14 books every modern gentleman should read

(iStock)

Being a modern gentleman is about more than just knowing what to wear or what to put in your bathroom. It's also about being informed about the world around you.

We asked our friends at Amazon Books to put together a list of essential books every man should read, ranging from fiction to business.

Keep scrolling for the books you shouldn't miss — they just might change how you look at things.

All captions by Amazon Books editor Chris Schluep.

FASHION — "Icons of Men's Style" by Josh Sims

(Amazon (Amazon)

"This one might be a little obvious, but it's a damn fine looking book, so I had to include it."

BUSINESS: Silicon Valley — "Chaos Monkeys" by Antonio Garcia Martinez

"The author left Goldman Sachs to pursue work at a West Coast start-up, eventually landing at Facebook in the early years.

He has since departed, but the memories remain, and his history is one of the few that exists around the company. It's not all free food and exercise ball chairs, and Martinez pulls no punches."

BUSINESS: Hollywood — "Powerhouse" by James Andrew Miller

"From the author who brought you the ESPN oral history 'Those Guys Have All the Fun' comes an oral history featuring the players who helped to build modern day Hollywood — the stars, the agents, the executives, and the tycoons."

SCIENCE — "Now: The Physics of Time" by Richard A. Muller

(Amazon (Amazon)

"This book is the kind of mind-expanding read that will give you something to think about late at night. Muller's passion for his topic shines through on every page.

If you're at all concerned about time (and who isn't?), slow down long enough to read this book."

ADVENTURE — "The Lost City of Z" by David Grann

"Author David Grann sets off on his own to trace the path of 1920s explorer Percy Fawcett, who disappeared deep in the Amazon jungle while searching for the fabled Lost City of Z."

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE — "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles

"When a Bolshevik tribunal orders Count Alexander Rostov to spend the rest of his life inside Moscow's Hotel Metropol, who would guess we are about to be treated to a novel with one of the most memorable cast of characters to come along this year?

To quote The Washington Post: 'How delightful that in an era as crude as ours this finely composed new novel by Amor Towles stretches out with Old-World elegance.'"

CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE: AMERICAN — "The Painter" by Peter Heller

"Here's a literary novel about a famous artist who once served time for shooting a man. Set out west, and imbued with an artist's soul, 'The Painter' is about love, longing, and craft. With a little violence thrown in, too."

CLASSIC LITERATURE — "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Classics like ‘The Great Gatsby’ get an honourable mention (Am (Amazon)

"Every man can benefit from a reading of this novel, and most can benefit from a re-reading."

NONFICTION — "Hillbilly Elegy" by J.D. Vance

"Sometimes it's important to remember that your life experience is not everyone's life experience. Reading 'Hillbilly Elegy' will leave you tottering on the edge of the American Dream."

PHILOSOPHY — "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius

"Sometimes it's useful to turn to the personal writings of a centuries-old great man to realise that our problems haven't changed that much. You'd be surprised how many people cite 'Meditations' as one of their favorite books."

BIOGRAPHY — "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen

(Amazon (Amazon)

"This is the memoir you might not have known you were waiting for. Driven by a hunger for success, Springsteen wrote and played his way out of Freehold, New Jersey and into music history. Now he's written a memoir that befits the rock icon that he is — raw, honest, original."

FITNESS — "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall

"That's right; the same title twice on this list. McDougall takes you deep into the Mexican desert to meet a tribe of barefoot super-runners. This is the book that launched the barefoot running obsession — but it's way more interesting than just that."

HISTORICAL MYSTERY — "The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore

(Amazon (Amazon)

"When the first light bulbs illuminated New York's streets in the 1880s, they blew people's minds and changed the nature of night. But did you know that Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse pursued each other in a high stakes lawsuit over light bulb patents? This page-turner of an historical thriller tells that story, set against the backdrop of the Gilded Age."

AUTOBIOGRAPHY — "Barbarian Days" by William Finnegan

"Finnegan, a New Yorker staff writer, won the 2016 Pulitzer for this exceptional account of a life spent chasing waves across the world. This is not only a feat of writing about surfing, it's a feat of writing."

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