The Psychology of Money
by Morgan Housel
Top 25Interest peak #1
Short essays on how behavior, luck, and patience shape financial outcomes more than intelligence does. Calm, wise, and free of jargon. Read the full description
Best for: Anyone who wants calmer money decisions
The Psychology of Money is #21 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 77 out of 100.
The Psychology of Money: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, The Psychology of Money’s reading interest has run from #1 to #50 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
The Psychology of Money was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 2,338 times in the past 12 months, peaking in September 2025 with 348 (79% above its monthly average of 195). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were up 44% on the three months before. 89% of the adds were “want to read”, 7% “currently reading” and 4% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 68,064 times in the past 12 months, peaking in May 2026 with 9,845 views. The latest three months were down 2% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article The Psychology of Money.
What the data says about The Psychology of Money
- Moderate swings. Monthly shelf adds averaged 195 with some ups and downs.
- Busiest and quietest months. September 2025 was its busiest month (348 adds), about 3.7 times its quietest, December 2025 (93).
- Attention and shelf adds move independently. Its Wikipedia views and its shelf adds did not rise and fall together over these 12 months (correlation -0.22).
- Against its genre. It had 56% more shelf adds than the average Business book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 2.2% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #6 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 2020 (6 years ago), it is older than 14% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
The Psychology of Money on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #21 | 77 |
Is The Psychology of Money rising or falling?
Holding steady Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking.
On Open Library, The Psychology of Money ranks #5 this week, #4 this month, and #7 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why The Psychology of Money made the Top 100
The Psychology of Money made the list mainly on momentum (+33.6 points) and being read right now (+23 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.1). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for The Psychology of Money
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have The Psychology of Money open right now than 90% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Business books
It is #2 of the 6 Business books on this month’s list.
About The Psychology of Money
Short essays on how behavior, luck, and patience shape financial outcomes more than intelligence does. Calm, wise, and free of jargon.
Why it’s here: It answers the question most money books skip, which is why we do what we do with money.
Best for: Anyone who wants calmer money decisions
At a glance
- First published
- 2020-09-08
- Genre
- Business
- Length
- about 288 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- English
- Languages
- editions in 5 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 27 on Open Library
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- Behavior over math
- Luck and risk
- Time and compounding
What reading it is like
Short essays built on stories and principles. Easy to read and light on formulas.
At about 288 pages it is a medium-length read: roughly 6 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
It is about how people behave with money, not investment advice. Each chapter stands alone.
The premise
Morgan Housel shares short stories showing that success with money depends more on behavior than on intelligence. Topics include luck, patience, and knowing when you have enough.
What you’ll get
- Easy-to-read essays
- Ideas that apply at any income
- Calm, practical guidance
You might skip it if you want investing tactics or formulas.
Pairs well with: Rich Dad, Poor Dad · The Richest Man in Babylon
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #20 and #22
Questions about The Psychology of Money
What rank is The Psychology of Money on the Top 100 books?
The Psychology of Money is #21 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 77 out of 100.
Is The Psychology of Money rising or falling?
Holding steady. Its weekly, monthly and yearly ranks are close together, so interest is steady rather than spiking. On Open Library, The Psychology of Money ranks #5 this week, #4 this month, and #7 over the past year.
Why is The Psychology of Money on the Top 100?
The Psychology of Money made the list mainly on momentum (+33.6 points) and being read right now (+23 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.1).
How many people are reading The Psychology of Money right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 1,005 readers currently reading The Psychology of Money, 13,564 who want to read it and 601 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has The Psychology of Money had over the past year?
2,338 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak September 2025, 348); latest three months up 44% on the prior three; 68,064 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 2% over the latest three months). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is The Psychology of Money best for?
Anyone who wants calmer money decisions.
Ask a question about The Psychology of Money
Ask about this book's chart history, reading interest, or who it is for. Answers come from this page's data and can be wrong.
Answers are AI-written from BookWard’s own help content and can be wrong. Please do not share personal information: questions and answers may be saved and, if they are useful, shown on this site without your name.
How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
Track The Psychology of Money and find your next favorite
Add it to your shelf, rate what you have read, and BookWard will recommend what fits you.
Free while in beta. No credit card needed.