Great Reads

How happy would you be if you had all the money in the world?The universal lament about money is that there is never enough. We spend endless hours obsessing over out budgets and investments, trying to figure out ways to stretch every dollar. We try to follow the advice of money gurus and financial planners, then kick ourselves whenever we spend too much or save too little, For all of the stress and effort we put into every choice, why are most of us unhappy about our finances?According to Laura Vanderkam, the key is to change your perspective. Instead of looking at money as a scarce resource, consider it a tool that you can use creatively to build a better life for yourself and the people you care about.For instance, the average couple spend $5,000 on engagement and wedding rings, making these pricey purchases largely because everyone else does. But what if you decided to spend $300 on rings and apply the rest to future date nights, weekend getaways, and thinking-of-you bouquets over the next ten years? In the long run, what would bring more joy to your marriage? Likewise, will owning a home with a pristine lawn and a two-car garage-the American Dream-really make you more satisfied? Or are you saving up for this investment just because financial planners tell you it's worth it?Vanderkam shows how each of us can figure out better ways to use what we have to build the lives we want. Drawing on the latest happiness research as well as the stories of dozens of real people, Vanderkam offers a contrarian approach that forces us to examine our own beliefs, goals, and values. Among her advice:••Laugh at the Joneses: It's human nature to compare yourself to those around you, but you can create a lifestyle that brings you personal satisfaction without copying your neighbors.•Give yourself the best weekend ever: Studies show that experiences oftern bring more pleasure than material goods. With a little planning and creativity, you can give yourself a memorable getaway with leaving town or going broke.•Embrace the selfish joy of giving; Giving back not only helps you build karma, it also helps you build a community-which is much more fulfilling than a tax deduction.All the Money in the World is a practical and inspiring guide that shows how money can buy happiness-if we spend it wisely.

We have witnessed the failings of an unfettered free market system, tallied in lost jobs, stagnant wages, rising inequality, and languishing Main Streets. Isn't it time for a backup plan.

Strategies and tools to live debt free The world of borrowing and debt management has changed dramatically, leaving people confused about how best to secure their financial future. This book is the only guide with detailed advice to help you become debt free or master the debt you have, based on the latest laws and new government programs and policies implemented under the Obama administration. Is the information and advice on debt management different than in years past? Definitely. In this savvy, engaging guide, bestselling financial expert Jordan Goodman will tell you how to Win the mortgage game: avoid foreclosure, obtain the best refi, and modify your mortgage even if it is "under water" Clean up your credit report and dramatically boost your credit score Negotiate new terms and payments for burdensome medical bills, student loans, and credit cards Protect yourself from the devastation of identity theft Master the new credit card rules, and avoid the rate and fee traps Learn a revolutionary strategy that will help you become mortgage free in 5 to 7 years, change the way you pay all your bills, and save hundreds of thousands of dollars Master Your Debt recommends many pioneering strategies as it lays out an innovative plan for achieving the elusive goal of financial success. The book is filled with helpful web sites, toll free numbers, associations and government agencies, and vetted companies and services to help you implement this advice. In today's volatile economy, getting out of debt is the key to surviving and thriving, and author Jordan Goodman provides you with the strategies and tools to live debt free.

Every decision, from buying a home to grabbing a daily latte, has costs and benefits-personal as well as financial. The Real Cost of Living helps you make better decisions, both big and small- decisions that involve money, but aren't all about money. Well-known personal finance expert Carmen Wong Ulrich makes personal finance personal and takes into account that we all have motivations that go way beyond number crunching. From marriage and family to career, investing, and more, Carmen examines the "real cost" of the choices we all make every day. * Is deciding whether to go back to work full-time after you have a child really all about money? Should it be? * Is prepaying a mortgage a smart-money move, or is it really about craving security and stability- and which means more to you? * How much do your bad habits really cost you? And is saving thousands of dollars enough of a motivation to get you to stop? * Are college degrees really worthwhile? And if so, how can you maximize the odds of gaining all the benefits of a degree, both personally and financially? * Is becoming your own boss the answer to your career malaise? Can you handle the costs? The Real Cost of Living is a rare melding of personal psychology and personal finance at an important time when we have discovered that having more money may not bring more happiness, but knowing what really will make you happy can be worth any cost. Watch a Video

This sweet and funny tale of a preppy editor buying a Brooklyn deli with his Korean in-laws is about family, culture clash, and the quest for authentic experiences.

