Actionable Books for Quality-Driven Value Investors
Preview of the book "Build Wealth with Common Stocks," along with additional recommendations from respected authors for alpha-seeking investors
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After discovering a high-quality business model and a value-priced share investing strategy for achieving alpha in stock picking, I wrote and published the international selling book, Build Wealth with Common Stocks.
I wanted to take this opportunity to share a preview of the book with QVI subscribers and new readers. "Build Wealth with Common Stocks" is an additional resource for building and maintaining a potentially winning private stock portfolio.
The book description features praise from everyday investors around the globe, editorial reviews, inspiring insights from the hardcover edition’s inside flaps, and links to the book’s online sellers internationally.
I have added more book recommendations for quality-driven value investors, authored by esteemed writers I highly regard, at the end of the post.
Preview: Build Wealth with Common Stocks
I was fortunate to discover quality value investing 17 years ago. The 41 companies in the active, equal-weighted QVI Real-Time Stock Picks have outperformed the S&P 500 in total return by 11,568 basis points (bps), or +115.68 percentage points, average per holding, since inception, as of the market close on June 2, 2025.
Before sharing the principles, strategies, and practices of successful quality value investing with subscribers through QVI’s twice-weekly newsletter posts, I authored and published the internationally selling book Build Wealth with Common Stocks: Market-Beating Strategies for the Individual Investor. This book acts as a case study of my transformation from a capital-depleting, top-down growth stock trader to an alpha-achieving, bottom-up, high-quality business model value investor.
Therefore, I wanted to take this opportunity to share a preview of the book with subscribers and new readers as an extra resource for building and maintaining a potentially winning stock portfolio.
Book Description
An everyday investor’s family portfolio has outperformed the broader market for 17 years. Discover his easy-to-read and understand principles, strategies, and practices for uncovering the winning stocks of enduring enterprises.
Written for individual investors by an individual investor, "Build Wealth with Common Stocks" is a book by private investor and author David J. Waldron. He shares actionable ideas for creating a potentially market-beating portfolio of quality companies' common shares purchased at value prices. These strategies aim to support significant life milestones, such as buying a home, funding a college education, sponsoring a wedding, pursuing a passion, starting a business, or enjoying a comfortable retirement.
Praise from Everyday Investors
“BEST BOOK...Build Wealth with Common Stocks is the best book I’ve read on stock selection in my 55 years of investing.” —Bud Joyner, Memphis, TN, USA
“INSPIRED ME...David J. Waldron’s book inspired me to begin investing! Learning the benefits of planning and research toward owning slices of great companies helped me to develop a winning game plan for my inaugural portfolio.” —Shonna Dent, Pueblo, CO, USA
“CHOCK FULL OF WISDOM...I have read a ton of books on investing, and Build Wealth with Common Stocks is one of the most outstanding. Chock-full of wisdom that every individual investor needs to know. You will feel as if this book was written just for you.” —Ram Persaud, Toronto, ON, Canada
“A COMPLETE FRAMEWORK…David J. Waldron provides a complete framework for any individual investor looking for a thorough and common-sense understanding of value investing.” —Mariska Mosterd-van Wijnen, Ermelo, The Netherlands
“GUIDES YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS...From developing the right frame of mind to evaluating key metrics to determine if a stock is a good investment, Build Wealth with Common Stocks guides you through the process with terms and language that any do-it-yourself investor can understand and put into practice.” —Justin Loidolt, Boise, ID, USA
“COMMON SENSE APPROACH…David J. Waldron’s latest book is a great road map for individual investors with a long-term horizon. His common-sense approach teaches you to assess each company on its merits and to understand the value of the business. A smart alternative to passively owning every company in an index. Highly recommended!” —Robert Weiss, CFA, Sarasota, FL, USA
“AN EXCELLENT RESOURCE…Build Wealth with Common Stocks is an excellent resource for a teacher to assign to students in a class on financial literacy. David J. Waldron’s contrarian approach could be contrasted with the traditional Wall Street view and provide students an excellent background for increasing knowledge in the principles of investing.” —James Devine, Daytona Beach, FL, USA
“SOUND INVESTING PRACTICES…David J. Waldron focuses on sound investing practices with a relentless commitment to both the price of the stock and the quality of the company.” —Rick Urquhart, Cape Coral, FL, USA
“EASY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND…The first finance book I found that was easy to read and understand, without being intimidating. I highly recommend Build Wealth with Common Stocks for a stock market neophyte like myself or anyone who enjoys learning about different investing strategies.” —Chrissy G., Providence, RI, USA
Editorial Reviews
"Investing advice is fairly commonplace, but here the author shares his own unique investment wisdom that readers will not find elsewhere." —Critic's Report, The BookLife Prize
"An informed investor has a far greater chance of getting rich slow than getting rich fast and getting rich slowly is better than not at all." —Best First Lines, Publishers Weekly
"A great, new introduction to value investing." —Tony Kynaston and Cameron Reilly, QAV (Australia’s #1 Value Investing Podcast)
"I recommend the book to beginner or amateur investors who are looking to get good long-term returns on their savings." —Saj Karsan, Barel Karsan Value Investing
"Provides information on stock selection for the everyday investor looking to join an investment community. Must read. 5-Stars." —Mardene Carr, Reedsy Discovery
From the Hardcover Edition’s Inside Flaps
David J. Waldron offers inspiring wisdom and memorable anecdotes for navigating the endless roller coaster of market cycles.
