"If you read The Remains of the Day, which is my favorite book of all time, you can't help but come away and think. I just spent 10 hours living an alternate life and I learned something about life and about regret". Then Bezos added: "Before reading it, I didn't think a perfect novel was possible. I'm always interested in things that seem to be impossible but are then achieved." 

Ref: http://favobooks.com/enterpreneurs/60-jeff-bezos.html

Jeff Bezos’s favorite novel, about a butler who wistfully recalls his career in service during wartime Great Britain. Bezos has said he learns more from novels than nonfiction.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

I remember in fourth grade we had this wonderful contest -- there was some prize -- whoever could read the most Newbery Award winners in a year. I didn't end up winning. I think I read like 30 Newbery Award winners that year, but somebody else read more. The standout there is the old classic that I think so many people have read and enjoyed, A Wrinkle in Time, and I just remember loving that book. I was always a big fan of science fiction -- even from when I was in elementary school.

Ref: http://favobooks.com/enterpreneurs/60-jeff-bezos.html

"The definite guide to getting the right things done"

Ref: http://favobooks.com/enterpreneurs/60-jeff-bezos.html

Bezos said he used the books as frameworks for sketching out the future of the company.

Ref: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130925133311-291225-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-had-his-top-execs-read-these-three-books

A collection of memos to employees by the chairman of the now defunct investment bank Bear Stearns. In his memos, Greenberg is constantly restating the bank’s core values, especially modesty and frugality. His repetition of wisdom from a fictional philosopher presages Amazon’s annual recycling of its original 1997 letter to shareholders.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

An exposition of the science of manufacturing written in the guise of the novel, the book encourages companies to identify the biggest constraints in their operations and then structure their organizations to get the most out of those constraints. The Goal was a bible for Jeff Wilke and the team that fixed Amazon’s fulfillment network.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

An enormously influential business book whose principles Amazon acted on and that facilitated the creation of the Kindle and AWS. Some companies are reluctant to embrace disruptive technology because it might alienate customers and undermine their core business, but Christensen argues that ignoring potential disruption is even costlier.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

Collins briefed Amazon executives on his seminal management book before its publication. Companies must confront the brutal facts of their business, find out what they are uniquely good at, and master their fly wheel, in which each part of the business reinforces and accelerates the other parts.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

In his autobiography, Walmart’s founder expounds on the principles of discount retailing and discusses his core values of frugality and a bias for action—a willingness to try a lot of things and make many mistakes. Bezos included both in Amazon’s corporate values.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

A video-game designer argues that intelligent systems can be created from the bottom up if one devises a set of primitive building blocks. The book was influential in the creation of Amazon Web Services, or AWS, the service that popularized the notion of the cloud.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

A guide to using data to measure everything from customer satisfaction to the effectiveness of marketing. Amazon employees must support all assertions with data, and if the data has a weakness, they must point it out or their colleagues will do it for them.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

An influential computer scientist makes the counter-intuitive argument that small groups of engineers are more effective than larger ones at handling complex software projects. The book lays out the theory behind Amazon’s two pizza teams.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

The scholar argues that people are wired to see patterns in chaos while remaining blind to unpredictable events, with massive consequences. Experimentation and empiricism trumps the easy and obvious narrative.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

Bezos said he used the books as frameworks for sketching out the future of the company.

Ref: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20130925133311-291225-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-had-his-top-execs-read-these-three-books

The production philosophy pioneered by Toyota calls for a focus on those activities that create value for the customer and the systematic eradication of everything else.

Ref: https://www.farnamstreetblog.com/2013/10/jeff-bezoss-reading-list/

I'm a big science-fiction fan. I love Dune. That's not a non-fiction narrative, of course, but it would be cool if it was.

Ref: http://favobooks.com/enterpreneurs/60-jeff-bezos.html

My favourite business book is Built to Last.

Ref: http://favobooks.com/enterpreneurs/60-jeff-bezos.html