Top 25 must read business books in 2024

The former CEO of Microsoft and the richest man in the world, Bill Gates has said that he reads about 50 books a year, or about a book a week. Reading books reduce stress and help you relax, improve your concentration and memory, expands your vocabulary and strengthens your writing ability, and increases your imagination and creativity. It’s no wonder then that millionaires gain valuable insights into how to achieve their own goals, helping them grow and build their empire.

February is not only Black History Month, but this Valentine’s Day is also International Book Sharing Day. So, to spread the love and celebrate the countless men and women of colour that made and continue to make a difference in the world, we wanted to start you off with our Top 25 business books to read in 2024, majority of which are black authors.

• Year of Yes: Shonda Rhimes

In this poignant, hilarious and deeply intimate call to arms, Hollywood’s most powerful woman, the mega-talented creator of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal and executive producer of How to Get Away with Murder and Catch, reveals how saying YES changed her life — and how it can change yours too. Profound, impassioned and laugh-out-loud funny, in Year of Yes Shonda Rhimes reveals how saying YES changed — and saved — her life. And inspires readers everywhere to change their own lives with one little word: Yes.

• What I know for Sure: Oprah Winfrey

As a creative force, student of the human heart and soul, and champion of living the life you want, Oprah Winfrey stands alone. Over the years, she has made history with a legendary talk show – the highest-rated program of its kind, launched her own television network, become the nation’s only African-American billionaire, and been awarded both an honorary degree by Harvard University and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. From all her experiences, she has gleaned life lessons—which, for fourteen years, she’s shared in O, The Oprah Magazine’s widely popular “What I Know For Sure” column, a monthly source of inspiration and revelation.

• Start with WHY: Simon Sinek

Any organization can explain what it does; some can explain how they do it; but very few can clearly articulate why. WHY is not money or profit—those are always results. WHY does your organization exist? WHY does it do the things it does? WHY do customers really buy from one company or another? WHY are people loyal to some leaders, but not others?
Drawing on a wide range of real-life stories, Sinek weaves together a clear vision of what it truly takes to lead and inspire. This book is for anyone who wants to inspire others or who wants to find someone to inspire them.

• Lean In: Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In is a massive cultural phenomenon and its title has become an instant catchphrase for empowering women. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg – Facebook COO and one of Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women in Business – draws on her own experience of working in some of the world’s most successful businesses and looks at what women can do to help themselves, and make the small changes in their life that can effect change on a more universal scale.

• Life in Motion: Misty Copeland

“Picture a ballerina in a tutu and toe shoes. What does she look like?”
As the only African American soloist dancing with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre, Misty Copeland has made history. With an insider’s unique point of view, Misty opens a window into the life of a professional ballerina who lives life center stage: from behind the scenes at her first auditions to her triumphant roles in some of the most iconic ballets. But in this beautifully written memoir, she also delves deeper to reveal the desire and drive that made her dreams reality.

• The Pursuit of Happyness: Chris Gardner

Never giving in to despair, Gardner made an astonishing transformation from being part of the city’s invisible poor to being a powerful player in its financial district.
More than a memoir of Gardner’s financial success, this is the story of a man who breaks his own family’s cycle of men abandoning their children. Mythic, triumphant, and unstintingly honest, The Pursuit of Happyness conjures heroes like Horatio Alger and Antwone Fisher, and appeals to the very essence of the American Dream.

• Black Fortunes: Shomari Wills

Between the years of 1830 and 1927, as the last generation of blacks born into slavery was reaching maturity, a small group of industrious, tenacious, and daring men and women broke new ground to attain the highest levels of financial success.
Nearly all the unforgettable personalities in this amazing collection were often attacked, demonized, or swindled out of their wealth. Black Fortunes illuminates as never before the birth of the black business titan.

• This is how we do it: A Pep Talk: Kevin Hart

YOU CAN DO IT.
Kevin Hart. He wants to share some lessons he’s learned along the way—lessons that helped him get to where he is now. He wants to talk to you about “what-is-ness,” “cowboying up,” and “teddy bearing.”
No idea what those are? Don’t worry. That’s why you’re here. In this funny, heartfelt collection of pep talks, Kevin Hart reveals the power of a positive mindset.
In this book, the tables are turned. Kevin Hart isn’t just a box office juggernaut and superstar comedian.
He’s your biggest fan.

• Atomic Habits: James Clear

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits–whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

• Never split the difference: Chris Voss

A former FBI hostage negotiator offers a new, field-tested approach to negotiating – effective in any situation. Never Split the Difference takes you inside his world of high-stakes negotiations, revealing the nine key principles that helped Voss and his colleagues succeed when it mattered the most – when people’s lives were at stake.
Rooted in the real-life experiences of an intelligence professional at the top of his game, Never Split the Difference will give you the competitive edge in any discussion.

• Strategize to win: Carla A Harris

The Wall Street powerhouse and author of Expect to Win offers a new way to conceptualize career strategies and gives us proven tools for successful change
Introducing a new way of planning one’s career in five-year units, Strategize to Win distills battle-tested and step-by-step tools that Carla has used to launch and sustain her own successful career and help others move forward, recover from setbacks, and position themselves for success.

