8 books to add to your Summer Reading List
Here’s what we’ve been reading at Morningstar.
If you’re anything like us here at Morningstar, summer is a time to escape the market tumult, reflect and perhaps learn a new approach or perspective.
We’ve compiled a selected list of books and one podcast that resonated with some of our staff over the year.
This year’s list is diverse, spanning traditional finance and economics, but many with strong storytelling. Each is applicable to investing, and changing perspectives.
Here’s what we’ve been reading (and listening to!):
Alan Opts Out
Courtney Maum
Mark LaMonica, Director of Personal Finance
My recommendation this year is a little different. It is the novel Alan Opts Out by Courtney Maum. I went to high school with Courtney and we grew up in the town the book is set. This is not an investing book but there are some elements that relate to personal finance. Alan is a successful advertising executive and has all the trappings of wealth you would expect. When things go very wrong at work Alan ‘opts out’ of the life he is living.
To paraphrase Brad Pitt’s character in Fight Club: the things you own end up owning you. Alan figured that out and it changed his life for the better. It is a good reminder that the most valuable thing you can buy with your money is freedom. That is why I became an investor in the first place – and I suspect why many of you did as well.
The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense
Rory Sutherland
Mathew Hodge, Director of Equity Research
Rory has an amazing understanding of how humans behave when it comes to marketing and decision making, which can have a decisive impact on which businesses are successful and not. Some of the ways humans behave can be deeply counterintuitive- such as raising the price of a good or service, and demand grows, not shrinks. He has a lot of great anecdotes as well, which bring the ideas to life.
The Geek Way
Andrew McAfee
Chris Galloway, Managing Director, APAC
McAfee, a researcher at MIT, explains why a group of companies, many of them in tech and based in Silicon Valley, have pulled so far ahead of their competitors. His answer is culture rather than technology. He sets out a handful of norms that these businesses share: science (settle arguments with evidence, not seniority), ownership and autonomy for small teams, speed through constant iteration, and openness, where information and bad news travel freely.
I had the chance to moderate a session with McAfee this year, and the book changed how I think about economic moats. We spend a lot of time assessing a company’s brand, network effects or cost advantages, but McAfee makes a convincing case that culture is what lets a business keep widening those advantages, or lets them erode. It also has a lesson for investors themselves. The habits he describes, testing your views against evidence, being willing to be wrong and updating quickly, are the same habits that lead to better investment decisions.
The Twilight Before the Storm
Viktor Shvets
Lochlan Halloway, Market Strategist
Not a cheerful summer read, but I got a lot out of Viktor Shvets’s The Twilight Before the Storm. Shvets argues our era shares much with the 1930s, from extreme financialisation and high inequality to declining trust in institutions. He draws striking parallels between the fractures of that decade and the crossroads we face today, and asks whether we have the wisdom to avoid repeating what followed: trade wars, the collapse of democracies into authoritarian rule, and ultimately a world war.
For investors, those fractures threaten the property rights, political stability and social cohesion that long-term investing is built on. History suggests that when the pressure builds, it is released one of two ways, through managed reform or political rupture. Which path we take depends on whether governments respond with a credible reform platform before society boils over.
What Technology Wants
Kevin Kelly
Matt Olsen, Director of Manager Research
In this provocative book, one of today’s most respected thinkers turns the conversation about technology on its head by viewing technology as a natural system, an extension of biological evolution. By mapping the behavior of life, we paradoxically get a glimpse at where technology is headed-or “what it wants.”
Who is Government?
Michael Lewis
Shani Jayamanne, Director, Investment Specialist
Investors spend a lot of time thinking about companies, markets and the people that make big decisions. What about the institutions working quietly in the background that help economies function? Michael Lewis is a familiar name to many of us, and a recurring guest on the Summer Reading List.
His book, Who Is Government? brings together a group of writers to tell the stories of public servants whose work is often overlooked. There are a couple of essays in particular that I can’t stop thinking about. Lewis’ own chapters on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and former coal miner Chris Mark dedicating his life’s work to prevent deadline mine collapses stood out.
