Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist

The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Those are the two to start with. If you like those, check out some of her nonfiction books: The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism, Philosophy: Who Needs It, and Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology (these are but a few - Rand wrote a long series of nonfiction books). Ayn Rand's Normative Ethics: The Virtuous Egoist by Tara Smith (a philosophy professor at UT-Austin) is excellent because it unpacks Ayn Rand's ethical system in an academic style. Finally, Leonard Peikoff's Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand gives a comprehensive view of Rand's entire philosophy. Light reading (not by Objectivist authors, and not in any particular order): Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner The Soul of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James Watson What Do You Care What Other People Think?: Further Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character by Richard Feynman