While reading contracts, briefs, and pleadings is great, limiting your reading to legal sources can stagnate your personal growth. Here are a few of the best books for lawyers to read to improve your skills, make you think, and challenge you to focus on and improve yourself.

Messy: How to Be Creative and Resilient in a Tidy-Minded World by Tim Hartford

Messy is one of my favorite books in a long time, probably because I resonate so deeply with its message. I am not a “messy” person per se; my life is more of an "organized chaos". This book explains why it's actually beneficial to be "messy" rather than forcing order into our day-to-day lives.

Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office 101 - Unconscious Mistakes Women Make that Sabotage Their Careers by Lois F Frankel, PhD

This book is perfect for women who are trying to climb the ladder, because it allows its readers to complete an assessment and see where they can improve to build their career. The assessment is fairly accurate, and the chapters correspond directly to readers' results, providing insightful tips on how to improve in that particular segment.

The Startup of You by Reid Hoffman and Ben Casnocha

This book is written by the founder of LinkedIn, so naturally it’s about improving your career by treating yourself like a startup. As the book states, "[y]ou will not find tips and tricks on how to format your resume or how to prepare for a job interview... You'll find strategies that will help you expand the reach of your network, gain a competitive edge, and land better professional opportunities."

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg

Lean In summarizes how women, regardless of their title or role in a company, can improve their work lives and personal lives simultaneously. This is not a book that says you have to sacrifice family for your career; instead, it's full of helpful insights on finding what works for you. The author cites background information on the discrepancies in compensation between men and women, and provides constructive advice about the internal obstacles women face that hold them back, and how to overcome them. 

For more books to add to your library, check out our previous post of 5 New Books Every Lawyer Should be Reading.