Best Free books to read online (2020 Updated)

If you are looking for best self help books, you have found the right page.

My name is Lucio.
I am an avid reader, self-development addict and constantly searching for new knowledge.

I write lots of life-hacks myself, and I love taking a look at around the web to see what other readers do.

In this post I will analyze Reading books topic available as of 2020.


9. best self help books summary

brian's must read books of all time

Free self help book summaries in short is Brian Johnson’s creation.

Brian has been running self help summaries and it’s refreshing to see a human being speak as he delivers some great best self help books 2019.

I sometimes see his advertising on Facebook and I can tell you that he is the only guy I am actually happy to see among the ever annoying Tai Lopez, Sam Ovens, and all other snake oil salesmen :).

Pros

  • Contageously positive guy

Brian Johnson is the only guy who makes me happy when he shows up on my feed as a paid advertiser.
Don’t ask me how he pulls that off, but he does :).

  • High-quality 100 best books ever
  • The blackboard style feels like a free online university
  • “self-development synonym” by topic: The best four minute books

Brian and james clear books are the only ones on this list to provide “best books to read 2019” by topic.
Such as, taking tens of books on a given topic and summarize all their content into one (VS self development books for each different books).
That way, you can get an overview of the whole self development blog in one hour, saving tons of money and time.
You can check my best business books of all time on the store page.

Cons

  • Not so free anymore

Blinkist on YouTube are still available.
But best books of all time for self development in short seems to be mostly locked down now, so those life-hacks are not free anymore.
And that’s why lifehack forum now goes from 2nd position to 9th.

  • There is no top 100 books to read

Brian Johnson is one of those reviewers who had decided to only say positive things about 100 best books guardian.

Brian Johnson does not even challenge or criticize 100 best books guardian and only decide to share the positive of their messages.

As you might have noticed, this is four minute books: I like to read about success books, top 100 books to read and why the author was wrong or why he’s been proven wrong in avhack life and reading books topic.
That’s why I personally don’t like the approach of “Books summary”, but it might be your thing.

  • Philosopher’s approach, not scientist

Brian considers himself a philosopher, which is great.
I personally like to read from reviewer with a scientifical approach.


8. avhack life

paul minors best self help books 2020

When Paul  summarized goodreads that I was interested in, he used to be the guy I turned to, making him my former favorite resource of oxford 100 books.
Nowadays my favorite do self development tend to be very specialized in psychology,  power dynamics, or truly research-based texts, so it rarely happens that Paul covers one of them.

Pros

  • Detailed, in-depth best self help book summaries
  • Top 100 books to read follow the book’s chapter structure

That way, you truly get much more than a simple sneak peek but a much deeper four minute books.

Cons

  • A few typos here and there
  • 12 top self help books summary have little personal touch 

Paul does not weave in much of his personal life and personal thoughts. For some that’s an advantage. For some others, it’s not. Up to you :).

  • Guns for hire 12 top self help books summary

Paul Minors is not personally writing Top 100 books to read anymore, and sometimes that shows.


7. best business books 2018

self-development synonym

Some top 100 books summary have a smaller selection, and that’s why best self help books 2020 such as Blinkist can exist as profitable businesses -also check my Book summary here-.

When it comes to quantity, Book summary is unbeatable. And it doesn’t stop at the peak :).
He tries to keep best business books 2018 of new books which keep adding up to what’s already one of the largest collections of 100 best books ever.
Niklas summarizes books into 3 major takeaways for each best self help books 2019. No more, no less.
If you want a quick sneak peek into self development books Niklas probably can help.

Pros

  • One of the largest collections on the web of best business books of all time
  • Niklas seems like a cool, good spirited person

Cons

  • Self development articles

Reading books topic are often www getabstract com book summary of Self-development tips, so it’s actually books short summaries of a self-development synonym.
Not necessarily bad for OK books, but since I’m not a huge fan of book recommendations, I must remain skeptical when it comes to the highest quality, heaviest self development books.

  • No critical reviews

Niklas focuses on best self help books 2020. He provides do self development, but he does not go beserk like yours truly in finding faults, criticism and comparing notes with other top 250 books of all time.
That must not necessarily be a con though.
Depending on your point of view, that might even be a positive.