David Novak learned long ago that you can't lead a great organization of any size without getting your people aligned, enthusiastic, and focused relentlessly on the mission. But how do you do that? There are countless leadership books, but how many will actually help a Taco Bell shift manager, a Fortune 500 CEO, a new entrepreneur, or anyone in between? Over his fifteen years at Yum! Brands, Novak has developed a trademarked program he calls Taking People with You. He spends several weeks each year personally teaching it to thousands of managers around the world. He convinces them that they'll never make big things happen until they learn how to get people on their side. No skill in business is more important. And Yum!'s extraordinary success (at least 13 percent growth for each of the last nine years) proves his point. Novak knows that managers don't need leadership platitudes or business school theories. So he cuts right to the chase with a step-by- step guide to setting big goals, getting people to work together, blowing past your targets, and celebrating after you shock the skeptics. And then doing it again and again until consistent excellence becomes a core element of your culture. This book has specific tools at the end of each chapter that will challenge you to reflect on how you're really doing on key aspects of leadership. And if you apply it, you'll immediately start to improve. You'll learn how to . . . Get inside the heads of your people. You can't convince them of anything until you see the world from their perspective. Think big. If your sales growth last year was 3.5 percent, don't aim for 4 percent this year, aim for 15 percent. Even if you fail, you'll probably do better than you would have with a smaller goal. Practice "extraordinary authenticity." Show occasional vulnerability and admit when you don't have the answers. Look for good ideas in unexpected places. Novak's team came up with Cool Ranch Doritos for Frito-Lay during a field trip to a grocery store's salad dressing aisle. Choose a can-do mind-set. There's a huge difference between a boss who says "We can try this" and one who says "We can do this!" Cheer for first downs, not just touchdowns. Publicly recognizing and rewarding small wins keeps everyone motivated for the long haul. Get rid of cynics. In many teams one person will reject your values and spread negative energy. Moving that person out will show everyone else you're serious. Get ready to change the way you think about leadership-and more important, the way you practice it every day.

A blueprint for thriving in your job and building a career by applying the lessons of Silicon Valley's most innovative entrepreneurs. The career escalator is jammed at every level. Unemployment rates are sky-high. Creative disruption is shaking every industry. Global competition for jobs is fierce. The employer-employee pact is over and traditional job security is a thing of the past.     Here, LinkedIn cofounder and chairman Reid Hoffman and author Ben Casnocha show how to accelerate your career in today's competitive world. The key is to manage your career as if it were a start-up business : a living, breathing, growing start-up of you .   Why? Start-ups - and the entrepreneurs who run them - are nimble. They invest in themselves. They build their professional networks. They take intelligent risks. They make uncertainty and volatility work to their advantage.   These are the very same skills professionals need to get ahead today.   This book isn't about cover letters or resumes. Instead, you will learn the best practices of Silicon Valley start-ups, and how to apply these entrepreneurial strategies to your career. Whether you work for a giant multinational corporation, a small local business, or launching your own venture, you need to know how to:   * Adapt your career plans as you change, the people around you change, and industries change. * Develop a competitive advantage to win the best jobs and opportunities. * Strengthen your professional network by building powerful alliances and maintaining a diverse mix of relationships. * Find the unique breakout opportunities that massively accelerate career growth. * Take proactive risks to become more resilient to industry tsunamis. * Tap your network for information and intelligence that help you make smarter decisions.   A revolutionary new guide to thriving in today's fractured world of work, the strategies in this book will help you survive and thrive and achieve your boldest professional ambitions. The Start-Up of You empowers you to become the CEO of your career and take control of your future.

Despite the high chance of failure for new businesses and products, the opportunity for success keeps entrepreneurs going year after year. Here, Eric Ries, a successful entrepreneur himself, outlines his own strategy, that of the lean startup. Explaining the importance of providing genuinely needed products and services and then using customer feedback to improve them, Ries goes on to suggest ways that startups can grow without sacrificing the speed with which they can react. Ries also offers case studies of real-world startups in categories from the tech world to non-profits, making this a valuable read for innovators at any level and in any field.

We all know money can't buy happiness -- so why do we keep trying? Marketing professor James Roberts attempts to answer that question, bolstered by plenty of scientific research, including studies that show that materialism correlates negatively with well-being. In addition, he offers a history of American consumerism, noting a trend away from frugality and towards spending in an economy that depends upon it. In examining the psychology and economics of overspending, he also offers readers a chance to analyze their own spending habits.

