The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the Wall Street Journal with data from Nielsen BookScan on April 12.
1.The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine
by Michael Lewis. The sequel to #1 best-selling Liar’s Poker
examines the issue of who understood the risk inherent in the assumption of ever-rising real estate prices, a risk compounded daily by the creation of those arcane, artificial securities loosely based on piles of doubtful mortgages.
2. StrengthsFinder 2.0: A New and Upgraded Edition of the Online Test from Gallup’s Now, Discover Your Strengths
by Tom Rath. Are you unsure where your true talents lie? Do you feel that you are both a person who gets things done and someone who offers penetrating analysis? Well, you can discover whether you are truly an “achiever” or an “analytical” by completing the online quiz. Then, the book will give you “ideas for action” and tips for how best you can work with others. More of a patiencetester than Strengthsfinder, the quiz/book is probably best for those who have lots of time on their hands.
3. The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness
by Dave Ramsey. Debt reduction and fiscal fitness for families, by the radio talk-show host.
4. 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown
by Simon Johnson. Johnson, professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and Kwak, a former consultant for McKinsey, follow American finance’s rocky road from the debate between Jefferson and Hamilton over the first Bank of the United States through frequent friction between Big Finance and democracy to the Obama administration’s responses to the crises.
5. Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard
by Dan Heath and Chip Heath. The Heath brothers (coauthors of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
) address motivating employees, family members, and ourselves in their analysis of why we too often fear change.
6. Rework
by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. The authors admonish readers to stop talking and start working.
7. The Devil’s Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers
by Vicky Ward. The true story of the almost mythical saga of four friends destroyed by money, sex, and ambition, with a cast of greedy larger-than-life Wall Street monsters, and an intimate history of the fall of Lehman.
8. SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner. By examining how people respond to incentives, the authors of Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (P.S.)
show the world for what it really is – good, bad, ugly, and, in the final analysis, super freaky.
9. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
by Timothy Ferriss. Ferriss isn’t shy about tooting his own horn: He says he “speaks six languages, runs a multinational firm from wireless locations worldwide, and has been a world-record holder in tango, a national champion in kickboxing, and an actor in a hit television series in Hong Kong.” Is this the sort of person you really want to be taking advice from? Anyway, Ferris offers recommendations and resources for everything from eliminating wasted time to oursourcing your job and getting cheap airfare.
10. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Leadership Fable
by Patrick Lencioni. The author targets group behavior in the final entry of his trilogy of corporate fables. When the instructional tale is over, Lencioni discusses the “five dysfunctions” (absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results) and provides a questionnaire for readers to use in evaluating their own teams and specifics to help them understand and overcome these common shortcomings.
