A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing


Burton G. Malkiel - 1973
    At a time of frightening volatility, what is the average investor to do?The answer: turn to Burton G. Malkiel’s advice in his reassuring, authoritative, gimmick-free, and perennially best-selling guide to investing. Long established as the first book to purchase before starting a portfolio or 401(k), A Random Walk Down Wall Street now features new material on “tax-loss harvesting,” the crown jewel of tax management; the current bitcoin bubble; and automated investment advisers; as well as a brand-new chapter on factor investing and risk parity. And as always, Malkiel’s core insights—on stocks and bonds, as well as real estate investment trusts, home ownership, and tangible assets like gold and collectibles— along with the book’s classic life-cycle guide to investing, will help restore confidence and composure to anyone seeking a calm route through today’s financial markets.

The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levels


Michael D. Watkins - 2003
    In this updated and expanded 10th anniversary edition, internationally known leadership transition expert Michael D. Watkins gives you the keys to successfully negotiating your next move—whether you’re onboarding into a new company, being promoted internally, or embarking on an international assignment.In The First 90 Days, Watkins outlines proven strategies that will dramatically shorten the time it takes to reach what he calls the "breakeven point" when your organization needs you as much as you need the job. This new edition includes a substantial new preface by the author on the new definition of a career as a series of transitions; and notes the growing need for effective and repeatable skills for moving through these changes. As well, updated statistics and new tools make this book more reader-friendly and useful than ever.As hundreds of thousands of readers already know, The First 90 Days is a road map for taking charge quickly and effectively during critical career transition periods—whether you are a first-time manager, a mid-career professional on your way up, or a newly minted CEO.

Jump Start Your Brain


Doug Hall - 1995
    A successful marketing manager and product inventor challenges conventional ways of thinking and reveals how to successfully market new ideas.

Missing and Presumed Dead


Michael Fleeman - 2019
     The disappearance of the beautiful, vivacious hostess at a popular Myrtle Beach, South Carolina restaurant made international headlines and triggered a sweeping high-stakes investigation that exposed a twisted web of deception, betrayal, sexual obsession, police corruption and revenge. But Heather's body was never located. A series of sensational trials involving a handsome restaurant coworker and his Disneyland-obsessed wife resulted in shocking verdicts – but no body – as her family desperately sought closure and fought for justice, and a resort town struggled to regain calm. Read this latest gripping true crime from the bestselling author of BETTER OFF DEAD.

The Essential Drucker


Peter F. Drucker - 2000
    Drucker has been analyzing economics and society for more than sixty years. Now for readers everywhere who are concerned with the ways that management practices and principles affect the performance of the organization, the individual, and society, there is The Essential Drucker -- an invaluable compilation of management essentials from the works of a management legend.Containing twenty-six selections, The Essential Drucker covers the basic principles and concerns of management and its problems, challenges, and opportunities, giving managers, executives, and professionals the tools to perform the tasks that the economy and society of tomorrow will demand of them.

The Innovator's DNA: Mastering the Five Skills of Disruptive Innovators


Jeffrey H. Dyer - 2011
    This innovation advantage will translate into a premium in your company’s stock price—an innovation premium—which is possible only by building the code for innovation right into your organization’s people, processes, and guiding philosophies.Practical and provocative, The Innovator’s DNA is an essential resource for individuals and teams who want to strengthen their innovative prowess.

90 Days to Live: Beating Cancer When Modern Medicine Offers No Hope


Rodney Stamps - 2019
    This heart-wrenching and heartwarming book chronicles Rodney's triumphant journey to full remission after following a little known but highly effective cancer treatment.What if you were told you had 90 days to live?For Rodney and Paige Stamps, Rodney's "out-of-the-blue" cancer diagnosis quickly turned a normally hypothetical question horribly real.When Paige met Rodney, a nationally touring heavy-metal drummer, they both fell hard. Rodney swapped his drumsticks for marriage, family, a job, and then, his own business.The '90-Days' diagnosis hit just as their business was starting to soar."You're going to die" was the solemn verdict from numerous MDs, who promised only to briefly extend Rodney's life. With both a growing family and business, and so much living still to do, Rodney's response to the no-hope prognosis? "I don't think so."90 Days to Live recounts the Stamps' incredible and inspirational journey to find an alternative "answer to cancer." In the end...They'd beaten the cancer and built a million dollar business.While his weight dropped from 190 to 138 lbs., Rodney and Paige explored countless cancer "cures" of widely varying value. They even exposed a scam treatment being peddled by a mob boss--crossing paths with the FDA and FBI!Alternately heart-wrenching and heart-warming--and delivered in an engaging dual-author format--90 Days to Live will speak to anyone struggling with an "incurable" disease, building a business under trying circumstances, or anyone who just loves a good old-fashioned, "beating-the-odds" story.

