It’s that time of the year where lying low and taking it easy is our number one priority. Why not also use this time to sharpen your money and personal development skills? The thing is, if walk into your nearest Waterstones, you’ll find the ‘Personal Finance’ section virtually bursting at the seams: it’s  totally daunting. So instead, here’s our recommended reading list for the summer. We’re sure you’ll love it just as much as us. Enjoy!

A Good Time To Be A Girl by Helena Morrissey

Helena Morrissey is Head of Personal Investing at Legal & General Investment Management (a major global investor, managing £894 billion on behalf of 3,000 clients), mother of nine, and founder of the influential 30% Club which campaigns for gender-balanced UK company boards. “Making a powerful case for diversity and difference in any workplace, she shows how, together, we can develop smarter thinking and broader definitions of success. Gender balance, in her view, is an essential driver of economic prosperity and part of the solution to the many problems we face today.” This is the book we are reading for Vestpod’s bookclub this month! More info here.

Digital Gold by Nathaniel Popper

The subtitle of the book is ‘The Untold Story of Bitcoin’ - more than just a currency, bitcoin and blockchain is a pioneering technology, a new way to understand finance and a social movement. The author, Nathaniel Popper is a reporter at The New York Times and a Harvard graduate. The book tells the entertaining story of digital money from its origins in 2009, the people who are behind it and how it will change the future. Well written with limited jargon, it’s a good introduction to bitcoin.

The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle

John is the founder of Vanguard who ignited the trend towards index investing and he is also one of the most brilliant minds in investing. This is a practical guide full of insights that will help you build a portfolio based on the investment strategy that’s right for you. These are the main lessons from the book: link investing with business reality - how dividend yields and earnings growth work | Overcoming the powerful impact of investment costs, taxes, and inflation | How the magic of compounding returns is overwhelmed by the tyranny of compounding costs | What expert investors and brilliant academics―from Warren Buffett and Benjamin Graham to Paul Samuelson and Burton Malkiel―have to say about index investing.