#1 The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck   Losing money is part of trading, and if you have a severe drawdown it is always a good idea to put it in perspective with your net worth as a whole, or life in general.  This book is one that should be read if you are having a hard time trading.   In his classic text, Steinbeck describes the hardships of the Joad family as they travel west to California after being dispossessed, along with hundreds of thousands of others,  from their sharecropper farm.
	#2 The Dilbert Principal, by Scott Adams   A sense of humor is an essential quality to deal with the frustrations and hardships of trading.  In this irreverent and very funny book, Adams takes a lighthearted look at some of the difficulties faced by everyone in a working environment.
	#3 Death March, by Edward Yourdon   Technology is now an intrinsic part of any trading business, and in this informative book, Yourdon explains why most technology projects are doomed to failure before they even start.  An important read for any trader thinking of developing any kind of technology to support their trading business.
	#4 Probability Without Tears, by Derek Rowntree   Application of probability theory to trading is a subject that all traders would do well to study.  In this easy-to-read primer on probability, Rowntree explains everything a trader needs to know about the subject without too much pain.
	#5 Sun Tzu The Art of War, translated by Samuel Griffith   There are some important parallels between war and trading, and in this classic ancient Chinese text Sun Tzu details his in-depth expertise on war.  Read this book in conjunction with our soon-to-be-published eBook 'The Art of Trading' and it will give you a good feel for the parts of trading that are not all about science, probability,  or mathematics.
	#6 God's Debris, by Scott Adams   Although this book has no Dilbert and no humor, it is a thought-provoking and soul-searching kind of journey about the creating of the universe, God, religion, and reality.   It will not give you any answers, but will challenge the way you think about what is real.  In the same way the film 'The Matrix' introduced us to a different explanation for how reality works, this interesting short book is a great talking a thinking point to get your mind 'out of the box' and working in unique and unusual ways.
	#7 Labyrinths of Reason, by William Poundstone   Challenge the way you think about reality and give your brain a workout with this philisophical compendium of puzzles, paradoxes, and different ways of thinking about the universe we live in.
	#8 Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell   In this short, concise, easy-to-read volume, Gladwell covers a series of short 'stories' that reveal just how much our subconscious thought processes effect our everyday decision making.  There are so many areas that are relavant to trading in this book that we recommend you read it once to get a feel for it, and then go through it again with a fine-tooth comb paying particular reference to the book's relevance to your trading.   Next time you 'just know' a trade is bad before you enter it, think twice - your subconscious may be thin-slicing the correct course of action.
	#9 The Way of The Warrior-Trader, by Richard D McCall   This book could just have easily appeared in our 'Trader Top List' but I didn't include it there simply because this book is applicable to trading, but contains information that is just as useful for life in general.   All of the tecnhiques, stories, and thinking in this book can be used to give yourself a very useful perspective on any risk-taking activity (the game of life included).  I was surprised and pleased to find that I was actually using (an obvioulsy weaker version of) some of the Samurai techniques in my trading before I even read this book and I recommend any aspiring or experienced trader to seriously contemplate the Way of the Warrior and how they can incorporate it into their own trading and life in general.
	#10 The Why Cafe by John P Strelecky   A tiny (I read it in an hour) but very useful book that can really change the way you think about life, what you want out of it, and how to go about doing what you love instead of what other people want you to do.   Do you find yourself working harder and harder at a job in order to get money to pay for more and more things with the dim and distant vision of your retirement (where you get to do what you want) getting further and further away?  Sound familiar?  Read this book.   Visit the Why Cafe web site.
	#11 The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb   An irreverent and intellectual look at the ramifications that reality does not confirm to the neat "bell curve" distribution of economic, mathematical, and financial models in use today.   I'm sure that due to the success of his previous book, Fooled by Randomness, Taleb had much more latitude from his editors and publisher to speak his mind (not that he didn't do so before).  The message for traders:   Don't bother using current Gaussian-based financial models of risk - they just don't represent the reality of a world where Black Swans exist and can't be predicted.  A useful read for anybody - not just traders.