The GaryVee Summer Reading List

The books I’ve written, what I was thinking when I wrote them, and why they still matter

My first children’s book, Meet Me in the Middle, is a short story that lets kids see the world from different viewpoints

I’m not a reader, yet I’ve written seven major business books, including several #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. I just don’t really read. I have a reading comprehension issue. I’ll reply to a long email with, “3-minute meeting,” because I need to hear it.

And I love that all of you consume my content and learn from me and get inspired. But I don’t care about how many of you are subscribed to my YouTube channel or how many of you actually read my Substack or my books. That’s not the point of why I put out all this content and why I write a new book every couple of years.

The point is that I want to leave an impact. I want the legacy of being an all time great businessman and inspire thousands of you to go out there and do the same. I want to kick your butt into gear. I want you to DO. I believe too many people just read and consume and make pretend and talk about how “you’re gonna do this” or “you’re gonna do that.” Lack of action is not the way to do it.

I understand that I’m an extreme. I don’t read (which probably isn’t the best). But how many books from these “experts” do you need to read before you can actually do something? You can only read so much and at some point, you just have to do.

That’s why I’ve never cared too much about how many people read my books. What I care about is whether an idea sticks with you long enough to make you take action. The goal has never been to impress you with information. It’s been to push you toward execution!

As we head into summer, I thought it would be useful to do something I’ve never really done: walk through the books I’ve written and explain what each one is about…what was happening in my life and business when I wrote it, who I wrote it for, and which ideas still matter most today.

Whether you’re sitting on a beach, on a flight, or looking for one book to read before you get back to work, here are the books I’ve written in order of publication, starting with the most recent title.

Day Trading Attention (2024)

If you’re a marketer, entrepreneur, creator, or business owner in 2026, start here. This was a follow-up to my 2013 book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, which was a guide on how to make content on the social platforms of the day. I wrote that in 2023 and, since then, the game of marketing and advertising has changed dramatically.

Day Trading Attention is the updated version, but it’s also far more comprehensive. It’s a book about mastering the art and science of storytelling in underpriced attention channels. Social media’s a huge part of that — obviously — but it also goes into influencer marketing, paid media advertising, developing collectibles for your business, and more. I really think it has had a huge impact on many, whether you’re a content creator, a B2B SaaS leader, an entrepreneur with three pizza shops, an influencer, a Fortune 500 executive, a manager at a brand, or anyone else looking to build brand and sales.

Meet Me in the Middle (2024)

My first children’s book! Meet Me in the Middle is a short story that lets kids see the world from different viewpoints. When you start reading from the front cover, you’ll follow Patient Pig’s story. Flip the book over, and you’ll get the same story, but this time from Eager Eagle’s point of view. It’s an engaging tale that shows how real success comes from understanding how others see things. It also gives parents and educators a way to talk to kids about empathy, problem-solving, and compromise — essential keys to success, at any age!

Twelve and a Half (2021)

Modern society’s definition of a “smart business decision” is disproportionately predicated on analytics. Business leaders tend to find safety in the “black-and-white.” They find safety in the academics, math, hard data, and what looks good on spreadsheets…

Unfortunately, the bias toward short-term metrics can also make emotional intelligence a “nice to have” rather than a requirement. It creates a scenario in which a leader looks the other way when one employee makes everyone else in the office miserable, just because that employee happens to be bringing in the most revenue. It makes people think negative behavior and poor EQ (emotional quotient) are just side effects of being “good at business.”

I wrote Twelve and a Half to help change that.

Crushing It! (2018)

If you take away anything valuable or helpful from this book, I hope you will give a copy to someone you care about who might not be happy with his or her current situation but that you know has it in them to make a change. If you are a parent, please give it to your children as they start to imagine what and who they want to be. There’s teachings in this book that no classroom will provide. And I say this not because I want to sell more books. Get it from the library for all I care. I say this because I want everyone to know that these opportunities exist, so that if someone is struggling or miserable or scared, they can absolutely do something to change that.

Life is short; its brevity and unpredictability is the one thing that scares me. It is also long; a fifty ­year-­old could still look forward to another thirty, forty, or even fifty productive years. We owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to be as fulfilled and thrilled as possible so we are able to share our best selves with each other. There is so much in life that is uncontrollable, but our happiness doesn’t have to be, nor do our careers. We can have all the control. Every damn bit of it. The sooner we realize that, the better off everyone will be.

So if you’re earning what you need to live the life you want and loving every day of it, you’re crushing it. So my hope with writing Crushing It! was that it could be the inspiration and strategy for you to understand how it’s not only possible, but practical to gravitate toward what you love doing…and that nothing will be off­ limits when it comes to how you can make a living.

#AskGaryVee (2016)

#AskGaryVee was all about the most useful, surprising, and thought-provoking questions I had addressed on my popular show. In the book I tried to distill and expand on the show’s most urgent and evergreen themes, including marketing, entrepreneurship, and management, with my practical, timely, and timeless advice.

