The following is a list of the bestselling hardcover business books as ranked by the New York Times with data from Nielsen BookScan on February 28.
1. All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera. Two business journalists examine the financial crisis of 2008.
2. 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.
3. Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose by Tony Hsieh. The visionary CEO of Zappos explains how an emphasis on corporate culture can lead to unprecedented success.
4. Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Why some people succeed — it has to do with luck and opportunities as well as talent — from the author of Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking and The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
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. 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.
7. Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That Is Breaking America by Matt Taibbi. The rise of the grifters and the stranglehold they have on America, financially.
8. SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. A scholar and a journalist apply economic thinking to everything: the sequel.
9. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss. Reconstructing your life so that it’s not all about work.
10. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink. What really motivates people is the quest for autonomy, mastery and purpose, not external rewards.
11. Debunkery: Learn It, Do It, and Profit from It-Seeing Through Wall Street’s Money-Killing Myths by by Ken Fisher with Lara Hoffmans. Avoid bad investment practices by learning to debunk 50 myths common to the market.
12. The Mentor Leader: Secrets to Building People & Teams That Win Consistently by Tony Dungy. The author discusses te seven keys of mentoring leadership — and why they’re so effective; why mentor leadership brings out the best in people; how a mentor leader recovers from mistakes and handles team discipline; and the secret to getting people to follow you and do their best for you without intimidation tactics.
13. Strengths-Based Leadership by Tom Rath and Barry Conchie. Three keys to being a more effective leader.
14. Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future by Robert B. Reich. Looking at the future of the United States economy, the Clinton-era labor secretary fears that inevitable national belt-tightening could trigger a political convulsion.
15. Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Counterintuitive rules for small-business success, like “Ignore the details early on” and “Good enough is fine.”