• Becoming: Michelle Obama

In a life filled with meaning and accomplishment, Michelle Obama has emerged as one of the most iconic and compelling women of our era.
Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is the deeply personal reckoning of a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations—and whose story inspires us to do the same.

• Finding Me: Viola Davis

In my book, you will meet a little girl named Viola who ran from her past until she made a life-changing decision to stop running forever.
Finding Me is a deep reflection, a promise, and a love letter of sorts to self. My hope is that my story will inspire you to light up your own life with creative expression and rediscover who you were before the world put a label on you.

• Can’t hurt me: David Goggins

David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare — poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. In Can’t Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.

• Its about damn time: Arlan Hamilton

From a black, gay woman who broke into the boys’ club of Silicon Valley comes an empowering guide to finding your voice, working your way into any room you want to be in, and achieving your own dreams.Drawing on her remarkable journey from food stamps to venture capitalist, she inspires us all to defy other people’s expectations and become the role models we’ve been looking for.

• How to win friends and influence people: Dale Carnegie

You can go after the job you want…and get it! You can take the job you have…and improve it! You can take any situation you’re in…and make it work for you!
As relevant as ever before, Dale Carnegie’s principles endure, and will help you achieve your maximum potential in the complex and competitive modern age.
Learn the six ways to make people like you, the twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking, and the nine ways to change people without arousing resentment.

• Shoe Dog: Phil Knight

In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and CEO Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company’s early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world’s most iconic, game-changing, and profitable brands.
Knight details the many risks and daunting setbacks that stood between him and his dream—along with his early triumphs. Above all, he recalls the formative relationships with his first partners and employees, a ragtag group of misfits and seekers who became a tight-knit band of brothers. Together, harnessing the transcendent power of a shared mission, and a deep belief in the spirit of sport, they built a brand that changed everything.

• We should all be millionaires: Rachel Rodgers

We Should All Be Millionaires details a realistic, achievable, step-by-step path to creating the support, confidence, and plan you need to own your success and become the millionaire the world needs you to be.
In this book, Rachel Rodgers— a Black woman, mother of four, attorney, business owner, and self-made millionaire— shares the lessons she’s learned both in her own journey to wealth and in coaching hundreds of women through their own journeys to seven figures.

• I know why the caged bird sings: Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
Here is a book as joyous and painful, as mysterious and memorable, as childhood itself. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right. Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide.
Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

• Get Good with money: Tiffany Aliche

Tiffany Aliche was a successful pre-school teacher with a healthy nest egg when a recession and advice from a shady advisor put her out of a job and into a huge financial hole. As she began to chart the path to her own financial rescue, the outline of her ten-step formula for attaining both financial security and peace of mind began to take shape. These principles have now helped more than one million women worldwide save and pay off millions in debt, and begin planning for a richer life.

• Rich dad, Poor dad: Robert T Kiyosaki

Rich Dad Poor Dad is Robert’s story of growing up with two dads — his real father and the father of his best friend, his “rich dad” — and the ways in which both men shaped his thoughts about money and investing. The book explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to be rich and explains the difference between working for money and having your money work for you.

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Stephen R Covey

When Stephen Covey first released The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the book became an instant rage because people suddenly got up and took notice that their lives were headed off in the wrong direction; and more than that, they realized that there were so many simple things they could do in order to navigate their life correctly. This book was wonderful education for people, education in how to live life effectively and get closer to the ideal of being a ‘success’ in life.

• The 4 Hour Work Week: Timothy Ferriss

What do you do? Tim Ferriss has trouble answering the question. He has spent more than five years learning the secrets of the New Rich, a fast-growing subculture who has abandoned the “deferred-life plan” and instead mastered the new currencies-time and mobility-to create luxury lifestyles in the here and now. Whether you are an overworked employee or an entrepreneur trapped in your own business, this book is the compass for a new and revolutionary world.

• More than enough: Elaine Welteroth

In this part-manifesto, part-memoir, the revolutionary editor who infused social consciousness into the pages of Teen Vogue explores what it means to come into your own—on your own terms.
Welteroth moves beyond the headlines and highlight reels to share the profound lessons and struggles of being a barrier-breaker across so many intersections. As a young boss and often the only Black woman in the room, she’s had enough of the world telling her—and all women—they’re not enough. As she learns to rely on herself by looking both inward and upward, we’re ultimately reminded that we’re more than enough.

• Diary of a CEO: Steven Bartlett

A galvanizing playbook for success from Steven Bartlett, one of the world’s most exciting entrepreneurs and the host of the No. 1 podcast The Diary of a CEO
“This is a must-read for anyone dreaming of doing something audacious.” Jay Shetty
At the very heart of all the success and failure I’ve been exposed to – both my own entrepreneurial journey and through the thousands of interviews I’ve conducted on my chart-topping podcast – are a set of principles that ensure excellence.

While James Baldwin may be considered the most famous black author we couldn’t forget to mention, Toni Morrison – Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize winning novelist that is considered the voice of African American women. Although not a business book, ‘Beloved’ is a must read. All books mentioned here are available on Amazon and Kindle Store.