Tai-Pan

It's designed more for kids, but I found it useful for understanding basic accounting concepts: The Accounting Game: Basic Accounting From the Lemonade Stand. I also found two of the novels in Clavell's Asian Saga to be quite business-focused: Tai-Pan and Noble House. Not so much for the nuts-and-bolts of business, but just a large business organization being founded and growing over the course of multiple centuries.

Shogun, after having watched the show. I also read the other books in Clavell's series, I thought Tai Pan and Gai Jin were interesting but not as much as Shogun. Gai Jin in particular felt like it had lots of filler.

Fiction: Taipan, by James Clavell The Navigator, by Morris West Non-fiction: The Upanishads (not a single book, but a bunch of them) The Bhagavad Gita

Just finished reading this myself and would highly recommend it. Both Shogun and Tai Pan were thoroughly enjoyable reads. Deeply woven plots with rich characters and historical intrigue.

Tai-Pan by James Clavell (of Shogun fame). It's about the founding of Hong Kong after the first Opium War. History, Morale, Politics, Ambition, Money, Power and Love viewed through 2 different cultures. I discovered it after listening to Shogun (I read it a few years back) and was happy as a little kid when I discovered there are more books to read. It does not disappoint so far.

Yeah the Asian Saga includes King Rat, Shogun, Noble House, Taipan as well as Gai-gin, The Whirlwind. They're all pretty good books but I believe Taipan, Noble House and Shogun are considered Clavell's best work, in that order (personally I like Noble House best). Thanks for the recommendation though.

As has already been mentioned elsewhere in this thread, most of Neil Stephenson's work is just great. Cryptonomicon is my favorite, but The Baroque Cycle (three books) is very good as well. If you're into crime/mystery fiction, the recently deceased Elmore Leonard was one of the best. A few of his books have been made into movies (Get Shorty, Jackie Brown, The Big Bounce) with mixed results, but I do I highly recommend reading the books, which are numerous. For a different sort of fiction, James Clavell's Shogun, Taipan, and Noble House are great. In fact, Noble House very well be my favorite book. It's a long (~1400 page) book about business dealings, political intrigue, and more. All set in the context of 1963 Hong Kong. Those who like a touch of historical fiction could take a look at Conn Uggulden. One of his series, The Conqueror, which is about the rise and fall of the Mongol empire is pretty interesting. The books are a light read, and not particularly complicated, but it's entertaining and has some neat historical bits.

Clavell's whole Asian Saga (Shogun, Tai-Pan, Gai-Jin, King Rat, Noble House, and Whirlwind) is amazing. My favorite is Tai-Pan - the book had a tremendous impact on me, and I'd imagine it would appeal to every real entrepreneur. The underlying themes are freedom, individualism, honor, risk-taking, and ultimately, building something and defending it.

Indeed. After I finished it, I was sad for weeks. I just missed being in that world with those people. None of Clavell's other endeavors even comes close (though Tai-Pan was, relatively speaking, a fun modern romp).

+1 for Shogun and Tai Pan.

I am a total whore for historical fiction: 'Shogun' by James Clavell was the first book I read that had me glued to it for hours and hours at a time. Tai Pan is also a classic. I also found the original three Courtney books by Wilbur Smith (starting with 'The Sound of Thunder') were a guilty pleasure. They are pure trash, with thin characters and a predictable plot but epic adventure nonetheless. More recently I've topped off the 'Emperor' series (chronicling Julius Ceasars life) and have started the 'Conqueror' series (same thing, but its about Genghis Khan). Both by Conn Iggulden. Not quite at the same literary level as some of the other suggestions here but I was wondering if I was the only one.

Right now, Anathem by Neal Stephenson is my favorite. I read through the comments before adding my 2 cents. I saw a lot of my favorite books, including a few by Neal Stephenson. But I did not see Anathem. Hmmm... I also saw a few references to James Clavell's Shogan. Excellent book. But I liked Tai Pan more, and in fact, I would say that this is my second favorite. Just to add another title that nobody here is likely mention, the first book that I read that blew my mind (admittedly in my very young days) was "When the Lion feeds" by Wilbur Smith.