First Friday Book Synopsis

This New York Times monthly list is one I follow carefully. Because…I read the books. You get the insights. The New York Times has now published its list of ten best-selling business books for September, 2026.

perennial best seller

And The Let Them Theory is, yet again, at number one.

There are some remarkably familiar books on this month’s list. Atomic Habits is #2, after 95 weeks on the list. Extreme Ownership is #5, after 80 weeks. And Thinking, Fast and Slow is #10, after an astonishing 105 weeks.

Maybe…some books just keep finding new readers.

Of this month’s list of ten books, I have presented synopses of Atomic Habits, Unreasonable Hospitality, Extreme Ownership, The Creative Act, and Never Split the Difference. My former colleague Karl Krayer presented Thinking, Fast and Slow.

So, once again, six of the ten books on the New York Times list have been selections at our monthly First Friday Book Synopsis event.

And I can assure you: there is plenty to learn from these books.

There are also two newcomers to the list this month: The Nerd Reich by Gil Duran, at #4, and Die With Zero by Bill Perkins, at #7. I’m always interested in which new books break through — and which older books just keep selling, month after month after month…

I referred, as I often do, to this book in a presentation this week

Over the 28+ years of our event, we have now presented synopses of more than 680 different books. And, month after every single month, there are always more books to read, more ideas to consider, and more to learn.

Here are the ten books on this month’s New York Times Business Books Best Sellers list.

Which one will you read next?

#1 — The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins

#2 — Atomic Habits by James Clear

#3 — Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara

#4 — The Nerd Reich by Gil Duran

#5 — Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin

#6 — The Creative Act by Rick Rubin with Neil Strauss

#7 — Die With Zero by Bill Perkins

#8 — Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss with Tahl Raz

#9 — The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

#10 — Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman