Creator stories
The books our guests recommend most
Three years of rapid-fire recommendations, tallied up. These are the titles that came up again and again.
At the end of most episodes we ask guests for a recommendation. After three years we have a long spreadsheet — and some clear favourites.
The most-recommended categories
- Memoirs by makers — designers, chefs and musicians writing about their craft
- Books on decision-making — especially anything that explores uncertainty and regret
- Classic management books — the older the better, according to our guests
- Fiction — more often than you’d expect, usually recommended “for rest”
Why fiction keeps appearing
When we asked, several guests said the same thing: fiction is the only reading that doesn’t feel like work, and it’s often where their best ideas come from.
The full list
Podcast Plus members get the complete, searchable reading list with links to each episode where a book was mentioned. Every episode page also links to the books discussed in that conversation.
Maya is a former product lead and a coach to first-time founders. She brings a researcher's patience to every interview and has a habit of finding the one story a guest has never told on air.