I have been fascinated with government and those who dedicate their lives to public service from a young age. It is easy to recount the stories of political giants. It is more impressive when those who have bureaucracy, limited monetary incentive and limited resources in their way shift the dial.
The Missing Billionares
Victor Haghani and James White
Simonelle Mody, Investment Specialist
As we undergo one of the largest intergenerational wealth transfers in history, I’ve become more interested in understanding how that wealth is preserved over time. The Missing Billionaires asks a similar question, that is, if some of America’s wealthiest families had invested in the market and benefited from more than a century of growth, why are so few of their descendants wealthy today?
What I found most interesting is that the book reframes investing as a survival game rather than an exercise in forecasting returns.
The authors argue that long-term outcomes are often determined by our decision framework around position sizing, rather than simply identifying great investments. Even in a favourable market environment, if investors don’t make thoughtful decisions around risk and allocation, there is a much higher chance they fail. That can mean being too conservative or taking on excessive risk.
This resonated with me as I’m not particularly interested in the business of making bold predictions. A lot of my process focuses on what I can control. As a reader, it reinforced the idea that portfolio construction and risk management aren’t just secondary considerations.
Globally diversified funds are too concentrated for the new world
The Financial Coconut Podcast
Tyger Fitzpatrick, Associate Investment Specialist
I recently listened to a podcast featuring Guy Stear, Head of Developed Markets Strategy at the Amundi Investment Institute, following their investment forum in Paris.
The conversation challenged the assumption that a global portfolio is automatically diversified and explored how investors can think more deeply about concentration risk and the changing drivers of global markets. This is particularly true as investors continue to add greater exposure to international ETFs. It was a thought provoking reminder that understanding what sits beneath an investment is often more important than the label attached to it.
Chip War
Chris Miller
Josh Groot, Associate Investment Specialist
Miller, an economic historian at Tufts University, explains how semiconductors ended up at the centre of the rivalry between the US and China. He traces the industry from its Cold War origins in California to today, when one company in Taiwan makes most of the world’s advanced chips, using machines that only one Dutch company, ASML, can build.
I’ve always been drawn to geopolitics, and with AI now driving so much of the market, this book feels more relevant each year. It also changed how I think about economic moats. ASML and the Taiwanese chipmaker hold positions so hard to replicate that their biggest risk is now political, as governments treat chip supply as a question of national security.
Anyone who owns a global ETF has a large stake in semiconductors and the tech giants that rely on them, often without realising it. Chip War is a good way to understand the risk sitting underneath those returns.
Have you enjoyed our content in 2026? We’d appreciate your support.
One more book that we hope you’ll add to your Summer Reading List – Invest Your Way.
Invest Your Way is a book that focuses on the investor, instead of the investments. It is a guide to successful investing, with actionable insights and practical applications. Mark and I are passionate about making investing accessible to all, and have hoped that we have helped you on your journey so far.
Whether you’re looking to master the fundamentals of investing or take your portfolio to the next level, Invest Your Way shows you how to take control of your financial future.
- Craft your unique financial philosophy: Build a personalised strategy that aligns with your goals, values and life circumstances, because there are no one-size-fits-all solutions.
- Gain a new perspective on key investing principles: Many investors fall into the trap of mindlessly following conventional wisdom without considering how key concepts such as diversification, asset allocation, risk and security selection apply to their own goals and circumstances.
- Prevent costly mistakes: Avoid common pitfalls, minimise errors and maximise your returns.
- Compare different investment strategies: Mark and Shani share their own personal investing plans, tools and experiences, highlighting how and why they choose to invest in shares, ETFs, property and more.
Develop a mindset for success: Build the confidence needed to follow your customised plan over the long-term. If anyone would like to support this project you can buy the book at the below links. It is also available in Kindle and Audiobook versions. Thanks in advance!
