Let’s say you fell into a pot of money and suddenly had what is known as leisure time. It presents an immediate problem, no? Exactly: What to read first.

Apparently, every year in June, the J.P. Morgan Private Bank sends its clients a Summer Reading List, according to a Wall Street Journal report by Robert Frank. “It is a kind of book club for billionaires,” he says, “without the tedious monthly get-togethers over cheese and chardonnay.”

Bien sur. According to Frank, “To create the list, JPM bankers from around the world submitted more than 450 nonfiction books for consideration. A committee then chose the top 10, based on each tome’s ability to ‘capture the essence of our clients’ personal and professional lives.'”

What the list reveals is that, well, the rich are different from you and I, as Fitzgerald said (they have more money, as Hemingway clarified) and they’re not into fiction, either ….

Here’s the list, along with “along with some explainers from J.P. Morgan Private Bank’s chief communications officer, Darin Oduyoye“:

On the Brink: Inside the Race to Stop the Collapse of the Global Financial System by Henry M. Paulson Jr. “A lot of our clients are in financial executives—-hedge fund managers, or financial sponsors or private equity. For these people, ‘On the Brink’ gives an inside view of the crisis, what occurred, who the key players were and what decisions were made and weren’t made.”

Life is What You Make It: Find Your Own Path to Fulfillment by Peter Buffett.
“This was for our next generation clients. Some of our clients are very concerned about children or their heirs as it relates to family business or general stewardship. Peter Buffett’s book is about how he found his own path independent of his father and how he launched into music.”

The Facebook Effect: The Inside Story of the Company that is Connecting the World by David Kirkpatrick. “Obviously a lot of our clients are entrepreneurs and are launching businesses and thinking about the entrepreneurial dram. This book goes inside Mark Zuckerberg and his dream to create Facebook.”

Written in Water: Messages of Hope for Earth’s Most Precious Resource by Irena Salina. “This book was for client’s interest in the environment”

Mark Twain: Man in White: The Grand Adventure of His Final Years by Michael Shelden. “Many of our clients are reflecting on legacy. On the centennial anniversary of Mark Twain’s birth this was a great book to include. It’s about the last five years of his life and what he wanted to be known for. It’s about Mark Twain writing his own history.”

BlackBerry: The Inside Story of Research in Motion by Rod McQueen.
The Principles of Thai Cookery by Chef McDang.
Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong by Terry Teachout.
Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Modern Century by Peter Galassi.
Fine Wines: The Best Vintages Since 1900 by Michel Dovaz.