I also offered insights on complex issues that affect everyone in the workforce, from the value of a traditional education to investment strategies. I also got a little personal, sharing new stories and lessons learned from years of working in a family business, raising children, getting healthy, and just being me. I even walked through how to buy a good bottle of wine.

Of course, some of the advice is a little dated, but so much is still relevant today. That’s because it’s timeless. Things like advice for launching your own company, working in digital media, starting your first job, or looking for inspiration. #AskGaryVee is your essential guide to making things happen in a big way!

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook (2013)

This was a mash-up of the best elements of Crush It! and The Thank You Economy with a fresh spin. It was a blueprint to social media marketing strategies that really work.

For those who may not be familiar, my entire business philosophy pretty much revolves around the jab jab jab right hook method. Jabs are the value you provide your customers with: the content you put out, the good things you do to convey your appreciation. And the right hook is the ask: it’s when you go in for the sale, ask for a subscribe, ask for a donation.

My favorite analogy to illustrate the difference between jabs and right hooks are cartoons from the 1980s. When the Transformers cartoon was on Saturday mornings, you would tune in and watch for free. You’d do the same with The Carebears. Or GI Joe. You’d watch the cartoons and not have to pay a dime. But when the movie or new action figure or toy came out, you went and paid for that. Cartoons were the jabs that pulled you in so you would then pay for the movie or toy.

The Thank You Economy (2011)

Content is king and more important than ever as the cost to make it has plunged. However, content is the foundation of being able to bring people into your community and then you have to really care for them, and love them. It’s a thank you economy: give great service and care about people. By just caring about people, you can build a great business. If you don’t give real customer service, if you don’t love your customer, you’re going to be in a very different place. Because word of mouth is how brands are built and business is done. We’re connected more than ever, globally. Caring about people from your cashier to your truck driver to your CEO is the whole game.

I didn’t write this book to encourage businesses and brands to be nicer to their customers. I wrote it because what I believed was true back then is turning out to be even truer today. I’m intuitive that way. It’s why I knew I should sell all my baseball cards and go into toy collectibles; why I launched WineLibrary.com in 1997 when nobody thought local liquor stores belonged online; why I decided to go all in on Australian and Spanish wines in 1999 when everyone else was still obsessed with France, California, and Italy. It’s how I knew to use Twitter from the get-go, and that video blogging was going to be a big deal.

And it’s why I know I’m right even today. I want people who love running businesses and building businesses as much as I do—whether they’re entrepreneurs, run a small business, or work for a Fortune 100 company—to understand what early adopters like me can already see—that we have entered a new era in which developing strong consumer relationships is pivotal to a brand or company’s success. We have been pushing our message for too many decades. It’s no longer enough that a strong marketing initiative simply funnels a brand’s one-way message down the consumer’s throat. To have an impact, it will have to inspire an emotionally charged interaction.

Crush It! (2009)

The original manifesto. This book is pretty scary when you look back and see how accurate everything was.

A lot has changed since I wrote Crush It!, but surprisingly, a lot hasn’t. For all the years since Crush It! was released, I have gotten emails and messages nearly every day from people telling me that book has had a profound impact on their lives. Simply, I wanted to introduce people to the creator economy before they called it that, and share how anyone can have unbelievable success by following the Crush It! principles to build their personal brands.

The main idea was around key questions so many of you ask me: Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? I argued that now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love. I show you how to use the power of the internet to turn your real interests into real businesses. That’s because I spent years building my family business from a local wine shop into a national industry leader. Then one day I turned on a video camera, and by using the secrets revealed in this book, transformed my entire life and earning potential by building my personal brand. By the end of the book, you will have learned how to harness the power of the Internet to make your entrepreneurial dreams come true. Step by step, it was the ultimate driver’s manual for modern business, and so much of it still works today.

101 Wines (2008)

When I got into wine and content and my YouTube channel (in 2006!), my mission wasn't really to sell wine. It was to make wine less intimidating. Too many people thought they needed a critic, a score, or a sommelier to tell them what they liked. I wanted people to trust their own palate. I wanted everyday people to feel comfortable exploring wine without needing a PhD, a country club membership, or a critic's permission I wanted to make wine accessible.

Here, I tried to put the energy and passion of Wine Library TV into print! In 101 Wines I talked about my first list of favorites and recommendations. At the time, my wine picks for 2008 spanned many prices, regions, grapes, and styles, so that wine novices and sophisticated oenophiles alike could expand their wine horizons while learning more about the drink they love.

Every wine identified in this book represented a lesson in a glass, complete with the technical notes, availability, and the story behind the vintage and flavors.

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Final Thoughts

I’m one of the great NYT bestselling authors on the planet. People read books. I don’t read them….but so many people globally read them. That’s why I write them. That’s also why I livestream, make podcasts, LinkedIn written, podcast audio, and make long-form video on YouTube. Nobody gets to judge how or where or what people like to consume, I just produce the best content I can to help and inspire others.

Happy reading!