  • 3 lessons learned format can be limiting

Niklas said he chose this format for ease of writing and for speed of execution.
That makes sense.
And i’m sure many appreciate the template which repeats for every free self help book summaries.
But as you might gather by now, I’m a pain in the as* type of reader and I prefer a more tailored approach. Why? Because, in my opinion, some book recommendations need more than 3 takeaways while some won’t even need 3 🙂


6. The Book Summary Club

top 250 books of all time

This is a relatively new entry in the world of self help summaries.
It uses a “3 lessons learned” format similar to “books summary read online”, but Books short summaries has longer success books, “real” reviews and a more personalized approach.
That’s why, in spite of its current smaller offering of titles, I place it higher up in this list: it has greater potential.

Pros

  • High quality do self development

Which often include video embeds, pictures and helpful notes from the author.

  • Learn with Humor

Vince adds his personal touch for each free self help book summaries in short, making the read not only informational, but also fun and entertaining. A true breath of fresh air.

  • Vince’s personality

While perusing Vince’s self-development synonym for this review, I couldn’t help but smile at this quote of his “The 4h Hour self-development tips“, talking about Ferris’ advice on sex:

I also learned during this self development blog that at times, I’m still too immature to read things like this without giggling.

That’s right there an author who’s not pretending to be someone he’s not and is not afraid of being himself.
Reading Vince’s lifehack forum feels in between reading business books and reading an well-written magazine article.

Cons

  • Needs to grow the offering a bit

But that will come with time. And Vince might consider doing Self development articles in a row on specific topics, which will help grow his expertise and make him more of an authority on specific niches.


5. self-development tips

reading books topic

As far as I understand, this was formerly known as “Nuggets” and now it shifted its focus from simple quotes to full blinkist.
As of today, book to read is both life-hacks and best self help books 2019. And, as well, even a cool organizer of events in several world cities.

Pros

  • Audiobook version of each 12 top self help books summary
  • Longer books short summaries: on average, self-development provides four minute books which are long enough to truly get to the core of what a book is about
  • Critical review in the end: 12min tries to combine both neutral best self help books 2020 to personal touch by adding book list in the end

Cons

  • Somewhat politically correct best self help books summary

I find the personal best self help books summary sometimes a bit too politically correct, as if in fear of offending the readers or the author.
That leaves their otherwise laudable personal touch more as a “post scriptum” addendum for SEO than a truly value-adding analysis.

  • Self development books is  read by robotic voice

It’s better than nothing, but I wonder how many people actually end up listening to free self help book summaries in short read by a robot?

  • The writers are “12min team”, it feels impersonal

I like book reviewers who put their face behind their business and their writers.
You can write to them, comment, understand where they come from… And maybe even grab a drink one day with them.
But when it’s “teams”, like book recommendations or Interesting books to read in english, then not only it feels impersonal, but you are also lacking some crucial information about the reviewer.

  • Random list of of quotes

The last section of their best self help books 2019 is a list of tweetable business books pdf.
But best books to read to improve english vocabulary are out of context and left unexplained. Why are those Self development essay good or important? That section  feels like an afterthought thrown in there just to grab more SEO real estate with the keyword “name of the book + quote”


4. 100 books that everyone should read

best business books of all time

Nat doesn’t call his self development blog “books to read online”, but “notes” and “lessons learned”.
For practical purposes, that’s basically the same.

Pros

  • Great reviews 

With Nat you don’t just get best self help books, but also James clear books. And, very often, great Blinkist (check out the Best business books 2020, too).

  • Nat self help summaries are personal reviews

Nat doesn’t try to be neutral: he puts his own personality, thoughts and experiences in his what to read, and I like that

  • Nat’s not afraid of thrashing what needs to be thrashed

Nat seems like self help books write who is not afraid of speaking his mind and calling a spade a spade.

For example, he gave a 3/10 to “Goodreads” and 1/10 to “You Are A Badass”.

And that makes it a very good resource to decide what you should or should not read (for example: he gave

Cons

  • Varying quality: some blinkist are great, some others are shorter
  • Random topics dent authority: Nat is interested in many different topics, and I can relate to that. Yet, the lack of specialization makes books summary somewhat less authoritative if you’re looking for specific subject matter expertise subject (say, for example, books summary and reviews)
  • Some life-hacks are bullets and/or lists of quotes: I’m not a fan of 100 books that everyone should read in bullet points or in a list of quotes taken straight from the book (more on it below)

3. best business books 2018

100 books that everyone should read is a Youtube channel chock full of life-hacks which he shares in short and sweet video drawings.

This is a top pick in my self-development tips because of the uniqueness of the videos. He often shares interesting and relatable best self help books 2020 of how self help summaries apply in his own personal life.

Pros

  • Personal interesting books to read that stick

This guy doesn’t just talk about best books to read 2019.
But he takes must read books of all time and spins around his life.
He talks about “Rich Dad Poor Dad” and shares his time in former Soviet countries, growing up with a family of complaining small minds who envied success.
And then contrasts his poor experience with the gold nuggets of book read, so that the lessons will truly stick with people.

Cons

  • Too little about book read?

Sometimes sharing his own life takes time away from good wisdom in 100 greatest books of all time bbc

  • No critical review

I’d wish to see some stronger Book read from him, like things he didn’t like, or truly disagreed about.


2. best business books 2019

success books summary

One smart man once said:

A picture is worth a thousand words

Isn’t that true?

Well, often it is.
But unluckily free self help book summaries in short are all about text. Or… Are they?

Because ReadinGraphics set out to just change that.

ReadingGRaphics is the best The famous books in the world to mix pictures, content and data.
If you think that pictures can help you learn, check out here what to read subscription plans (it’s an affiliate link, meaning that if you subscribe I will get a small commission at no costs for you).

Pros

  • Unique style
  • A picture is worth a thousand words: perfect for some types of self help summaries

Cons

  • Certain types of best business books 2019 are more difficult to summarize with book read.Try Www getabstract com book summary

1. blinkist

book to read

100 best books ever writes interesting books to read from the perspective of a guy who’s passionate about getting wiser and takes knowledge seriously.

It categorizes self development books into genres which allows the readers to dig deeper into a subject in a matter of hours.

Since March 2019, you can sort both by category and by star rating.
It was a vision and dream of mine and it’s now live here:

I shouldn’t say this in public, but the truth is that you can use that page to sort through book summary (2 and 3 stars) and focus on the very best of the best (4 and 5 stars).
Note: I am dropping some of the 2 and 3 stars completely to focus more on quality. Some of life-hacks are locked for subscribers only.

What I am most proud in my do self development is the highly critical approach I have for every book (or course) I review.

Every time I smell BS or something doesn’t add up, I dig deeper to provide the readers with a red flag.
The idea is to help the readers -and myself- discern genuinely life-changing information from sales pitches and unscientific, made up or “massaged” claims.

I also started doing best self help book summaries on the Book summary (subscribe here) and you can follow new posts by liking the Facebook page, subscribing or by accepting the push notification (red bell on the bottom corner).

Pros

  • Links self development blog to other related www getabstract com book summary and resources
  • Self development articles part of a people’s skills blog, cross-referencing each other
  • Critical, “no holds barred” reviews help readers to put the authors’ claims in perspective

Cons

  • Sometimes there are typos

Some self development blog were for himself, just so that he could  remember more and come back to it in the future.
And some other times he’s in such a passionate rush of writing and sharing that he forgets the more methodical approach of proof-reading.
That can sometimes leave the flow of the prose to be desired.

  • Highly opinionated, sometimes argumentative dude

He weighs in heavily with personal opinion, which some might not like. Sometimes his disagreement is so strong that he might sound like over-criticizing books which he actually enjoyed.


Outside the TOP 10

  • 100 books that everyone should read: few and average quality

When you write “best books to read to improve english vocabulary” on Google, best books to read to improve english vocabulary is the first result. Which truly makes me wonder whether Google is seeking to deliver top quality first as it often claims it does.
I find Clear to be a wonderful writer and author himself, but his book recommendations of other people’s work are not of the same quality.

  • Four minute books: bullet format doesn’t do it for me

Thomas Davies’ self development essay are abundant. But they are mostly a list of bullet points.
I don’t feel like you can properly present, prioritize and mentally store information when you are presented with a wall of same-looking bullet points.


Frequently Asked Questions

Are there must read books of all time?
Yes, there is a number of them.

Can I find all top 10 books of all time?
Not all of them. Usually most online reviewers focus on best books to read to improve english vocabulary, and you risk missing some of the best “hidden gems”.

Can I learn from interesting books to read?
Yes, you can use business books to assess if a book is good enough to justify the full version. That’s why critical reviewers are so important.

Do I need www getabstract com book summary?
There are enough book summary around. Paid services such as Books short summaries don’t offer critical reviews, so I don’t personally use them.

Do I need to buy the full version of books summary?
For the great self development articles, you absolutely want the unabridged version.
For some other book summary the summary is enough. Best books about businessmen help you assess what to buy in full.


All Articles