One Up on Wall Street by Peter Lynch: If you are going to read only one book on investing in your life, this should suffice. The book tells you to invest in what you know rather than chase fancy trends in the market. Lynch also coined the term ‘multi-bagger’ to denote a stock that returned many times its original investment.

Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre: This is full of great truths about the market — so many stories — and it’s very exhaustive. If you are interested in trading, it is very, very essential that you read this book and understand it. It is very entertaining and easy to read.

Of Permanent Value by Andrew Kilpatrick: I have read many good books that try to explain the secret of Warren Buffett’s success, but I enjoyed this one the most. It really gets you into the mind of the great investor and explains how someone started with a few thousand dollars and became one of the richest people in the world just by investing in stocks.

Poor Charlie’s Almanack edited by Peter D Kaufman: This is a compendium of Charlie Munger’s essays and writing arising out of a lifetime of great investing. It tells us what we can learn from history and what the thought processes of a great investor are. And there is no better observer of the investment scene that Buffett’s partner, Munger.

More Money than God by Sebastian Mallaby: This recent imprint explains how hedge funds were started, how big money is made and lost, how the leading lights of the hedge fund industry think, and the ideas and thought processes that go into the investment calls they take. It is entertaining and unputdownable.