Confidence Creator


Heather Monahan - 2018
    If you don’t have it, don’t worry. Heather Monahan will show you how anyone can master the essential techniques to building confidence and becoming your best self. In Confidence Creator, Heather offers a resource she wishes she had when she was younger. Using personal stories from her life and career, Heather illustrates the tough lessons she learned along the way that helped her develop the self-assurance necessary for getting what she wanted in life. You’ll discover how to determine your number-one enemy, attract the right people, find your voice, and more. Whether you’ve never had confidence or have lost it due to a breakup, divorce, unemployment, or another one of life’s challenges, this book gives you the tools to take charge of your life and create your own confidence.

Ubered: My Life As A Rideshare Driver


Evan Kail - 2016
    He’s been chasing a screenwriting dream ever since he was in college, and he’s put everything on the line to attain it. So when a new phenomenon called “Rideshare” enters his market in Minneapolis, Kail seeks opportunity in a job he believes will pay well and afford him time to pursue his calling. His only item of value, a BMW sports car purchased in the glory days of wealth, affords him a down payment on a used luxury sedan. Before Kail knows it, he’s a soldier in the trenches of a tech revolution, and he’s in way over his head. “UBERED” is a journey through the jungles of a wild young mind in an even wilder adventure driving full-time for Uber and Lyft. Over the course of one year, Kail dances with all hosts of personalities and professions, battles all sorts of scenarios, and struggles to realize what it means to be an independent contractor, and not an employee. Prepare for the craziest year of Kail’s young life, one that would leave him grappling to understand the very meaning of fate and all he thought was sacred.

Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods--and How Companies Create Them


Michael J. Silverstein - 2003
    The book identified a major opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators, managers and marketers, in every category of consumer goods and services. Now Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske have thoroughly revised this BusinessWeek bestseller with new research and new insights into the still- growing phenomenon of trading up.

The Halo Effect: And the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers


Philip M. Rosenzweig - 2007
    In a brilliant and unconventional book, Phil Rosenzweig unmasks the delusions that are commonly found in the corporate world. These delusions affect the business press and academic research, as well as many bestselling books that promise to reveal the secrets of success or the path to greatness. Such books claim to be based on rigorous thinking, but operate mainly at the level of storytelling. They provide comfort and inspiration, but deceive managers about the true nature of business success.The most pervasive delusion is the Halo Effect. When a company's sales and profits are up, people often conclude that it has a brilliant strategy, a visionary leader, capable employees, and a superb corporate culture. When performance falters, they conclude that the strategy was wrong, the leader became arrogant, the people were complacent, and the culture was stagnant. In fact, little may have changed -- company performance creates a Halo that shapes the way we perceive strategy, leadership, people, culture, and more.Drawing on examples from leading companies including Cisco Systems, IBM, Nokia, and ABB, Rosenzweig shows how the Halo Effect is widespread, undermining the usefulness of business bestsellers from "In Search of Excellence" to "Built to Last" and "Good to Great."Rosenzweig identifies nine popular business delusions. Among them:"The Delusion of Absolute Performance: " Company performance is relative to competition, not absolute, which is why following a formula can never guarantee results. Success comes from doing things better than rivals, which means that managers have to take risks."The Delusion of Rigorous Research: " Many bestselling authors praise themselves for the vast amount of data they have gathered, but forget that if the data aren't valid, it doesn't matter how much was gathered or how sophisticated the research methods appear to be. They trick the reader by substituting sizzle for substance."The Delusion of Single Explanations: " Many studies show that a particular factor, such as corporate culture or social responsibility or customer focus, leads to improved performance. But since many of these factors are highly correlated, the effect of each one is usually less than suggested.In what promises to be a landmark book, "The Halo Effect" replaces mistaken thinking with a sharper understanding of what drives business success and failure. "The Halo Effect" is a guide for the thinking manager, a way to detect errors in business research and to reach a clearer understanding of what drives business success and failure.Skeptical, brilliant, iconoclastic, and mercifully free of business jargon, Rosenzweig's book is nevertheless dead serious, making his arguments about important issues in an unsparing and direct way that will appeal to a broad business audience. For managers who want to separate fact from fiction in the world of business, "The Halo Effect" is essential reading -- witty, often funny, and sharply argued, it's an antidote to so much of the conventional thinking that clutters business bookshelves.

In Search Of Excellence: Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies


Thomas J. Peters - 1982
    The "Greatest Business Book of All Time" (Bloomsbury UK), In Search of Excellence has long been a must-have for the boardroom, business school, and bedside table.Based on a study of forty-three of America's best-run companies from a diverse array of business sectors, In Search of Excellence describes eight basic principles of management -- action-stimulating, people-oriented, profit-maximizing practices -- that made these organizations successful.This phenomenal bestseller features a new Authors' Note, and reintroduces these vital principles in an accessible and practical way for today's management reader.

The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future


Chris Guillebeau - 2012
      Still in his early thirties, Chris is on the verge of completing a tour of every country on earth – he’s already visited more than 175 nations – and yet he’s never held a “real job” or earned a regular paycheck.  Rather, he has a special genius for turning ideas into income, and he uses what he earns both to support his life of adventure and to give back.    There are many others like Chris – those who’ve found ways to opt out of traditional employment and create the time and income to pursue what they find meaningful.  Sometimes, achieving that perfect blend of passion and income doesn’t depend on shelving what you currently do.  You can start small with your venture, committing little time or money, and wait to take the real plunge when you're sure it's successful.   In preparing to write this book, Chris identified 1,500 individuals who have built businesses earning $50,000 or more from a modest investment (in many cases, $100 or less), and from that group he’s chosen to focus on the 50 most intriguing case studies.  In nearly all cases, people with no special skills discovered aspects of their personal passions that could be monetized, and were able to restructure their lives in ways that gave them greater freedom and fulfillment.   Here, finally, distilled into one easy-to-use guide, are the most valuable lessons from those who’ve learned how to turn what they do into a gateway to self-fulfillment.  It’s all about finding the intersection between your “expertise” – even if you don’t consider it such -- and what other people will pay for.  You don’t need an MBA, a business plan or even employees.  All you need is a product or service that springs from what you love to do anyway, people willing to pay, and a way to get paid.   Not content to talk in generalities, Chris tells you exactly how many dollars his group of unexpected entrepreneurs required to get their projects up and running; what these individuals did in the first weeks and months to generate significant cash; some of the key mistakes they made along the way, and the crucial insights that made the business stick.  Among Chris’s key principles: if you’re good at one thing, you’re probably good at something else; never teach a man to fish – sell him the fish instead; and in the battle between planning and action, action wins.   In ancient times, people who were dissatisfied with their lives dreamed of finding magic lamps, buried treasure, or streets paved with gold.  Today, we know that it’s up to us to change our lives.  And the best part is, if we change our own life, we can help others change theirs.  This remarkable book will start you on your way.

The Power of Pull: How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion


John Hagel III - 2010
    Individuals and companies can no longer rely on the stocks of knowledge that they've carefully built up and stored away. Information now flows like water, and we must learn how to tap into the stream. But many of us remain stuck in old practices--practices that could undermine us as we search for success and meaning. In this revolutionary book, three doyens of the Internet age, whose path-breaking work has made headlines around the world, reveal the adjustments we must make if we take these changes seriously. In a world of increasing risk and opportunity, we must understand the importance of pull. Understood and used properly, the power of pull can draw out the best in people and institutions by connecting them in ways that increase understanding and effectiveness. Pull can turn uncertainty into opportunity, and enable small moves to achieve outsized impact. Drawing on pioneering research, The Power of Pull shows how to apply its principles to unlock the hidden potential of individuals and organizations, and how to use it as a force for social change and the development of creative talent. The authors explore how to use the power of pull to:Access new sources of informationAttract likeminded individuals from around the worldShape serendipity to increase the likelihood of positive chance encountersForm creation spaces to drive you and your colleagues to new heightsTransform your organization to adapt to the flow of knowledgeThe Power of Pull is essential reading for entrepreneurs, managers, and anybody interested in understanding and harnessing the shifting forces of our networked world.

Venus, Burning


H. Jewel Lohr - 2017
    Well, at least on the surface. Recently engaged to Seattle’s most loved congressman, Michael Brenner, they are two kids and a yellow Lab short of becoming the picture-perfect family. That is, minus her haunted past and growing dissatisfaction with their relationship. Things get more complicated when she has a chance encounter with an old flame. One that was never extinguished. Psychiatrist and best-selling author William Debroux is one of the only people who know about Ava’s traumatic upbringing, and has always understood her in a way no one else has. Despite the six years that have passed without seeing one another, her heart soars when she lays eyes on him again. She suddenly finds herself longing for the blossoming romance they shared when she was just a silly college girl at NYU, her mind rushing with memories of when she first wandered into his office as a patient. If she wasn’t already conflicted enough, things get even more strange when she finds out that her fiancé has recently befriended William. As their lives start to become more intertwined, and William begins hinting that he intends on winning her back, she begins to ask herself...Is my heart really behind this upcoming marriage? Or was it already stolen in New York all those years ago?Warning: Contains explicit sexual content. Recommended only for readers 18+.