Huge lists of product books lists always frustrated me.

• Are these any good? • How do I navigate this list? • Which is the best for my goals now?

So I made this ultimate guided tour based on specific goals, with only the best books on every subject.

The Journey Map

The guide structures the PM learning journey through progressive questions, creating natural learning paths:

🚀 Starting Point: Breaking Into Product Management

Cracking the PM Interview by Lewis C. Lin serves as the entry point, branching into two fundamental paths:

• Want to break into product management?
• Want to keep learning the basics?

📚 Fundamentals Track

For those building foundational knowledge:

• The Lean Startup - Core iterative development principles
• Continuous Discovery Habits - Customer-centric practices
• Design of Everyday Things - Understanding design thinking
• Hooked - Creating habit-forming products
• Inspired - Learning from successful product teams

🎯 Three Core Development Paths

The guide branches into three essential skill areas:

1. Building Great Products

• Working Backwards (Amazon’s approach)
• Crossing the Chasm (technology adoption)
• The Mom Test (customer interviews)

2. Improving Soft Skills

• Never Split the Difference (negotiation)
• Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
• Crucial Conversations

3. Understanding Users Better

• Deploy Empathy
• Don’t Make Me Think
• Thinking, Fast and Slow

📈 Advanced Leadership Track

For those progressing to leadership:

Becoming a Leader

• Extreme Ownership
• Good Strategy Bad Strategy
• The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Becoming a Manager

• Cracking the PM Career
• The Making of a Manager

Becoming an Executive

• Amp It Up
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things

🧠 Specialized Skill Areas

Strategy Development

• Escaping the Build Trap
• Blue Ocean Strategy

Company Culture

• What You Do Is Who You Are
• Empowered
• Team of Teams

Decision Making

• Decisive
• Are Your Lights On?

Behavioral Psychology

• Psychology of Money
• Predictably Irrational