochrane and Tobias Moskowitz. You couldn't find two scholars more expert on finance and specifically the work and contributions of Gene Fama. They take great care to include many of the most path-breaking of Gene's papers, but also recognizing that the first glimpse of an important new idea isn't always the clearest or best exposition, they further include his most definitive, often latter, works."

Read Asness' full recommendation »

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Price: $91

"Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II" by Robert Kurson

Wall Streeter: Patrick O'Shaughnessy, principal and portfolio manager at O'Shaughnessy Asset Management

"An ode to the power of persistence and independent research, wrapped in one of the best stories I've ever read. You cannot put it down."

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Price: $14

"The Fish That Ate the Whale: The Life and Times of America's Banana King" by Rich Cohen

Wall Streeter: Patrick O'Shaughnessy, principal and portfolio manager at O'Shaughnessy Asset Management

"My favorite business book. Its subject (Sam Zemurray) is largely unknown, but his career reminded me of Warren Buffett in many interesting ways."

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Price: $13

"The Battle of Bretton Woods" by Benn Steil

Wall Streeter: Don Ross, chief executive officer of PDQ, operator of CODA Markets

"'Benn Steil’s The Battle of Bretton Woods' tells the story of how John Maynard Keynes and Harry Dexter White shaped the future of the global financial system at the 1944 monetary conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. Steil reveals with exhaustive research and potent prose that even though these men were regarded as the greatest economic minds of their time, not only were they fallible, but they were widly political. For anyone interested in the real story of how the US Dollar became the reserve currency of the world, this is a must read.

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Price: $14.80

"Irrational Exuberance" by Robert Shiller

Wall Streeter: Dan Rasmussen, founder of Verdad Fund Advisors

"Shiller's book dispels the idea that the stock market is rational and predictable and shows that most stock market volatility is driven by multiples, rather than earnings."

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Price: $14.97

"Expert Political Judgment: How Good is it? How Can We Know" by Philip Tetlock

Wall Streeter: Dan Rasmussen, founder of Verdad Fund Advisors

"Investing is a forecasting competition: are your forecasts better than the markets? A student of Daniel Kahneman, Tetlock is the most important thinker on how to do good forecasts and the most common forecasting errors."

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Price: $22.14

"Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist" by Roger Lowenstein

Wall Streeter: Bob McCooey, SVP of Nasdaq

Find it on Amazon>>

Price: $15.20

"Red Notice" by Bill Browden

Wall Streeter: Ronan Ryan, president of IEX

"

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Price: $11.31

Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace