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64 BOOKS IN THE LIST FROM +40 AWESOME PEOPLE

Top Learning & Development Books

We're crowdsourcing the biggest list of books on Learning and Development. Do you have a recommendation? Drop it below and we'll make sure to update the list every quarter.

Recommend your fav L&D books →

Exploring the magic of
books on Learning and Development

Improving our practice as L&D professionals is a continuous journey. From the basics of figuring out how our brain works and learns to more complex practices such as linking L&D to performance improvement, ever-changing technologies, and new organizational models, there's no end in sight. As learners we can engage in all sorts of learning methods, and one of them is reading. But oftentimes we can get overwhelmed by the amount of books available.

This guide was created with love by Offbeat Fellows with the purpose of guiding your reading journey. We've crowdsourced books from Offbeat Followers and with their help assigned each book one of three levels.

We hope you find it useful
- Sejaal, Chris, and Lavinia

Level 1

The first level ensures that you learn the basics, including some of the foundational texts which give you a chance to explore deeper principles, theories, and strategies related to learning design. All books at this level will help you set your foot in the learning and development field, no matter your previous knowledge level or experience.

Level 2

The second level helps you focus on the process and the application of learning experience design on how to best design for organizational and business capabilities. This level gets more practical and provides further depth into how theory can be put into action for designing high-performance learning journeys.

Level 3

Finally, this level goes deep and gets further divided into subfields of learning and development and methods of practicing learning. These books are more niche and focus on learning methods. (eg., andragogy, transformational learning, experiential learning, self-directed learning (SDL), project-based learning (PBL).

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

LEVEL 1

Get started

Let's begin by ensuring that you learn the basics. The following books are all accessible and interesting to read, no matter your previous knowledge level about L&D, brain science, culture development, etc.

🏆 Most Recommended

4.7 ⭐️

Map It: The hands-on guide to strategic training design

Cathy Moore

2017

4.3 ⭐️

Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things

Adam Grant

2024

4.7 ⭐️

The Trusted Learning Advisor: The Tools, Techniques and Skills You Need to Make L&D a Business Priority

Keith Keating

2023

4.4 ⭐️

Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning

James Lang

2021

4.5 ⭐️

How People Learn: Designing Education and Training that Works to Improve Performance

Nick Shackleton-Jones

2023

4.4 ⭐️

Mastery: The Keys to Success and Long-Term Fulfillment

George Leonard

1991

4.3 ⭐️

Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career

Scott H. Young

2019

4.3 ⭐️

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School

John Medina

2008

4.6 ⭐️

Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens

Barbara Oakley, Terrence J. Sejnowski

2018

4.4 ⭐️

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel

2014

4.4 ⭐️

The design of everyday things

Donald A. Norman

1988

4.0 ⭐️

Learning at Speed: How to Upskill and Reskill your Workforce at Pace to Drive Business Performance

Nelson Sivalingam

2022

4.4 ⭐️

Barking Up the Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong

Eric Barker

2017

4.2 ⭐️

The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance

Josh Waitzkin

2007

4.4 ⭐️

Telling Ain't Training

Harold D. Stolovitch

2007

4.3 ⭐️

Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else

Geoff Colvin

2008

4.9 ⭐️

Design For How People Learn

Julie Dirksen

2015

3.9 ⭐️

How You Learn Is How You Live: Using Nine Ways of Learning to Transform Your Life

Kay Peterson, David A. Kolb

2017

4.3 ⭐️

Evidence-Informed Learning Design: Creating Training to Improve Performance

Mirjam Neelen, Paul A. Kirschner

2020

4.2 ⭐️

How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why It Happens

Benedict Carey

2015

4.4 ⭐️

The Learner's Journey: Storytelling as a Design Principle to Create Powerful Learning Experiences

Bastian Küntzel

2019

4.4 ⭐️

Building Expertise: Cognitive Methods for Training and Performance Improvement

Ruth C. Clar

1998

4.4 ⭐️

Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know

Adam Grant

2021

4.7 ⭐️

Map It: The hands-on guide to strategic training design

Cathy Moore

2017

LEVEL 2

Dive in

Once you got a hold on the basics, this next level books will walk you through more advanced readings that should enhance your understanding of L&D.

