Books To Read for Man By Age 30

                 It's a common theme that wasting your life and not doing much of anything is a terrible mistake, especially when improving yourself is such an incredibly easy thing to do. You just need to start working on the skills you lack. These 10 books to read before age 30 all address some aspect of a guy's personal development, and each one of them either makes a philosophical point or acts as a handy reference for something you should almost certainly know how to do by now.

Man's Search For Meaning

By Victor Frankl

Psychologist and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl writes about the importance of self-realization and the meaning of suffering; at the same time, he explains his school of psychology by relating his experiences in various concentration camps. Frankl summarizes his philosophy with a Friedrich Nietzsche quote: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."

Every other step you take as part of your self-improvement won't be worth a damn if you have an utterly unhelpful perspective about life in general. Man's Search For Meaning is short and engaging, and makes the case for a simple, inarguable meaning of life: You need goals that genuinely matter, and it's entirely up to you to reach them.

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Rich Dad Poor Dad

By Robert Kiyosaki

Rich Dad Poor Dad stresses the importance of financial education, the value of risk and the necessity of looking at finance from the right perspective. Considering how you can afford something is far superior to simply deciding that you can't.

Any misconceptions you have about money make everything you do less profitable before you even get out of bed in the morning. Taking the field before you fully comprehend the sport is a waste of time, and financial success requires approaching every financial decision with the right mind-set in the first place.

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The Fine Art Of Mixing Drinks

By David Embury

A classic in every sense of the word, Embury's half-reference, half-theory cocktail book was written in 1948, and through several reprints, the book has retained its friendly cockiness. Embury concedes, for example, that overbearingly sweet cocktails are sometimes excusable, but only as a substitute for half a pound of cookies.

You don't need to know how to mix every drink, and indeed you probably couldn't even if you wanted to. That's what standard cocktail books are for. But knowing how to fix someone his drink, correctly, is a particularly masculine exercise in classiness that few guys have any real practice with, and this book to read by age 30 will set you up with that knowledge.

The Game

By Ken Dryden

Hall of Fame goaltender Ken Dryden won six Stanley Cup championships with Montreal in the 1970s, but he's more than just a star goalie -- he spent his free time during a contract dispute getting his law degree, and he's now a Canadian politician. The Game is an articulate and thoughtful examination of the sport at large, as well as a meditation on the nature of celebrity.

Dryden's memoir is valuable regardless of your interest in hockey or sports. The larger point is that it's up to you to take your cues from guys whose lives impress you, and whom you deeply respect.

How To Tell A Story

By Mark Twain

This short story collection is written with Twain's characteristic wit, and it's a rare instance of the father of American literature actually explaining his process. The craft of storytelling comes with its own rules -- such as artfully getting people's attention instead of demanding it like a jackass -- by which every guy should abide. Besides, as Twain says, a clumsily told story "is very depressing, and makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life."

The Joy of Cooking

By Irma Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker

The Joy of Cooking started out as a widow's effort to support her family; the book went on to become one of the best-selling cookbooks in history. Irma Rombauer put up her life savings so that she and her daughter could self-publish out of her apartment, and the result is a definitive classic with preparation advice on everything from cocktails to raccoon.

This is a book to read by age 30 because you can't go through life ordering pizza and microwaving ramen noodles. If there's one reference book that will enable you to make just about anything, it's this one

The Style Bible

By AskMen.com

A comprehensive examination of everything from jeans to suits, AskMen.com's Style Bible is divided into 11 rules that help you select and coordinate what you wear depending on your body type. Based on the premise that your wardrobe should emphasize your strengths and minimize your flaws, the illustrated guide articulates the fundamentals of style with concrete examples.

Clothes make the man, and you can only get so far in life if "formal wear" means "clip-on tie and a bath in Drakkar Noir." Fashion is the cornerstone of every first impression you make, and it's entirely within your control.

She Comes First

By Ian Kerner

With what is apparently a real enthusiasm for cunnilingus, Ian Kerner (Ph.D) approached this project with the goal of providing a more extensive guide to the subject than had ever been written before. His dedication shows; Kerner even has quirky, descriptive names for his maneuvers.

Make a mental list of the aspects of your sex life that are either a forgettable afterthought or a total mystery. If going downtown is anywhere near the top, you've got a problem -- this is one of many women's most consistent complaints about men, and yes, this almost certainly includes you.

In Defense of Food

By Michael Pollan

Michael Pollan summarizes his entire nutritional philosophy with the first seven words of the book: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." The tricky part of this apparently simple concept is that almost nothing we think of as "food" actually is anymore, and instead falls under a category Pollan refers to as "foodlike substances."

Eating well is literally impossible unless you first define what food actually is, and this is something you're going to have to do if you still want to have a functioning heart a few decades from now.

The 48 Laws of Power

By Robert Greene

Drawing on a rogue's gallery of philosophers, diplomats and rulers, Greene (a history buff) demonstrates that all the schemes and power struggles of the modern workplace involve the same principles that once only concerned monarchs and nobility. Greene establishes these rules with all the moral nonchalance of Machiavelli ("Do Not Commit to Anyone," " Crush Your Enemy Totally"). Greene also partnered with 50 Cent to release a follow-up in 2009.

Your career is what you're doing right this second. If you ever want that to improve, you need to get off your ass and work at it, and a 48 Laws of Power mentality gives you all the tools to do so.

Source - Askmen.com