On Outperforming Wall Street
Learn how the individual investor on Main Street, despite limited capital, has the potential to achieve superior returns with lower costs and less risk than the power brokers working on Wall Street.
On Being a Thoughtful Investor
To paraphrase American baseball legend Yogi Berra, discover why investing is ’90 percent half’ common sense.
On Patience
Why patience is the scarcest and, thereby, the most valuable commodity available to retail-level investors.
On Discipline
One rule virtually guarantees you will never lose money on an investment.
On Productive Fear
How a portfolio constructed on this beneficial fear can outperform a basket thrown together from the unproductive fear of missing out.
On Taking Ownership
Stop placing bets on stocks and do this instead.
On Active vs. Passive Investing
Find how to screen for the best companies in a sector, reserving the benchmark index for hedging your portfolio.
On the Perils of High-Yield Dividends
Chasing current yield is a recipe for junk equity. Instead, consider practicing the more profitable concept of dividend investing.
On the Death of Value Investing
Value investing is never dead. It’s just less popular than short-term growth stories. As long as there are financial markets or farmers’ markets, value shall prevail.
On the Benefits of Self-Managed Investing
Build your beach or lake house instead of your financial advisor’s.
On Assessing Risk
Discover which investing risks are worth taking and which are best to avoid.
On Being a Defensive Investor
Outperform the market by managing the downside while allowing the upside to take care of itself.
Become an Informed Investor
Read Build Wealth with Common Stocks and become the informed investor who builds and maintains an investment portfolio with the potential to outperform the market or, more importantly, fund your and your family’s life goals and milestones.
Invest in yourself and learn to achieve superior stock market returns with lower costs and less risk.
Available worldwide in jacketed case laminated hardcover, perfect-bound paperback, and eBook at your favorite online bookstore.
Universal Book Link
Available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook at your favorite online bookstore. Use this universal link from our trusted partner, BookFunnel, to find preferred store links to Build Wealth with Common Stocks from around the world:
https://buy.bookfunnel.com/c18fi74lth
More Books for Quality Value Investors
If you have already read "Build Wealth With Common Stocks," I recommend the following titles to further explore the virtues of quality value investing.
Links are not provided so that readers can choose their preferred book-shopping sources.
On Macroeconomics
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith (Simon & Brown, 2016).
18th-century Scottish philosopher and classical economist. Smith is widely considered the father of modern economics.
On Value Investing
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham (HarperCollins, 2005).
A twentieth-century Columbia Business School professor and the father of value investing.
On Benjamin Graham
The Little Book of Value Investing by Christopher H. Browne (Wiley, 2006).
Easy read on putting the investment principles of Benjamin Graham into play.
On Warren Buffett
The Warren Buffett Way by Robert G. Hagstrom (Wiley, 2013).
Omaha, NE-based business magnate, investor, and philanthropist, Buffett is our time’s preeminent quality-driven value investor.
On Stock Picking
Beating the Street by Peter Lynch (Simon & Schuster, 1993).
American stock-picker extraordinaire. Former Boston-based Fidelity Magellan Fund manager averaged a 29.2% annual return.
On Managing Risk
The Most Important Thing by Howard Marks (Columbia University Press, 2011).
Marks is a master at recognizing, understanding, and controlling risk by investing defensively.
On Wisdom
Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green (Scribner, 2021).
Green interviews several of the world’s greatest investors and uncovers their talents that extend well beyond the financial realm.
On Behavioral Investing
The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel (Harriman House, 2020).
Housel explores the strange ways people think about money and how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics.
On Main Street Investors
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko (Gallery Books, 1996).
Surprisingly, the authors found that investment millionaires disproportionately cluster in middle-class and blue-collar neighborhoods.
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Resources
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About the Writer
David J. Waldron is the contributing editor of Quality Value Investing and the author of the international-selling book Build Wealth with Common Stocks: Market-Beating Strategies for the Individual Investor, as well as his upcoming fifth book, Quality Value Investing: How to Pick the Winning Stocks of Enduring Enterprises.
He is a private investor and a former expert advisor to hedge funds, mutual funds, private equity firms, and investment banks.
David’s mission is to inspire his readers to achieve their financial goals and dreams. His work has been featured in Substack Finance, Substack Business, Seeking Alpha, MSN Money, TalkMarkets, ValueWalk, Yahoo Finance, QAV—Australia’s #1 Value Investing Podcast, Money Life with Chuck Jaffe, LifeBlood with George Grombacher, The Acquirer’s Multiple, Capital Employed, and on platforms like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, The BookLife Prize, and Publisher’s Weekly.
David enjoyed a 25-year career as an executive in postsecondary education services. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Studies as a Garden State Scholar at Stockton University and completed The Practice of Management Program at Brown University. Learn more at davidjwaldron.substack.com.
Thanks for compiling this list. And congrats on the great reviews you're getting for the book.