One of the earliest articles we published on the Art of Manliness was “100 Must-Read Books for Men.” The piece was a result of a collaboration between the AoM team and a few guest writers.

The list was certainly decent enough, but some of the guest picks weren’t books we would personally recommend. So too, over the last nine years we’ve read some additional books worthy of inclusion.

So today we present a revamped list of 100 books every man should read over the course of his lifetime. It’s a library that centers not on sheer enjoyment (though you’ll find that too), but on the books that expand mind and soul, build new mental models, and allow you to become more culturally literate and thus better able to participate in the Great Conversation. These are the books you’ll keep thinking about long after you’ve finished the last page (even when, or perhaps especially when, you disagree with their ideas), providing cognitive leftovers you’ll be chewing on for years, and decades, to come.

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Set among New York City elites in the roaring ‘20s, this book is considered one of America’s great literary products for a reason. Narrator Nick Carraway is befriended by his mysterious millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby, and proves to be a crucial link in Jay’s quixotic obsession with Nick’s cousin, Daisy. The metaphors, the beautiful writing, and the lessons one can garner about reliving the past all make The Great Gatsby worth reading, again and again.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

Written in the early 1500s, this is the classic guide on how to acquire and maintain political power (even if those methods are sometimes unsavory) — a so-called “primer … read more here