This is actually a question that was asked to me on Formspring by John Arce. Sadly, I don’t have a top 5 list. I love a lot of books “equally” and I’ll probably need at least a top 30. So… that’s what I did, haha! Check out my top 30 business/marketing books after the break. You’ll see several books from the same authors in the list since I really have a few favorite writers like Seth Godin and Patrick Lencioni. These are the guys that I really idolize and I make it a point to buy anything that they write. In fact, I consider them my mentors even though I haven’t met them yet in person, hehe.
In no particular order:
1. Tribes by Seth Godin
2. Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
3. Linchpin by Seth Godin
4. The Dip by Seth Godin
5. The Big Red Fez by Seth Godin
6. Unleashing the Idea Virus by Seth Godin
7. Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
8. Death by Meeting by Patrick Lencioni
9. Five Temptations of a CEO by Patrick Lencioni
10. Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
11. Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars by Patrick Lencioni
12. Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni
13. Trust Agents by Chris Brogan
14. Free by Chris Anderson
15. Wired by Chris Anderson
16. Twitter Power by Joel Comm
17. How to REALLY use LinkedIn by Jan Vermeiren
18. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
19. Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel
20. Zen Habits by Leo Babauta
21. 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
22. Marketing Insights from A to Z by Philip Kotler
23. Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler and Gary Armstrong
24. Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout
25. Marketing Warfare by Al Ries and Jack Trout
26. Focus by Al Ries
27. The Leadership Dojoby Richard Strozzi Heckler
28. Street Fighter Marketing Solutions by Jeff Slutsky
29. Marketing Revolution by Paul R. Gamble, Alan Tapp, Anthony Marsella, and Merlin Stone
30. The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR by Al Ries and Laura Ries
Most, if not all, of these books can be bought in National Bookstore, Power Books, or Fully Booked. The expensive ones are the books by Patrick Lencioni (usually P1200+) but they’re worth every centavo. These books have shaped my professional career and I highly recommend all of them to anyone who wants to take up marketing – either traditional or digital. 
Interesting List, I only have 6 books on your list but mostly audiobooks & ebooks copy.
1. Tribes by Seth Godin
2. Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
3. Linchpin by Seth Godin
4. The Dip by Seth Godin
7. Crush It! by Gary Vaynerchuk
21. 4 Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
I started reading business books since December 2009 mostly Entrepreneurship, Business, Productivity, Leadership, Self Improvement & Motivational books.
here are some very first set of audio books / ebooks I read/listen since December 2010 to April 2010
Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert T. Kiyosaki
Rework by 37 Signals
Your Road Map For Success by MAXWELL
Malcolm Gladwell – Blink – The Power Of Thinking Without Thinking
The Magic of Thinking Big – David Schwartz
Marketing Superstar
Brian Tracy – 21 Ways To Build A High Profit Business
Brian Tracy – 21 Ways To Double Your Productivit
100 Ways to Motivate Yourself
Focus-Achieving Your Highest Priorities – Stephen R Covey
My Audio Books Library since December 2009
http://blog.johnarce.com/post/621486442/audio-books
8 Audio Books I Listened this Month of June
http://blog.johnarce.com/post/722515955/8-audio-books-i-listened-this-month-of-june
I love audio books because 100% I got this for free hehehe with help of Google & forums. ~ I can share this also for free, Cheers!
But I’m still planning to buy paperback/hardcover copy this coming month. I already visited National Bookstore, Power Books and Fully Booked.
I Really want to buy this book by Scott Belsky
Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Ideas-Happen-Overcoming-Obstacles/dp/159184312X
Blink is a great Poker book, haha
Great list! Seth Godin, Chris Anderson and Pat Lencioni top my list as well! If you’re interested, we’re hosting a free webinar with Pat Lencioni around his new book, “Getting Naked,” which is about client relationships. It’s on July 1st and you can find details here: http://bit.ly/a2Db0P
Seth, I bought Lencioni’s new book and it’s such a great read! THanks for the reco.
Also read most of these and many others like my favorite E-myth.
But recently what stuck to me are short lessons from a face to face conversation with a successful gas station owner:
- keep it simple, stop over analyzing with your books
- persevere
- you can only persevere on a business you believe in
- wish yourself some luck
- create jobs to pay back your blessings