Stephane Grand's Reading List: 17 Recommended Books

Meditations

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that… Read the full quote

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below:

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Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone · Also recommended by 14 others

Outliers: The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that… Read the full quote

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below:

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Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone · Also recommended by 12 others

1984

by George Orwell

Everybody, whether they decide to spend their lives in a police state or not, needs to read 1984. It is a book about moral choices, being different, and being broken.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone · Also recommended by 10 others

The Prince

by Machiavelli

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that… Read the full quote

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below:

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The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone · Also recommended by 7 others

The Book of Five Rings

by Miyamoto Musashi

I do not believe there are business and non-business books. Business is life, you do business like the man or woman you excavate from the person you are told you are. Hence, the most potent business books are not about business, in my opinion. What… Read the full quote

I do not believe there are business and non-business books. Business is life, you do business like the man or woman you excavate from the person you are told you are. Hence, the most potent business books are not about business, in my opinion. What makes a great business book is that it is a book that helps you find a better version of yourself. Therefore, I would say that my favorite business book is Miyamoto Musashi’s Book of Five Rings. It is an amazing inwards look at how to win battles.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone · Also recommended by 3 others

Hunger

by Knut Hamsun

This is an amazing book about being true to your engagements.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone · Also recommended by 1 other

Across the Pacific

by Akira Iriye

Across the Pacific by Akira Irie, great book for those who want to see the bigger picture of East-West relations.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

On The Happy Life

by Seneca

When I look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that… Read the full quote

When I look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below:

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De Vita Beata (on the happy life) by Seneca the Younger

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

The Centurions

by Jean Lartéguy

The Centurions, an amazing novel by Jean Larteguy, both for the leadership and counterinsurgency aspects of it. This book was on the nightstand of General David Patraeus during his years as the commander of the ISAF in Afghanistan.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

The Ego and His Own: The Case of the Individual Against Authority

by Max Stirner

The ego and his own by Max Stirner, because there is a bit of an anarchist in every entrepreneur.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

The Forest Passage

by Ernst Jünger

This is a book about freedom and materiality, how one can regain his freedom by forsaking material possessions and leave the society of bonded men, like classical Germany’s outlaws would leave home and family to escape retribution in the deep forests. The launch of a… Read the full quote

This is a book about freedom and materiality, how one can regain his freedom by forsaking material possessions and leave the society of bonded men, like classical Germany’s outlaws would leave home and family to escape retribution in the deep forests. The launch of a business, and more to the point, the transition from being a well-fed corporate agent to being a starving and permanently scared entrepreneur is very close to the one from living in a house with your family to sleeping in the woods and fending off starvation on a daily basis. Realizing that this was not too high a price to pay for my freedom was defining for me.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

The Gathering Storm (The Second World War)

by Winston S. Churchill

When I look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that… Read the full quote

When I look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below:

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The Second World War by Winston Churchill. "In War: Resolution, In Defeat: Defiance, In Victory: Magnanimity, In Peace: Goodwill".

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

The Gay Science

by Friedrich Nietzsche

I have been running my own businesses for the last 15 years. Just before that, before diving head-on into entrepreneurship and independence, I used to be the country monitor of a large accounting and consulting network for China. Having had some ethical differences with members… Read the full quote

I have been running my own businesses for the last 15 years. Just before that, before diving head-on into entrepreneurship and independence, I used to be the country monitor of a large accounting and consulting network for China. Having had some ethical differences with members of my former network, I decided to break away from it. However, since I was equipped with a very expensive education, everybody around me was recommending that I would go and work for another firm. I was mired in doubt and was considering going back to management consulting. I have always had two go-to books when having moments of self-doubt like this. Those books are the Zarathustra and the Gay Science by Nietzsche. As I was reading through the prologue of the Zarathustra, and the title character was seeing the acrobat crossing between towers on the marketplace of Baghdad, I realized that staying in a cushy job would not help me cross between the beast and the superman, in a manner of speaking. Hence, Nietzsche helped me make a decision that I had already made in my heart, and which consisted in starting my own company.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

The Naked Ape: A Zoologist’s Study of the Human Animal

by Desmond Morris

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that… Read the full quote

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below:

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The Naked Ape, Desmond Moriss’s classic zoological study of the human being.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and No One

by Friedrich Nietzsche

My favorite book is “Thus spoke Zarathustra” by Friedrich Nietzsche. I do not think I have ever read a book that had more resonance for me.

Source: Stephane Grand, Managing Partner at S.J. Grand Financial and Tax Advisory, Has Read Hundreds of Books in the Past Decade Alone

We Were Soldiers Once…and Young: Ia Drang – The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam

by Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that… Read the full quote

When a look back at my career path, it is the one of an entrepreneur. I have built various businesses, from accounting and financial advisory firms to tech and security businesses. I have also spent most of my adult life in China, a country that is quite hostile to foreigners and very unfair. I have accepted to suffer the hardships of building my business without any investment from anybody, and stick very firmly to my values. I would recommend young people to read about adventure, hardships, and moral choices. Of course, it would be important to also read about the drivers of our humanity, hence the motley list below:

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