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Hello Brooks community,
I’m reaching out with a question that’s been gnawing at me day and night — quite literally.
I'm a complete beginner — I just purchased the Brooks Trading Course recently and have made it up to the Getting Analysis section (08-11). It’s already been a transformative experience, and I’m taking it very seriously.
But here’s where I’m stuck:
On social media, I keep seeing traders reference not one, but four Al Brooks books. Some posts detailed breakdowns, discussions, and interpretations that honestly left me stunned.
It made me think:
If the video course alone is so dense and packed with value, how long — and how mentally demanding — would it be to also read and digest all four books on top of that?
Lately, I’ve been losing sleep wondering whether I’m falling behind because I don't have the books. I’m pouring everything I have into the video course already, and I want to know if that’s enough.
So here's my blunt, no-nonsense question:
➡️ After completing the full video course, is it truly necessary to also read all four books to become proficient in Brooks-style price action trading? Or are the books simply supplementary?
I’m fully committed to this journey, but I want to work smart as well as hard.
Would appreciate some honest, no-sugarcoating advice from experienced members or the admin team.
I appreciate any help you can provide.
— A sleepless, curious student
I'll speak from my personal experience, so please take it with a grain of salt. I have the Trends book (as a matter of fact I have two of it in portuguese and english), and what I have learned so far is as follows:
- The video course has the benefit of exposing you repeatedly to important concepts from start to finish
- There are more examples in the video course
However, in the books, Al goes through more detailed and thorough explanations, and he really tackles each subject with academic rigor. I read the book after I had watched the video course, so I think that made it easier to pick it up. However, I can see a novice having a much harder time if he decides to start with his books.
I think that tackling the books without being familiar with Brooks' terminology and main concepts is a much bigger challenge. In my experience reading Trends for the 1st time took me a lot of effort and time (even though I had been learning and trading price action for almost a year).
There's also personal preference for the learning method (books or videos), as some people (myself included) can focus for longer periods of time learning through books. In general, both methods are going to get you to the same end, and it's going to take practice and revisiting the methodology over the years, so you might as well pick that which you enjoy the most.
To answer your question, I say no. You don't have to buy the course and the books to learn his methodology. Just the video course will give you all you need.
It is also most useful in your journey to study all the four books well in depth in order to gain more knowledge and confidence and to also ingrain in our mind all the variations of patterns > which will be more helpful to your to reach your targets in this trading field.
In addition, you should also join the Trading Room and view the Historical Webinars to learn more things in trading in a very skillful way in live-situations. It is a must, and U must go through all these things progressively and not in a hurried manner, so that your trading life will be more fruitful and joyful.
Here is my experience, which is only my 2 cents to you:
I lost 75% of my account last year. Then, I bought Al brooks online course in November 2024. For the last 5 months (from January 2025 - May 27 2025) I have been break-even. Not profitable yet, but my P&L is like in a trading range 😉 That feels a lot better since I feel like I understand the market.
I did also buy all of the books, but I found them complicated with too much info. The videos, for me, are perfect. Easy to follow & understand. The books (in my opinion) are easier to understand after watching the videos.
This is "my" experience and it doesn't mean it is "the way". I think that everybody have to have their own experience and learn from it 🙂
The most important prerequisite is that you enjoy yourself as you study. While there are not any short cuts, there are faster paths. It is not necessary to understand everything to become a trader. As most individuals learn more rapidly through video, Al created this to overview many important topics which are also covered in the books with some additional detail. The additional detail may not be useful, especially towards the beginning.
That being said, work through the video course to understand the concepts, topics and analysis. They are sequenced very well to work through important progressions. You may find that the video course is sufficient both in time invested and return. It is a lot and covers great depth on what is actually happening in the market.
There is additional material and support afterwards:
The trade room allows for real time discussion of what is occurring with respect to the concepts
There is an encyclopedia which overviews the different types of trade classifications (excellent).
Very importantly, in the daily blog is a summary of the day's PA with Al's markup (next day). This resource is free and is an exceptional way to reinforce the concepts as you work through them.
Within the forum are also individuals with excellent knowledge to support questions.
Wishing you a wonderful and eye opening journey!
Good trades to you!
Based on my personal experience, both the course and the books are useful to connect the dots.
I completed the course and was feeling a little lost. Started reading the Trends book and it all started to make sense. While the course covers the concepts with examples, the books tend to provide a detailed analysis of different use cases which really helped me. Now I'm rewatching the relevant concepts in the course after reading the book to solidify the understanding of each concept.
Having said that, you'd need to figure out what works best for you. Each brain works different. 😊
Based on my experience I have the book ‘Reading Price Charts Bar by Bar’. After watching the video’s I very rarely refer to it. Al says learn to markup the charts so you can read them quickly in real-time. Then decide what is your style of trading and concentrate learning that. You are likely to suffer more from information overload than anything else. I only listen to Al.
No you only need to read 3 of them.
