Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk is many things to many people, but one thing you might not know is that he’s a voracious reader. Books and comics helped him survive a tough South African childhood (he even read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica at the age of nine!), and he read sci-fi novels for up to 10 hours every day.

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I mean, my nose was always stuck in a book as a kid, too, but I don’t think I devoted quite that many hours to Babysitters’ Club and Nancy Drew. Maybe that’s why I’m not rich and smart and famous…

I digress. The point is, Elon Musk claims these 5 books changed his life, so maybe they can change yours, too!

#5. Structures: Or Why Things Don’t Fall Down (J.E. Gordon)

Want to hear something crazy? Elon Musk taught himself a lot of what he needed to know to found SpaceX, and this book went a long way toward fueling his understanding about rocket science.

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“It is really, really good if you want a primer on structural design,” he said in an interview with KCRW.

#4. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)

Musk says he was ruminating on the meaning of life when he read the book, which highlighted a point that struck a chord:

“…a lot of times the question is harder than the answer. And if you can properly phrase the question, then the answer is the easy part.”

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#3. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, and Strategies (Nick Bostrom)

In a world where a discussion about artificial intelligence is growing ever more necessary, this book served Musk as a reference tome when it comes to the debate. For his part, he thinks that AI is “potentially more deadly than nukes.”

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#2. Einstein: His Life and Universe (Walter Isaacson)

Probably not that surprising that an innovator like Musk was wowed by the story of another man who used his brilliance and ambition to reshape his world.

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#1. Zero To One: Notes On Startups, Or How to Build the Future (Peter Thiel)

The co-founder of not only PayPal, but multiple companies that have broken through the find success, can definitely teach you (and Musk) a thing or two about starting up a successful business. In fact, Thiel was an early business associate of Musk’s – Musk also co-founded PayPal.