Building your knowledge of technical finance and financial history will help you to stand out in your interviews and internships. Reading finance books will also provide you with a great indication of what interests you, and what does not interest you. If you are having a hard time getting through The Big Short or Liar’s Poker, then a career in finance will probably not interest you. The following list of books is divided into “Start” “More Financial History” and “Advanced”. We recommend reading some of the books under the “Start” section, and then moving on from there. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at bingfinancesociety@gmail.com.
Start
The Big Short by Michael Lewis (Financial Crisis History)
The Great Crash by John Kenneth Galbraith (Great Depression History)
Snowball by Alice Schroeder (Warren Buffett, Financial History)
Monkey Business by John Rolfe and Peter Troob (Investment Banking Comedy, Careers)
Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis (Biography, Wall Street Comedy)
More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby (Hedge Fund History)
More Financial History
Stress Test by Tim Geithner (Biography, Financial Crisis History)
The Courage to Act by Ben Bernanke (Biography, Financial Crisis History)
House of Cards by William Cohan (Financial Crisis History, Bear Stearns)
Colossal Failure of Common Sense by Lawrence McDonald and Patrick Robinson (Financial Crisis History, Lehman Brothers)
The Greatest Trade Ever by Gregory Zuckerman (Financial Crisis History, John Paulson)
Boomerang by Michael Lewis (European Financial Crisis History)
When Genius Failed by Roger Lowenstein (Financial History, Long-Term Capital Management)
Barbarians at the Gate by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar (Financial History, Leveraged Buyouts)
King of Capital by John Morris and David Carey (Financial History, Blackstone)
Advanced
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (Technical Finance, Equity Investing)
Investment Banking by Pearl and Rosenbaum (Technical Finance, Valuation)
Fixed Income Securities by Bruce Tuckman (Technical Finance, Fixed Income)
Distressed Debt Investing by Stephen Moyer (Technical Finance, Fixed Income)