Neville Isdell came out of retirement to take the job of chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola in 2004; his five-year tenure saw improved profits and a burnished reputation for what had been a struggling company. But he spent most of his 30-year career at Coca-Cola opening and strengthening markets across the globe, so much of his memoir focuses on his time in the Soviet Union, Africa, the Philippines, and other locations new to the Coca-Cola brand. Portraying himself both as a businessman and a husband and father, Isdell also champions corporate social responsibility and writes in a manner "sure to simultaneously charm and enlighten" (Kirkus Reviews).

This irreverent and provocative analysis of the economy (which follows a documentary by the same name), considers what the economy is for, if not to help the people who form the core of it. Despite the fact that most economic indicators are money-based, authors John De Graaf and David Batker found that the people they spoke with wanted to be happier and more secure -- not surrounded by more stuff. Therefore, their goals aren't a bigger GDP but rather things like a standard three-week paid vacation, basic health care for all, and a bigger middle class. Entertainingly written and lucidly argued, this is a must-read for those interested in economic sustainability -- and anyone following the Occupy movement.

nce a customer, always a friend-that is the simple philosophy behind Mitchells/Richards, two of the most successful clothing stores in the nation-and that is why Jack Mitchell, his family, and associates inspire the enduring loyalty and admiration of his customers, including today's top CEOs. Jack's two stores, Richards in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Mitchells in Westport, Connecticut, suit up discerning customers from across the country. Now for the first time, Jack Mitchell shares the secrets of his family's innovative merchandising and management approach in his book Hug Your Customers. It's a deceptively simple but winning approach to customer service-that a relationship is at the heart of every transaction. Jack Mitchells' business philosophy is based on 'hugs'-personal touches such as knowing every customer's name and clothing preferences or handing out free coffee and newspapers on the commuter train platform. Complete with anecdotes that exemplify outstanding customer service, Hug Your Customers shows how any business can adapt this hugging philosophy to attract great staff, lower marketing costs, and maintain higher gross margins and long-term revenues. At a time when customer service has become the difference between success and failure, Hug Your Customers shows how Jack's one-of-a-kind philosophy brings winning results.

In today's Internet-driven world, even a single disgruntled customer can broadcast his complaint to millions. An interactive marketing expert explains how companies can establish and maintain credibility for their brand by being authentic, listening and responding to customers, and forming relationships built on openness and trust.

Your company is only as strong as your leaders. These are the men and women doing battle daily beneath the banner that is your brand. Are they courageous or indecisive? Are they serving a motivated team or managing employees? Are they valued? Your team will never grow beyond you, so here's another question to consider. Are you growing? Whether you're sitting at the CEO's desk, the middle manager's cubicle, or a card table in your living-room-based startup, EntreLeadership provides the practical, step-by-step guidance to grow your business where you want it to go. Dave opens up his championship playbook for business to show you how to: • Inspire your team to take ownership and love what they do • Unify your team and get rid of all gossip • Handle money to set your business up for success • Reach every goal you set • And much, much more!

Love your work, work for what you love, and change the world-all at the same time. What matters most to you? Should you focus on earning a living, pursuing your passions, or devoting yourself to the causes that inspire you? The surprising truth is that you don't have to choose-and that you'll find more success if you don't. That's the breakthrough message of TOMS' One for One movement. You don't have to be rich to give back and you don't have to retire to spend every day doing what you love. You can find profit, passion, and meaning all at once-right now. In Start Something That Matters, Blake Mycoskie tells the story of TOMS, one of the fastest-growing shoe companies in the world, and combines it with lessons learned from such other innovative organizations as method, charity: water, FEED Projects, and TerraCycle. Blake presents the six simple keys for creating or transforming your own life and business, from discovering your core story to being resourceful without resources; from overcoming fear and doubt to incorporating giving into every aspect of your life. No matter what kind of change you're considering, Start Something That Matters gives you the stories, ideas, and practical tips that can help you get started. Why this book is for you: "You're ready to make a difference in the world-through your own start-up business, a nonprofit organization, or a new project that you create within your current job." You want to love your work, work for what you love, and have a positive impact on the world-all at the same time. "You're inspired by charity: water, method, and FEED Projects and want to learn how these organizations got their start." You're curious about how someone who never made a pair of shoes, attended fashion school, or worked in retail created one of the fastest-growing footwear companies in the world by givings hoes away. "You're looking for a new model of success to share with your children, students, co-workers, and members of your community. You're ready to start something that matters.