🏆 Most Recommended

4.3 ⭐️

Design Thinking for Training and Development: Creating Learning Journeys That Get Results

Sharon Boller, Laura Fletcher

2020

4.5 ⭐️

The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business

Erin Meyer

2014

4.9 ⭐️

Lead Together: Stop Squirreling Away Power and Build a Better Team

Tania Luna

2023

4.5 ⭐️

The Leader Lab: Core Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster

Tania Luna, LeeAnn Renninger

2021

- ⭐️

Dare To Facilitate

Jenny Theolin

2023

3.97 ⭐️

The Social Leadearhip Handbook

Julian Stodd

2014

4.5 ⭐️

The 6 disciplines of breakthrough learning

Calhoun W. Wick, Andrew McK, Jefferson, Roy V.H. Pollock

2006

4.4 ⭐️

Leaders eat last

Simon Sinek

2014

4.5 ⭐️

Workplace Learning: How to Build a Culture of Continuous Employee Development

Nigel Paine

2019

4.3 ⭐️

The Neuroscience of Learning and Development: Enhancing Creativity, Compassion, Critical Thinking, and Peace in Higher Education

Stella Collins

2016

5.0 ⭐️

ATD's Handbook for Training and Talent Development

Elaine Biech

2022

4.3 ⭐️

L&D’s Playbook for the Digital Age

Brandon Carson

2021

4.5 ⭐️

Measurement Demystified: Creating Your L&D Measurement, Analytics, and Reporting Strategy

David Vance, Peggy Parskey

2020

4.0 ⭐️

The Learning and Development Handbook: A Learning Practitioner's Toolkit

Michelle Parry-Slater

2021

4.2 ⭐️

Write and Organize for Deeper Learning: 28 evidence-based and easy-to-apply tactics that will make your instruction better for learning

Patti Shank

2017

4.3 ⭐️

Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts—Becoming the Person You Want to Be

Marshall Goldsmith

2015

4.4 ⭐️

The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth

Amy C. Edmondson

2018

4.3 ⭐️

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck

2006

4.3 ⭐️

Design Thinking for Training and Development: Creating Learning Journeys That Get Results

Sharon Boller, Laura Fletcher

2020

4.2 ⭐️

The Expertise Economy: How the Smartest Companies Use Learning to Engage, Compete, and Succeed

Kelly Palmer, David Blake

2018

4.3 ⭐️

Move Your Bus: An Extraordinary New Approach to Accelerating Success in Work and Life

Ron Clark

2015

4.2 ⭐️

The Chief Learning Officer: Driving Value Within a Changing Organization Through Learning and Development

Tamar Elkeles, Jack J. Phillips

2006

5.0 ⭐️

The Modern Learning Ecosystem: A New L&D Mindset for the Ever-Changing Workplace

JD Dillon

2022

4.4 ⭐️

Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World

Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall

2019

4.2 ⭐️

Driving Performance through Learning: Develop Employees through Effective Workplace Learning

Andy Lancaster

2019

4.3 ⭐️

The Fifth Discipline: The Art & Practice of The Learning Organization

Peter M. Senge

1990

LEVEL 3

Going deeper

This third level looks deeper into specific learning methods & behavior change readings.

🏆 Most Recommended

4.3 ⭐️

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

Priya Parker

2018

4.2 ⭐️

Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity

Etienne Wenger

1999

4.2 ⭐️

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein

2008

4.5 ⭐️

Agile HR: Improve Performance in a Changing World of Work

Natal Dank and Riina Hellstrom

2020

4.3 ⭐️

The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters

Priya Parker

2018

4.4 ⭐️

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

2011

4.3 ⭐️

Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development

David A. Kolb

2014

4.3 ⭐️

Agile for Instructional Designers: Iterative Project Management to Achieve Results

Megan Torrance

2019

4.2 ⭐️

Pedagogy of the oppressed

Paulo Freire

1968

4.3 ⭐️

Learning Transfer at Work: How to Ensure Training >> Performance

Paul Matthews

2018

4.6 ⭐️

The E-Learning Handbook: Past Promises, Present Challenges

Patti Shank

2007

4.2 ⭐️

Michael Allen's Guide to eLearning

Michael W. Allen

2003

5.0 ⭐️

Next Level Virtual Training: Advance Your Facilitation

Diana L. Howles

2022

4.5 ⭐️

Instructional Story Design: Develop Stories That Train

Rance Greene

2020

4.3 ⭐️

Elearning and the Science of Instruction

Ruth C. Clark & Richard E. Mayer

2016

4.3 ⭐️

The Accidental Instructional Designer: Learning Design for the Digital Age

Cammy Bean

2014

4.3 ⭐️

Learning Science for Instructional Designers: From Cognition to Application

Clark N. Quinn

2021

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Learning and Development

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